Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Amway - Upline Accountability?

Part of what Joecool perceives as the problem with the Amway opportunity is the utter lack of accountability of some upline leaders. They may tell you to trust them, to submit to them and simply copy or duplicate what they have done, and they imply that you will get the same results. Many downlines over the years have put in blood sweat and tears into the business only to suffer massive losses following the system. Upline will then place the blame on the downline. Citing that they either did not try hard enough or they didn't put in enough time and effort. Despite a shockingly low success rate of system IBOs, nobody seems to fault the system as being flawed. And nobody seems to question whether upline is at fault.

In my observations, I would say that many financial systems are similar. Whether it be BWW, N21, WWDB, real estate gurus or other systems, the success rate is low. Many systems that advertise on television will have a disclaimer that a success testimony is a rare or unique experience. I believe it is similar to the systems in Amway. Dedication or continued spending on the system is not the problem. The problem is often the system itself. It can work for some exceptional people. These people were likely to succeed in other venues anyway. The problem is that is does not work for the majority of people.

The bigger problem, is that for many many years, some uplines have lived high on the hog off of the dedicated tool purchases of their downline. All the while, quesitonable or bad advice was given to the faithful downline. Advice such as quitting a job to attend a function, skipping financial obligations such as the rent or electric bills to buy more tools. One upline even said your family can skip a meal because the standing order may contain the one thing you needed to hear to make your business grow. I have personally seen couples lose their homes and go bankrupt because they followed upline advice. Upline to "has their best interest at heart". Granted, the couple has some culpability in these decisions, but uplines who give this advice seem to get a pass.

Where is the accountability? Some of these uplines who give and gave bad advice, are still active today, and some are still giving bad advice to their downlines. Advice that profits upline and drains downline. Even with valid complaints, it appears that many uplines avoid any accountability. For some, perhaps there is poetic justice, such as diamonds having their homes foreclosed. But as many uplines have nobody to hold them accountable, do you really want to do business with these folks? Would you invest your retirement money with a broker who could not be held accountable? Would you have your car repaired by a shop whose mechanics could not be held accountable? I believe the answer is not to these questions, yet many people are asked to trust and follow the advice of an upline who is not held accountable for their advice.

The system is credited for the few successes that are visible, but the individual is held accountable for any shortcomings or failures. IBOs, I encourage you to hold your upline leaders accountable for the advice they give you. If they won't answer tough questions or take responsibility, then one should wonder why the upline should be given your trust.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

JoeCool, you are one bitter and stubborn loser. You quit, that's why you failed! Why do you have to continue to steal dreams and bash IBO's and this opportunity? My upline does talk about the tools and he tells us that Amway is hard work. I was never told to skip my bills to attend functions and I have never heard of such a thing. Maybe you need to get a hobby or do something productive instead of trying to tear down people's dreams. You better watch your step. One of these days some IBO's might figure out your true identity and then you'll be exposed for the fraud you truly are. Get a life before it's too late.

Joecool said...

My life began after I quit Amway.

Anonymous said...

well, well, well, from one anon to another...how's it going, anon? thought you couldn't take the heat from joeCOOL. ha. isn't THAT ironic??? lol :p

mrmaximum said...

Hmm….

When I think about the early days of franchising, I am told that many people thought it was shady. There where all sorts of negative rumors and talk about this fledgling enterprise. Although I wasn’t there, I bet money that the earlier ‘believers’ took the mud that was being flung at them and kept their noses to the grindstone. They felt that they had their hands on something and it was too good to pass up despite the derision and disbelief they faced regularly. The only way to show the world, the only way to shut up the critics, was to succeed. Talking wouldn’t do it, threatening wouldn’t do it, but no one can argue success can they.

Can one argue the vast amount of restaurants McDonalds has? Can anyone argue how many different fast food chains have jumped on the franchising bandwagon? Can anyone argue the gigantic amount of money it makes (which is over 100 BILLION)? No one can rightly argue that franchising works, the early believers knew it was sound. Some got mad in those days yes, but others got busy, and we see the fruit everywhere we look.

What is the fruit of Amway, a very small amount of success stories with deludes of failures. I could even understand if 20% failed in Amway, or even 40%. But as Joe states, 1% makes Platinum and less than that makes Diamond. Statistics like those does not a World Changer make. If one wants to prove a critic wrong, take a look at the other successes, they simply went out and did it. However, if there is something drastically wrong with the business vehicle you are using, if all it produces is wholesale failure with a small amount of success, a believer is going to have a hard time proving a critic wrong.

This may explain the frustration of some apologists, when success is so out of reach, what is left to you to even the score so to speak? Insults, threats, and general anger seems to be the norm. Sadly, apologists don’t seem to recognize that this only highlights their desperation, not negate it.