Just in from reader Lulu…
“My mother recently joined company A. She loves the product but was also enticed by the idea of supplementing her retirement income in a year or so. She’s not looking for big money – just some. She’s never ever done anything like this before.
“(However, she is always among the top 3 sellers in her customer service group at her job, for some reason the people she talks to buy what she suggests and she upsells them dramatically without much effort.)
“There are ALOT of things her leader has not told her – they are promoting the ‘front-loader’ idea pushing the idea of getting 4 people to sign up as quickly as possible and spend the suggested $1200. My Mom invested her $1200, her leader chose her order for her based on ‘what she needed’ to get going.”
Then she added…
“I attended her presentation (done by her leaders) at her home last Saturday… One of my friends asked “so this could help lighten this age spot right here?” Her leader responded “not could – it will” There is NO way she can know that, and it made me uncomfortable.”
“I’m afraid for my Mom as she tries for the first time in her life to approach people face to face about something she believes in and wants to sell while building a business of her own. If she follows her leaders advice she will fail.”
Your take?
Well, get her Kim’s book and get her on NMC. This way she’ll have an alternantive to what her ‘leaders’ preach.
Let’s not waste time trying to analyze whether or not she will fail but let’s help her build her business:
How much does she make for one retail sale of her favorite product?
How much does she want to earn every week or month?
Divide that by the first number and round up and you have the number of items she has to sell to get her desired earning.
It’s ok to have a different opinion and that’s why (coming from Europe myself) I like Kim’s approach. She’ll teach you how to think, not what to think.
yves
http://www.CosmicStamina.com
This kind of behavior, which I deem cutthroat greed, is one reason why networking has such a bad rap. If there is an OPTION to buy a great deal of product, for whatever benefits this entails, then offer it. Pushing it on someone is unscrupulous. Guaranteeing results is, also. Your mother loves the products. That in itself is a great victory for the networker who introduced her. I believe the greed factor will eventually sink her ship. Not her greed, but her upline’s. Sad and unnecessary. We can conduct our businesses with integrity and compassion. And, ultimately, with enough of those qualities, hard work and a little luck, we can be successful. You know what it comes down to? Character. We have to be able to say we did our best, or what is the point of being alive? Just to take as much as we can get from other people? I don’t think so. Have you voiced your concerns to your mom? Maybe she can sidestep the intervention of the upline’s greed. You never know. Annie
I still can’t see how $1200 is considered “front-end loading.” That’s a pittance to start any business.
But shame on the upline leader for making unscrupulous product claims – would have been more credible to use the ol’, “I don’t know if it will work for you the way it worked for me and my customers…but what if it did? Would you like to try it then?”
Before you jump to conclusions, I think I know company “A”. And what your mother has purchased may be the tools she needs to do her business effectively. Did your mother say she was forced into buying that much or are you “assuming” someone pushed her into it? Although no one has to buy any certain amount to get started, there are benefits to purchasing certain things and the amount of money spent should be in line with the new person’s budget. If not, then it’s both the sponsor’s fault for not listening, and the person who bought that much for not saying it was too much.
If she has been sold over $500, promised training or some other significant assistance, she may fall under the FTC’s Franchise Rule which covers business opportunities – she may have 10 days to rescind the deal and get her money back.
Don’t confuse the current FTC Franchise Rule as it applies to business opportunities with the proposed FTC Business Opportunity Rule; the former is law, while the latter is proposed law.
She should check her options with a qualified local franchise attorney.
I find it interesting that Mom might have been taken. As opposed to Mom seeing the opportunity to serve people with a quality product and nowing that a business is not really started for $100.00.
My brick and morter business has cost me 120,000 and little return.
I would rather think Mom is inteligent enough to make a sound business decision and would support her all the way. Oh buy the way why didn’t she join your business?
Appreciating you,
Billy Mitchell
I’m pretty sure I know who Company A is and no one is required to purchase that much. Its suggested by some teams for business purchases but not forced!!!! After all, no one can make you buy anything. Your mom has a mind of her own and if she chose to do that, so be it!
$1200 can be front-loading or not, depending on value received. And you can push someone into spending $100.00 as well as a larger sum. Was Mom really pushed into the “business in a box” option, or did she see it as a good way to get going? There aren’t enough details here to make a sound judgment. The claims issue, however, is right on the money. “This has done wonders for me, but we won’t know if it works for you until you try it” would be a much more ethical approach.