Now that the internet is so accessible, information flows freely and some of the dark secrets of the Lines Of Sponsorship have been exposed. Also, as times passes, it is becoming clear that a bunch of upline leaders are major hypocrites, apparently motivated by greed and personal gain. I believe this trend will continue as well. It appears that these same leaders have managed to get around Amway's accreditation guidelines, which appears to be toothless.
Many upline leaders appeal to their audience by talking about how the Amway business can save marriages. I remember sitting in an audience when some diamonds spoke about how couples who build the business have a less than 2% divorce rate as compared to the national figure of 50% or so. One major reason cited was the financial stress that J-O-B people had (not enough cash). But now we see some upline diamond leaders getting divorced and in some cases, no explanation is offered, as if the missing spouse was beamed up by aliens. Many leaders simply revise history or deny that certain events happened. Some leaders just pretend nothing happened and it seems like IBOs are very forgiving, thus no real accountability has ever been applied to upline leaders.
People also found that some diamonds make a lot of money from tools. When I was an IBO, we were told very clearly, that nobody made profits from tools. That profits went back into the functions to make them better and cheaper. (Has any function gotten cheaper in the last 12 years?) In fact, when I was an IBO, I was told that WWDB was a non-profit entity, which was a bold lie. I will admit that upline later changed their story to WWDB was a for profit company, but nobody kept profits, thus the channeling money to make events better and cheaper. Agsin, when have events ever been cheaper. Now I don't think that events should be run pro bono, but the leaders should be transparent about it rather than the lies and shroud of secrecy that often accompanies talk about tools and tool income.
Some upline leaders also spoke of how utterly stupid it was to take out a loan as the banks make so much money off the interest. We now see some of these very leaders having their homes foreclosed! Some of these diamonds were the very ones who said their pay cash for everything, including their homes and cars. It is not in the hopes for these folks to suffer, but it is exposing the lies and deception that leaders used to entice IBOs to join and to purachse tools that were supposed to help IBOs to attain the same lifestyle as the diamonds. However, rather that more diamonds, I believe WWDB and some other LOSs, at least in the US, have fewer diamonds now than 15 years ago. Where's the evidence of success?
What's even more amazing is how the hypocrisy of some of these leaders are exposed to downline and the downline simply ignores it and continues to follow blindly without an explantion or questioning the leaders after the incidents are exposed.
IBOs should ask their leaders questions when these kinds of issues arise. And you should think twice if the answer you receive is silence or deflections.
When the subordinate members of a community wilfully ignore or discount or forget or make excuses for the crimes of those above them, then you know you are dealing with a religious cult.
ReplyDeleteCults are based on mythology and faith. These things are not subject to testing by actual experience or the discovery of contradictory facts. Hell, there are still fundamentalists who think that fossils are demonic fakes planted by the devil to trick people into believing in evolution.
So in the Amway cult, IBOs simply shut their eyes to the blatant lies and hypocrisies and fakery of their sacred up-line. If they didn't, they'd be forced into the very painful next step of giving up their mythology and faith.
Yes, the downline are loyal. That's why Amway IBOs are often compared to a cult or in some cases, a mob family. Back in 2009, a prominent triple diamond went bankrupt and filed chapter 7. It was public record, yet IBOs denied it as a bad rumor started by Amway critics.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how the downline blindly believe their uplines even when the evidence does not support them.
Truth, most of the time, does not paint a rosy picture but rather exposes the wound. Therefore, the need to cover the wound is so real that, deception is essential to come up with a rosy picture.
ReplyDeleteUplines teach you to ignore facts. If only IBOs would look a their profts and losses, this would be obvious.
DeleteEven if the fact says that the average income of an IBO is less than $180 per month?
DeleteLast I saw on Amway.com, the average was $202 per month, but that was gross income, and they did not count the IBOs who did nothing. If all IBOs were counted, the average gross income would have been less than $100.
DeleteKeep in mind that the averages also include diamonds and crown ambassadors.
I dont think downlines are fooled very long. Most give up after a short time
ReplyDeleteThat's true. Most notice the negative cashflow and quit before they lose too much money.
DeleteI remembered when upline talked some marketing literature about "eliminating middle men." Isn't it ironic that upline has so many middle men?
ReplyDeleteThey say they eliminate middle men but in reality, they create more middle men.
DeleteThank you Joe Cool for opening my eyes.
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome
DeleteJoeCool,
ReplyDeleteJust a question.....how could this be considered your own business? Sounds like to me, everyone is working for Amway and their upline.
It's not your business and never truly will be. You bonus checks are signed by Amway and Amway can terminate you if they want. Your upline can also screw you over if they want or need to.
DeleteAs an IBO, you are really a commissioned sales person for Amway who takes all the risk of moving products on Amway's behalf and you are no entitled to any pay unless you move a quota (100 PV) and you get no fringe benefits and no paid leave.
As a IBO I am a commission sales of amway to one degree. It is one of the best commission sales jobs out there I can find.
ReplyDeleteJoe , do you know about the terms of most commission base jobs and make fare comparison ?
Amway is one of the worst in my opinion. You not only have a defacto quota (100 PV) but you must assume the risk and trouble of advertising and getting the product to the customer.
DeletePlease compare it to other commission job out there . It is not about what you think, it is about what it is .
ReplyDelete