How to Deal With a Pushy Upline Or Sponsor AND Improve The Relationship

Let’s face it, Network Marketing is a business of networking and building relationships. While the majority of marketers have to deal with the absent sponsor, or the person who disappears shortly after recruiting you, some face the opposite problem. Dealing with a pushy sponsor can be both disheartening and derailing to your business building efforts. In order to not sour your experience, you really need to have a healthy relationship with your sponsor. However, it's not absolutely needed to be successful.

Here are some ways to deal with having one of those overzealous sponsors:

Don’t Take It Personal

First and foremost, you have to understand that your sponsors are not attacking you personally. They want success in their own business and understand that in order for them to grow, then they have to help you grow. The problem is that their actions may not come from a place of selflessness, but rather a place of selfishness. They may get so focused on what you can do for them, that they may forget that it should be what they can do to help you. Normally, this behavior will show up sooner than later, so realize that you have options before it’s too late or too difficult to make a change.

Set Business Goals

Instead of your sponsor pushing you to do things their way, they should be helping you to set goals. If this does not happen, and they are just telling you how you should be doing things, then ask them for input about setting some good starting goals. Tell them that you simply want to focus on achieving those, and ask if they have an actual system that they can share that has worked for them. Kindly explain that telling you to call all of your friends and family is not a system. The system should include a plan of actions that will directly help you attain your goals.

Seek Or Ask For Alternative Mentoring or Training

Some uplines or sponsors may require that you buy a specific training or system. In most cases, they actually get paid when you buy the training that they are requiring. Are their motives about really helping you grow by making sure that you have the proper knowledge, and education, or is it to make a commission?

If your upline is demanding that you buy a specific system or training, then make sure it’s something that will directly affect your bottom line. If they tell you to buy traffic to send to your sales funnel for example, and they have been getting results and growing their business with it, then it’s likely a good investment. On the other hand, if it’s a training module that cost thousands, then you may be able to find some different training that will teach you the same thing for a much cheaper price. The training will not directly bring you prospects and fill your list, but the traffic most likely will.

Again, you can kindly inform your sponsor that you have access to your own training and plan on utilizing that. If you don’t have any other sources to get training from, then ask your sponsor for suggestions. Make sure that it’s something that’s in your budget.

Research The Opportunity & Sponsor Before Joining

If you really want to make the best of your Network Marketing experience, and set yourself up for success, then it starts before you ever sign on the dotted line. Or fill in the blanks on the screen, in today’s age. It’s important to join the right company, with the right compensation plan for yourself, but what about the right sponsor? During your research to decide which opportunity is best for you, take the time to see how many consultants that you can find. I’ve done this numerous times in my Network Marketing career, and have gotten some really good sponsors.

When I thought that I wanted to get a certain type of support, I looked for people who looked like they fit that bill. When I wanted to just be left alone to go about it my way, then I looked for someone who looked like they would just leave me alone. For my latest sponsor, I knew I wanted to blog, so I signed up with a sponsor that had his own blog network.

To really avoid getting into the wrong business, or downline, then start the process by being proactive and eliminating those concerns before they even have a chance to appear.

Be Upfront With them

In my opinion, it’s important to be upfront about your intentions, when dealing with a pushy sponsor. Again, a lot of times they have good intents, but just poor execution. If you start avoiding them then they may think that you are not committed to your business and being able to succeed. They may push for many reasons, but they would be happy to know that you are at least committed and are taking your business seriously. If they see that, and the fact that you have a plan, then they may trust you to do what you need to do on your own.

Explaining yourself with tact, should help improve the relationship as well, and will be a lot healthier than the kind energy that comes with aversion and/or avoidance.

#Sponsoring #Recruiting #NetworkMarketing #Training