Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Amway IBOs And Personal Responsibility?

One of the disturbing things I have noticed about Amway IBOs and IBO leaders is how they wlll tell downline to trust them. To trust them as they have already blazed a trail. No need to re-invent the wheel. Just ride the coattails of your upline to success. The system is proven. Many IBOs take this to heart and put forth tremendous effort. Then when they fail, upline will shun them and tell them that the failure is their own. That they are personally responsible for failure. Where's the responsibility of the upline? Why aren't they held accountable for the people who trusted them and followed their advice?

Now I am not talking about IBOs who sign up and do nothing, or never place an order. I do believe that the fact that many IBOs sign up and do nothing brings concerns about how these IBOs were recruited, but I did not recall ever seeing an IBO do nothing and then complain that Amway was a scam or anything like that. Most of these IBOs will fade away and never be heard from again.

I have found, however, that many people who are critical of Amway and the systems, put forth much effort, did everything they were told, and did not find the success that upline promoted, or in some cases, guaranteed. My former sponsor was still active, last I heard and has been in Amway for over 18 years. I do not believe he has ever gone beyond platinum, and I know that he was never a Q12 platinum. Some Amway apologists might see being a platinum as a bonus, but when you are hard core sold out to the systems, platinum is a break even or make a small profit business. Factor in that time spent by husband and wife and these folks are breaking even or making a fraction of minumum wage. Is this the dream that will allow you to buy mansions with a cash payment? There are likely many instances where platinums fully sold out to the systems still end up losing money as the support materials and functions can add up quickly.

What is also disturbing is how people will tout the system as responsible for any success, but hide the vast majority that the system doesn't help. Sure, some will succeed in Amway, but for every success, there are hundreds if not thousands who fail. And if you consider diamond as the benchmark of success, the failures could be in the millions. As I said, some succeed, but very very few in relation to the number who try. Going diamond is probably less common in the US than winning the lottery. Amway is a business opportunity, but the overall results for success are similar to a lottery. What does that tell you?

Succeed and the systems and upline take credit, but fail or quit and it is your own responsibility. Are these the kinds of leaders or mentors you want advice from?
I will pass.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can give you a typical Amway apologist/Ambot reply - 'See Joecool, it's a level playing field, system is there to teach you, your small small decisions may either bring you success or failures. Don't you see the proof that so many people are making money and are so emotional about their success when their uplines raise their hands? End of the day you need to make proper use of the system and succeed'. How is that for a reply. Even after so many months of quitting I can recall every humiliation that happened to me when I did everything that was told and had nothing to show.
Niether up lines nor your system will help you if you have not mustered PVs and system tools month after month. All glossy picture is only for the first month. You are right Joecool, a person who did nothing in Amway never quits or complains because he never had joined!

Anonymous said...

I think a small number will make it as in any other walk of life. As you indicate many sign up and never do anything. There are no entry barriers. Of those who work it, many will not make it as the basic skill needed is to lead and motivate. Very few have this. The leaders all have it. So in my view if you dont have charisma and self assurance forget it. Most people signing up would not be able to stand before a diamond sized group and speak for 20 minutes. Using tools wont change that and will cost a fortune. The only alternative for the vast majority of people is to have about 50 customers and retail say 30 dollars of product monthly to each oNe. And generate some additional income.

Joecool said...

I heard that level playing field story before. It's not level because only certain people receive income from the sale of tools. Also, tenured diamonds certainly have an advantage over newbies for obvious reasons.