The Tools of the Trade
Love Bombing, Story Telling, and Loaded Language
Shutterstock photo by: Jerome.Romme
Like a scalpel in the hands of a surgeon versus a scalpel in the hands of a killer, the intention with your use of a tool matters. Very specific tools are used to attract, sell and retain the mostly free labour and advertising force within multi-billion dollar multi-level marketing companies.
First, we are invited to a community event or connection with a charismatic person selected to best appeal to our personal vulnerabilities.
Next, we are sold on a product line through a scripted conversation.
If we have concerns, a scripted “overcoming objections,” process is used to disarm and dissuade us from trusting our instincts.
Once we become sufficiently convinced to take a chance at maybe earning “some money on the side,” we are then taught to repeat the chain of manipulation and coercion that was used on us.
That glimmer of realization that our experience had been a strategy used on us is one of the first things we may “put on the shelf,” an analogy that Sociologist, author and cult expert Jajna Lalich teaches. When someone enters a potentially harmful or abusive* situation, we take red flags and inconsistencies and set them on the shelf. If we are lucky, one day, after eventually bearing significant weight, that shelf collapses, and we can begin to see the situation for what it truly was. And with education and support, we can begin to recover.
Stories are the most powerful tool wielded by people trying to make a go of it and earn themselves side-hustle money and time freedom. A compelling story builds trust with the listener and has the power to convert and change someone’s perception, as well as to inspire action. The right story can make listeners relate to it almost to the extent that they feel they are living in it. At this point, they are connected to the storyteller and may become highly suggestible—the critical point at which the salesperson is to ask for a commitment to take the next little step forward. Woven into these stories subtly at first, but building as our commitment grows in the indoctrination process—is the unique use of language.
One of the very first things inductees are told after signing up as a representative is to “tell your story,” we are also told that it doesn’t matter if you do not have any story to tell. If you decided, as I did in 2012, to become a multi-level marketing customer and representative simultaneously, you are said to “use other people’s stories until you have your own.” I passed down the exact instructions to my recruits. “Just use me, or use the other leaders. Tell your prospect that you would love if they could meet your colleague, or tell them you told your mentor about them and that she would love to meet them.” In case you didn’t notice, at this point, we now have three manipulation tactics converging—love bombing, storytelling and loaded language.