Thursday, April 15, 2021

Just A Salesperson?

When I saw the Amway plan, it made perfect sense at the time, because the diamond who made the presentation made everything seem sensible, at least in the presentation.  Make money and/or save money. On the surface, you would have to be nuts to not want to make or save some money. But it is the reality that is the problem. The reality is for business building IBOs is financial damage or financial disaster from the ongoing costs of the system expenses. I saw crosslines go bankrupt and more than one couple lost their homes to foreclosure by "doing whatever it takes" to get to the next function.

Our group (WWDB) edified people who bought extraordinary amounts of extra tapes/cds, extra function tickets and made superhuman efforts to get to functions. Looking back, I remember an IBO who was edified for coming all the way to a family reunion function in Portland Oregon when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The speaker said he could have been miserable spending time at home but here he was making a difference in people's lives. WTF? I wrote a post earlier this month about how IBOs think they are saving the world and helping people when in reality, the masses of IBOs are only "helping" their diamonds to attain material wealth by purchasing function tickets, voicemail, standing orders and other materials. 

I would agree that some training and information can be helpful for new IBOs but I do not see any value in a neverending supply of cds and and endless number of meetings and functions. The very thing (support materials) that uplines claim is your key to success is the very thing that nearly guarantees business building IBOs to financial struggles. Our upline wanted IBOs to be out of debt, which is good, but they would also say in the same breath that it was okay to go into hock if it was to attend functions or to purchase additional support materials. WTH? Sadly, many IBOs do not see through this self serving advice. 

Most people, including myself are very wary when we deal with car salesmen. We are wary because we know that the salesman is out to make money off of us and will try to sell us every option in the book. Thus we negotiate and reject the car options that we don't really need to have. Guess what? Your uplines are like car salesmen except that they sell you different options such as premier club, standing order, book of the month, function tickets, voicemail, open meeting tickets. Just like a car buying customer, taking all the options maximizes the car salesman's commission and the car dealer's profit. Buying all the support materials increases your upline's profits. Imagine the car salesman telling you that the extended warranty was vital to owning the car. You'd think twice about it, yet uplines will tell you that functions are vital to your Amway business and many IBOs buy it hook line and sinker. I hope this analogy will encourage IBOs to think of support materials as options on the car. You don't need any options to make the car work. Just as you don't really need support materials to buy and sell Amway products, and to get some downline to do the same. 

We are wary of car salesmen. In my opinion, downline and prospects should be just as wary of uplines who promote tools as "vital" to your success in Amway. Keep in mind that a sponsor is obligated to help train any downline, regardless of whether they are on the system or not.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do not think "edify" means what you think it means

Anonymous said...

Your up-line will REFUSE to work with you if you do not buy tools, attend functions, and pay all the various fees associated with Amway (small meeting charges, night-owls, CommuniKate, etc.) You can complain as loudly as you like, but he won't do it.

And since Amway in Ada, Michigan is utterly scared shitless of the AMO subsystems, they won't raise a finger to help you or support you.

Anonymous said...

In Amway-speak, to "edify" means to "praise or to honor publicly, before other IBOs." So for example, if you have bought tickets to a function not just for yourself and your wife but also for two other couples who might be recruited, you will be "edified" in front of your group by your immediate sponsor, or perhaps by the Platinum. You will be lauded as an example of a dedicated and perceptive businessman who will go far in Amway.

You will also be "edified" if you have a very big PV on a certain month, or if you have actually recruited a new IBO, or done something helpful for your up-line.

Many Amway jackasses LIVE for edification. It's actually more important to them than making money.

kwaaikat said...

In a corporation, commissioned sales people in general have a lot of freedom compared to other employees. The greater the part of the salary is commission, the lesser part the salary plays, the more this is the case.

It’s nobody’s business where they are, as long as they bring in the money. They drive to see people, give out comapny paid for freebies, pay business lunches from a company account, sponsor events to great awareness. As long as they bring in the money.

Someone who builds a downline of a 70 or 80 in Ameay (which according to a Joecool post where he did the maths is barely job replacement income from Amway, yet require hard work, and lot’s of persuasive skills) probably has what it takes to earn a very comfortable living from corporate sales and lead a sales team. Yet they waste their time and talent in Amway, scraping the bottom of the barrel, and have to put up with being micromanaged, told how to dress, and how to speak, and being loathed by everyone they meet if they fail to keep the A word secret.

As for the real sales people I spoke about, many can if they want to, start some type of business centered on these sales, and the contacts they would have met. And have more self respect compared to Ameay, easier to tell people up front what they do, and have a good work life balance.

No self respecting sales person will tolerate being told by his boss how much TV he can watch, how he should spend weekends.

Amway distributors should really ask themselves how true the independent business owner is. The independent or the business owner part. Is it true they can’t advertise to sell products, are sell them of a website?

Once when I was (unknowingly to me) prospected under the guise of “catching up” with an old acquitance in a breakfast diner, I heard this wonderful stories about how he was enjoying the freedom, independence and “asset based” income (N21 likes that term). But his upline and daytime boss of the job he couldn’t yet quit, phoned, and I gathered he was in trouble with both.

Me, the person he was trying to save from the rat race and broke existent, stayed behind while he rushed to work. I also paid the bill. By this time he told me a lot about how wonderful his business was, but not what it was. Though a quick check on LinkedIn and a call to a colleague of his confirmed my suspicion.

I remember wondering why he wore a suit. While Amway’s reputation was not unknownto me at the time, I had no idea at the time how bad Amway was. Thinking about it, a lot made sense afterwards. It is incredibly sad. This guy had a good qualification, and worked in a good industry, with olenty of opportunities for working for one self, or climbing the corporate ladder. Incredibly sad. Some of his colleagues I happened to know told me afterwards how they avoided socialising with him since this Amway things has gone to his head.He apparently missed nothing, not a function, not a meeting, he listened to everything, read everything, executed everything, he really tried. I was told he had a “team”, so he would have been one of the more successful people in the “business”.

This guy is neither a business owner, nor independent, nor a business minded person. He is someone who had a lot of potential, who had this system turn him into a looser.