I often see commentary about people quitting Amway and Amway loyalists are quick to call them broke, losers, lazy, lacking guts. Ironically, these same lazy and loser types of people were "sharp" and motivated prospects before they signed up for the Amway opportunity. Someone recently left a comment on my blog about how AMOs should conduct exit interviews with departing IBOs to get to the root of the problems. I think these exit interviews would reveal that people are working hard and applying the AMO teaching, only to lose money,
Based on my years of blogging and Amway experiences, I can honestly say I believe that people quit Amway primarily for one reason. The money isn't there. Amway's own numbers show that the average IBO earns just over $200 a month and that is before taxes and expenses, and that number excludes inactive IBOs. Business building IBOs earn most of the bonuses, but business building IBOs generally have the most expenses, often participating in the system of standing orders, voicemail, books and functions.
When I was an IBO, I did as upline advised and I achieved a fairly significant level (4000 PV), but due to the expenses associated with tools and helping downline, I didn't earn net profit. This is confirmed by a study done by the Wisconsin attorney general some years ago who examined the tax returns of platinume and found that they averaged a net loss of about $1000 a year. While the study was a bit dated, I would suggest it is still very valid as platinums today, have more tools (business building materials) that they are expected to buy from upline. If I made nothing at 4000 PV, anyone with half a brain can conclude that IBOs below 4000 PV and fully participating on the system would end up with a net loss because their expenses would be similar to mine, but with less bonus money.
The bottom line is that people are very likely quitting because they aren't profitable. If people made a few hundred a month with 8-15 hours of work per week, they would continue to run their businesses. But those who work and make nothing or lose money have no reason or motivation to continue. Thus, they simply make a wise business decision and quit. What seemed like a good idea during the presentation simply did not pan out when reality set in. It's also reasonable to conclude that the products are that great because if they were, those who quit would become loyal customers, thus even if the sales force turned over, sales would consistently rise as former IBOs would become customers. It's apparent that most former IBOs do not become loyal Amway customers. In fact, for those who later discover they were lied to or deceived about the Amway opportunity, become critical of Amway instead.
Why do people quit Amway? I think the answer is crystal clear. The quitters are the winners!
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A major problem is the fault of the AMO subsystems themselves. In order to attract recruits who are not into hard salesmanship, they tell them this: "You don't have to sell anything! Just eat one Amway energy bar and drink one Amway energy drink every day and sign up a 6-4-2 structure of other people who will do the same!"
They don't mention to the recruits that they'll have to purchase at least $300 worth of Amway products every month in order to be eligible for any kind of bonus or rebate. This is why so many Amway IBOs wind up with garages or basements full of unopened Amway stuff, which they don't want, can't sell, and can't really use.
Who benefits? Simple -- the Amway Corporation that has a captive market for its products, and the higher up-lines who have a string of profitless IBOs underneath them who have to buy at least $300 worth of stuff every month.
All of the Amway subsystems (WWDB, URA, Network 21, Leadership Team, etc.) de-emphasize selling, because they know that the disinclination or failure of IBOs to go out and try to make retail sales to non-Amway customers is the main reason why IBOs quit the system. Instead they emphasize recruitment of down-line, and the self-consumption of Amway products.
This is why a new kind of business has grown up on the internet -- those websites that offer to train you in the best methods for "finding leads," and recruiting new IBOs into your Amway down-line. These websites are well aware that the Amway subsystems are fixated on recruitment, and not on selling.
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