One of the disturbing things I have noticed about Amway IBOs and IBO leaders is how they wlll tell downline to trust them. To trust them as they have already blazed a trail. No need to re-invent the wheel. Just ride the coattails of your upline to success. The system is proven. Many IBOs take this to heart and put forth tremendous effort. Then when they fail, upline will shun them and tell them that the failure is their own. That they are personally responsible for failure.
Now I am not talking about IBOs who sign up and do nothing, or never place an order. I do believe that the fact that many IBOs sign up and do nothing brings concerns about how these IBOs were recruited, but I di not recall ever seeing an IBO do nothing and then complain that Amway was a scam or anything like that.
I have found, however, that many people who are critical of Amway and the systems, put forth much effort, did everything they were told, and did not find the success that upline promoted, or in some cases, guaranteed. My former sponsor was still active, last I heard and has been in Amway for over 15 years. I do not believe he has ever gone beyond platinum, and I know that he was never a Q12 platinum. Some Amway apologists might see being a platinum as a bonus, but when you are hard core sold out to the systems, platinum is a break even or make a small profit business. Factor in that time spent by husband and wife and these folks are breaking even or making a fraction of minumum wage. Is this the dream that will allow you to buy mansions with a cash payment?
What is also disturbing is how people will tout the system as responsible for any success, but hide the vast majority that the system doesn't help. Sure, some will succeed in Amway, but for every success, there are hundreds if not thousands who fail. And if you consider diamond as the benchmark of success, the failures could be in the millions. As I said, some succeed, but very very few in relation to the number who try. Going diamond is probably less common in the US than winning the lottery.
Succeed and the systems and upline take credit, but fail or quit and it is your own responsibility. Are these the kinds of leaders or mentors you want advice from? Where's the personal responsibility of the leaders and mentors? There are many stories of IBOs doing exactly what they were advised, only to lose money and/or fail. Where's the responsibility of the leaders? The tools system is win win for the upline leaders with the downlines getting a lose lose situation.
3 comments:
Just to support what you are saying, they really are saying if you follow the plan all will be well. Perhaps Amway itself will deny it, but look at this:
From the LinkedIn profile of the latest guy who last ambushed me:
He describes this "business" he has (in parallel with his day job for the last 15 years). He says:
"The business leadership program is simple, predictable, proven and can be trusted.
By redirecting monthly expenses and effective networking following the trusted leadership program setting up global structured businesses. Generate asset based income.
Global partnership with Network21 and Amway."
When you criticise the opportunity they argue that no business guarantees success. However that first sentence quoted above (which is very typical of how it is marketed in general) very clearly sets the expectation that that this is a formula that works if you follow it. "simple, predictable, proven and can be trusted". It already implies there could be only one reason for failure (you). This one goes one step further, it says it is "simple".
Surely 99.x% of sign ups can't be disinterested to follow the simple plan? Do they believe only 0.x% follow it, and this minority succeed almost without exception? Does the normal guy really believe that he is not seeing the results because he does not quite follow the plan? I can see why people get despondent and why the motivational noise is required to "overwrite" the rational reaction to quit, for as long as possible.
There is just no logic at all in this reasoning, and there is no way to reason with people who are really in it, the "lifers" like this guy and I assume your former up line. I wonder how anyone can believe what you sell even if it clearly has not worked for you, in 15 years. Do they also blame themselves? When confronted, would they say: "I did not take it seriously for 10-13 years, don't make the same mistake. But now that I do, success is just around the corner". ? Of course these conversations never come up because up lines never talk about themselves in the sense of clearly quantifying their results as a case study. You should trust them, but credentials are never allowed to be checked.
Seems when you doubt, just repeat after me: "The system works. The system works. The system works"...."I must follow it better".."I must work harder".
On an unrelated topic, perhaps you can share some thoughts one day (if you haven't) on the "low startup costs". That is often tooted as the thing that makes it ideal for people with little capital. I would define startup costs as the investment required before the business starts working and earning money. I hear "low startup costs", and then in the next breath I hear that it is normal for a business to operate a few years without turning profit (that's a lie - a simple business with no hard assets and no inventory or perishables should profit after a few months at most). All investment during this dead period should be included in the startup costs.If it takes years of tool buying, attending all kinds of meetings, and weekly investment in evenings, where is the low startup costs?
Just look at the insufferable jargon in the boilerplate propaganda that Kwaaikat quoted:
"By redirecting monthly expenses and effective networking following the trusted leadership program setting up global structured businesses. Generate asset based income."
I defy anyone to make coherent sense out of that tangle of bullshit! THEY AREN'T EVEN ENGLISH SENTENCES! They have neither a clear subject, nor a verb!
The human vermin who try to rope you into Amway always talk in this convoluted, pointless, jargon-laced manner. What they say is just mindless babble, designed solely to confuse you and make you think that they know a lot more than you do, and therefore are to be trusted.
Here is a warning to anyone who is tempted to join the Amway fraud: If the "Plan" can't be explained to you in straightfoward, clear, untangled English, then you are looking at a rip-off. If the speaker has to use bullshit vocabulary like "prosuming" and "networking" and "leadership" and "global" and "asset based," he is a lying piece of shit.
Let's see if some stupid Amway asshole shows up here to try and deny the above.
@Anonymous May 20 3:03pm: Fully agree. Which group you are in may not be clear cut. The "being lied to's" over time shift to being the foot soldiers spreading falsehoods themselves. They themselves, while being lied to, start to copy recruiting tactics, not disclosing Amway, playing with emotional desire to being your own boss, repeating the extra income with little effort lines.
Most normal people are bothered by this deception deep down. I believe large part of the get togethers (from which advice and training flows), apart from the obvious (to outsiders) motivation in face of the lack of results, is self justification for deceptive practices. Almost as if to say: I know I lie to these people who trust me, so I need to keep on hearing "it's for the best".
Most of the evil upline are themselves (still) victims and are on balance loosing out.
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