Building an Amway business. That's what many IBOs set out to do, except they don't know how to build a business, and based on IBO behavior and the things they say and do, it makes me wonder what their upline actually knows about building a business. A typical business owner will get started, and needs people to know that their business is there.
When you open a store or a restaurant, you may not make a lot of money intitially because not enough customers know about your store and you have not yet built a reputation. New customers who have a good experience are likely to return for more, and they are also likely to tell others about your store. Over time, you create a customer base and your weekly sales become consistent and somewhat predictable. Conversely, if customers have a bad experience, they are likely to tell others as well. Overall though, your customer base should continue to grow over time if you put out a good product.
In the Amway business, many IBOs have no idea about building a business. They are shown great (apparent) wealth by upline, and then told that their business activity consists of showing the plan, listening to standing order and attending functions. Most of an IBO's activity, as prescribed by upline, costs money instead of generating sales. Some uplines do teach IBOs to sell items, but more often than not, it is not taught as a priority. In most cases, IBOs are spending most of their time in activities that cost them money rather than activities that make them money.
What's more, as I said, a new business will get repeat customers when a customer has a good experience. What do you suppose happens when IBOs lie or trick people into attending Amway meetings, or deceive people about their business, or make up wild stories about perfect water? What happens when you embellish the truth about success and then cannot provide an answer when a recruit asks and IBO how they are doing in the Amway business? What happens when an IBO tells a potential recruit that he or she is a loser or stupid for not joining Amway? Would you return to a store if they called you stupid as you were leaving? What if you were called a loser?
These are the reasons why IBOs in general cannot get enough customers to sustain a consistent and predictable amount of sales, and why over the years, Amway has at best a spotty reputation. Just the mention of the name Amway and you may get funny looks from people. It is why certain internet zealots promoting Amway do more harm than good.
1 comment:
Eh, this may be part of the problem, but there are some other reasons that customers are hard to find and keep.
1. Pricing - This is a price-driven market. Amway leaders argue that people will pay for quality and there are even IBO written books that justify the pricing model. "The Amway Price is Right" book compares pricing (popcorn example) at a grocery store, convenience store, and movie theater. In the comparison, it states that at different places you pay not only with dollars, but with quality and convenience - which is true. Later in the book, it justifies Amway pricing by saying that the IBO is paying for OPPORTUNITY. Think on THAT for a minute. Everyone is agreeing to pay higher prices for products because their is an opportunity attached it? Knock knock. Who's there? It's the FTC, sucka. Secondly, what about customers - are they receiving the opportunity? Why would they pay extra?
Here's a second thought on pricing. While people pay more for quality when it comes to certain items, they are much less inclined to pay more for commodities like BOTTLED WATER. Perfect Water (perfect except the price) comes with a hefty tag of $48 for a 24 case. SIGN ME UP.
2. Ability to advertise - In Amway, everything has to be word of mouth or direct sales. This means that after you tap out your friends and family networks, you have to meet people one at a time, speak to them at length and find some need in their life, then convince them to meet with you so you can sell them on your high quality/high price solution. Only a fraction of people on earth have the desire, personality, and skill-set to accomplish such an undertaking.
3. Skillset - Most IBOs don't join Amway with the knowledge or interpersonal skills required to communicate why a product is higher quality (which some are questionable on that to begin with). It can take months to gain product knowledge. Keeping in mind this is a PART-TIME undertaking for them. Also, it can take YEARS to develop sales skills. This is why the upline has to go in and do the selling for 90% of their downline until they become adept at sales and have the necessary product knowledge. The new IBOs are just windows to spheres of influence. Much of the "success" in selling a new IBO experiences is just sympathy or encouragement sales from friends and family. The leadership KNOWS and ADMITS there is a surge of sales in the beginning that won't repeat. Why don't they repeat? Because the juice ain't worth the squeeze, man.
Post a Comment