| | Distributors are normally recruited into Amway by friends, relatives, church members or co-workers. Essentially, someone they know, like and trust brings them in. There is always initial skepticism by those seeing the Amway sales and marketing plan. This is offset by the trust placed in the individual who brought them to the meeting. Prospects are shown a wide range of “Lifestyle Videos” and shown a Profiles of Success hard bound, full color, glossy books at the recruitment meetings. The videos and Profiles of Success books depict literally hundreds of couples who, prospects are told, have developed net incomes ranging from $250,000 to over a million dollars annually in Amway.
If it were one or two people, it would not be believable. There are literally hundreds of singles and couples portrayed in books, audio tapes and videos that have created significant wealth from their Amway businesses. These now wealthy distributors represent a wide variety of former occupations. Before coming into Amway, some were teachers, physicians, police officers, attorneys, financial planners, farmers, housewives and college students. New distributors would come to meet and know these wealthy Amway “Diamonds” (a term for high level distributors) personally from attending monthly seminars.
As a former Federal Auditor I was skeptical but was surrounded by evidence of success. Our upline Double Diamonds, Fred and Linda Harteis, lived in a mansion and had multiple homes, a private island and a several thousand-acre ranch out West. They at one time or another owned a $300,000 Prevost coach, a Lamborghini Diablo, a Ferrari, a limousine, and a small fleet of other luxury cars. They had a maid and personal driver. Fred and Linda often wore well over $100,000 in jewelry. They praised God for the Amway business and the success it has given them and often led worship services at weekend long seminars. Fred would show the Amway sales and marketing plan at recruitment meetings and conclude by saying, “ I am not saying this business made me a millionaire… it didn’t… it made me a multi-millionaire.” We were able to work with this “Diamond” couple personally and felt very fortunate to have their assistance.
Prospects are advised at recruitment meetings (around the world) that many, many people have created this level of wealth and the recruitment materials shown to them seems to support it. There are a large number of couples, from every walk of life, that are now wealthy Amway Diamonds. There are countless examples of them standing by their 10,000 sq. ft. homes, with their yachts, vacation homes, private jets and luxury automobiles. Prospects are advised that they too can develop any level of income they desire from Amway as long as they follow the “proven system” of the wealthy people who have gone before them.
Prospects are told they can add $2,000 - $3,000 a month to their net income in the next 3-6 months and well over $100,000 a year in 2-5 years if they work hard and simply follow the advice of those who have already done so. New distributors are advised that there is a very specific system for building their Amway businesses that they must not deviate from if they want to succeed. They are told to immediately “plug into” the educational system of books, tapes and seminars to learn from those who have become very successful in creating large, profitable Amway businesses.
“We can’t all be lying to you. You know…I mean this thing works.”
- Executive Diamond M. J. Michael
The system or “pattern of success” in Amway is very specific. Prospects and new distributors are relieved to hear there is no selling required. All they have to do is shift all of their shopping from the local grocery store (non-perishables), K-Mart and Wal-Mart to “their own business” and be 100% loyal to it. Here is the document teaching distributors not to SELL, but to BUY products from their own business:
| | Click On PDF Icon To Download Proof That Amway Kingpins Teach Self-Consumption Rather Than Selling (Illegal Pyramid!) | No Selling?
“Some people that are brand new, they come...They say...Who sells? Somebody sells…I always like to say to them…."When you find that person let me know.”
- Amway Crown Jody Victor
They will then recruit others to do the same and eventually build a business, without conventional overhead, that can do literally millions a year. Amway is doing approximately $4 billion a year globally so this seems plausible. The phrase, “$4 billion a year of anything WORKS” is often heard. The billions in annual sales and the hundreds of wealthy distributor success stories from all walks of life have been convincing enough to bring in well over ten million distributors over time.
As they are brought in, distributors are advised they need to buy products from themselves and teach others to do the same. Because some of the products are priced so high, it becomes difficult if not impossible to retail them to non-distributors. Distributors are indoctrinated to turn over their whole household shopping to Amway or Amway marketed products and purchase with 100% loyalty from “their own business.” They soon begin to hyper-consume products to keep their monthly volume at a level where they will get at least a 3% “bonus” back. This hyper-consumption can run as much as $200-$400 a month in consumer products alone. Because selling products to customers is replaced by personal consumption, nearly 100% of the focus and efforts distributors have is in recruitment, as it is only in recruiting others can they generate the incomes and lifestyle they are presented with. As a distributor, your income is entirely predicated upon personal consumption and your ability to recruit others and teach them to do the same per the “system.”
Most distributors are reasonable people who do not believe they will become incredibly wealthy in the Amway business. They feel that to add $2,000 or more as a supplemental, residual income may provide more security for retirement and allow them the luxury of becoming free from the stresses of debt and financial pressure. We relied completely on the representations above and recruited a fast growing organization of people who represented a wide variety of trades. Our friends and distributors were laborers, police officers, steel workers, housewives, salesman, financial planners, general physicians, surgeons, CPA’s, pastors, managers, attorneys and college students. To many, the real draw was to be involved in a business where you succeeded (seemingly) only by helping others do the same. It looked like as true win/win scenario.
The “system” or pattern for success that created so many millionaires is described as an educational process of books, tapes, videos and seminars that you would need to participate in beginning your first week in the business. Members of our upline (those above you in the line of sponsorship) would often be heard saying that there was “100% success rate in the system and zero percent success outside of it.” It was described as a franchise system without the high costs of buildings and employees. Distributors simply needed to purchase 2 tapes a week, a book a month and attend all seminars they qualified for to learn from those who are where they wanted to be in business. The tapes cost over $11.00 a week and some of the full weekend seminars could run into $400. This system was all described as essential by virtually every Diamond level distributor who “had made it.” Any distributor that did not buy in to the system was derided as stupid for not wanting to learn from millionaires. Distributors are specifically advised that the system of educational books, tapes and seminars is operated at a break even level and even at a small loss at times by the Diamonds as a support system to aide in building profitable Amway businesses.
There seemed to be an overwhelming number of young Diamonds who had created incredible lifestyles and many claimed to have retired in their late twenties or early thirties from their Amway businesses. In this frantic paced time, the desire to have more time with family was also a key motivating factor. This is described around the world as a 2-5 year financial plan to economic freedom, for those willing to work hard and follow the advice of millionaires. This interested most but may not have swayed everyone’s skeptical nature.
If prospects or distributors had at that point any question as to the legitimacy of the venture, it would soon be forgotten. National and religious leaders were brought in who had character and credibility that was unquestioned...
(All quotes are from the text of Merchants of Deception book.)
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