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February 18, 2008
Wal-Mart and Amway / Quixtar
By Truth in Amway
When I was in Quixtar I remember many times references to Wal-Mart being used. During an open meeting the speaker would tell the prospects that instead of spending their money at Wal-Mart they could buy from their own company and make money. IBOs tell people that Wal-Mart never gave them a check for shopping there like they get from their own business. Wal-Mart this and Wal-Mart that. Pretty much every time a reference to a traditional business was used it was Wal-Mart.
So when I saw an article by Ray Alexander in the Opportunity Zone titled "Not Wal-Mart and never want to be" I couldn't help but laugh a little. The question isn't that IBOs need to compete with the Wal-Marts, Sam's Clubs, etc. It's a matter of IBOs need to stop comparing themselves to them. You see an IBO can argue that the quality of their products are so much better then Wal-Mart till they are blue in the face. But each time you compare the Quixtar business to shopping at Wal-Mart you kill the argument.
I see Quixtar IBOs prospecting people in Wal-Mart all the time. So is it any wonder that they feel they have to compete against Wal-Mart? Not that there is anything wrong with shopping at Wal-Mart, but do you think people who are doing a good deal of shopping at Wal-Mart are more concerned about price or quality? The obvious answer to that question begs this question for IBOs, if your products are of such great quality what in the world are you doing going after a market that is interested in price? Something tells me when IBOs stop comparing themselves to Wal-Mart Ray won't have to tell everyone that Quixtar / Amway doesn't want to be Wal-Mart.
Comments
We must have sat in some of the wame meetings. Here are come other classics that seem to have changed drastically:
Quixtar can pay so much in bonuses because they don't have to pay to advertise. Ofcourse, now they are hiring Sandra Bullock and athletes to advertise, not to mention Amway Arena and their goofy commercials. Next, the diamonds in WWDB would say all you ahve to do is buy from yourself and teach others to do the wame. Now of course everything is retail, retail, retail. They used to say Quixtar is not Amway. It is a totally separate company. Wow. Now the tottally separate Quixtar company is being magically transformed into - guess what - you got it, Amway. What is sad is that the low level IBOs will just blindly follow.
As usual, an incredibly, well thought out comment.
If people were more conserned about quality, over price, they certainly wouldn't be shopping at Walmart, so why IBO's would target those type of people is a great question.
My answer, because most IBO's do what they're taught to do. They don't actually think about things like that.
I mean, that's like a representitive from a 5-star restaurant, going into a McDonalds and trying to get people to eat at his restaurant.
There's a reason people shop, eat, and go to the places they go. If Quixtar IBO's actually knew anything about, truly owning a business, maybe they'd be better off.
There is a fatal assumption in all of this:
WalMart products are of inferior quality.
That's not an assumption that you can support.
Wal-Mart has some of the same namebrand products that are sold at other places.
Some of the namebrand prices at Wal-Mart are lower, some by a lot and others by a few cents.
And yes there are some items that can be found elsewhere at a lesser price.
There are some items that are of lesser quality but the price is usually lower..duh!
What Amway needs to show is now selling products can make the IBO money not buying them to make the IBO money.
The product that Amway sell, the "Core" products are some of the best around, not the end all of products, but at least a high end product..
So they need to be sold to those, that price is not an issue. But most of folks can find decent products at Wal-Mart and they don't have to go the trouble of "getting others to do the same"
That is the "beast" of Amway, to get folks to buy high end products..which would be like trying to sell someone a high performance car, to drive to work and back..it is nice but not necessary.
Quixtar has good and bad things but a lot of people go to walmart because they know that the only thing they can find shiper there is food. A lot of IBOs say it and like any other person they want to save money that's the reason they but everything else from Quixtar and its partner stores.
I second Porkchopjim's comment.
Wal-Mart shelves are FULL of NAME-BRAND products.
EXCEPT. They happen to be significantly CHEAPER than Amway Products. And of EQUAL or BETTER quality.
