CHAPTER 3
Fully Committed
"Amway distributors are dramatic proof that the American spirit of free enterprise is, and will continue to be, a vibrant force for good at home and around the world."
- Gerald R. Ford, 38th President of the United States
·We came home from the Dream Weekend seminar with a euphoric mixture of motivation and exhaustion. Some of the meetings had gone until past 1:00 a.m. The odd part was that almost no one got up and walked out, even after midnight. Others must have been used to this. We did not yet have that kind of endurance. What we lacked in endurance, though, we made up for with work.
Soon, I was doing one-on-one presentations and group house-meetings almost every night. The numbers began to grow rapidly. It was not long until we had our own "open meeting" in our town. This proved a tremendous advantage in furthering the growth of our organization. In an open meeting, a very successful distributor would show the plan on a large board and easel in the ballroom of a local hotel. This was a very professional setting and added to the credibility of our now rapidly expanding business. The open meeting was held once a month and was presented by either an Amway Profit Sharing Direct-, Emerald-, or Diamond-level distributor.
This terminology of the various levels requires some definition and description. A Profit Sharing Direct was a distributor who had maintained 7500 PV for six months in the fiscal year. An Emerald distributor had not only achieved the level of profit sharing but had helped at least three of his down-line distributors accomplish this as well. We were informed that Emerald distributors made at least $100,000 a year. Most were able to retire at this level. The standard repeated slogan was "three you're free, six you're rich." Diamond distributors were those who had helped at least six different distributor organizations reach the level of profit-sharing in a fiscal year. We were told that the lowest representation of income at this level was normally around $250,000 a year.
It certainly was a thrill to have many young, financially free distributors show the plan, and teach us and the "leaders" we had sponsored. The most important part of these meetings was the nuts-and-bolts teaching sessions after the prospects had left the room. As distributors, we could write questions on a piece of paper and pass them forward to be answered by the guru du jour.
We ‘went Direct’ in a little under a year. This certainly was an exciting time! The real thrill was not for us to be recognized on stage, but to see distributors in our group brought up and recognized at each new level. When Kathy and I went Direct, it gave all of our friends the hope that they could do it too. A renewed, high-energy level rolled through the organization, as it began to pick up momentum. We now had an open invitation to all of the Direct meetings. We got there early with notebooks and tape recorder and stayed late. Here we began to meet the Emeralds and Diamonds that we had only known from a distance. We felt as if we had known many of them intimately from listening to all of their tapes. We wanted to know what they knew, and we wanted to have the family-oriented lifestyles that they described.
The teaching at this level became far more streamlined. We had heard many times about the Cardinal Rules, but they were repeatedly hammered home at this level. "The Cardinal Rules," distributors were advised, "were rules that you must "never, never, never, never, ever violate." It sounded a little hardcore, but Direct-level distributors were advised that violating any of these principles could cause significant damage to even a large organization. At lower levels, these rules were important, but at the leadership level, they were as vital as water is to life. Our upline Diamond shared these principles with us solely to assist us in protecting what we were working hard to build.
"When a movement requires you to lose your identity, most times the movement is a cult."
- Billy Hornsby
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Never Pass Negative
The first cardinal rule is that a distributor should never speak negative words. You were not to talk negatively about a situation, a person, or product. My firsthand experience with this came fairly early on in The Business. Kerry and Chris had given us a chocolate food-bar to try that had come from The Business. The next time I saw them, they asked what I had thought about it. In my mind, that meant I was supposed to give them an honest opinion. I told them that it tasted okay, but it seemed grossly overpriced. They smiled and did not really make any comment at that time.
In a week or so, we had a training session for the group. One of their talks was on the topic of "never passing negative." Specifically, if you do not like a product or feel that it may be pricey, don't ever speak it. Why? Because someone in your group may like it and may determine, by their standards, that it is reasonably priced. This business was predicated upon successful duplication, and if everyone spoke about the one product they did not particularly like, a new distributor might get a poor impression of the product line. I understood the strong message, and on the surface, it actually seemed to make sense.
