Did Mike Dillard Just Lie to Me?!
I’m baaaaa-aaaaaack…
Sorry that I have been neglecting my blog for the last few weeks… I am NOT dead. Just checked my pulse and I am good to go. 
I have just been focusing on some other aspects of my life and I tell you what – it’s NICE to be able to take some time and focus on something other than your career for a little while if you need to. I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to get done what I have accomplished in the last month or so if I had a 9-5 job – I consider myself very blessed to have that kind of freedom.
Another one of the blessings I have is the different mentors and friends that play such a big part in my life. I love the people I work and interact with. Just the other day some of us were around a conference room table over lunch discussing some of the big changes that are coming down the pipeline for our group, and something one of my newfound mentors said redefined just a little bit the way I think about the network marketing industry and the companies in it.
You see, a while ago Mike Dillard shared his opinion about the ideal number of products that a company should have to maximize the effectiveness of its distributors. His argument was that assuming a legitimate, marketable product, having fewer products to market has a positive effect on the independent distributors recruiting results. He even cited a book called,”YES! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways To Be Persuasive” where author Robert Cialdini shared a number of unique studies that validated his claims. Here is an excerpt from his book:
Behavioral scientist Sheena Iyengar and several colleagues analyzed company-sponsored retirement programs for nearly 800,000 workers, looking at how the participation rates varied as a function of how many fund choices the organization offered.
Sure enough, the researchers found that the more choices that were offered, the less likely the employees were to enroll in the program at all.
For every 10 additional funds the company offered, the participation rate dropped 2%.
By comparison, they found that when only two funds were offered, the rate of participation was roughly 75%. But when fifty-nine funds were offered, the participation dropped below 60%.
In a second study, they set up a display at an upscale super market in which passersby could sample a variety of jams that were all made by a single manufacturer.
Either 6, or 24 flavors were offered at any given time.
The results demonstrated a clear and astonishing difference between the two conditions: Only 3% of those who approached the extensive-choice display actually purchased any jam. Contrast that with the 30% who bought jam when they approached the limited choice display.
Now the way that Dillard interpreted this data with respect to the network marketing industry, was that the companies with only one or two products generally had more success at recruiting new distributors, for various reasons.
First of all, having only one product creates perfect focus throughout the company because every single distributor is dealing with the exact same product. All the conference calls, tools, websites, presentations, and trainings are about one single product. Everyone in the entire company is on the same page.
Second, he argues that having too many options to choose from creates fragmentation throughout the company, which can create confusion and doubt for new distributors.
Now, at the time I was involved with a single product company, so you can imagine how excited I was when one of the industry legends sided with me on the great debate between the mlm skin care dinosaurs and the streamlined magical potion companies. He was telling me just what I wanted to hear. Imagine how much more that made me value him and his opinion. (For the record, I still admire him and his opinion, even though mine now differs from his.)
Thanks to a little conversation with my new nameless-by-request mentor I realized that the stance Dillard had taken was in fact 100% correct, but that it was also a little bit of an oversimplification of a much bigger picture, a little bit like finding “x” in the picture to the right.
You see, I’d had conversations with various people on the corporate side of network marketing companies about how the juice deals (a.k.a. one hit wonders) grow explosively for a few years and then start to systematically die, but since I was a part of one didn’t really take their comments seriously. I just blew them off and told myself they didn’t really know what they were talking about.
When I finally decided to open my eyes all the way, I realized that my friends were right… while single product companies are generally easier to recruit for, they are also generally not around as long as companies that offer more products.
But why is that?
Well, first of all you need to realize that there is no such thing as a miracle product. There are a lot of solid, scientifically proven products out there, but the elusive white unicorn doesn’t exist. (So if you’re still looking for it, save yourself some time and energy.) Second, one product can’t address every need of every customer. That is what having multiple products is for, and a better way to gain long term customers. Individual customers’ needs may change over time, and having different products that they have grown to trust can keep them “in the family”. It’s also more justifiable for customers to buy a little bit of a lot of different products than it is for them to buy a lot of only one.
The beautiful thing about having such a variety of companies and product offerings is that just like customers, distributors have different needs. Some want something long term while others are in search of something a little bit quicker or easier. Whatever your needs and desires, hopefully this information has helped you understand the real differences of single and multi-product network marketing companies.
Whichever way you go, know that you can and will succeed by staying focused and working hard!
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