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February 27, 2007
My Exit Interview
By Truth in Miscellaneous
After reading a post about performance reviews over at the Real Quixtar Blog, Dave Robison left a comment with a link to an exit interview that he put together for IBOs who quit the business for whatever reason. I read through it and found it interesting and figured "why not?", and decided to sit down for the exit interview. The questions will be in bold and my responses will be in normal text.
Name Drew
Immediate Sponsor We will call him Dwayne.
Date 2/27/2007
State Clear-minded and feeling good
Date Sponsored April 2003
Date of Separation Date I quit was October 2004
REASON FOR RESIGNATION
Another MLM Company Nope
Regular Employment Conflicts Nope
Unsatisfactory Income I think this is an understatement
Hours of Work Unsatisfactory For the compensation, most certainly
Family Conflicts Not really, nothing major
Other Oh I am sure I could think of a few.
1. What are your reasons for leaving? And, what prompted you to leave now?
Well the reasons can get quite long, but in a nutshell I just don't feel like this is worth the effort that is being put into it, this same effort channeled elsewhere would be more productive. What prompted me to leave now is that I have gotten involved in another opportunity, and my upline's reaction to this has told me all I need to know about them, and I know it's time to move on.
2. What was the most enjoyable part of representing this company?
The people. I enjoyed contacting people (even though I felt like a stalker) and showing plans to them. I really enjoyed many of the folks as part of various teams. Lots of memories and good stories to tell.
3. What was the least enjoyable part of representing this company?
The deceit that goes on in the business. Not mentioning the Quixtar name, things that are said just to get someone to a meeting, things that happen in the open meetings, etc.
4. Was this business opportunity what you expected? Please explain.
Not really. I thought there would be an even focus on the aspects of the business and in reality the major focus was on sponsoring new IBOs, and very little, if any, focus was placed on actually selling the products.
5. Would you have made any changes to the way your business operated? If yes, please describe.
Yes, first I would do away with SOT and Book of the month. I would encourage people to buy their books through B&N partner store. There are plenty of resources out there to find good motivational and business related books. I would put more focus and training on selling the products rather then stalking people at malls and trying to sponsor everyone with a pulse. Just to name a few things I would do different.
6. Would you ever consider representing this company again? If not, please explain.
No, not because of my experience so much, but rather because I have moved on to other things that take the time I have. They are much more enjoyable and profitable for me and I would choose them over Quixtar.
7. What did you like most about this company? And, what did you like least about this company?
Didn't I already answer this? As far as Quixtar the company goes I liked the Ditto Delivery program, it was very handy. I didn't like how everyone just seemed to clam up when it came to discussing the criticism of this business. To much secrecy about nothing, made me wonder what everyone was afraid of.
8. Would you still recommend this business opportunity or team and our products in the future
I would not recommend the team I was with. However, I will side with Robert Kiyosaki and I would recommend network marketing for the skills that one can learn from trying to build a network marketing business. I would not recommend Quixtar for it's compensation.
9. As a new distributor, was your training helpful for what you were actually doing six months later? If not, please explain.
No, many of the things I was taught to do was very counter-productive. Such as don't sign up anyone who is not willing to get on tools. I learned some things from upline, but most of my learning just came from experience. I ended up using very little of what I learned from the system.
10. What could have been done to prevent you from leaving?
Most likely nothing. There was nothing that could have been done at the end, it would have had to have been a different experience all together.
11. What was the quality of supervision you received? Good? Fair? Poor? What could your sponsor or team do to improve his/her management style?
Communicate? Motivate? Facilitate? Recognize? Other? Please explain
Depends on what your idea of supervision is. I would say it was pretty much micro-management. My upline needed to stop meddling in the downline group so much. Many times my sponsor and upline stepped way over the line, and in some cases got just downright rude.
12. What does your new company offer that this company does not offer?
Much, much better money for my efforts.
