How to use MLM Cold Market Prospecting
to your advantage

Getting good at Cold Market Prospecting is a necessary skill when you've gone through your warm market list

I grew up in a certain part of New York where people are so busy in their day-to-day lives that hardly anyone stops to notice each other. In the summer of August 1995 I was on my way to college. When I arrived in Terre Haute, Indiana (Indiana State University) I was surrounded by people from different backgrounds and different walks of life.

Indiana State University

My new diverse environment

I remember coming from the registrar's office and this one person walks toward me. He passed me and he said, "how you doing?". I hesitated before responding because I wasn't used to people I didn't know speaking to me.

Several minutes later, Guess what? . . . It happened again with another person. It seems like 80% of the people that I passed by said hello to me or give me some sort of greeting. It wasn't until three weeks later the hospitality grew on me. Shortly afterward I started saying hello to people I came across in passing. Some of us eventually became friends. Up until this day I still expressed the same courtesy when I go places.

This leads me to one conclusion. We talk to cold market every day. Just walk through the mall or go to the park and see how many people greet you in one form or another while passing.

I say that to say talking to cold market isn't the problem . . . It's what to say afterwards to get them to see your presentation.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Pros of Cold Market Prospecting

Cold market prospecting is a valuable skill to have because one of the struggles you'll have as a network marketer is once you've contacted everyone on your warm market list, you find yourself resorting to the cold market.

Three good things about the cold market is:

You never run out of people to talk to
Once you learn and get comfortable with approaching the cold market you can go anywhere in the world (that speaks your language) and build a team.
They don't know your past to hold it against you. They don't know:

How many times you got drunk
How many times you filed bankruptcy
How many MLM's you've done in the past
How many times you've been unsuccessful in previous opportunities, etc.

Cons of Cold Market Prospecting

The disadvantage of the cold market is:

People only tend to do business with those they like and trust.
Your cold market doesn't know you, so it would be difficult for them to like and trust you right away.

The cold market is everywhere, but just because you see a cold market person doesn't mean you go up to them anytime or anyplace in any situation. For example:

If you're in-line and someone is apparently in a rush
If someone is preoccupied in the conversation on their phone
Trying to control busy children out at the park

. . . they may not take the serious time out to listen to you (use your own discretion). I'm not saying don't prospect those people at all, but be aware of your environment.

Which brings up another point. If you're going to actively do cold market prospecting it may help if you are in an environment where you would most likely find a prospect.

If you have nutritional products, you may want to go to a health food store. If you have vitamins or supplements you may want to go to a GNC branch or a Gym. If your product is travel, next time you're at a tourist attraction or the airport you can prospect (while waiting for the plane or sitting next to someone on the plane).

Ways To Start Cold Market Prospecting

How do you even start a conversation to implement the F.O.R.M. method? A popular way that is usually used is giving a compliment. A real compliment based from a genuine observation.

For example, I have a genuine interest in and track and field, old school hip-hop, and traveling. It is nothing for me to go up to a sports store and complement someone on the spikes they just purchased (since my knowledge is broad about the subject).

I can go to an old-school hip hop party or just wait for someone in a music store to come to the hip hop section and start looking.

I can talk to someone about traveling almost anywhere, complement the places they've been to then complement them for going there. My knowledge of the subject matter will carry on the conversation. Be attentive to see if the person is open to having a conversation. If so, continue with the F.O.R.M. method. If not, tell them have a nice day.

Another method one of my partners use is the picture method

For example:

They go to a fast food restaurant and sit down to eat a meal with a friend. He then takes out his smart phone and goes to an unsuspecting lead and says something like, "Excuse me, my friend just came in from out of town and this is their last night. Can you take a picture of us please?" While the lead takes the smart phone and begins to take the picture, my friend takes out a his product OR something that represents his product and poses with it.

The purpose of that is to serve as a conversation starter. If the lead inquires about what my partner took out he skips the FORM Method and tells them what it is and asks if they would like more information. In some cases, he just tells them what it is and then asks for their Facebook information to follow up with them (It's easier to get a cold market's social media contact than personal telephone number)

Use whatever method you know that is most comfortable for you, or find one and get comfortable with that. However, whatever method you use, it is important that you're genuine. People can sense something awkward when it presents itself and they will react negatively to it right away.

Remember this generally is not the time to do a presentation. The purpose of cold market prospecting is to generate a lead and see if they're prospects. But what you want to accomplish is turn them from:

Strangers to acquaintances . . .
Acquaintances to having a rapport . . .
Having rapport to them liking you . . .
From them liking you, to them trusting you.