I was talking with a networker the other day and what she told me made my head spin.

She told me she was having trouble getting her business started. When I hear this the first thing I do is ask, “How long have you been in the business?” She told me about 3 months. Then I asked, “How many people have you called.” She told me 50 and out of the 50 she had four customers.

Now I don’t know about you but I have red lights flashing everywhere with that many people and such paltry results.

When I asked her what her upline said, she told me that they won’t work with her because, “I’m not successful.”

“Excuse me,” I said “What do you mean?”

She told me, it was upline policy to only spend time with those who are successful. This is not just her direct upline but the policy of the leadership in the upline.

Folks this is putting the cart before the horse. How does one expect someone to be successful if they haven’t been coached through the process of introducing your business and or product to people?

It is not the successful you work with - it is the willing and you help them develop the tools to be successful. You get paid to work with someone who is willing to do the work to develop a successful business. This is your job as a sponsor.

What sponsor in their right mind would let a business builder blow through that many people without debriefing them?

This gal (as all new business builders) needs to be debriefed after each call with a successful upline. Someone who can help her hone her approach and closing skills. This new business builder deserves this! Yes, deserves this. All new business builders deserve this.

Offering someone a way to improve the quality of their life through working with you in your business requires that you do your job. In my opinion this is what is meant by sponsoring with integrity. You follow through and make sure that everyone has access to the necessary tools for success. You also make sure that everyone who actually talks to people about the business and product has access to you to get better at using those tools.

By the way, I coached this woman for a few minutes until I heard the confidence in her voice rise and she was ready to make another call. After she made her call I suggested she call the most successful person in her upline to debrief. I also suggested that if they weren’t willing “because she wasn’t successful” she should immediately go to her company, explain what was happening - file a complaint - and ask for a new upline.

Are you a sponsor the Network Marketing Industry can be proud of? There is no middle ground. You either strengthen the reputation of our industry or undermine it. This doesn’t mean you need all the answers. It does mean you are on a quest to be the best sponsor you can be and you make sure everyone in your organization that is willing to work and is working gets the help they need. Because, frankly in my opinion, if you are not strengthening the reputation of our industry then please leave…there is no room for you.