One of the things I heard as an IBO, and still witness today, is IBOs telling prospects that their income is none of your business. That you can refer to the compensation plan and see that you are compensated for volume. That your effort will yield different results than their efforts. All I can say is what a load of baloney. If you are researching the Amway business opportunity and the person contacting you won't disclose financial details of their business, red flags should pop up all over the place. Sure, if your potential sponsor is new, they may not have much to share, but are they willing to share or claim that it's a trade secret?
Remember that your sponsor will receive a financial benefit from your purchases and/or sales for the life of his/hers and your business. Volume that you move, plus your downline volume will be a part of your sponsor's and upline's volume. For that kind of reward, you'd think that people would be open to sharing. Now I'm not suggesting you ask to see the sponsor's personal job income, but surely, you'd want to know what kind of time, effort and expenses you might expect, along with the kind of expected results that your potential sponsor may be experiencing so you can decide whether it's worth the investment of time and money, especially if you will be encouraged to purchase training from the upline. And actually, your sponsor is obligate to train you free of charge. You don't hear that on standing orders or at functions.
If your potential sponsor has a downline, and has been around for a month or more, wouldn't you want to know what their results and expenses are? It's perfectly reasonable to ask and expect a response. Since Amway leaders often talk about duplicating, wouldn't you want to know what you would be duplicating? I wouldn't want to put in 12 hours a week plus a few hundred in expenses if the likely result would be a net loss. Now I understand that a new business might not prosper right away but what are the indicators that a profit is coming? If you have trouble selling and sponsoring downline, you will more than likely never make a net profit. If you are selling and sponsoring, but still not profiting, then what? Are the tools and training expenses eating up all your profits?
It is my conclusion that uplines and potential sponsors don't share this information because it would not be attractive to prospects. Most IBOs run at a loss, especially if they have tools and training expenses and they might be putting in a tremendous effort. We know that some diamonds have financial difficulty. We also know that some, possibly many diamonds make more money from the tools and training than from Amway. I believe that the Amway opportunity is a far cry from how it's presented with the mansions and sports cars. I believe the reality is a sad one. If you are told by your potential sponsor that their business income and/or results are none of your business, you should pack up your bags and run!
If your potential sponsor has a downline, and has been around for a month or more, wouldn't you want to know what their results and expenses are? It's perfectly reasonable to ask and expect a response. Since Amway leaders often talk about duplicating, wouldn't you want to know what you would be duplicating? I wouldn't want to put in 12 hours a week plus a few hundred in expenses if the likely result would be a net loss. Now I understand that a new business might not prosper right away but what are the indicators that a profit is coming? If you have trouble selling and sponsoring downline, you will more than likely never make a net profit. If you are selling and sponsoring, but still not profiting, then what? Are the tools and training expenses eating up all your profits?
It is my conclusion that uplines and potential sponsors don't share this information because it would not be attractive to prospects. Most IBOs run at a loss, especially if they have tools and training expenses and they might be putting in a tremendous effort. We know that some diamonds have financial difficulty. We also know that some, possibly many diamonds make more money from the tools and training than from Amway. I believe that the Amway opportunity is a far cry from how it's presented with the mansions and sports cars. I believe the reality is a sad one. If you are told by your potential sponsor that their business income and/or results are none of your business, you should pack up your bags and run!
The AMO subsystems in Amway don't exist so that you can make a profit. They are purely training companies, whose purpose is to sell you advice about how to be successful in Amway. They have no real interest in whether you succeed or not. The only thing they really care about is the endless money you pay in fees and tuition.
ReplyDeleteIn this they are no different from colleges, where you pay four years of tuition and fees, but there is no guarantee at all that you will find a job in your chosen field. The school takes no responsibility for that. You're on your own once you graduate.
The difference is that college ends after four years. Amway and its damned AMO subsystems work hard to keep you enrolled forever, so that your "training" goes on for years and years of endless monthly fees and expenses.
And the only way you're going to make money is to convince plenty of people to sign up underneath you, for the same rat-race.
There are several strategies in Amway groups and the MLM world generally to answering (or perhaps I should say avoid answering) this question.
ReplyDeleteOne is “it’s none of your business”. Another is “you wouldn’t believe me if I told you”, and another is “that is not the question, the question is how much could you earn?”.
The funniest to me, and one of the most liked by defenders on general MLM advice channels on Youtube is “I don’t know yet, I’m still counting” after which they’ll explain that they don’t know how much might still come from their past prospective work. As if the idea of sales lag is unique to their “business” and is if how much one has actually banked for indicative purposes means nothing. One thing I’ve found particularly funny is when the person who gave the advice starts it by saying that the question comes from an “employee mindset” where people are used to a fixed salary. As if projections of income has no place in business.
As I said many angles are used to handle this. All nonsensical, and some funny (but sad). The only one not among them is answering. the question.
What is sad is that some would talk around this question for years without thinking that if the opportunity was what it was cracked up to be, this should not be a hard question at all. The fact that this is filed on one discussion site for enthusiasts under “objection handling” says it all. Since when is asking a prospective business partner in the same boat about realisations of earnings, an “objection”??!!
Quite right, Anonymous. When someone does not want to answer a question directly and clearly, you know that you are dealing with a liar or a con-man.
ReplyDelete