One of the things that keeps some IBOs going is the "harsh reality". What I mean by that is for some IBOs, once you have been in Amway for a while, it can be hard to quit. You were possibly recruited with dreams of lifelong residual income and walking on all of the exotic beaches of the world. Retiring young and spending that time with your wife and family. To quit means an IBO would have to face the reallity that these dreams will not come true, at least not with the Amway busines. The fact is that the Amway opportunity probably would not have delivered those dreams anyway. Even a diamond more than likely cannot afford those dreams. In fact I would estimate that most diamonds, if they flaunt some excessive lifestyle, are near broke or in heavy debt as a diamond income cannot sustain a jetset lifestyle, save for a founders crown ambassador or something similar. I believe the prominent WWDB triple diamond bankruptcy shed a lot of light into the finances of an upper level pin and it wasn't as impressive as I would have thought.
But what really is the harsh reality? It's working hard only to drift between 100 and 500 PV. It's finally sponsoring a new IBO only to have a downline quit. It's talking to people about Amway and getting laughed at or getting rejected. It's your upline or sponsor pushing you to do more. Possibly your upline is one who questions your manhood if you aren't working hard enough. It's your upline or sponsor reminding you that a winner doesn't miss functions, especially the major ones. It's staying up late for team meetings or nite owls when you need a good nite's rest to do your job the next day. It's driving the miles to show a plan, only to have your prospect not show up. It's having to be deceptive about what you are doing. It's skipping functions with family and friends so you can be core to the business.
As IBOs, do you see any of this? I saw some of this during my involvement. While I have not been an IBO in some years now, I still see many testimonies and comments by more current and even some active IBOs to indicate that a lot of this still goes on. While Amway defenders will deny it, I see no reason why any of this would have changed over the years since Amway has made no significant changes to stop abusive uplines. If Amway did make any changes, they are not immediately apparent and the continuous string of comments and testimonies do not confirm that any clean up has been done.
For active IBOs or prospects, these are the harsh realities that may be attached with the Amway oppportunity. Much of it is because of motivational groups such as WWDB, but if you are seeing these traits in your group, ask the tough questions. If you happen to decide that the Amway opportunity is not for you, take heart! There are other ways to achieve your financial goals and dreams and there are moe efficent ways out there. Sometimes, quitting something that isn't working is a wise business decisions and sometimes you can lose more by not quitting. Good luck in whatever you decide.
6 comments:
When i was shown the plan years ago the guy talked a lot oabout being indépendant financially, having continued high income and not having to work. A few things hit me about this. 1. If this true then everyone would be doing it. 2. You need to sell to 10 customers only. Now how can so few customers make you rich. 3. You only need to sponsor 6 people who sponsor 4 and those 2 each. So why will any of them be interested as really they are working hard for you. If the 6 you sponsor are friens and family then how will they find friends and family as you friends most likely will be the same people. 3. The products shown were priced several times higher than the local store. Apparently they are more concentrated. But who wants to pay upfront for household products that last months when they can avoid so by going to local stores. Most people are living on tight budgets. 4. It was stated to be 10 - 15 hrs a week. Now thats a lot of free time to give up. I value my free time after work and weekends. And im not sure its 2 hours an evening. The guy spent 3 hours showing the business, an hour talking after and he drove some 50 minutes each way. So i did not join as this cant work. Now i did figure you could push this by prospecting continually and showing a lot of plans as i presume the high up guys do. But thats a pure professional route and few can do it.
I worked the business hard when I was new. It's not 10 to 15 hours a week. It's much more than that. You need to be out showing the plan almost every nite. For youself and your downline. If you let up your business will go down the drain in a hurry. The products are okay but not worth a premium price and unless you can actually use that much product each month, how else do you move volume? Selling is hard because of the prices and Amway is basically an unknown generic brand.
Anybody with even a small team will tell you that it takes a lot of hours to build a team. You're taking two steps forward, then one or two steps back as people quit. You're constantly swimming upstream trying to get ahead. Think that's hard when you have 5 in your downline? Imagine going Platinum or higher and having to help your team find 5-10 new recruits every month to replace the ones that are quitting. That takes effort.
AnonTB
Thats right and explains why you cant win at this. Only the big pins have the power to do this. Its a rare talent. Thats why there are only a hanfull. Jim dornan once said his group was recruting 30000 people per month. Presumably 25000 were quitting monthly. Holy chen said she stood in queues daily (supermarket chechouts, restaurants, casinos) and prospected everyone. Thats what you need to do. Just not worth it.
Joecool, you are absolutely correct. Those practices such as driving countless miles, going to countless functions, meetings, are still encouraged by IBO's. They do a very good job at twisting the reality to make it a badge of honor when it happens, so therefor it cont' to encourage the action even if there's no positive results. Of course, you'd have to do something of sorts, but some of them take it to another level and then people wonder why they quit. IBO's best line is "you're sowing seeds" LOL. Yes, belief and faith are important for success, but my goodness this is a business, if somethings not working, re-evaluate it and re-stratagize it. Uplines rarely help you do this, most of the time they tell you to keep going, keep showing the plan. And they say, "what if that one person you show the plan to becomes Platinum? that's worth the travel, time, effort" LOL that's a big "what if." I hope you can tell I've been in Amway for a long time and have qualified for alot of the behind the scenes truth about whats going on. I know why they do what they do, say what they say. I've seen Emeralds quit, I've seen Diamonds quit and it seems no one ever questions it but me. When you do question things, they tell you they want to block your mind from negative and that it has nothing to do with your success/failure. I understand this, but truth is, I wanted to know so I don't make the same mistakes...I think they call this "wisdom" when you learn from other peoples mistakes. If people think about joining, go right ahead, I hope everyone gets a dose of the Amway experience for themselves. But, always remember why you got in the business to begin with "to make money" I say this because they are going to try their best to get you caught up in "changing the world through Amway! making a difference! having a purpose!" and you'll soon forget the main reason you got in for, and start to say things like, "it's not about the money" BS, it was always about the money and that's why you got in. You can try and justify it all you want, but you'll still be broke at the end of the day, and if you're broke, then all you're downlines are probably worst off than you. Of course I sound pretty negative, but there were a lot good training and good stuff that I will take with me for the rest of my life. And I'm forever grateful for what my upline has instilled in me. Grateful for everything except the money!!!
Thanks for the comment. You're right, IBO's aren't making money so upline starts top tell them they are nicer people, they are helping others, making a difference in the world, etc. But the bottom line is that a business is to make money, not to make excuses.
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