There were never any "problems." There were only "challenges" and "opportunities for growth." If there ever was a challenge in the group, you were never to discuss it with downline. We could take the limited time we had with our people to either give them words of encouragement or discouragement. It was only productive to take challenges upline for discussion and resolution. There was never a need to burden someone with a challenge that did not affect them personally. One of the common sayings used to illustrate this very important principle was, "Remember to only 'throw up, never down.'" In a family, there were challenges that a father and mother handled without the children’s knowledge, but for the children’s own benefit. This was very much the same.
Even more important than never speaking negative words was the policy of never thinking negative thoughts. It was important to have enough discipline never to allow your mind to entertain a negative or doubtful thought. Why was this so important? It was simple.
We were taught that by nature we moved in the direction of our most dominant thought. One of the most valuable things that I learned from Zack and quoted often was this: "Your actions will follow your thoughts, just as surely as your shadow follows you." He spoke often of the vital importance of controlling your environment. That was brilliant! If our actions gained directional control by our thoughts, the key to success was this: We simply had to have enough self-discipline to control our most dominant thoughts. That was why the system had been so essential to the success of all those who had gone before us. It helped to maintain focus and also block out the negative.
In light of this, it was vital to avoid negative thoughts, negative people, and negative counsel. In the book Mark of a Millionaire, co-authors Dexter Yager and Pastor Ron Ball spoke to this issue. They explained that it was important to learn to avoid bad counsel. The characteristics of bad counsel were as follows:
"1. Bad counsel is negative.
Negative counsel comes from well-intentioned people who keep telling you what not to do. "Don't try…" "Don't do…" "Don't reach for…" they always tell you no when you need to hear a yes. I'm not saying that counsel can never tell you something that you don't want to hear – sometimes it must, but then it should provide you with a positive direction to replace the negative warning. Counsel that is always negative is bad counsel. Avoid it.
2. Bad counsel is almost always over-cautious.
Bad counsel will warn you about every danger, caution you about taking any risk. It tends to be extremely conservative. It makes you afraid to move, wary of the consequences of any action. Bad counsel tells you not to build a business because of the financial risks, or not to grow too big or else you'll be a materialistic person, or don't try to accomplish something that might make someone mad at you. Again, it's not that caution can't be valuable advice, but that counsel that is entirely cautious can paralyze you.
3. Bad counsel is oversensitive about other people's opinions.
If you're getting counsel from someone, and they're always counseling you to be careful of what so-and-so thinks, take it with a grain of salt. Remember that if you accomplish anything significant, someone is bound to criticize.
4. Negative counsel creates confusion.
Instead of helping you think clearly and get your goal in focus, bad counsel confuses you and blurs your vision for the future. Counsel should be clear and logical.
5. Bad counsel violates the principles of the Bible.
I don't make any apology for that statement because I believe those principles are basic to your life and your success. To go against the teachings of the Bible is to jeopardize everything you love and everything you hope for. If you violate the principles that God has given, then you endanger your family, your children, and yourself. You play a fool's game of high risk with God. You want counsel that's consistent with what the Bible really teaches."1
This information helped us block out the ridiculous stories we would hear about people that came into Amway and left after losing their homes, going bankrupt, or having $5,000 worth of soap in their garage. Diamonds finished those stories by saying "if a guy lost his shirt in Amway, it must have been a pretty cheap shirt." As distributors, we often laughed among ourselves at the idiots who would believe and repeat such stupid stories. Little did we know that we also would eventually be forced into bankruptcy and face losing our own home.
Never De-Edify
"…the cults almost invariably teach their followers not to question, not to interact with outsiders (especially ones critical of the cult’s beliefs) and to depend on the cult authority structure to tell them what to believe without any personal reflection at all."
- Dr. Walter Martin
·The second cardinal rule was that a distributor should always edify, or build up, his or her upline. The more you built up your upline verbally, the more effective they would become in working in your group. It would then only benefit you to give a great verbal introduction to your sponsor at a meeting or training session. This would give them more credibility, which they could use to assist you in developing your business. Distributors were often told stories of people who had all the potential in the world but had blown themselves out of the business, because they had an out-of-control ego. Part of being an outstanding leader meant that you had to have been an outstanding follower.
