Retention can make or break any Network...7 ways to help your business

In MLM, retention is keeping new business partners active for the long haul.

An unfortunate statistic on MLM is that on average, three out of four new distributors lose interest in their first 3 months and quit the business. A whopping 90% of new distributors do not survive their first year!

This leads to a major drain on your income because retention is where the long-term residual income in the MLM network marketing industry comes from. The good news is that even a modest increase in your retention rate can lead to a dramatic increase in your income.

It is important to note that of new business partners who do quit, better than half of them do so in the first 90 days in business. This is the reason it is so important to start new team members quickly and help them have success in their early days in business.

For many years, I focused on prospecting and sponsoring in the network marketing industry. But, for the last several months, I concentrated more on retention. I found the results to be almost immediate and long-lasting, too. Improving the number of business partners that I hang on to has had a greater impact on increasing my monthly check than the number of new people I recruit each month.

Much of our team training now focuses on retention. Here are the keys to increasing retention in your MLM.

1. Bring top-quality people into the business the proper way. We teach our team to enroll new partners that ask to join the business. We do not teach our team to use warm-market tactics like approaching friends, neighbors, and relatives who are not even interested in the business. We do not teach our team to sell or close leads on the business. When you have to close people to get them in, you'll have to close them every time they hit a small obstacle. They are the first ones to become quitters.

2. New team members need to submit their goals in writing. Make sure their goals are realistic. Both you and your new business partner will need these goals to measure their success. Each team member's success is measured against their own goals.

3. Fast start approach. New team members need to make money early in their career for both their belief in the business and for credibility with others. Earning money quickly is the most effective retention tool!

4. Be a true servant-leader. Helping a new team member is more important than even your own prospecting. Make yourself accessible. Encourage business partners to reach your upline in your absence.

5. Proper communication. Provide necessary information, without flooding new partners with information overload. Regular emails from an autoresponder have helped keep partners in the game and help them get back on track if they've become sidetracked.

6. Recognition. For many people, recognition is an even bigger motivator than money. Even quick recognition like a telephone call is important. Recognition in front of a group has been an industry standard for years. Find ways to recognize business partners regularly.

7. Training. Effective training should be available by several means, both live and recorded. We've had best success offering training via a mix of live webinars, recorded webinars available 24/7, training videos, email series, and individual mentoring.

Shift more of your focus to retention in your network marketing business. You will enjoy a big increase in your long-term residual income.