Why Amway/Quixtar has had NO growth in the past 5 years

So here’s the story…  My upline Emerald (of course when I was still with Quixtar) got in Amway in the mid-90s.  After the business transitioned to Quixtar, his entire downline quit…  He was an “Emerald” with FIVE platinum legs (right on the verge of Diamondship) who fell back to a ONE-LEGGED platinumship under him w/ some side volume outside of that leg.

After 5 years, he re-qualified Emerald and 2 years later he qualified Founders Emerald.  Another 2 years and he FINALLY qualified Diamond.  And not to demean what he did, but why are they still quoting 2-5 years until Diamond?  It’s TOTAL bullcrap.  Sorry.

And now they may be repeating history w/ the name changing BACK to Amway.  Good God…

So if a leader such as this person is, who KNOWS how to grow a big network marketing organization, takes 20 years or more togo Diamond – why are they still quoting 2-5 years until ‘freedom’?

The truth of the matter is, Amway/Quixtar’s North American business has slowed BIG TIME.  They’ve almost recovered back to where they were in the 1980’s, but they’re STILL not even there yet..

So, this brings us to the topic at hand…

Why has Amway/Quixtar’s business had virtually NO growth in the past 5 years or so?

1.) Bad reputation.  The company has had it’s fair share of lawsuits, but not even taking in to account problems with the company’s rep itself – the tools business is at the real heart of the problem.  When the leaders are making 2-5 times the money in the tools/motivation business than they are in the REAL mlm company they promote… is it their fault or the company’s?  Which brings me to my next point…

2.) Crappy comp plan.  This comp plan hasn’t been updated for the new millennium.   There’s no profit in the products, and they’re so overpriced they’re virtually impossible to market to retail customers (wth a few exceptions).  If it costs you $300 to get 100PV, and your check is $9 (3% of your BV), is it REALLY worth it??  And as a platinum you’re only talking about $2k per month.  And if you want to be more profitable, you need to be so WIDE (more personally sponsored reps on your ‘frontline’) it becomes a real pain in the butt to try and work DEPTH.  You have to get a few hundred active buyers/IBO’s in your business to really pull in any kind of profit.  (Some direct sales companies get you earning $2-5k in your first 1-3 months, rather than waiting 12+ months to go Q12 platinum at best…  Global Resorts Network anyone?!)

3.) Bad reputation.. ok, yea, I already mentioned it… but you’ve really got to understand this.  I showed the plan to COUNTLESS people.  Dozens of them did NOT get in SPECIFICALLY because the business was Amway.  Many loved the concept and really wanted to make more money, but the name carries such a negative connotation to people… it becomes a crapshoot for the IBO’s.

4.)  You’re paying for friends.  Ok, this is REALLY going to piss off any IBO that reads this.  Now, I did make some great friendships while w/ Quixtar.  But HOW the team I was apart of build their businesses was RAPING their downlines of their freakin’ dignity for God’s sake.  If you ‘want to be part of the club’, guess what?  You’re paying for tickets to every hotel meeting, seminar, cd’s, lit packs, etc..  If you ‘want to be a leader’, you’re now going to a diner after every event (which I’ll be the first to admit is pretty damn fun) but now you’re spending more money on food, etc…

Now, this is what REALLY pissed me off.  They would put together a “Qualifier”.  They’d put something together… like a party at the beach, or a pizza party at the upline Platinum’s house, or dodgeball or something else totally ridiculous…  And (get this) you needed to do 300 PV to QUALIFY to be there..  (150 PV for singles, 300 PV for couples) Yea, really. 300PV is about $800+ of product. Sometimes it was DOUBLE that!  (300 PV for singles, 600 PV for couples).  Now, if you were a ‘leader’ and you were doing 20 plans per month and growing your business to the next level.. you were EXPECTED to be there.  If you weren’t and someone in your group qualified, it looked bad on you.  Now, if you didn’t sell enough product to be there (which was often the case w/ overpriced products) what do you think most people did?  Yup.  Bought it themselves.

So, let’s get this straight…  Through ‘group psychology’ and peer pressure and other bs sales techniques…  SOO many people took $1000 out of their pocket PER MONTH so that they could go to these events.  So, in a way, they were PAYING for friendship.  THIS is why people got in and out of this business so fast (revolving door business).  THIS is why people had BOXES of product stacked in their garage.  THIS is why the company gets such a bad rep.

And this is how SO many people qualify for new pins…  It’s pretty sad.  You have maybe a dozen singles on your team do ‘double core volume’ (300 pv) and you’re basically a new 4000 pin.  You have a dozen couples on your team do ‘double core’ (600 pv) and you’re a new Silver pin.  The problem is, after a few months they quit because they realize they’re going bankrupt buying products they don’t need or want.

The next month that new silver or platinum starts off at NEGATIVE 1500 pv because of all the returns, and ends the month at 2500 pv.  But you know what?!  They’re STILL getting recognized as new silvers or platinums!  Their upline is STILL going to brag them up to the rest of their team.  They’re still going to edify the fact that they’re “growing a big business”.

So, after my long rant… how is Quixtar going to fix this?  Well, first they’re changing their name BACK to Amway (not such a good move).  They’re spending a bunch of money on national advertising (hmmm, okay?)  And they’re sponsoring athletes and celebrities for their different brands…  Will it work?  Who knows.  Good luck to them, but I’ll be making my network marketing income elsewhere..