The distributor was never to contradict or criticize his upline openly, as this would set up a pattern of bad duplication. Phony edification was as bad, if not worse, then open de-edification. This would involve being loyal and complimentary to your upline in person, but being critical when you were alone with members of your group. This false loyalty, distributors were taught, would always come back to get you. Specifically, if you criticized your upline, you were teaching your group to be critical of you. Once again, a marriage analogy was often used for illustration. There were times when a husband and wife would not agree on the topic involving the children. However, they needed to always show a "united front" before the children and resolve their differences in private.
Never Cross Line
The next rule requires a basic understanding of the network or multilevel marketing structure. As mentioned before, your sponsors and the people above them were your upline and had a vested interest in your success. The distributors that you sponsored and those below them were your downline and were distributorships in which you had a vested interest. Any other distributor would be considered cross line. For example, let's say your sponsor sponsored you and another couple named Bob and Mary. Bob and Mary, and the entire organization that they developed, would be considered cross line to you.
"Never cross line" was a core principle that referred to not having business-related or personal conversations with distributors that were cross line from you. It was recommended that you had little or no social contact with these people as well. The reasoning was that this could cause confusion and inadvertently damage both of your businesses. Here was the scenario that was normally utilized to explain this situation. Bob and Mary had 10 people personally sponsored and went to their upline for advice. Their upline gave them specific, business building advice, based upon the structure of their business. Bob and Mary were told not to sponsor anyone else personally and just to work depth (working depth was a reference to helping those that you sponsored to sponsor others and then helping those new distributors do the same).
You, on the other hand, may have only sponsored one other couple so far. Your upline told you to personally sponsor five more as fast as possible. The danger of cross lining appeared when you were having a casual conversation with Bob and Mary. You mentioned that you were told to sponsor five more as soon as possible. Bob might say, "That's odd, they told me not to sponsor anyone else right now. I wonder which advice was right?" Your upline gave advice to suit the specific need, just as a physician prescribes different medications for different ailments. To compare notes and hear seemingly contradictory advice could create confusion and a loss of faith in the upline's advice.
Early on in the business, Kerry and Chris called to talk to us about a couple we had sponsored named Justin and Samantha.* Kerry and Chris found out that Samantha had been taking walks for quite some time with a neighbor who was now in Kerry and Chris's organization. We were told to call Samantha and have her stop doing this, as they were now cross line. This all sounded a little too "Big Brother-ish" to us, and we flat out refused to tell Samantha to stop walking with a good friend. We agreed to recommend that they not discuss business and left it at that. We understood the importance of the principle but figured our sponsors desired us to enforce it to an extreme that was certainly a little more zealous than it could ever been intended.
Never Implement New Ideas
The beauty of the plan and its accompanying system was its simplicity. To bring in hundreds of distributors, and eventually thousands and tens of thousands, the process had to be kept very simple and exactly duplicate-able. To implement one small change could have as dramatic an effect as having a ship that was crossing the Atlantic off by four degrees for the entire trip. Initially, there would be no noticeable variance from the planned route. However, at the end of the journey, the ship would be literally hundreds of miles from its intended destination.
One analogy that we were all familiar with from our grade school days was that of whispering a secret to a child in the front row. This child, in turn, tells the student behind her, and this process continues until the last person in class has the message whispered to him. It is almost comical to hear the bizarre message that emerges after several permutations in the communication process. This is why we had to keep the system pure. Prospects were invited in the same manner, shown the plan in the prescribed way, followed up on with specific starter materials and started in The Business and on the system in a nearly identical manner around the world.
We were told that there was no need for new ideas. Both couples, Dexter and Birdie and Zack and Molly, had spent over two decades in developing the perfect system and pattern for success. We did not need new ideas! What we needed were new people in a system that worked. This was where the importance of counseling came into play.
One of the benefits of working with people who were successful in this business was that once a month you could get with your upline to counsel. This afforded you the opportunity to ask specific questions and to increase the profitability of your business. Additionally, if you had a challenge, your upline could provide a quick solution. This was entirely logical, because it was nearly impossible to develop a new scenario that they had not already dealt with somewhere in their organization.
We were very blessed in that we had sponsors who were already successful and were such a tremendous encouragement to us. They were terrific up-lifters and made us feel as if we were truly leaders. We greatly appreciated their efforts on the behalf of our business. In the process of building our business to the Direct level, we met several other members of our upline. All of them were extremely complimentary and helpful in developing the foundation of our business, from which a global enterprise developed.
