Our Amway 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. WTH? I once wrote a post 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. While people are doing community service, IBOs are sitting in functions and rah rah meetings. Who does more good overall? It doesn't appear to be Amway IBOs.
I would agree that some training and information can be helpful for new IBOs, but I do not see any value in a never-ending supply of cds and endless numbers 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 suffer financially. 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. 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. Guess what? Your uplines are like car salesmen except that they sell you different options such as premier club, standing orders, 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. In the end, IBOs and their upline are just commissioned sales people.
1 comment:
There are many telltale signs of a religious cult (fanaticism, strange vocabulary, strict clannishness, distrust of outsiders). But in Amway's case a major sign is this: the idea that by being in Amway you are "helping others" and "changing the world for the better."
Businesses don't exist to "help others," but to make money. They are profit-making enterprises. And only a religious cult wants to "change the world."
The crucial thing that any potential IBO must understand is that by joining Amway you are essentially joining a new religious cult -- one with strict moral beliefs, fanatical evangelical energy, massive tithing, and a watchdog internal policing system that will listen to every word you say and observe everything you do. It's like being a Mormon or a Scientologist. Say the wrong thing, and your fellow IBOs will pile up on you like a SWAT team.
Join Amway, and say goodbye to your personal freedom.
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