When I was an Amway IBO, I remember at many meetings, the speaker would talk about how Amway IBOs are helping people by getting them in the business or at least showing them the plan. Looking back, I fail to see how inviting someone into a business where they are virtually assured of losing money (in the systems) is helping them. This is also how some IBOs think that they are suddenly "better" people because they think they are helping people by being an IBO. Seems that Amway IBOs only "help" people who are either in the business or those who are looking at getting into the business.
On average, Amway products cost more than big retailers, so a prospect is not necessarily helped by purchasing Amway products. You could argue that with less value, people are hurt by this action, especially when inflation is high right now. For IBOs purchasing Amway products, they are taking away from their local economy by purchasing Amway goods, although I guess you could argue that the IBO is helping Amway to succeed. Additionally, many business building IBOs purchase tools which more often than not result in those IBOs ending up with a net business loss. How does that help anyone? What's worse is that upline's answer for a failing business is usually to buy even more tools and attend more functions.
IBOs who are actively building a business usually have many meetings to attend, and hard core IBOs are taught not to miss any meetings. Therefore, an IBO has less time to spend with his or her family. The IBO has less time to spend at church, and less time to help with any community projects. The IBO will probably miss someone's wedding or birthday celebration because of the hectic schedule of an IBO. How does that help the IBO or the IBOs family and friends?
While all of this activity is happening, IBOs also have less money because the voicemail, standing orders, functions and books and other Amway related expenses eat away at an IBO's resources. Thus, IBOs have less to contribute to charity. How does that help anyone?
So an honest question. How do IBOs help people by building an Amway business? How are they better people by showing someone the plan?
In my informed opinion, the nicer and better person is what upline teaches as a side note to distract an IBO from the FACT that they are losing money because of the defacto 100 PV and tools requirements. They also make it seem as if IBOs are "helping" people by showing them the business plan. When you think about it, perhaps just the opposite is happening. This is another tactic, IMO that uplines use to justify an IBO's lack of progress, much like how they tell downline that they are successful just by getting themselves to a function. It's nonsense but upline will use these tactics because IBOs want to believe they represent good and are preparing their financial futures. But make no mistake, there's an insidious motivation on the part of upline and many IBOs.
IBOs who are actively building a business usually have many meetings to attend, and hard core IBOs are taught not to miss any meetings. Therefore, an IBO has less time to spend with his or her family. The IBO has less time to spend at church, and less time to help with any community projects. The IBO will probably miss someone's wedding or birthday celebration because of the hectic schedule of an IBO. How does that help the IBO or the IBOs family and friends?
While all of this activity is happening, IBOs also have less money because the voicemail, standing orders, functions and books and other Amway related expenses eat away at an IBO's resources. Thus, IBOs have less to contribute to charity. How does that help anyone?
So an honest question. How do IBOs help people by building an Amway business? How are they better people by showing someone the plan?
In my informed opinion, the nicer and better person is what upline teaches as a side note to distract an IBO from the FACT that they are losing money because of the defacto 100 PV and tools requirements. They also make it seem as if IBOs are "helping" people by showing them the business plan. When you think about it, perhaps just the opposite is happening. This is another tactic, IMO that uplines use to justify an IBO's lack of progress, much like how they tell downline that they are successful just by getting themselves to a function. It's nonsense but upline will use these tactics because IBOs want to believe they represent good and are preparing their financial futures. But make no mistake, there's an insidious motivation on the part of upline and many IBOs.
Joe, you're quite correct about that. In the early days of Amway, you never heard all this talk about how you were going to "help" people, and "be a better person." It began as a stop-gap measure to deal with the spiraling complaints that the Amway LOS subsystems were getting in the late 1970s. IBOs who has been working hard at "the Plan" for five to ten years were all asking "Where is my success? What's going on?"
ReplyDeleteBecause these complaints were not just from a few IBOs, but from a great many of them, up-line Platinums and Diamonds began to sweat. So somebody came up with this quasi-religious idea as a way to keep the complainers quiet. You were not really in Amway to make money, but to "help others" in life. By doing this, you were "becoming a better person."
If the individual IBO was really stupid, he swallowed this baloney and reconciled himself to financial loss. That worked in some cases, but not in others.
For those who were dissatisfied with this quasi-religious answer, up-line came up with something more acceptable. They said "You might not be successful in Amway, but you are learning a great deal about business and people and the world, and you can apply this knowledge to other fields of endeavor."
In other words, Amway was functioning as a cut-rate Wharton School of Business, and you should be grateful it. Believe it or not, many IBOs fell for this line of bullshit, and you can see it in the many pro-Amway comments that are left at this blog or at Anna Banana's. The commenter will say "I'm no longer in Amway, but I learned many excellent lessons about business that I have applied elsewhere."
It apparently has never occurred to these IBOs that if they did learn many good lessons in Amway, then why did those lessons not help them to make a profit in the Amway business?
Great comments! And to add to your points, let's see some Amway IBOs use their "Amway" education on a resume' for a job or their experience in trying to get a business loan. I'd like to see that.
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