One of the things I heard as an Amway IBO and still hear today, is that people who do not view Amway as favorable, or decided to quit and walk away from the Amway opportunity are "broke" or "losers" or "broke losers". As an IBO I remember one of the upline saying that IBOs are winners, and therefore, if you are not an IBO, you must be a loser. I still see that today. I'm not sure why that kind of teaching still exists, especially when most people who work for minimum wage earn more than most IBOs.
I suppose it's a form of subtle pressure used by upline to prevent people from quitting, as nobody wants to be labeled a loser. It creates an "us" versus "them" attitude. One of Amway's co-founders, Rich DeVos, stated quite clearly in a speech that IBOs should not use the term loser just because someone doesn't agree that Amway is the greatest. And I agree.Many people who are not IBOs are very successful, and many people are simply not suited for or want to run a "side" business. Some people are not in need of an extra income and some people do not want to sacrifice family time. IBOs should respect other people's wishes if they are turned down when offering the opportunity to others. Also, because of previous unethical behaviors of IBOs, many people simply do not wish to get involved in an opportunity where such behavior exists. Sure, not all IBOs act that way, but enough of them still exists. And what's more, it appears that not much, if anything has been done about it.
But here's the biggest reason, in my opinion, why IBOs should not be calling anyone derogatory names just because the prospect does not wish to join Amway or purchase goods. There's no reason to burn bridges with a potential customer or future IBO. Let's say I entered a store but for whatever reason, decided not to make a purchase that day. As I exit the store, the store owner calls me a loser or broke, or not having guts. What is the chance that I would want to do business with that store or store owner ever again? Furthermore, many or most Amway business owners conduct business person to person and face to face. If I insult people who don't initially do business with me, then I am doing a lousy job of PR, and chances are by business will fail. Yet that is exactly what many IBOs do.
IBOs and upline leaders should read this and think twice before using the term loser or broke loser. You could be burning bridges with potential future customers or IBOs. Not to mention that many IBOs themselves are actually "broke" which is why they joined Amway in the first place. I can only imagine that many prospects are probably better off than the Amway IBOs who approach them. LOL
I believe the habit of labeling everyone who refuses to join Amway as a "loser" was started by Charlie Marsh, one of Amway's folk-heroes back in the 1960s and 70s. The guy who introduced me to Amway said that Marsh always claimed he was happy when somebody turned down his recruitment proposal, because "It pleases me to find out that I'm smarter than one more person in this world." In other words, anyone who didn't join Amway was stupid, and Charlie Marsh liked to think of others as not being as smart as himself.
ReplyDeleteThis idea caught on, and soon everyone in Amway was repeating versions of it. You as an Amway distributor had contempt for those who declined your offer of membership in the racket. Remember that stupid song by the Goads? It went "Some will. Some won't. Who cares?" Or there was the advice given to IBOs by their up-line: "If somebody won't join, just forget about him and try somebody else. The guy is just a negative jerk, and isn't worth it!"
Many up-line types cultivated this attitude of disdain and contempt for non-Amway people, and most especially for those who quit the racket, or who turned down an invitation to join it, or who refused to support their friends and relatives in Amway with regular purchases.
The point here is this: it is a telltale sign of a malignant cult when the members treat anyone not in it or opposed to it as inferiors or non-persons. AMWAY IS A CULT. It is no different from Scientology, or The People's Temple of Jim Jones, or Jehovah's Witnesses, or any other collection of crackpots with fanatical notions. As Anna Banana puts it, "You have to worship the Great Amway God."