Observation #1: In general, IBOs are less successful in life than others. That's why they are more open to the business and why they can be convinced that there is a shortcut to retirement and perpetual untold wealth. When I was an IBO, I was not where I wanted to be financially at the time, as I was younger and in the earlier stages of my career. I would not be open to “options” right now. However, many people looking for more in life or a shortcut to retirement may be more susceptible to looking at options. It's just that the Amway opportunity, in my opinion, is a poor option and is more likely to tame your money than to give you more.
Observation #2: The biggest zealots/supporters of Amway appear to have the smallest businesses. They talk the talk - but no evidence that they walk the walk. Also, any discussion about their personal success with the business is limited and shrouded in secrecy or they will make vague references about their level of success. They will say that their incomes are not relevent to the dicussion or will point out a copy of someone's check or show a picture of a diamond's mansion, but will never disclose real financials like a REAL business owner would. Funny how they always "know a guy" who is very successful.
Observation #3: The business has a bad reputation and cannot be marketed to the general public without some degree of deception. It’s why there are so many testimonials of people tricked into attending meetings (including myself). Being straight forward with information will likely get you a resounding “No thanks”. Sometimes you'll get funny looks if you talk about Amway. Almost a look of "who farted"? LOL
Observation #4: It would appear that much upline teaching is not focused on actually running a profitable business, but dedication to the tools systems. It’s why so many IBOs don’t seem to know what a profit loss statement is, and don’t bother keeping one themselves. It’s also why the content of many BSMs (Business Support Materials - cds/function/seminars) is to purchase more BSMs. At functions, they will tell you to attend more functions and buy more standing orders, and on standing orders, they will tell you to never quit and to attend more functions. A lot of the teaching helps the people selling the teaching but not anyone else.
Observation #5: IBOs in general don’t seem to have planned out their retirement. They are convinced that the Amway opportunity will provide for them when they reach their retirement years. They put down people who are working jobs and investing for their futures. They feel that purchasing function tickets is their investment for retirement. While a fraction of 1% might make some significant money in Amway, the vast majority do not. The fact that the majority may not have put forth a Herculean effort is irrelevant in my opinion. The bottom line is that the vast majority will not make an income from this opportunity. To ignore this fact is burying your head in the sand.
Dear Joe --
ReplyDeleteForgive my ignorance, but can you clarify something for me? When you refer to "Standing Order" in Amway, does that mean that, month after month, the IBO keeps on receiving the same designated amount of Amway products? That is usually what a standing order means elsewhere. Or is there a different meaning for it in Amway?
I ask because, in the normal world, a standing order is only placed if the retailer is regularly and profitably selling the product in question to his customers. So for example, a grocer might have a "standing order" for so many loaves of bread per week, or so many quarts of milk per month, because he is well aware that his customers always want those things, and therefore he can calculate with some accuracy how much he'll be able to sell in that time period.
But if the Amway IBO has real trouble retailing goods to the general public (as seems to be testified to frequently here and at other websites), then why in blazes would he have a "Standing Order" for anything? It just doesn't make any business sense to me.
But perhaps "Standing Order" means something else in the weird world of Amway. Please explain it to me.
Standing order was a tape subscription, but now it's a cds subscription. In a normal cycle, you receive 6 order per month. On one week. you would receive a single tape/cd and the following week, you would receive two tapes/cds. If you were a couple, uplilne expected husband and wife to each buy their own.
DeleteBut that wasn't the end of it. The upline would stress very strongly that you cannot listen to a new tape/cd each and every day without buying additional tapes/cds so the expectation was for people to buy 5-7 additional tapes/cds each week. And if you wanted to be a hardcore IBO, you were supposed to buy 7-9 tapes/cds in addition to the standing order.
It gets to be a major expense very quickly, especially when you factor in all the meetings, functions and seminars that come with being a business builder.
Why get standing order if you're struggling to make sales? Because the leaders would say that the information on standing order might be the very thing you need to become dynamic at building the business and might be the one thing you need to have in order for your business to explode.
DeleteOK, then I misunderstood. "Standing Order" in Amway is for the tools. But what then is "Ditto"? Is that for tools, or for products?
ReplyDeleteYes, ditto delivery is an automatic re-order of certain products. The standing order is a subscription for tools.
DeleteIBOs are encouraged to participate in both however.
I happened to meet the person who tried to sponsor me into amway, we had a brief chat but at that time, he no longer talks about "the business", so I thought he must have left but when I saw his instagram, I saw him holding a bar of xs protein bar with an xs endorser, so I think he is still part of an ambot club then....
ReplyDeleteMaybe he's not as zealous about recruitiing but still clings to the "dream"?
DeleteOr Maybe he just realized that the guy really wasn't all that interested. Probably wanted a team of people with backbone and were serious about creating some additional income.
ReplyDelete