Friday, April 13, 2018

The Psychology Behind Amway?

The Psychology Behind The Presentation

I’m not sure whether the Amway plan was carefully crafted out or whether it just evolved, but the way some uplines show the plan is cleverly designed to suck people into their systems. If you aren’t aware or careful, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the presentation. The presentation is full of deception and I will try to point out these items in my analysis.

The speaker may talk about how he once thought he was “doing okay” in life. That he was making a living and able to meet his financial obligations. But he thought there might be more. One day he saw the plan and it changed his life. He did not realize he had gotten into a rut of going to work and going home every day and looking forward to his 2 weeks off each year. (This is relatable for many) That time and money are so important in life. Control of time and money is the key to success. Many people have lots of money but work all day and nite. Or people have time but are broke and can’t do much. The speaker might mention dreams or goals such as having an extra $500 a month or more. What would you do for an extra $500 a month. What about an extra $50,000 a year? Wouldn’t it be nice to have the wife stay home with the kids instead of leaving the family to go to work? Like the “Leave it to Beaver” days? (This gets the women excited)

The speaker will likely mention something about the economy and how prices on products continue to go up. The speaker may mention the 4 “I’s” that suck money out of your paycheck. The four I’s are Interest, Income Tax, Insurance and Inflation. The speaker may talk about how the government will take their cut and so on until you get your “net”. The speaker may mention how so many Americans are dead or broke by age 65, and that social security will collapse. (This instills financial fears in many people).

The speaker might also go on to mention how so many marriages are falling apart in the US because of financial stress. That couples work so hard that they have no family time and it hurts marriages. That people work so many hours these days that they are married to their desks. The “manager” of the office is the first one there and the last one to go home. That despite all of this work and effort, people are falling into debt. Credit cards maxed out, loans, trying to keep up with the Joneses. (Many people can relate to this)

But now, because he was looking for opportunity/open minded one day, he saw an opportunity. This opportunity changed his life and can do the same for you! The speaker now wakes up at the crack of noon. His wife stays home with him and the kids. They take nice vacations and they do what they want when they want. (Of course, who doesn’t? But is this true?) The opportunity takes advantage of the internet and allows you to leverage your time and money so that you can create a residual walk away income. (But nobody walks away do they?)

This is approximately the point in the presentation where they mention “Amway” At this point, the speaker will defend Amway, stating that if you can make money, does it matter.? If you can save money, does it matter? The speaker may go into the product line and mention partner stores and will likely show a 6-4-2 plan or a variation of it. In every case, they will show a best case scenario, not what is likely. Many prospects will leave thinking “all I need is six”. They don’t understand how unlikely it is to sponsor six platinums and there is no mention of the retention rates, the income most IBOs can expect, and firm questions will be deflected to the prospect’s inviter. The speaker may also discourage you from speaking to friends and family as they may have a bad experience but the diamond is successful and knows more about Amway than your family and friends.

Joe’s commentary: So the speaker becomes very relatable from the start. His situation in life will be like many in the audience. He will talk about doing okay,. But wanting more or looking for more. He talks about debts and many in the audience will also relate. They get people to think about dream cars or vacations. He talks about walk away income, but doesn’t mention that very very few ever make significant money and apparently, not many actually walk away either. They say you will make money and save money by doing the business. It’s hard to argue against that,.except most people will not make money or save money. In fact most people, if they participate fully or partially in the training system, they will lose money. For the dedicated IBOs, many of them LOSE LOTS OF MONEY. The plan is crafted out to sound sensible and relatable, but many IBOs will give it a try and shortly after, will realize that the system doesn’t work, that the reputation of Amway IBOs is soiled and sponsoring people or even getting people to see the plan is a barrier that most people simply cannot overcome. At least if you know what’s going on, you may be able to avoid the trap.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, what you're saying is that people are "psyched" into joining Amway. They aren't rationally persuaded or convinced by logic. They are swept up in a feverish enthusiasm that blocks out all criticism and doubt.

This seems to be the case with all MLMs.

Millions of people have a deep need to believe and to hope, even when what they believe in and hope for is pure illusion. Amway preys upon that human weakness.

Joecool said...

That sums up what I'm saying pretty well. That's why Amway leaders tell you not to talk to your negative uncle who quit Amway 15 years ago because he's not credible while someone who profits off your attendance at functions (the diamonds) should be worshipped.

Anonymous said...

Everything about MLM scams is flash and bang theatrics and getting a crowed "fired up" with music, fanfare, pictures of mansions and sports cars and people on luxury vacations.

What you will NEVER hear at a meeting or function are solid, concrete numbers. Math is like garlic to the Amway vampires. They'll never say "you will need X number of people in your downline on the first level, X number at the next and X at the next with each buying X PV per month at which point you will be earning above all your costs and actually making a profit.

Instead pleas to them for guidance just gets "you aren't working hard enough. You need to sell, sell, sell. Buy more products for your store. Buy more tools. Recruit more, more, more!"

Since there is no actual numbers or math to set as a goal they can always blame the victim for just not working hard enough or doing it right, though they never really show what that even means.

Thus they put on shows instead of business advice. Because any true business advice after looking at the math would be "get the FUCK out of Amway!!"

~Dave

Anonymous said...

My upline was a lot better than most in explaining the numbers. They said that it was more realistic to build 2500 PV down three legs. They were heavily reliant on the 643 BIB thought process. Your first leg your upline was supposed to help you build, the second would be the one you would cultivate on your own with some oversight, and the third one you’re on your own. For many its hard to get beyond the 1st leg. You’re lucky if you maintained your first leg.