One of the more persistant and common marketing techniques utilised by the MLM industry today is the idea of ‘duplication and retention’.
‘Hi, I’m so and so and today I’m going to share with you how I achieved MASSIVE success in my company.
By putting together a team of four or five people and showing them how to duplicate your results, you too can be on your way to riches!’
This type of mareketing spiel I’m finding is increasingly common and most likely for one very good reason:
The idea of ‘duplication and retention’ adresses the need to recruit other people and keep them in your business, without actually saying so.
Recruitment is a dirty word in the MLM industry. Tell a lead they need to recruit to achieve success and more often than not they’ll ask you what it is you actually sell.
That’s usually when the conversation stops.
Tell them they need to duplicate your success after you show them how however, and marketers might just find the conversation lasting that much longer with a much higher chance of conversion.
But what exactly does ‘duplication and retention’ really mean?
Literally, the ideas are simple. Duplication is the act of ‘repeating something’. In the context of MLM, this could mean selling products at a retail level or recruiting others to the business and developing a strong downline.
When somebody throws the duplication and retention marketing line at you, what you need to do is take a look at how it’s been used. And furthermore, what exactly is it you’re being asked to duplicate?
Is the person trying to market the business opportunity to you, or the products they sell?
If it’s the products, did they start off marketing the products or merely include them as an afterthought (or because you asked about them)?
Take a step back and analyse what their doing. How confident they are, does what they are doing appear to be difficult? Are they nervous or confident…?Do they look desperate to make the sale or recruit you?
These are all questions that should be running through your head, as by asking you to duplicate their results – you’re most likely looking at exactly what you’ll be asked to do should you join the business.
Retention on the other hand is a little easier to guage. Simply put it’s the amount of people you can keep either as customers, or below you in your downline.
The easiest way to guage retention rates if someone is telling you it’s part of a success equation is to enquire about their own retention rates.
Sure, everyone’s experience in an opportunity is going to differ but at least it’s a ballpark figure and gives you something to work with.
If you’re feeling confident about the business or products being pitched to you, you might even go so far as to ask to see some company wide retention rates and membership statistics – if available.
Naturally with a higher retention rate you increase your success at a retail level by having more customers to sell products to. In a downline sense, obviously the larger your downline the more you make from any compensation plan – such is the nature of the MLM industry.
As such, duplication and retention go hand in hand when we’re talking success in MLM and that’s why the two are often paired together in a marketing spiel.
What matters though is what exactly it is you’re being asked to duplicate, and the easiest way to ascertain that is to think about how you yourself were approached (or if the marketer is good at what they do, how you approached them).
If it’s just a recruitment opportunity and you’re most likely looking at solely getting others to join the business under you, think about what that means and the liklihood of your future success.
Are you comfortable doing it? What if someone calls you out on the fact that recruitment is at the heart of your business? Does it sound like a long term solution to prosperity?
If you were approached on a retail level, then what about the products themselves. Can you see yourself effectively marketing them. Are they useful or even relevant to your success in the company?
Being pitched MLM on a retail product level is a good start and shows that by duplication, you’re not just going to have to worry about recruiting others to the business. Following on from this a strong retention rate should naturally follow as an emphasis on retail products indicates there’s real value in the products themselves and more importantly, a demand.
The next time someone pitches you the ‘duplication and retention’ line, stop to think a moment and ask some of the questions I’ve mentioned in this article.
Duplication and Retention is a call to action, and that’s before you’ve even committed yourself! Like any call to action though, you need to assess whether it’s the right call of action for you and whether or not you’d be comfortable (and therefore much more likely to be succesful) doing it.
Only then will you know if you’ve potentially found the right MLM business opportunity for you.

Skype : aali.attar