I was visiting a network marketing forum last night and someone asked if anyone had a good "memory jogger". There ensued a lengthy and somewhat passionate discussion about the value of warm market recruiting. Frankly, I was surprised by what some folks said.

A good number of participants felt that warm market recruiting was not the way to go. In fact, some felt it was a bad idea. It was "old school," "too hard," and "unlikely to find leaders". They felt that online lead generation was the way to build the business today and they wouldn't approach their warm market.

Most of the participant agreed with what I believe: warm market has worked in this industry since the beginning, many fortunes have been made that way and continue to be made that way. Warm market is easier than trying to teach people how to generate leads online, let alone asking new distributors to recruit those leads. Warm market is a place everyone can start. Cold market is great but it should come later. And online lead generation can be excellent but it's not a sinecure and it's not for everyone.

I responded (below). One thing I didn't mention is that we start people in their warm market so that when they recruit someone in the cold market, they know what to do to help those people recruit in their warm market. This is important because it allows new people to recruit new people and teach them how to recruit and help new people.

By the way, if you would like one, here's a memory jogger I have used (I don't recall where I found it).

Here is my post on the subject:

–
"I was an attorney for twenty years and have been full time in my network marketing company for the last eight years. I have recruited hundreds of professionals, mostly from warm market, and built a six-figure residual income from scratch in just a few years.

We start everyone on our team with warm market, and if they're lucky, they never have to go into the cold market. (Professionals tend to know a lot of people). A memory jogger is an excellent tool. The yellow pages is also excellent. The white pages can also be used.

The cold market is harder (even when they contact you). In the warm market, they may not respect you in your new business (and that's why we use third-party) but they trust you. They'll probably look at what you have. Will they be any more likely to get started? No. Will they be any more likely to be a leader? No again. But neither will they be any less likely.

Why assume that because they are your uncle they wouldn't be interested or they wouldn't be very good. Is someone a poorer prospect because they know you? Doesn't that sound silly?

I understand the value of getting someone to raise their hand and express interest before you expose them. That's good and I do it, too. But that doesn't mean approaching someone who hasn't expressed interest isn't a viable method of operation. You could argue that it takes more work or it's a longer process or that it's finite compared to the cold market, which is infinite, and these are valid arguments. But they don't negate the value of a warm market.

I can't understand why anyone would choose to not share their business information with people they know. Would you tell them about your new shoe store or donut shop? Of course you would, even if they don't wear shoes or eat donuts. You'd do it because you were proud of your new business and because even if they aren't interested in anything you have to offer (product or opportunity), (a) they might know someone who is, and (b) their interest might change over time.

A lot of people tell me that had they known me when I was practicing law, they would not have approached me. They would either have been intimidated or they would have assumed my success as an attorney meant I would have no interest. Well, that would have been a mistake because I was interested. (I made a lot of money as an attorney but had no time.) I would have been on their warm market list but if they pre-judged me or believed "warm market doesn't work" they would have lost out on a very big, and very productive organization.

You too are on someone's warm market list. If they thought warm market doesn't work and didn't approach you. . . wouldn't that have been a mistake?

Warm market works and everyone can start there. And they should. If anyone doesn't agree, please send your warm market list to me."

The discussion about warm market versus cold market recruiting continued on the forum. As I watched folks weigh in on the subject, I had to add my 37 cents. I'm sure it's not the last word on the subject:

–
I've always been amused (confused?) by the dichotomy between the statements, "your list is the best place to start" and "friends and family will probably give you the hardest time". Napoleon Hill said something along the lines of, "the biggest cause of failure is people listening to the opinions of friends and family".

And yet. . .

1. I started building my business in the warm market
2. My organization starts in their warm market
3. We are extremely successful

Key point: We don't alienate our warm market because we don't "convince" we "educate". We let people know what we do and invite them to get more information. [Note, several who said they didn't use/teach warm market did so because they had lost friends, had bad experiences, etc. Others said that's because they were taught to do it wrong--and that's why their friends ran from them.]

