If you find yourself losing control of a conversation with a prospect, you must stop and ask yourself, "Who has the knowledge?" You, of course, have the knowledge. If your prospect is the one asking all the questions, it can head you down the wrong path instead of to what your primary point of the discussion is - to make that person's life better. The whole importance of Prospecting Tip #6 is: You have to be the one asking questions because you are controlling the conversation.



If you don't ask questions, your prospect will. So you should always be one step ahead of your prospect to stay in control of the conversation.

The technique is very simple to explain, and then if you practice it a few times you will absolutely love this! By the way, I go into deep discussion on this in Professional Inviter. Here's the tried and true technique: You give your prospect a quick answer to the questions they ask. Don't lie nor evade! Make sure your answer is quick, not elaborate or detailed and then in the same breath, continue with a question.

Let's say that you initiate a call to a friend and as you're talking you do the inviting formula and ask them what's important to them, and they tell you. You then move to invite them to learn more about your MLM business.

Here is an example of what NOT to do:

You: "Well, I have something that may help you achieve _______."

Prospect: "Oh really. How so?"

You: I am in a business where you can...

No! You bombed out! You started to answer the question and your prospect just reversed who has control of the conversation.

A better way to do this would be:

You: "Well, I have something that may help you achieve _______."

Prospect: "Oh really. How so?"

You: "Well, I"m glad you asked. I have a video that will answer your question. Would you prefer to receive a DVD or would you like something on the Internet you can look at right now?"

Bam, you just reversed the direction of who is controlling the conversation - you answered their question, but you're in control. That person now has to decide whether they want the DVD or the online version.

As you're talking with a prospect you don't know, start with simple questions that don't require a lot of thought. Questions like: "Where do you live?" or "How long have you lived in this area?" As you get into the inviting formula, continue to ask questions that require more conversation from that person so you can get a better understanding on what that person is looking for. Questions like: "What kind of work do you do?", "What do you like/dislike about your job?", "What job experience do you have?" Make sure your ideas fit with that person's needs.

As long as you don't use too much assertiveness I suggest you ask more personal questions. If you don't infringe a little on that person's life history, you may not fully find out what that person needs, wants or doesn't want.

Remember, your mission is to find out what your prospect needs and wants, and if they qualify, invite them to look at your MLM business. Once you let them take control of the conversation it's very difficult to take it back. Stay on track by using this simple technique and you will achieve MLM success.