Kindred Spirits
"I want you to know that I love each and every one of you"
- Amway Crown Ambassador Dexter Yager
·It took a while to get used to hearing the words, "We love you guys." Many of the speakers from stage would say they loved us, because we were kindred spirits, so to speak. We were on the same journey and understood each other. We began developing very strong emotional bonds with those in our organization as well as in our upline. It became very much like a family. This was the most loving, compassionate, encouraging, God-focused group of people that we had ever been associated with. These were the people that we wanted our children to emulate. We felt, we now had an incredible environment in which to raise our children.
There were now many distributors in our organization* that were much more like family members than business partners. We had begun spending a great deal of time together. Rick and June were one of these great couples. They came into the business as quiet, somewhat shy people. It was incredible to watch them blossom as leaders in the organization that they developed. Like us, they saw their distributors as partners more than downline. Both Rick and June overcame their natural shyness and became very effective public speakers. Their love for The Business and particularly for their people was quite apparent. Their combination of sincerity and professionalism enabled them to build a very credible organization. In their group were teachers, attorneys, physicians, insurance professionals, a pastor, and other people from many walks of life. It was a thrill to see them recognized onstage at seminars for their accomplishments!
Then there was Kirk and Linda. They both came to The Business from professional backgrounds. In contrast to Rick and June, Kirk and Linda were extremely comfortable in leadership roles. They enjoyed public speaking and excelled at it. They became the role model for the work ethic among leadership in our organization. There was no limit to how many miles Kirk was willing to fly or drive to build their business, with the goal of ultimately purchasing ‘his freedom.’ The organization that they developed would eventually span many states and expand its outreach into South America. We took great joy in building The Business together. I particularly appreciated their leadership and work ethic, as I did not have to spend much time in their organization once it was up and running. They established challenging goals and pursued them with dedication.
There was another wonderful couple named Dean and Kelly. They were in their forties and were models of integrity. Their daughters often babysat for our children, as our family grew. Our children literally grew up together because of this contact. They were not bold, confident speakers but made up for this with sincerity and compassion for others, making everyone around them feel comfortable and welcome. Dean and Kelly were a special breed. They were the kind of friends that you knew you could trust without reserve. These qualities, combined with a great sense of humor, afforded them the ability to develop an organization that included quite a few Directs and an Emerald. This organization would include police officers, a surgeon, CPAs, a financial planner, and members of nearly every respected profession. This group grew from humble beginnings in a small, rural town, eventually extending into many states, Europe, and the Philippines.
These were just a few of the many very close friendships we developed, as we were building The Business. We spent countless hours together in open meetings, at seminars, and in cars driving great distances to do "house meetings."
Gradually, these people became our family. We all came into the business with the understanding that we could build on a "very limited part-time basis," when it would fit in our schedules. After listening to the tapes daily, reading all the books, and going to the seminars, many of us found ourselves going out four, five, six, and some even seven nights a week building The Business. It was a slow, unnoticed alteration in our life. We now understood free enterprise and the rewards that were available to us and to those we loved. We had a new understanding, and we were no longer willing to suffer the oppression of regular jobs.
Thankfully, we had all learned quite a bit from the system and our upline. Distributors were advised that it was okay if they did not want to have a luxury home, new vehicles, furs for their wife, or family trips to Hawaii and Disneyland. Our efforts at our jobs were providing these luxuries for our bosses and the stockholders.
There were several examples that were frequently used to reinforce the group's paradigm that employers were oppressive. A rhetorical question often asked of male distributors was this: "Who do you love more, YOUR wife or your employer's wife?" Some Diamonds would remark, "You must love your boss more than your wife, since you have decided to spend more time every day with him."
Others would make joking comments to the effect of: "Scientific surveys have documented that your wife is peaking sexually at about 1:00 p.m., and you missed it by being at work. Had you been a retired Emerald or Diamond, you would have been home more often to capitalize on this scientific phenomenon." Another Diamond described people who had jobs as "handicapped in a sense." Having a job was referred to as the form of modern-day slavery that many of us chose to voluntarily submit to before coming into The Business.
