One of the things Amway IBOs are taught by their "great" diamond leaders is to blame themselves for not working the business hard enough or not doing things exactly right, even if they do exactly as upline advised. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Many people put forth tremendous effort but still do not succeed. But uplines want to be absolved from any responsibility so they teach downline that failure in Amway is their own (The downline's) fault. Upline however, is quick to take credit for any success, even if minimal.
But the reason is why hard work doesn't equal success is because an Amway IBO is basically a commissioned sales person. In commissioned sales, one can work hard for no reward and at times, little effort may reap large rewards. But in Amway, with a crappy reputation, Amway IBOs are given a handicap that most simply cannot overcome. Getting new people to recruitment meetings is hard enough, not even factoring in the abililty to sponsor others. When factoring in these tidbits, it's easy to see why uplines teach buy from yourself and selling is not important. It deflects the fact that selling is nearly impossible with less than competitive prices (in general)
Additionally, IBOs are encouraged to join the "system" such as WWDB, LTD, N21, etc. The system costs money and teaches IBOs to engage is many non income producing activities such as attending countless meetings and functions that do not result in increased sales volume. Imagine a store owner whose store was constantly closed so the owner could meet with other owners and/or someone who encourages them to do things that don't produce sales volume. That store owner would fail, which is what at least 99+% of Amway IBOs do.
The work involved is very simple. Sell products and get other IBOs in your downline to be able to leverage your volume. Many Amway IBOs work hard and attend all of the functions and do all of the steps as outlined by upline, but very few reap rewards and most quit when they realize that the system doesn't work. It is sad that on top of losing money, that IBOs are also taught to blame themselves for their demise. Where is the upline when IBOs bust their butts working hard and get no rewards? On top of that, to make it worse, uplines profit from selling training and motivation to their downlines. Why aren't they held acountable?
I've read comments by some Amway defenders wanting to sue Amway critics for a potential loss of business. But most critics, like myself are simply stating our experiences and opinions. Many of which are true and still happening today. So I will ask, what about the millions of former IBOs who may have lost billions of dollars because of false claims which led them to believe that they would get rich following upline advice? Maybe former IBOs should unite and file claims against unethical upline leaders who led them astray? How can IBOs lose business from a critic when the vast majority do nothing and/or ultimately fail anyway?
In any case, hard work doesn't equate success in Amway and I dare anyone to try to prove me wrong.
11 comments:
It would be interesting to see if Amway could survive in 2020+, operating as a normal online business without the parasitic systems and associated suck-holes.
This would dramatically reduce the losses on IBO's and self-consumption and/or sales would be driven by value which is largely not the case now.
I wonder if Amway deploy the current archaic and deplorable model because they know they cannot compete on a value basis with mainstream brands, even if there was no upline tithing to require the high prices?
One strange phenomenon in Amway is the fact that even when some IBOs fail totally in the business, they will persist in defending Amway as "a good idea," or "a valid business opportunity."
In the language of grifters and flim-flam artists, this is what is known as "a permanent con." A permanent con means that your victim has been cheated out of his money, but he doesn't realize that this has happened, and instead blames it on something else (e.g. his own fault, external circumstances, an unavoidable accident, etc.) He remains duped forever.
Of course 99% of people in Amway don't make a dime, and many of them suffer grievous financial losses besides. The fact that so many of them can still sing the praises of Amway after that personal disaster is mind-boggling.
Some of this is due to the fact that nobody likes admitting that he was cheated or fooled. It's humiliating. But it's also true that many ex-IBOs are still enthralled by "The Dream" or "The Plan." They can't give up the idea that MLM bullshit means something. This is why it often happens that someone fails in Amway totally, and then a few years later signs up again! Why would he do that? Well, it's a psychological compulsion to never give up on a pleasurable hope, even if it's fake. And it is common knowledge in MLMs that some of the best prospects for recruiting are persons who have failed in some different MLM in the past.
I think we have a key here to understanding Amway. It isn't based on reason or logic or careful research. It's essentially rooted in EMOTION. And an emotionally rooted commitment is almost impossible to break.
"I've read comments by some Amway defenders wanting to sue Amway critics for a potential loss of business." That's really scary. Freedom of speech is a bedrock of our society, and I hope it stays that way.
This behavior is not just in Amway, it is spread across the board in almost all MLMs. Whether its cosmetics, hardware or anything else, the rot is quite obvious.
Dog which barks usually does not bite. I am a Amway critic from middle Europe and man, I have been threatened that I will be sued multiple times and... Nothing happened. I have even encouraged Ambots to do so, as I wanted to get more publicity for what happens in Amway and that this company operates here as ltd deep in debt avoiding to pay taxes. And I am not afraid at all, as who can sue me for articles based on audited facts, or Amway own income disclosure? If I am sued for income disclosure is not true or so, it means Amway is lying, which it is not. On the other hand, it is true, that american judicial system seems a bit bizzare for us. But believe most Ambots do not know how to sue anybody and if so, they mostly lack cash to pay for the service of a lawyer, believe me, you are safe. At the end it actually was me, who threatened them with lawsuit as they were posting some of my details on internet. Once I threatened them, that I have the copies of all what they posted about me and ask them to get rid of it, it all vanished with speed of light :-) Why? Because it would be Amway company, which would fire them in case the IBO is being sued for anything related to Amway and bad publicity. Imagine being platinum, one of few, making at least something in Amway, you spent decades to achieve it, and then your stupid comment on internet causes you to being fired by Amway trying to avoid negative publicity and to show it acts againts any wrongdoing done by IBOs. It also shows the real reality of IBOs lives. They are just pathetic slaves, deep in s**t.
