Sunday, May 25, 2014

The Amway Bait And Switch Game?

One of the things some Amway leaders are very good at is the bait and switch game. The speaker will try to relate to the audience. He may talk about how he once had a job. The job was okay, but it wasn't really getting him anywhere and he didn't really think he would ever earn more than the "boss". He was on the 40-40 plan, working for 40 years, 40 hours a week. People not earning so much and young people in particular can relate as the job seems so mundane when you compare it to the "diamond" lifestyle.

The speaker might mention how he was once skeptical about Amway but realized that financial freedom was the bigger picture and how many in the audience would be willing to try something (Amway) in order to achieve these goals. Why not Amway? If not Amway, what other vehicle could deliver to to the promised land of financial freedom? Your job is unlikely to deliver that in 2-5 years. You could win the lottery but that's unlikely. Why not go for it and build Amway? Most people get interested by the thought of financial freedom and a "shortcut" to retirement. Most people have at least a passing interest.

Then the speaker might talk about dreams. Retire your wife, private school for your kids, taking dream vacations, waking up when you want and do what you want, when you want. There may be slideshows of mansions, sports cars, jet skis,fabulous vacations, etc. They might show someone walking off their job and maybe even telling off their boss. It's all staged to get the interest of the average person. Who wouldn't want those things? It would be like suddenly having the means to do anything.

So you agree to give it a try and what happens? Suddenly, the secret to these dreams are training tools. CDs, books, seminars, ad perhaps a voicemail system. All of these are designed to help you succeed in Amway right? This is the bait and switch. While the leaders will tell you how vital these tools are, there is no documented evidence that these tools are effective. Amway's own numbers show that only .26% of IBO's reach platinum. That's less than 1 in 200 reaching platinum. Platinum is the level where IBOs allegedly break even. So you have less than 1% chance of breaking even if you participate in the tools system. What serious business owner would be willing to invest time and money into that? What's more is your upline diamonds are making a fortune off the sales of these materials.

The training materials have a much higher profit margin than Amway products. For example, a CD might cost 50 cents to produce and they are sold for $7 or more at times. Yes, premiere members pay less, but they also pay $49 or so up front each month for the right to purchase cheaper cds. In the end, most IBOs end up with a net loss of time and money. Ironically, many will have joined so they could have more time and money. The tools system in my opinion, is a bait and switch game played by upline. If your sponsor gives you some free tools, it is only until you begin to show an interest in building a business. Once you sponsor downline, you will be expected to buy your own to give away.

In the end, do your own due diligence and neutral price comparisons. If you are discouraged from doing so, take that as a big red flag. Good luck to information seekers.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Selling hope's like selling soap, I'll tell you why.

You can't make both without a little "lye"