Random musings: Embrace your skeptics #TBT

Today's blog post was originally published two years ago:

This post is based on Jordan Adler's SendOutCards call from yesterday. Even though his weekly calls are aimed at SOC distributors, much of what he says is generic in nature, such as the first part of this call.

There's a big difference between a cynic and a skeptic. Here's a good comparison of the two terms from DifferenceBetween.net:

Skepticism is an open-minded way of thinking about things. Cynicism, on the other hand, is close-minded because it is often a quick reaction or immediate belief that someone is being dishonest.

Usually a skeptic just needs more information to reach a conclusion. A cynic makes a decision without any information.

More from the same article:

In a very basic sense, skepticism challenges views and questions if assumptions are correct or not. Cynicism focuses on the negative parts of a problem. It is good to be a little bit skeptical. It is not good to be cynical. Skeptical people want to have evidence of something before they will believe it is true. Cynical people do not trust any information that they do not personally agree with.

Jordan talks on the call about running into skeptics, cynics and players in your network marketing business in the following approximate percentages:

20% will be cynics...they won't sign up no matter what you say or do
10% will be players...they'll sign up on the spot or with just a little research
70% will be skeptics...they're the ones that will need the 4 to 12 followups to get them to signup

When I joined SendOutCards I was pretty much a player. I looked at the website a little and I signed up 4 days later as a distributor because I knew it was what I needed to promote the other NM business I was in at the time.

There's a saying in network marketing that "You can't say the wrong things to the right people and you can't say the right things to the wrong people". I recently heard a slightly modified version of this: "You can't say the wrong things to the right people AT THE RIGHT TIME and you can't say the right things to the wrong people AT ANY TIME". The cynics are the "wrong people", no matter what you say to them, they won't be interested in your "pyramid scheme" and when the "right people" are ready, they're ready.

If somebody tells you that they need more information, that's a good sign. Be sure to share your 3rd party tools...videos, 3 way calls, whatever your company provides for you. And when a skeptic does finally sign up, they're likely to be one of your best team members!