13. What points would you make if you could tell your entire upline how you feel about this company?
Basically the points I have made in this entire interview. I don't hold anything against them personally, I just don't agree how they handled situations and how things were done in general.
Final comments
So there it is, that is my exit interview make of it what you will. I am sure many of my answers could spur some follow on questions. So if you have other questions feel free to ask and I will answer them the best I can. I am sure there will be some of you who will do nothing more then make snide comments about how I was lazy or how I wasn't willing to do this or that, etc. But I guess that just comes with the territory.
February 19, 2007
Diamond in 2-5 years?
By Truth in A/QMOs
The 6-4-2 Quixtar business plan that was shown by my group and many other groups in Quixtar shows the pin level of Diamond as a 2-5 year plan. However with Quixtar starting in 1999 there was only 1 Diamond that I have heard of who actually did it in 2-5 years and that is the Dussaults.
Excuses
Many IBOs defend the 2-5 year plan by saying that the 2-5 year clock doesn’t start until one become serious about their business or, that the 2-5 year plan is simply a way to show the plan and nothing more. Some have even gone so far to imply that the 2-5 year plan is legit since one IBO couple made it.
Prospect’s shoes
So let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a prospect seeing this plan for the first time. You are shown this plan that says in 2-5 years you can attain Diamond level in the business. What are your thoughts? Common sense says the prospect is thinking about being Diamond in 2-5 years. Now what if you were told that in Quixtar’s history only one couple was able to go Diamond in 2-5 years? How do you feel about that 2-5 year plan now?
February 1, 2007
Jobs are Charity?
By Truth in Miscellaneous
After blogging for close to a year and a half I have seen many comments made by IBOs and those who support Quixtar and the motivational organizations. Some comments make very valid points, some are just downright funny, and some are just plain sad. I would like to draw your attention to perhaps the saddest comment I have seen to date. Brad, who is known to the members of the Quixtar Blog Forums made the following comment while starting a thread over at Insider's Forums.
There are always the few that make great sacrifices in laying a path for those to follow. You can see that in Rich and Jay, in many of the leaders in this business, as well as leaders in every business. I am always quick to point out that jobs aren't all bad, but you must be honest about them: they are positions which you are given, almost like charity, that were put in place by the blood, sweat and tears of that entreprenuer who blazed a trail that many of the people working for the company would never be able to complete, or even attempt!
Now, first I would like to point out that this is not a sad comment because an IBO spelled entrepreneur wrong, that's just funny. The truly sad part of this comment is the mentality that jobs are like charity. Now I know there are jobs out there where it doesn't matter who fills the slot as long as it is a warm body that will work for 8 hours a day. But, there is also something called a career. One who focuses on, and properly manages their career can see very rewarding results. After leaving Quixtar and getting focused back on my own career I have seen some very rewarding results.
Now, I will concede without the entrepreneur there would be no company with jobs for employees, but what is clearly missed here is that without employees the entrepreneur is nothing more then a man with an idea that will never be larger then him/herself. Charity is defined as "generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering". The problem with calling a job charity is that the business owner is in fact the one in need and is receiving the most help. I don't know too many business owners who hire people and pay them even though they don't need their help.
Every business that became big needed their employees to accomplish what they did. Without employees Microsoft would still be two guys writing code and trying to sell it. Without employees Michael Dell would still be selling computers out of a room in his house, and without employees you would never know who Donald Trump is. I could go on all day with examples and even point out some businesses that never got on the map until the right CEO (an employee) guided the business to great heights, but I think you get the picture.
So if you are truly honest about jobs, they are a vital part of any business. Truly successful business owners know this, and see their employees as assets and not charity cases. To me it is sad to see an IBO take such a view of people who are the lifeblood to many successful businesses. It also gives me cause to implore those of you who are researching this business to critically examine the things you are told by IBOs, and if you are current IBO to critically examine what you are told by your upline. This comment clearly shows that there are some IBOs who seem to miss, or ignore very important concepts of business.