Recruiting Manipulation
Check out this recruiting script. It has all of the manipulative tactics you have come to expect from Mary Kay recruiters. (Really, recruiters for any MLM will use these.) There is the body language and the false flattery. Then you inch forward in the process. Watch the video in the next 2 days. Then have the director present for the call or coffee meeting. We’re not messing around anymore.
Notice that even if the prospect says no…. the manipulation continues with more attempts to get her involved in the process.
Look at your customer and lean forward some; try to get lower than her so that your head is lower than hers, even a little! Look her in the eyes and say, “I have a question to ask you. After watching me today, could you ever in your wildest dreams see yourself doing Mary Kay either part time for extra cash or for extra fun? I think you would be great and the reason I think you would be great is I watched you today and…”
Give her a sincere compliment. She’s sharp, she’s fun to be around, people are comfortable around her – whatever it is that you picked up about her, tell her in a compliment! No one gets offended by a sincere compliment!
Once you finish telling her you think she would be good followed by the compliment, then button your lip and let her respond, because that’s when we lose it – when we talk! She then will say something that isn’t a flat no, she stammers a little, or she just might say, “Yes, I think I could.”
You will then offer the information to her that is necessary to give her so that she is more informed in order to make a decision. “Great! I would love to send you home with some information. I have a video that will really give you all the information about our company in a fun way.
This is a video of one of the top women in our company at an actual guest event and she shares how she got started and moved up in the business. It’s really great. In fact, after many people watch it I find that they watch it 3 or 4 times more because they like it so well, I really do find that! I’ll tell you what, after watching it this may not be for you, but at least you will be well informed and you will know what you are saying no to!”
Once you have given her the information you will say, “By the way, do you have 45 minutes in the next 48 hours to watch the video? Great! Let’s plan on talking on X date; is there a time that is better for you that we can get together for coffee or talk on the phone, which works better for you? Great!”
Remember do not leave her without a specific time scheduled to talk about what she has watched. It is also better to do this on neutral ground – such as a coffee shop, and away from home interruptions. Say, “I also want you to know that I am moving up in management in my business and part of my training is to get women’s opinion of this video and to work closely with my director for training.
Do I have your permission that my Director join us? (keep talking!) I would love for her to meet you and part of my training is that she will ask questions to get your opinion, while I listen and learn. I know you will give us your honest opinion and that is what we want.”
Having your Director join you all depends on where you are at with your training in your business. By asking your prospect “45 minutes in the next 48 hours,” you are going to help her to visualize in her mind her schedule and when she is going to do this. She is going to respond with a definitive answer so that you can schedule in the next 24-48 hours to get back with her on the video. “Yes, I think I could watch it tomorrow.” “Great! I will see you (or call you) on ________” (important to repeat the date and time).
You ask her the questions for her opinion rather than giving her a questionnaire, this creates the dialogue, which is so important in a Marketing appointment/interview for building the relationship. After you talk with her about the video, if she has more questions or needs more information, invite her to the Success Night Unit Meeting. Of course if her interest is very high and she is very eager, invite her right away to your Unit Meeting — the sooner the better. It is better to refer to Unit Meeting Night as your Success Night, rather than a “meeting!”
If the person you are speaking with does not sound like they are interested at all in learning more about our Company then you might say, “I have to tell you, when you say you could never see yourself doing this I can understand what you are saying. I know how you feel, because I felt the same way when I joined this company 10 years ago.
But, I decided that it would be better to listen to the facts before I said no so that I knew what I was saying no to! I promise you if after listening to the information you still do not see yourself doing something like this I will not bother you again!! I also promise you that you will be in shock when you hear what our company has to offer.”
Happy Recruiting!
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Is it ok to LOL?
Feel free to ROFL! Just remember, safety first…so pick up the Legos before you do.
so very creepy. Look at all the things that you are supposed to do for HER. watch a video, in *her* timeframe, be ready to have coffee. Not to mention the part where she keeps weaseling her head down to be lower than mine. I would want to just mess with her when she does her “the first to speak loses”, just turn around and walk away. Bet I could get her to talk first.
Or even better CarolAnne, just stare right back and also say nothing. I wonder how much time would pass?
There’s a reason why my sister-in-law keeps me away from her hun friends. She knows I’ll just mess with them.
Now, speaking for myself, I would stretch the uncomfortable silence by getting out my phone and absent-mindedly scanning Google News or something equally banal, to make the point that I find it more interesting than engaging in the conversation.
I suppose I’d have to disengage at some point, head home, wash the “ick” off me. Lots of Lava soap.
After a skincare class and attempting to recruit, I remember my director sitting me down in my living room chair to chat. She sat on the floor by my feet and I thought it was kind of strange, so I enthusiastically joined her on the floor. I then noticed she wasn’t sitting up straight and trying to lower herself even further and I’m just sitting there, like, “Ma’am what are you even doing.”
Unfortunately she still managed to recruit me at 19. I’m 33 now and I’m thankful to have left MK within a few months, but I’m still not over their extremely manipulative and exploitive tactics, especially with vulnerable, young women.
“After watching me today, could you ever in your wildest dreams see yourself doing Mary Kay either part time for extra cash or for extra fun?”—
Oh hell no. I have zero desire to be an endless-chain recruiting MLM scammer such as yourself. How dare you assume that I would stoop to your level? Get out of my space before I call the FTC.
Just like Friday’s letter, why is all this superiority and patronizing behavior coming from an MLMer? Lol, I don’t get it. They don’t even own the company or sit on the Board. Not that I’m impressed by owning a scam company like Mary Kay Inc., but if you’re going to act supercilious, you better walk the talk. Looking at you Amie. David Holl or Richard Rogers wouldn’t even know your name.
So much work for just one recruit…if she even does sign up. You are not paid one dime for all of that time if she ultimately chooses not to join. But the time is still your time; when you factor in the time you spend on things like this, how much are you REALLY making hourly?
OMG, yes! When I think of the hours and hours I spent “layering my prospects,” along with spending money on recruiting CDs and handouts, I can’t believe what a waste it all was.
“Do I have your permission that my Director join us? (keep talking!) I would love for her to meet you and part of my training is that she will ask questions to get your opinion, while I listen and learn.”
When she says, “Keep talking”, she means, “Don’t wait for an answer, just assume ‘yes’ and plow ahead.”
This is all so sad. While these tactics are slimy, I have seen effective sales-folks use similar tactics. But what makes this so disgusting in this case is the purpose for employing the tactics. Instead of using these tactics to making someone more comfortable with a purchase, many of these tactics (and others employed in Mary Kay) are used specifically to cloud a prospect’s judgement.
Greed is powerful and a low-hanging fruit. That includes exploiting a recruit’s desire for financial gain as well as personal affirmation. Ironically, the recruit will end up with less money and lower self-esteem once the Pink Reality sets in. That’s what makes this all so sickening.