"Make a list of your friends and family..."
So goes the advice passed down from uplines to downlines. This allegedly sage wisdom is normally couched with the following philosophy, "They're your friends and family, they love you, they will be happy to look."
And of course the new distributor with visions of mansions and exotic beach vacations dutifully agrees even if in most cases it makes them feel completely uncomfortable.
If leaders have been giving this advice for years it has to work right? Warm market recruiting has to be an absolute proven method for building riches right?
In a word... no. And here's why.
Warm Market Recruiting Fail #1 - Your Warm Market WILL Expect Special Treatment From You
The reason here is simple. You're their friend of family member. Their assumption goes that because you are their sponsor that you will in fact be more available, will take more time to help them (insert do work for them), and basically love all over them.
And in many cases this is exactly what you do when you first sponsor friends and family. You quickly discover that you are investing countless hours in a support mode that...
A) You would never do with non cold market team members
B) Is truly wasted time because you realize that your friends and family normally work and produce the LEAST!
Giving this extra time to high maintenance/low producing warm market team members will not only cost you but it will also cost your other team members who do in fact deserve your time because they are proactively engaged in their businesses the right way.
When things begin to turn south you'll begin to hear things like this from your family member or friend, "I thought you were going to help me more" or "You're not helping me enough." When you begin to hear this soundtrack the resentment phase has already started and your warm market team member is about to quit.
Warm Market Recruiting Fail #2 - You WILL Expect More From Your Family and Friends
This is essentially the inverse of #1 on our list. Because they are your friends or family you feel as if they of all people should be the ones to really get running and cranking in the business. Because of this you will expect them to do all the basics that any team member would do plus more.
But in most cases they don't.
As already discussed they typically do less than the straight cold market members and again the resentment comes out. This normally comes out in this sequence.
You sponsor your family member/friend.
You onboard them as you would any new distributor.
They feel like they deserve special treatment and you spend way more time with them than you should.
You get frustrated with this and begin to engage with them less expecting that they will either grow up or get out.
Most will get out.
Everyone has wasted time and worse the final fail of warm market recruiting happens...
Warm Market Recruiting Fail #3 - When Your Friend Or Family Member Quits It Will Forever Be Weird Between You Both
You would think that hey we're all adults, no one would have hard feelings right? Wrong.
The friend or family member will no doubt think you scammed, used, or wronged them on some level. In most cases this is completely false but perceptions are everything and theirs is, you took advantage of them.
You on the other hand will see your friend or family member as lazy, unmotivated, and a flake on some level.
It is the elephant in the room that we can deny all we want but it's there and it's not going anywhere. Nothing will really ever change it. It's not that you can't be friends anymore and obviously family is family, but the experience will leave a bad taste in every mouth
It's Easier To Warm Up Cold Market Then It Is To Re-Heat Warm Market
The advice of pitching your warm market is at its heart well intentioned and practical. Any upline leader worth their rank understands showing a new team member an early win does amazing things to curb attrition and raise belief. But those early warm market sign ups are false positives and the after effects leave everyone sour.
Prospecting and recruiting in the cold market may seem intimidating but it's remarkable easier to get someone that's cold warmed up then it is to get a friend or family member heated up to take action.
My advice is simple... Leave your friends and family alone. If they approach you once you've had success in the business, think long and hard about sponsoring them into your organization. The short term positive is rarely worth the long term headaches for both of you.
There's a great big world out there and you're literally walking past your fortune every day in the people you encounter. Build your business with them.
