By Kim Klaver

There is an upscale and charming shopping area in Kansas City, MO, called the Plaza. One of the most popular places there is Starbucks. Always packed, and always those friendly people at the counter (baristas), making JUST the drink you want.

Have you ever noticed how many types of drinks they offer? Thirty-three on the board tonight - the cappuccinos, the lattes, the frappes, the espressos, the teas; and fifteen "customizations" on those from - with Soy, organic milk, decaf, no foam, iced or hot, and on and on.

These baristas need to know how to make them all. In addition, be friendly and engaging with each of the hundreds of customers coming through. Tonight, I asked the manager what they paid people, and what it takes to be hired. Here is the story.

People hired at this very busy and wonderful store in Kansas City, start at $6.75/hour. If someone works 20 hours/week or more, they would earn about $290/mo. (Starbucks also adds some benefits if someone works 20 hours +/mo.)

In addition, consider the training required for a job at Starbucks.

"Two weeks," she said. During those two weeks, the new person gets about thirty hours of personal training and practice. The program culminates in the new recruit's doing a demo for the group, showing they can make all the different drinks and the variations people request.

Why does any of this matter?

People say they do network marketing to make income. Many expect to make much more than $290/mo for the ten hours' per week worked. They talk about $5,000 or more per month. That is the promise, is not it. Financial freedom?

Now compare:

A Starbucks employee working ten hours per week in KC grosses $290.25 per month (4.3 weeks in a month @ $67.50/week). They have trained thirty hours over two weeks to learn and then demo what they need to know for the job...

People in our business offer recruits much more than $290/month, for ten hours' per week worked, do they not?

In addition, with that offer of a much bigger income, how much focused, personal training did you get?

Did you spend thirty hours in the first two weeks learning how to do what was required in this business? Like HOW TO TALK TO PEOPLE about the products and the business?

How many of you had to demonstrate, before you could start working and talking to others, that you knew how to talk to people about the products and the business? Did you have rehearsals and mock conversations for all the kinds of situations where you want to know just WHAT to say?

How does the Starbucks training compare to what you got?

Do you suppose the non-training of our recruits on how to talk to people affects the reaction of someone out there - who would be a prospective customer or business partner?

What if, the next time you stopped by a Starbucks counter, the person behind the bar screwed up your drink. Might you get upset at the $6.75/hour employee? They are SUPPOSED to know how to make those drinks, yes?

In the recruiting world, your world, other people just walk away when you do not talk to them right. They did not "get it". In addition, if you have never learned how to talk to people right, how could they get it?

Therefore, we go on, often turning off the very people who might be our prospects for the products, or the business, because no one has learned how to talk to people correctly about the business or product they have. In addition, we are expecting financial freedom. HA!

Who else thinks there is more to making big money or ANY money at all, than signing the application and telling others how great, the products and business are?

Are you ready to start the first three hours of your thirty-hour "Starbucks training" on how to talk to a big banana or little one about your business? Here is one option (http://www.eventbrite.com/event/20444149). Sorry, could not help myself...

Heeheehee.

What if you become a "what to say to people" pundit?

Kim Klaver is Harvard & Stanford educated. Her 20 years experience in network marketing have resulted in a popular blog, http://KimKlaverBlogs.com, a podcast, http://YourGreatThing.com and a giant resource site, http://BananaMarketing.com.