The basic theology or doctrine that many of us would eventually embrace as our own, after hundreds of hours of tapes, training sessions, and seminars, was fairly simple. Why would a person of reasonable intelligence choose to put himself in a position where someone else (an employer) would have near total control of his time and income? The rhetorical question often asked at seminars and meetings was this, "If someone else controls your time and your income, they actually control what?…They control your life." Why on earth would you want to slave away and get paid wholesale for your time, when your boss charges retail for it? You would be at the economic disadvantage of going to the store as a consumer and paying retail for products with money from a "wholesale" income. In your own business, you get paid retail for your time and buy products at wholesale. Because you are the business owner, the fruits of your labor will be on your tree. How many professionals do you know that slave away at a career, and when they stop working, the income stops? In addition to that, they have built no equity. In this business, you could create a permanent, residual, walk-away income that you could will to your children for the estate purposes.
In addition to the working career, you were investing your life in something that had little or no security. Don't we all know people who were faithful, hard-working employees, only to get laid off in their late fifties, just before they became fully vested in their retirement plan? They would then go to Wal-Mart and could not even land a job there, because they were totally over-qualified.
In many meetings, the acronym, J.O.B., was used with great frequency. If you have a J.O.B., you may be Just Over Broke. A member of our upline would even state that it was your boss’s specific goal to keep you broke; otherwise, you would have the ability to leave. We were told that you were paid what your job was worth, not what you were worth. Your employers' objective was to keep the position filled for as little as possible. If you had a J.O.B., you might not know it, but the word job was a Latin word. The root word’s original meaning was "jobus operandi," which translates today into "Jerk On Board", or so the joke goes. An Amway Emerald would often describe the time that he and his wife both had jobs and referred to themselves as "double jerks." Knowing the above, if you chose to spend the rest of your life working at a job for a boss, most likely you were a "Jackass Of the Boss." With the climate of corporate downsizing at the time, these philosophies fed the fears of many people who had legitimate concerns about economic security in an evolving marketplace.
I certainly did not hate my career, but at the same time, I did not want to be taken advantage of in any manner. Why would I continue to let someone else control both my income and my time with my family? It made a lot more sense to work for myself and have my family benefit directly from the fruits of my labor. Kathy and I decided to push ourselves hard and build 'our business' without reserve. We needed to hit the 7500 PV level to go Direct and make an additional $25,000 a year!
On Our Own
At about the time we reached 4000 PV, Kerry and Chris stopped having almost any involvement in showing the plan in our group. I understood this was certainly from the specific direction of upline counsel. Like many distributors, they did absolutely nothing in their business without checking upline. We noticed at the training session, there were very few people outside of the organization that Kathy and I were developing.
We assumed that upline had told Kerry and Chris to go work with new groups, as we were "up and running." Their function changed from showing the plan in our organization to giving us specific direction in counseling some of our leaders. In addition, we would still plan the training sessions together that they hosted for us. At this time, there were no problems. The business and system had functioned appropriately, and they had successfully duplicated themselves.
To make these counseling sessions effective, there were several things that we needed to bring. We had to bring our schedule book, a notepad, a goal sheet planning guide (simply referred to as a goal sheet see page xx), a tape recorder, our group drawn out in circles, and an accurate listing of the amount of books, tapes, and seminar tickets that we were moving. The important data that we needed to track was listed on the goal sheet.
The goal sheet was a form that basically served as a road map to go Direct and help others do the same. The books, tapes, and seminar tickets were considered tools. We would learn that the PV, and its related income, would always follow the tool flow. Let me explain how this happened.
The more books and tapes that your organization was consuming, the more knowledgeable and motivated the distributors would be to build their own businesses. We were advised that there was a direct correlation between how many books, tapes, and seminar tickets you are moving with each PV level. Specifically, the goal sheet showed that if your next goal was 4000 PV, you should have 50 distributors in your entire organization, 12 of which you had personally sponsored. Of those, you should have had at least 25 signed up on the weekly, continuing education, tape program and be selling at least 100 additional instructional or "rally" tapes per month. Additionally, you should be selling at least 50 books, 10 Amway kits, and 16 boards and easels a month. Also, you should have at least 25 distributorships at the monthly seminar (which would usually equate to a goal of 50 seminar tickets). The seminar cost ranged from $10-12 for local seminars to as much as $400 for full weekend seminars. The two primary numbers to track were the tapes of the week (continuing education) and seminar tickets.
