I often find it comical that to this day, I still see people who like to hide the Amway name when recruiting others. I believe this tactic has been a major factor in why Amway has a bad reputation in North America. When I was recruited, I was lied to as well. I was invited to a "beer bust" only to find out it was an Amway meeting. I went home that night thinking WTH was that? They lie to us and then expect us to join the business. And to this day, I believe this practice continues. They might use another name such as "Liberty Marketing" or "Worldwide Group" to mask the opportunity they are pitching. My question is why?
Over the years, IBOs have tried all kinds of ways to disguise the Amway opportunity. In the past, it was network marketing, e-commerce, online shopping mall and the corporation even changed Amway in North America to "Quixtar". Sadly, the name change to quixtar did not work, probably because the same tactics were used when recruiting new IBOs into Quixtar. Amway eventually changed the name back to Amway. I believe this bad reputation in North America is why Amway, in years past, enjoyed the most business growth overseas where people either do not know the Amway name, and likely because there haven't been enough former Amway/AMO victims to soil the name in other countries. As markets mature and people get to know about Amway, we se what is happening now. Amway revenues have plummeted from 11.8 billion in 2013 to 8.8 billion (global) in 2016. That's a serious decline!So IBOs, how can you expect someone to trust you and do business with you if you are deceitful or outright lie about the Amway opportunity? Are you ashamed of the Amway name? If you are ashamed or scared to drop the "A bomb" on people, how will you ever be able to show any plans, let alone sponsoring anyone into the business? My former sponsor used to tell our group that the biggest challenge is overcoming the name Amway. To be fair, Amway the corporation is not the reason for the bad reputation. It is the unethical and bad behavior of IBOs that lead to a bad reputation but on the other hand, it's not the like Amway police have been cracking down and visibly taking action against the violators so Amway is also guilty to some degree.
Conversely, people who come right out and talk about Amway are unlikely to net any decent results either because of the past reputation. It's an almost no-win situation for IBOs and prospects. For these reasons, I believe it to be nearly impossible to build and maintain a group, especially if your goal is to reach diamond. It seems as if more diamonds have left Amway in recent years than there have been new diamonds. I believe this to be spot on for WWDB, my former LOS. So IBOs, are you ashamed of Amway? If not, why are there still so many IBOs using trickery and deception in recruiting prospects?
If you avoid using the Amway name, what are you ashamed of?
It's not just that people recognize that Amway is a scam, and that there is no real chance to make money in it. It's also the fact that the idea has now spread widely that being an IBO in Amway is proof that you are an ignorant and gullible schmuck. People don't want to be associated with a business that has the reputation of being a collection of jackasses.
ReplyDeleteJoe, back in the early 20th century there was a successful comic film actor named Fatty Arbuckle. He got caught in a terrible sexual scandal that involved the accidental death of a young woman. His career was ruined -- no studio would hire him for anything at all, and he could not make a dime.
ReplyDeleteHis friend Buster Keaton gave him a piece of advice. It was this: Change your name! Call yourself "Will B. Good."
It didn't work. The name change didn't fool anyone, and Arbuckle never worked in films again.
The same is true for Amway. The name shifts from Amway to Quixtar to Alticor aren't going to fool anybody. There is simply too much negative information out there about Amway's MLM pyramid scheme and how it cheats and abuses its IBOs.
Today, if you want to recruit a new IBO into your down-line, you need to find someone young, inexperienced, stupid, naive, financially ignorant, and who doesn't use the internet.
Thanks for the comments! I totally agree! And love the Fatty Arbuckle story analogy!
ReplyDeleteI remember my old Upline Platinum in URA (URAssociation) ripping on a prospect that asked for the name of the company that was being pitched. He said the person was all about himself and wanted to get all of this important information for free so he told the prospect "No" and that he "wasn't ready" to join the team. All because a guy who was being asked to join a business asked what the name of the business was. Just unreal.
ReplyDeleteWanting to know the name of the company you are being prospected for is perfectly normal. That URA Platinum who refused to give it was a lying scumbag and con-man.
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