There's been much debate recently over the issue of IBOs selling products. Now of course in the IBO world, there are going to be some IBOs who are exceptional at selling products and possibly in foreign countries where Amway has not spoiled their reputation as it apparently has in North America, it might be possible to sell some products. But the experience of a typical IBO probably cannot be one where products flow to customers regularly. Now I do not wish to debate the merits of whether or not downline are considered customers as that is an endless and pointless debate because the bottom line would be that uplines are making their income on the backs of their downline, thus confirming the appearance of a product pyramid. Aside from downline, it would appear that the remaining customers are mostly sympathetic family and friends who buy a few token products.
But why do rank and file IBOs struggle to sell Amway products? Surely Amway has some decent and some good products. But in North America, Amway's goods are generic in nature but sell at premium prices. So, unless you are convinced that their quality is that great for the price, the average Joe is simply going to buy a similar product at Walmart or a Costco. Also, when you must justify and explain to potential customers that you actually provide a better value due to concentration and/or cost per use, it not only becomes labor intensive, but confusing for the average consumer. Add in the past reputation of the Amway name being associated with a scam or a pyramid and you have an extremely tough sell.Partner stores are often used by IBOs to bring name credibility, but I wonder how many of these products are actually sold to customers? I suspect that very few products are sold because the price is not that competitive and because many consumers, like myself prefer to touch and feel certain products before making a decision to buy. Even with a money back guarantee, customers don't want to be bothered with returning something via the mail. Also, the term partner store seems odd because Amway IBOs sell partner store goods, but "partner" stores don't sell Amway products. The relationship is not a two-way street, in other words.
Also, while Amway recently started to market their opportunity and goods with national advertising, I believe the advertising is more of a retention issue. IBOs can say "see, we're on TV, we must be credible". I believe it may be too late in North America. In the past. IBOs would say they had greater bonuses because Amway saved money on advertising. Thus, IBOs engaged in the most inefficient manner of moving products. They did it person to person and in the past, door to door. The reason why super bowl commercials are so expensive is because they can reach tens or hundreds of millions of people worldwide. But basically, Amway IBOs to sell the products and the opportunity, must do it one person at a time, and they must also overcome the many negative opinions that North Americans have about Amway. Amway sales have been tanking since 2013. Amway revenues have gone from 11.8 billion at its peak in 2013 and dropped each year with 8.6 billion in 2017 being the most recent numbers.
But it is for these reasons that IBOs probably cannot move many products except to some family and friends. In what REAL business can you make a sustainable living, much less fabulous wealth by selling some goods to family and friends? I can't think of any, and you are seriously mislead if you think you can do this with Amway products and earn untold wealth and riches.
Remember that Amway was started in 1959. Back then, there was still a viable "small-town America," with towns where there were very few major stores, and a stable local population. It was possible for an enterprising person to sell Amway products to his neighbors and friends on a regular basis, if he got them to try a few, and if he connected his selling with frequent friendly visits to customers. And he was normally on a first-name basis with all of them.
ReplyDeleteThat's how Avon and Tupperware did well -- using local people to deal with a local customer base. Even brushes (the Fuller Brush Man) and watches and jewelry were sold door to door in these small places. But that America is long gone. Major stores are everywhere, local populations move away more frequently, and many things can be bought cheaply and easily on-line. So the one-on-one selling techniques that Amway still champions for its IBOs are completely out of date.
Amway clings to these superannuated techniques because it really has no other option. It doesn't allow on-line sales except under severe restrictions; it forbids sales in brick-and-mortar stores; and it doesn't set up sales regions in clear territories to protect individual IBOs from cross-line competition. So all Amway can do is parrot the old bullshit about selling to your family and friends and neighbors. 1959 is over sixty years ago. You can't run a successful business that way anymore.
As for Amway's terrible reputation, it has only itself to blame. By allowing the various AMO subsystems to develop and seize control of the recruitment process, it has let a corrupt, crypto-pyramid scheme come into existence, with all of the abuses and deceptive practices that pyramid schemes give rise to. The situation is now hopeless in North America, where the mere mention of the name "Amway" makes people laugh or vomit. And in foreign countries the same thing is starting to happen.