Once you and your organization had achieved the level of 4000 PV, you could then set your sights on going Direct by doing 7500 PV. In terms of dollars, this normally would equate to well over $15,000 in goods and services. By following the chart on the goal sheet, it would be clear that you needed 80 distributors in your group, with 15 personally sponsored, and 40 on tape-of-the-week. You also need to be selling at least 200 additional tapes, selling at least 75 books, 16 Amway kits, 25 boards and easels. You would also have at least 40 distributorships, (which translates to 80 tickets, since the distributors were usually married couples) buying tickets to seminars monthly.
Once again, Distributors were instructed that there were two key numbers to focus on at this point. You would normally have "gone Direct" when you had 40 people on tape-of-the-week and had sold 80 seminar tickets in your group.
These representations did, in fact, work out in real life. We developed a leadership team that helped many distributors hit the magical 7500 PV level and go Direct. Some achieved this volume level with less than 40 people on the tape-of-the-week plan. There was never an instance, however, where someone had an organization with at least 40 people on tape-of-the-week that did not do 7500 PV. This seemed to reinforce the need for the system.
These specific logistics gave our organization and us a track on which to keep running. We did not have to be millionaire Amway Diamonds to give our leaders accurate direction. Distributors were advised not to try and go 7500 PV but, instead, to build the organization that would support 7500 PV indefinitely. There was a mention of customers on some goal sheets, but it was not made a priority in counseling sessions, training sessions, seminars, or on tapes.
Selling represented the old days of Amway! We were building distribution networks. The momentum continued to grow, as we developed a team of loyal, motivated distributors. The real leaders were out almost constantly in a frenzy of activities. There were continual open meetings, seminars, training sessions, special promotional meetings, and the usual array of house meetings and follow-ups/start-ups. The pattern became fairly simple to follow. You would show someone the Amway Sales and Marketing Plan and focus on their wants and needs.
Continually referring to these needs enabled you to nudge them to build a list of their friends, family members, and co-workers for an effective start up. We would normally help them develop a list of one hundred names and telephone numbers. We would then help distributors call these names for two house meetings at their own home. They would utilize the same form that we had used from the follow-up pack to call their friends and family. The objective was to have them make the call, schedule the meeting, and get off the phone without having to answer any questions.
The longer they were on the phone, the more challenges they would encounter. So, the goal was to get them on and off the phone within a minute, if possible. We were even encouraged to use hourglass egg timers to create that sense of urgency to finish the call quickly. If they were met with difficult questions ("Is it Amway?"), distributors were taught to say, "That's a great question, my partner is right here. He can answer that for you." They could then hand the telephone to a more experienced distributor. Being more experienced, the senior upline distributor could usually dodge the Amway bullet and talk about opportunities in global distribution. It would also help to mention a few Fortune 500 companies, for which we were wholesaling. It was not viewed internally as deceit. Most of us acknowledged that we would never have gone to our initial meeting had we known it was Amway.
This was network marketing, not the preconceived door-to-door selling business that most imagined. We were instructed not to tell people any details on the phone, in order to protect them from having their own inaccurate preconceptions cost them their entire future.
The objective was to have a house meeting for a couple at their home within a week from when they first saw the plan. It did not give them much time to evaluate anything about The Business or product pricing, but they were excited when they sponsored someone new and felt as if their business was working. Many, like us, had sponsored quite a few people who relied upon our representations before they actually had any first-hand experience in The Business. In the beginning, we had not been given any time to evaluate or compare pricing, and due to the big push to sponsor quickly, we relied almost solely upon the representations of our sponsor and upline team.
Having people sponsored quickly excited us. What we did not realize was that these relationships would be one of the reasons that we would stay in The Business to our own detriment, far beyond any point of reason. We had an obligation to help these people. We had to make it work, not only for us, but also for them and for their children. Many of the Amway Diamonds would quote Dexter and say, "When you build a friendship, you build a 'direct-ship'." This seemed to be very true!
"They claim to direct us to the light, but they actually entice us into darkness."
- Derek Prince
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