By Bess McCarty
Before you invest your time, energy, and money in building a team within a company, check them out. Also send this to prospects to validate your company.
1. What is the integrity of the company? Is the owner or CEO a good person and leader? Are they really service-oriented for the long run, or do they want to make a profit and go? Do they really help people? What is the most important thing they provide to customers and distributors? What do you like? Dislike? What is the biggest challenge to build within this company?
2. Is the product or service right for you? What is your experience of it? Do you love it? Would you recommend it to your mother? Is there a need for it? Does the company meet that need? Is it good quality and a competitive price? Yet high enough to thrive? What is their guarantee or repair policy? Could you make a living from retailing it?
3. How old is the company? Have they had a chance to gain stability and work out kinks? But young enough for you to be be among the first 100,000 distributors? If it’s a new company, have they had network marketing experience before so you won’t be part of their learning curve? 5-10 years old is a sweet spot range.
4. Does it have good leadership? Check the background of their management team. Ask current distributors if they train, are dependable, consistent, and there for them? Do they provide tools, events, and good communication systems? Do they like them? If you are considering a certain sponsor, ask their down line if they also are these things; do they coach them, are they in it for the long haul? Do they teach a clear system to do the business that makes sense? How long will it take to master it? Google them on YouTube. Do you like them? Are there weekly meetings within 3-5 hours of me?
5. Does the company publicize? Have good media exposure, or even better, endorsement by a famous person?
6. Is the start-up fee low? Do you get enough materials like products, samples, and literature? Is the monthly $ requirement low?
7. Does the marketing system take full advantage of technology? Good site, conference call training, opportunity calls for your prospects, online sales and distributor sign-ups, online support and tracking?
8. Is it well-capitalized? Ideally, no debt. A publicly traded company must disclose every 90 days.
9. Do they strive to improve and add to their existing line? What is their shipping track record?
10. Can you choose to work part-time or full-time? Can you take your time without feeling pressured?
11. Is the compensation plan fair? Is it simple to understand and explain? Can new person make money in the first 24-48 hours? Does it pay you deep and soon? Can you make immediate income to finance your expansion? Are there bonuses and incentives? Is it competitive with similar products and companies? Does the company pay on time according to their policies? Is the plan stable, or change a lot? If it’s changed, what changes were made and why? Not a pyramid to pay you for just signing people up? What are the minimum sales required? Are other distributors in the company as successful as you want to be? What is their long range projection? Google the company name + comp plan + pdf. Does it go to infinity, or cut off after a certain level? Unilevels can make money faster for most people.
12. What are your expenses? What do you pay out? Any fees or other hidden expenses? Monthly gas, lunches, or advertising expenses? What % is your profit?
13. If it sells a service (vs. a product) it has an easier time going global and viral. There are no warehouses needed, or product approval for other countries. However, the profit may be less on a service to be competitive.
14. In their “Policies and Procedures”, check that they have no clauses that allow them to: 1) take the company retail, or sell it to a retail company, 2) reduce your income by changing comp plans, 3) terminate you w/o going before a board of their peers.
15. Do they have distributors who earn at least as much as you want to? And do they do in a way that any distributor can?
16. How excited are you, on a scale of 1-10, about the product? The company and their mission? The team you’re on? The system they teach: do you want to do it? You should be a 8-10 on all these. (from Jeff Gamble)
17. You can Google the top 10-50 best preforming network marketing companies and research their track record over time on polls and reviews.
18. It’s a credibility plus if they are listed with the Direct Selling Organization http://www.dsa.org/. Also check them out with the Better Business Bureau http://www.bbb.org/ and MLM Watchdog http://www.mlmwatchdog.com/ to see if there are any reports on them. Or even pay for a background check.
19. Mel Atwood, highly sought-after MLM consultant and expert for over a decade ,facebook.com/melatwood, highly recommends this book: How to Select a Network Marketing Company: Six Keys to Scrutinizing, Comparing, and Selecting a Million Dollar Home-Based Business, by Daren C. Falter
No company is perfect, but I hope these tips help you be realistic about your options. ~ Bess
How do you choose a good sponsor? Here are my tips.
© 2020 Bess McCarty · All Rights Reserved
P.S. – Here is a scorecard from Direct Selling News to evaluate your current company. Although it is 2014, and I could not find a current scorecard, I still like these guidelines:
