After a recent experience with a network marketer entrepreneur last week, I felt it would benefit others to share this experience as an opportunity to learn from someone else’s mistakes so that their own business might benefit.

On October 23, 2017, I saw an ad (photo below) in my Facebook feed calling for Canadian men aged 35-45 and saved the particular ad for later that evening.

Once home, I viewed the brief video that was in the ad and also checked out the link, which was for a webinar the same night. By the time I had signed up, the webinar was already over, so I decided to reach out via Facebook messenger to connect. After giving my reasons for connecting, the following photos are the resulting correspondence.

The marketing company I had mentioned was apparently a competitor (unknown to me prior to asking) of this particular affiliate marketing company. After the very last message that I received of “Ok bye”, I attempted to reach out to provide some feedback based on my experience with this person, as I felt there were some things that weren’t quite right in terms of how they were handled and how they could be handled better in the future. My attempt was quickly stifled, as I found that I was immediately blocked on Facebook. In signing up for the webinar, my email address was used on a capture page that started sending me auto-generated emails, so I decided to respond to one of them instead with my feedback.

1. When someone mentions a competitor, it would be advisable not to lead with a statement that is bashing/bad-mouthing the competition. Instead, ask questions on their experience with the competitor to get a better understanding of how you might be able to elevate your business to ensure the prospect has a better experience, thus, turning into a sale or signup. By bashing/bad-mouthing the competition, you not only decrease the ability to make a sale or signup, but you also demonstrate your unwillingness to get to know your prospect better by building a relationship with them; this is Network Marketing 101: Building Relationships.

2. If a prospect offers a polite rejection, it would be advisable not to simply say “OK bye” and block the person from further communication. Instead, leave the door open for them to change their mind in the future. A door left open can lead to a potential sale or signup in the future. Again, this is Network Marketing 101: Building Relationships.

After sending this feedback, the following response correspondence I got back were beyond jaw-dropping.

I didn’t send this last piece of feedback to this person, however, I believe this one is the most important.

1. Please remember, that any and all correspondence with a potential prospect should be handled with pure professionalism and respect, as you are still a representative of the company.

Please share this with any fellow entrepreneurs you may know, as I hope my experience will bring increased business to other business entrepreneurs by learning from the mistakes of others.

🤘🏻