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This is no longer the norm in today’s culture. In the last year I have made commitments due to other so called professionals giving me their word that something will be done and all that has happened is finger pointing and delays and I have to chase them down just to get the proverbial “not my fault”, or “that’s just the way it is”, or I get shunned because I tow the truth and expect others to follow through on their commitments and promises.
There are people I do business with that always follow through with me as I do with everyone and they give me hope. But the trend is against the integrity of past years. Today more often than naught, I will get a reply from a request to communicate along the lines of “Hey big guy” or “Whatz up Dude” or “You’re the Bomb” and then informed how busy they are, but will available next week. So I set an appointment to talk and they never show up. Is it just me?
God forbid if I should call them on it. But I do, I respond and reveal my disappointment with their apparent lack of respect or their inability to follow through and ask them to just lay it out and tell me they are not interested working with me or talking to me and to just go away, as I will. But no, I get another excuse, so busy, family issues, traveling right now. I get strung along.
Like I said, is it just me? It seems that the trend of narcissism is growing; the ‘reprobate’ mind has taken hold of the many, so I ask what can we do? How do you conduct business in a culture that is sliding down the proverbial slippery slope? A culture where it has become acceptable to tell people what they want to hear with no intentions to ever follow through. You can tell a business person by the way they run their interests otherwise they are just children playing grownup with no concept regarding their own responsible self-interests.
Now with that said, within our culture there are 2 segments where this trend is the most pestiferous. Politics and MLM:
Politics attracts the sociopaths, megalomaniacs, greedy lying, cheating deceivers. I am a political atheist. All politics is nothing more than a hydra of different heads, all saying what you want to hear, but in reality all of them clearly serve a much darker agenda, their petty self-interests with your interest on the bottom of the list or more likely not even considered.
MLM’s similarities to politics are rather sobering. It also attracts the self-serving sociopathic, who both craves adulation and is driven by the insatiable greed for more money and power. Unlike politics, MLM’s structure can not just legislate money out of your pockets but must use psychological methods and deception to coerce your wallet from you. Well known in the industry is the 3 month rule rightly so because of the fact they have to fool you to get your money. In politics, they have to fool you to vote for them, and then they are in your wallet for 2, 4 or 6 years. So back to the 3 month deception required in the MLM model for the hucksters, shysters, megalomaniacs, narcissists and sociopathic leaders and owners (This is not the 100% rule as there are a handful of MLM companies run by decent ethical people, just not so many). The 3 month rule, pay attention:
Any MLM recruiter and MLM company is aware of this 3 month rule. It means that the typical new distributor has in general a lifespan of about 3 months of loyalty, excitement and upbeat expectations. During this 3 months and particularly at the time of recruitment, you will be inspired to go for broke. Come in with the greatest expenditure, get your skin in the game. Position yourself at the top of the pay plan. Don’t be a tire kicker signing up for free or the $50 entry level, come in at the Gold, Diamond Platinum level, invest the $3000, the $5000 so you have your business filled up to the brim. Go to the conferences, pay for all the events, VIP dinners, hang out with the leaders, etc. Get the websites, the business cards, invest in the leads, 3 way calls, and conferences and get your friends and relatives and that sphere of influence involved ASAP! Join the $100 per week rotator lead program from your upline. They make sure you get all of this before that 3 month anniversary date, because after that, you start to see no money coming in, the support from your upline falling away and the truth is, once you joined, you become their competitor and they know they need your sphere of influence coming in to maintain the revenue from the 3 moth rule.
So let’s examine the 3 month rule as it will help explain the abhorrent behavior found in the CEO, the President, The upline leadership, of the typical MLM (like I said not all MLM are thus, just most).
You are exposed to an opportunity by a distributor, you responded to an ad, they are friends, you got pitched in Facebook, etc. You hear all the promises, are sent the product for review and are being courted and romanced, sweet talked, promised, convinced and the focus of attention. You are charmed, they relate to your greed and fear of loss and all the huge income you can make and you get overcome and sign up. You are pitched and it is clearly explained to have the greatest chance and leverage for success, is to put it all down, come in like a leader, buy in at the top, get qualified to be the winner. So you “go for it” and purchase the big package, the $2700.00 top of the line, triple diamond, the platinum package. For the next couple of weeks, the upline leader calls you, includes you in his exclusive Facebook group, invites you to meet the CEO on the calls, is available to talk to all your friends, relatives, sphere of interest, and sends you an autographed copy of his book. Offers to help you get going and suggests subscribing to a 3rd party service that will call your friends and family, etc., that they are happy to sell you! They convince you to order another upgrade, promising to match a distributor to you once you get 3 of your own distributors at the top rung. I am sure you know this process. I am sure you also know after about 3 months, the access ends, the phones go dead and you wonder what happened. You have served your purpose. They drained all they could from you in that 3 months, plus got you to make available to them everyone you know. They may have even gotten a few of your friends to sign up and the same process occurs to them.
Like politics, short on integrity, long on charm and promises until they get what they want, then you become flotsam, and if you complain, get angry hold someone accountable, you get shunned, blocked, kicked out of the FB group, blocked on Skype and un invited to any future leadership calls or meetings.
MLM like politics reflects the cultural meltdown occurring today. Where narcissists reign supreme and are promoted to leadership status and guru level worship.
So what is my point? I have made millions in the industry over the past 20 years. But I do not consider myself an MLMer. I am an entrepreneur and have always been one. I look for solutions, ones I create or find solutions others have created. The conventional wisdom of MLM is friends recruiting friends. This methodology has seriously failed. A new solution is required. A solution based on Good Business practices. The “new” MLM will be a company that partners with the distributors helping them to achieve “CUSTOMERS” not just an ever growing organization of “DISTRIBUTORS” or “salesman” as they really are. A true business that serves the “customer” with real products and services that stand on their own without being artificially sold with an income option attached to it.
Companies like this will have no need for the hype, no need for the charismatic sociopath leaders promising the world of material riches similar to the religious hacks like Joel Olsteen. No need because the companies that build their foundations on customers, not distributors, are designed to compete with products and services that stand alone. Make sense?
I guess what I am saying here is this. Do not be fooled by false claims; do not be manipulated by fear of loss. Look for the real solid foundation of what is offered. Does the company offer a way for you to build 100% pure customers, who purchase for no other reason than they want the product? Real customers, who purchase based on real need and product or service that fills a need. Can the company prove to you they have 90% customers to 10% distributors? Can they even show that they even have customers? Real customers, not consuming distributors!
Summary: Find the new hybrid networked company that partners with you to build a solid “customer” based organization. I did in 2001 and today that organization is still paying all my bills and then some. And I never put any effort into recruiting or maintaining the distributors, because it is 90% customers that just keep buying because they love the product and the company.