There is a thread here about "why newbies don't work their lists". I haven't read it, but I suspect the consensus is that they are afraid of what their friends will think of them. It's fear. Their friends will laugh at them, try to talk them out of it, and so on. And we can all understand this. We can also understand why people would think that "talking to strangers" is easier than talking to your friends and families. But it is not. If you're doing it correctly, it's much easier to talk to friends and family.

If you're pestering your friends, trying to convince them, asking them to sign up because they "owe you" or telling them you'll "pay them back" or "put people under them" or other such nonsense, that's as ill-conceived as it is difficult. But if you're merely showing them your new business, with no strings attached, no commitments requested, no sales pitch and no agenda other than sharing the information, what could be easier? "Mom, I'm sending you a video about my new business. I'm excited and want to show you what I'm doing." Piece of cake.

The cold market is not a piece of cake.

In the warm market, you can ask people to look at the information and give you their opinion (not sign up) as a favor. Not so in the cold market. Why should a stranger do a favor for you?

In the warm market, you can say "I don't know, I'm new" and defer to someone else. Not so easy in the cold market.

In the warm market, people trust you. They won't hang up on. They will be curious about what you're doing. The cold market doesn't know you or trust you and they don't care about what you're doing and in addition, they will lie to you ("No I didn't fill out a form, why are you spamming me!")

In the warm market, you don't need skills to get started, you need a system. In the cold market, if you don't know what you're doing, if you don't have "posture," if you don't know how to control the conversation and deal with objections and be the rejector instead of the rejectee, you're going to get beaten up, chewed up, and spat out.

Where do you acquire those skills and that posture? Yes, you can develop them in the cold market but most people won't stick around long enough to do so. That's the primary reason why those of us who say the warm market is the best place to start (if you're doing it right) take that position.

As for the notion that "the best prospects are those who have been in network marketing"

1. None of the hundreds I have recruited were experienced in network marketing
2. As far as I know, this is predominately true for my organization

In other words, we built a large organization with people with little or no network marketing experience. And, after reading some of the posts, here, I'm thinking that's a good thing! The more experience someone has in network marketing:

1. The less coachable they are likely to be, in terms of following the systems we use, and
2. The more likely it is that they have "burned through" their warm market.

The latter is undoubtedly one of the reasons why many experienced networkers look to methods other than warm market–they don't have one. (Well, they do, but it's easier to talk to strangers than to talk to the people who watched you mess up in five other "deals".)

If you don't have a warm market, either because you've "burned through it" or you just don't know a lot of people, that's one thing. You have no choice but to talk to strangers. You'll get good quickly or you'll become a statistic. But if you do have a warm market and you choose not to approach them, that says something about (a) the way you've been trained, or (b) your belief in what you're doing. Yes, there are many ways to get information in front of people, and yes, it's your right to build your business the way you choose to, but why would anyone choose to NOT show their information to people they know?

We all know individuals we don't want in our business, or even as customers. They are disagreeable, complainers, or we just don't like them. Whatever. That's legitimate. Don't show them. But the majority of the people you know, I hope, don't fit that description. They might not have money to be a customer or they might not believe in vitamins if that's what you sell, and they might not be entrepreneurial. But show them anyway.

(a) they know people and can give referrals;
(b) those factors could change, over time; and
(c) you could be wrong in your assessment. (That's why we say, "don't pre-judge".)

When I begin working with someone and they tell me they don't want to make a list, I have a heart to heart with them and if they still feel that way, I'm done with them. I probably won't tell them that, but I'm certainly not going to invest a lot of time and energy in someone who doesn't believe in what they are doing. It's no different than someone who signs up in the business but doesn't want to buy your product/service. We all know that these people don't make it, don't we?

In the beginning, I don't expect people to have the level of belief they will have later on, but if they don't have enough belief to make a list, or enough trust in me and my ability to coach them to success, that tells me I'll probably have to push them, and I don't want to do that.

You do have the right to build your business your way, but so does your sponsor. And that's something I think we can all agree with.