Those who find network marketing success have learned the importance of serving other people.

The other day my wife had an experience with a local business which reminded me of the importance of customer service for any business, including network marketing. A few weeks ago, my wife was cleaning the carpet when our vacuum cleaner stopped working.

photo credit: reitveld
We have an older model Rainbow vacuum cleaner, which usually does a great job getting the dirt out of the carpets. But that day it stopped picking up anything.

My wife asked me to look at it. Since I know next to nothing about vacuum cleaners, I wasn’t surprised when I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

It was in the evening so we decided to wait until later to figure out what to do. We didn’t think about it again until the middle of the afternoon last Friday. After I took another look at it, reaffirming my lack of expertise in the matter, I suggested we take it to a repair shop in a nearby town.

My wife called the shop to find out how late they were open. A short while later she left with the vacuum cleaner.

In my mind, I was thinking we’d have to borrow or rent a replacement so we could get the carpet cleaned for a dinner party we’re having at our house next weekend. But about an hour later, my wife was back home with the repaired vacuum cleaner.

She said the folks at the shop looked at the vacuum cleaner immediately. After a few minutes, they figured out what was wrong and fixed it for a reasonable rate. They also sold her a new hose that we needed at a decent price.

All in all, they were nice, prompt and professional.

Guess who will be getting all our vacuum cleaner business from now on. And guess where we’ll suggest our friends go when they have similar needs.

Network marketers can learn a lesson from this experience. Too often we pounce on anyone we consider a prospect. And if we don’t think they’re a prospect we pay little or no attention to them.

Here’s the better plan: treat everyone the same way you’d want to be treated. Do this and the prospecting will take care of itself.

Steve DeVane

This mentoring program taught me to help everyone succeed.