Looking back at my IBO days, I can now laugh at some of the strange stuff we did and believe it or not, I have reason to believe that my old LOS, WWDB still teaches some of this and some other major groups also teach it. I believe some of these practices were the reason why some people refer to the Amway business as cult or having cult like qualities. If you recognize some of these practices, you might be in an unethical group and you should ask your upline the tough questions and possibly reconsider or reprioritize your involvement in the business.
Submission to upline was one of the things we were told. Our group was told that upline would never purposely lead us astray so we should trust them and never try anything without checking upline. Afterall, upline had experience and probably had all the answers. Some of this checking upline included asking permission to get married, buy a car or a home, or even something as small as purchasing a camera. The upline said maybe someone upline might have advice on how to get a good deal on a camera so no harm in checking upline before making a purchase. It is my guess that upline didn't want your disposable income being spent on anything other than standing orders and functions. Our group was taught to reduce debt, but ironically, upline said it was okay to go deeper in debt if it was to attend a function or to buy more cds.
Late meetings. Our upline was into late meetings, many occuring after midnight. I suppose it was a show of loyalty and dedication to the upline and the system. In reality, it made most people angry at their jobs because they had to wake up early to go to work. For me it made me mad at our upline because the meetings taught us nothing of substance and it just made us tired. Our upline used to talk about time being important but it was never important enough to make him show up on time for his own late night meetings. Another cult like factor - sleep deprivation.
Secrets. Anytime we asked about how much income uplines may have been earning, we were either told it's none of our business or shown a photocopy of a 10 year old bonus check that someone upline may have received. Our proof that the business worked was upline showing off pictures of sports cars and mansions. Of course we now find that some WWDB diamonds had homes foreclosed, and one prominent triple diamond had some dealings in bankruptcy court. Looking back, I suspect that many diamonds have mortgages, which would be nor problem except that these leaders scoffed at the stupidity of having a loan. That diamonds pay cash for everything, including homes. My former sponsor still lives in a run down rented home beause he won't purchase a home unless he's got the cash. My former sponsor is a physician so I find his position on buying a home preposterous. His oldest child, a son probably grew up deprived of his parents because of dedication to the system and the functions.
Losing money is success. Many times, our group was told that losing money was a sign of success. It was success because we were investing in our futures. That the business really is not about money but about friendships. I suppose upline taught this because everyone was losing money so it was nice to hear that success was around the corner, and that we were all nicer people and on our way to success if we just attended more functions and bought more standing orders. People who sold off some of their personal property were edified if they did so to attend a function. Obviously these folks were not advised to run their business within their means. Upline even said that going into debt was okay, but only if the debt was to invest in the business or to buy extra function tickets.
While some of these practices seem bizarre, I believe it is because the upline advice was self serving and meant to channel their downline's dollars into tool purchases. It is the only conclusion I can make. What's your conclusion?
Joe -- my fifth columnist, who's pretty high up in WWDB, tells me that all of the higher up-line bigs in that LOS know very well that the whole thing is a fraud, the purpose of which is simply to extract as much cash as possible from IBOs before they get wise and quit. Cult-control won't work with most people, but it does work for a small percentage of persons who make up the core and backbone of the Amway-WWDB racket. This small core of fanatics is crucial to Amway's profits, since they are the ones who can be trusted to pay fees forever, and they are the ones who actually do the hard and dirty work of new recruitment.
ReplyDeleteAccording to him, the key figures are the Platinums, who are tasked with the job of keeping enthusiasm in the lower down-line high. They are told, in no uncertain terms, that they will be cut out of the lucrative tool profits if the down-lines directly under them aren't kept active and "churning." This last word refers to constant new recruitment. Platinums are ordered to "keep the cash flow upwards, by any means necessary." Retail sale of Amway products is considered secondary (or even tertiary) to this main imperative.
By the way, this is not just an unauthorized policy by some rogue LOS. My fifth columnist tells me that Amway in Ada, Michigan specifically encourages the practice, but for legal reasons never puts anything down on paper or on e-mail communications. All discussion of these issues takes place solely by secure phone, or by personal conversation.
I believe what you say because Amway and WWDB have a symbiotic relationship. Amway provides a venue for the diamonds to fleece downline and in turn, the diamonds teach 100 PV minimum, product loyalty and they do all the recruiting of new IBOs to churn through the system.
DeleteYour comments are also consistent with some conversations I had with former platinums who said the diamonds laughed and considered the low level IBOs as "rubes" to be taken to the cleaners, knowing most of they will lose their shirts and fail.
And it's true that a loyal core group keep funneling their money upline. My platinum used to push the tools very very hard as if his life depended on it. Even to the point where he taught us to keep buying tapes/cds even when we already owned a copy of each one on the list. Telling us to give them away because they will sponsor people for you. It was total BS.
My sponsor is still in Amway and has been since 1993 or so. I wonder how much he's been taken for?
My fifth columnist at WWDB tells me that the relationship between the higher-ups and those who are "core" Amway fanatics is fraught with a lot of tension.
DeleteAmway needs these core fanatics, but it doesn't want too many of them to achieve Diamond status, or even Platinum. Of course in some instances they have to accept someone into the higher pin levels simply because he has worked so hard and developed such a big down-line himself. But in most cases, the higher ups prefer to keep dangling the prospect of big rewards to the core types, just to keep them fired up and energized. Their ideal IBO is Joe Cool, making 4000 PV per month and plugging away faithfully. You keep a guy like that going by tantalizing him with promises, but you don't necessarily want him to become a Diamond.
This is why the functions are so important. We here at the anti-Amway websites make fun of their absurdity and uselessness. But for the higher-ups, the functions are profoundly important not just because they raise so much cash, but because they keep the core fanatics "churning." And the constant turnover of new recruits (some of whom will become true cultists) is what keeps the entire machine running.
Joe Cool got out in time. Many others are caught in this spider web forever.
Yes, that's what diamonds want. People who come and and go 1000 PV or 4000 PV. And then they eventually quit. The churn is where they make money. If people went diamond regularly, they diamonds would have to share their tool money.
DeleteIt's for that reason diamonds split off from their beloved trusted business mentors, because they don't want to share the tool money.