Building a Loyal Team

One of the biggest issues in MLM is the drop out rate. I have explored legitimate reasons to change companies in a previous article, so here I want to address how to keep people through the "minor" bumps.What might cause someone to drop out?
Problems with the products
Disagreement with someone else in their upline
Lack of success
Let me know if you think of any others I should address in another article! But for now, let's address these 3.Every company has a product glitch now and then. Sometimes the product is so popular, they can't make it fast enough and back orders happen. Sometimes they change the formula and not everyone is thrilled. Perhaps there is a labeling error, or a recall based on safety concerns. These are all things the company can work their way through, but how do you keep your distributors from quitting in the meantime?It is all based on the groundwork you laid. Getting to know your people, recognizing their personality type, and helping them improve themselves and learn new skills will win their loyalty. Then when these obstacles come up, you can reassure them that the situation is temporary and they will actually believe you. If no relationship exists between you and your distributors, your communications to them about these issues may fall on deaf ears!I have two personal examples of the second cause. In a former company, my sponsor's sponsor was trying to get me to attend an event. If you have read my other articles then you know I do believe in attending company events, but I also believe people sometimes have a legitimate reason why they can't go. I had what I felt at the time was a good reason. So this guy says to me, "you will fail if you do not attend this event." Now that is a pretty strong statement. I am smart enough to know that when the company was founded, this particular event didn't even exist, and yet the original distributors somehow succeeded without it, didn't they? Hmmm...he REALLY ticked me off!The second instance is in my current company. On a training call, someone in my upline came down very hard on me (and some other people) right there in front of our peers. Whether or not we needed a lesson is actually irrelevant, although I still personally feel he was at much at fault for the misunderstanding as anyone else. The point is that he really ticked me (and some other people) off!When something like this happens on your team, you must reassure the offended person that sometimes disagreements happen and to not let it rent space in their head. Again, if your relationship with them is strong, they will be grateful for your sympathy or empathy and will move past the problem. I did!The third issue again is one of relationship building. Get to know your people. Plug them in to a great training system to get the skills they need. Help them recognize both their strengths and their weaknesses and what to do with them. And reassure them that a successful team is not built overnight and they need to be patient and persevere. If you are not yet as successful as you would like, and don't have a great personal story to share, then find someone in the company who does have that story and do a 3-way call. The most important thing here is, don't just work with your successful distributors. When someone is not succeeding, if they are truly not working the business as you have coached them, plug them in to self development and let them work on themselves. If they are trying to work hard, find out what they need to change. Help only those who want help, but if they do want help, do not ignore them! It only hurts your credibility in the long run.Success in MLM is all about retention. You don't want to spend your entire life recruiting new people! So realize in advance that these challenges will come up and be ready to face them.