It seems as if the most common problem with the Amway opportunity is the presence of unethical uplines. What is scary is that these upline may tell you that they care about you and that they want you to succeed. All the while, they are working on another agenda. The root of the problem is that some of the upline leaders profit from tools, thus they operating with a conflict of interest.
An IBO's business should be treated as such, and a case by case, person by person assessment of the business should be made before an IBO should be strongly encouraged to be involved in the tools systems. But most uplines don't do this. They will just address the audience and promote the system as the key to success, without knowing what each IBO is trying to achieve. In some extrememe cases, families are told to do without basic necessities in order to buy more standing orders or to attend another function. It boggles my mind when I think about it.
There are some red flags that may indicate if your upline has your best interest at heart, or his own best interest. A lack of emphasis on selling products is a red flag. A business exists to make a profit, and not selling products is a good way to fail in business. Not watching your profits versus income is another way to fail. If you are taught to ignore facts, you are likely being mislead by upline. Does your upline show off wealth and at the same time, spend time in bankruptcy court? Does your upline actually have wealth, or just the illusion of wealth? Are you told that total dedication to the system is all important?
If you see any of these signs from your upline, it may be in your own best interest to step back and take a close hard look at your business and see if you are getting to where you want to be. If not, there is no harm in doing something else or at least looking at making adjustments to what you are doing if it is not working. But the main thing, IMO, is to assess whether your upline leader is giving you advice that is in your best interest, or in his best interest?
This is a tough situation as how does one "check out" their potential upline LOS when getting ready to sign up?
ReplyDeleteHow would one know that they are getting into a LOS that promotes retailing/product movement vs an LOS that promotes tools/functions?
Maybe the pro people could let us in on if there was a way to do that?
Anonymous, that is why I started this blog. To inform people on what to look out for. I believe most if not all LOS push tools and do not strongly emphasize selling of product. At least a prospect can have an idea to know if he is getting hosed or about to ge hosed and can possibly avoid it.
ReplyDeleteEasy... Ask the potential upline lots of questions. You would be able to tell if they are ethical not only by their answers but how they answer.
ReplyDeleteGina, I disagree w/ you a bit....
ReplyDeleteI would think that a lot of people with no business experience wouldn't know what questions to ask. Or even if they did ask questions they may not be able to see thru the double-speak. I am not saying they are dummies, but they may have never been in that type of situation.
I believe that is a major reason a lot of IBOs sign up and...do nothing. Only after they sign up they see they were sold a bunch of lies. At least that is what happened with myself. I got sold on "dreams".
IBOs, believe or not - you should be pleased that a potential downline asks good questions - not just be hyped up on emotion!
"I would think that a lot of people with no business experience wouldn't know what questions to ask. Or even if they did ask questions they may not be able to see thru the double-speak. I am not saying they are dummies, but they may have never been in that type of situation."
ReplyDeleteMakes sense, which makes it much easier for the AMO’s to manipulate those with little to no business background. I do believe that some members of an IBO’s upline are being duped in this whole thing as well and honestly believe that they are doing the best thing for their families and their group with this ‘opportunity.’ Since some people think they have finally grabbed the brass ring, and have no prior business acumen to sort the wheat from the chaff, they latch onto their upline mentors that much more, possibly making it harder for them to separate and possibly, the damage, which this business can cause, more pronounced.