Network Marketing – Business or Products

During coaching sessions with women in network marketing and direct sales, I am often asked: When talking with prospects, should I lead with the business or products? Here are a few suggestions you may want to consider.

This probably isn’t the answer you’d expect, but I recommend listening to your instincts. Yes, listen to that powerful instinctive inner voice because it will unconsciously alert you to ask the right questions and carefully listen to the answers.

Here’s a successful prospecting rule of thumb: It is about what your prospect wants, not what you need.

Consider these pros and cons for leading with the business and leading the products:

Leading with the Products –

1. Offering the product is easier. If you truly believe in what your company is selling, it is easy to share the products especially if you use most of them yourself. If you are just beginning with the company, leading with the product is probably the most comfortable way to get started building a business.

2. Customers may turn into business builders. Life is ever changing and your customer’s circumstances are sometimes changing day-by-day. Current satisfied customers may find themselves deciding it is time to grow a business. That is why it is important to stay in touch with current customers and prospects with customer care calls, newsletters and product updates.

3. Satisfied customers often want to share their satisfaction with others. Someone who has gotten positive results from the products they are using will naturally want to tell others. Often, satisfied customers decide for themselves that they want to grow a business. They see for themselves how easy it is to share their enthusiasm for the products. This is the person who will often call you and ask how they can sign up to build a business.


Leading with the Business –

1. Introduce the business first because you can always follow up with product. Many network marketers believe that leading with the business is a must because if your prospect doesn’t choose to work the business, they will most certainly want to use the product.

2. If a prospect is looking to begin a business or for a job then it is definitely time to offer the business potential. If someone asks you questions about the moneymaking possibilities of joining your company, it is time to introduce them to the compensation plan. Give them the tools with which they can make an educated decision – a decision about what is right for them.

3. A prospect is interested in building a business if they ask you about making passive or residual income. It is important to ask open-ended questions that will allow others to tell you about their hopes and needs for the future. When they ask you about how they can earn passive income, it is time to explain how building a solid business could help them do just that.


There is no right or wrong way to introduce your business or products to a prospect. How you grow your business and how you attract team members has to fit into your personality and prospecting style. You have to feel comfortable growing your business. In network marketing there are tried and true techniques that work and it is up to you to find the techniques that consistently work best for you. There is no cookie cutter approach to leading with the business or the product – it is up to you to listen to your prospect and then decide what is best for all involved.

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Sharon Recommends:

Here is an offsite link to a downloadable ECourse geared specifically for women in Network Marketing: How To Successfully Overcome 3 Major Obstacles That Stop Women From Making Six Figures+ In Network Marketing