There used to be an Amway defender called "IBOFightback." He would to try to scare critics by vaguely threatening them with some kind of legal action. He never did a bloody thing.
At Anonymous 18Jan. You pose an interesting question. I think Amway probably will survive, but sadly the same way it does currently, not on value offering.
Groups that sell Amway stuff operate as get rich quick schemes, and get rich quick schemes are not decreasing. All get rich quick schemes say "this is not a get rich quick scheme". When people catch on to Amway in a country or region, it moves to new markets, to return perhaps a few decades later when memories have faded.
What they won't do is morph into a sales offering that competes on value. That would not only require them to change the way the sales channel operates, but they have to change (drastically improve) the competitiveness of the products on price to value. That is far more difficult to do.
If their products had the potential to compete on value, they would have sold to supermarket chains such as Wallmart and such. A well run store chain can mark up a product at only 10% to 15% and bring it into the consumers hands. (The % of the final sales price that the consumer pays for distribution would end up being less than that, because it is divided by the sales price, while markup is on the cost price). Amway in contrast admits that it pays 30% plus on bonusses to distributors. That means 30% of the price a consumer pays is for distribution, making the price the consumer pays much higher. Since obviously higher prices impact negatively on sales, and Amway itself is not even getting the benefit of the high price to make up for the lower volume, it would have been far better for them, if they had a competing product, if they sold to a supermarket chain to begin with. Amway would have gotten the same price or more for it's product, the consumer would have paid less, and the supermarket would have done much of the job to market the products, so volume would have been more. The same price to Amway x more volume (driven by lower price to consumer) equals much more money, if they had products that could compete.
The fact that they haven't so far, suggests that the products even on lower prices to the consumer (but same price in Amway's hands) would have been unable to compete. It suggests the value offering is so out of touch that the only way to sell products is through the get rich quick hype.
While it's the groups that do the dirty work, there are several things suggesting the Amway corporation is not naive, but completely in on it. The compensation plan is pay it upward centric, with only a small part of the commission going to the guy making the sale. Secondly packaging of products come in non standard concentrations, and non standard volumes, making comparisons difficult. Thirdly much of the product line growth is into products which by nature are difficult to compare objectively and are therefore susceptible to hype, namely supplements, special water etc.
Many other players enter the get rich quick hype market, but Amway will have a special prestige as the largest MLM, and the most enduring, and expect the "partnering with Microsoft" and "approved by the BBB" narratives to be pushed to fool starry eyed business builders into believing it's their one man business achieving all these wonderful things, making the model that their one man business works on"proven".
Yes, remember "IBOfightback", but he is inactive for a year, I guess he finally got the right pills prescribed for his diagnose. Some time ago he and some other Amway zealots attacked Amway article on english wiki, but thanks god their propaganda got reverted by wiki community and the most active Amway propagandist had been expelled from the page. :-)
The thing about Amway (and all MLMs, for that matter) is that the products are essentially unimportant. The fact that some disaffected Amway IBOs have easily dropped out of the system and switched over to other MLM rackets proves this. As an Amway person will tell you during a recruiting shpiel, "the crucial thing about Amway is The Plan."
That's why Amway won't compete normally in a regular market with other brands. Selling the products (as many of the AMOs openly admit) is not a major factor in what Amway is all about. As David Brear pointed out many years ago, products in an MLM are merely a sort of "wampum," or intrinsically worthless casino chips, designed to present a facade of business activity, and to protect Amway from legal action by the government.
The heart and soul of Amway and all MLMs is RECRUITMENT, RECRUITMENT, RECRUITMENT. That's basically all. An IBO makes money in Amway when he gets others to sign up in the system, and trains them to do the same, over and over. The products? Who cares? Many of the AMOs tell members that all they need to do is self-consume, and do no retail selling at all.
Amway cannot change this. Their products are simply not competitive, in either price or value, with other brands. The only thing that Amway can sell is hopes and dreams.
The biggest lie pushed by Amway is the absurdity that they are "partnering" with certain big companies like Microsoft or Barnes & Noble or some other major name. This is complete and total BULLSHIT.
A few big companies allow Amway to offer their products to Amway IBOs at a discount. That's all. Nothing else. The idea that Amway has a "partnership" with these big companies is the height of absurdity.
If Macy's Department Store pays a bum to sweep up the front entrance way to its huge store on 34th Street in Manhattan, does this mean that Macy's is "partnering" with the bum? Amway isn't partnering with anybody.
@kwaaiket, pretty much my sentiments too.
There is a not a single Amway product that having used them I would continue to.
In hindsight, across the board average at best would be it.
Nothing to encourage repeat custom for and certainly not at a price premium.
So Amway probably have realised that the pyramid scam is their only option.
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