Shop at Walmart and use a cash back credit card. You can't beat that deal. Imagine getting paid to shop at Walmart!
I don't think anyone can argue that Wal-Mart has quality products for a low price. The problem is the only pitch an IBO has is the quality. The people shopping in Wal-Mart are there simply because of the price, it doesn't mean they are not concerned about quality they just want it at a lower price.
IBOs can't compete with that but for some reason they can't seem to stop themselves from making a comparison to Wal-Mart.
I had a boss once that liked to say, "If you want to live with the upper classes, sell to the masses. If you want to live with the masses, sell to the classes." What is meant by this, of course, is it's better to have a product that has mass appeal. Low prices generally has mass appeal, and the reason why Wal-Mart is the #1 retailer, hands down. It certainly isn't because of their friendly customer service or clean stores.
This is not to say you can't make money selling AmQuix products. Just it is a niche market at best, which means it is very difficult to get very rich selling to a small sub class of people only. Which makes me wonder that if IBO's were told they had to sell to customers and their limit was people willing to pay extra for higher priced/higher quality items, how many IBOs would sign up? And how many would stay?
And as far as Amway products being on the high end of the quality scale?
That's a fine advertisement, but it's not proven out when there are head-to-head comparisons that I've seen in Consumer Reports. At best, middle of the road effective, high end price.
You can love a certain product. You can believe it's the greatest thing in the world. You can swear buy it. But, it's a perception that may or may not be supported.
"We have average products at inflated prices" is not a good advertising concept.
IBOs: you an only show that you are saving money (make a note: NO ONE makes money buying their own products) if your product is the exact same one that WalMart offers but is less expensive. You can't do that with core products. At all. You try, but that's why it doesn't work.
Overall, quixtar cannot compare to Walmart's prices. And whe IBOs talk about Walmart's lawsuits, its usually about slippery floors or something like that, not the anything like the kinds of lawsuits the AQMOs are involved in.
Perceptive said: "Wal-Mart shelves are FULL of NAME-BRAND products.
EXCEPT. They happen to be significantly CHEAPER than Amway Products. And of EQUAL or BETTER quality"
Cougfan says: Yay! My forum topic has been vindicated!
Oops, hit enter a little early last post.
That topic was "The 'Wal-Mart sells junk' myth".
It's in an interesting perspective to compare yourself to WalMart or deny the comparison.
I am not sure one can draw a correlation between an Amway or any MLM company and WalMart. The truth is, like them or not, WalMart sells products that people sustain life on - while MLM's typically sell products that supplement life - BIG difference.
The fact is they both co-exist because they can compliment each other and should be perceived as such.
I would love to know where all of that "Walmart only sells low quality products" started.
I don't consider products like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Heinz, EAS, Sony, Lays, etc etc etc, to be low quality.
What products are IBO's comparing to Walmart products anyway?
Actually, there is no real comparison between quixtar and Walmart, Quixtar and McDonald's, and/or Quixtar and college. I don't know why IBOs always make those comparisons.
BigDog - "I would love to know where all of that "Walmart only sells low quality products" started. I don't consider products like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Heinz, EAS, Sony, Lays, etc etc etc, to be low quality.
What products are IBO's comparing to Walmart products anyway?"
Oh, that's pretty simple, BigDog. According to Amway IBOs, ANY product that is not an Amway Product is inferior in quality to Amway Products. PERIOD.
[sarcasm on]It is an Axiomatic Truth.[/sarcasm off]
Yeah, good point perceptive. I was just hopin an IBO would give me some examples.
I can honestly say, I couldn't tell the difference between the quality of any Amway products compared to that of something I can buy at Walmart for a much lesser price.
Selling Amway stuff is like being at a Honda dealership that charges Mercedes prices.
Big Dog - "I can honestly say, I couldn't tell the difference between the quality of any Amway products compared to that of something I can buy at Walmart for a much lesser price."
Amen to that.
Frankly, I personally think some of Amway's Products are DOWNRIGHT CRAPPY. After a lot of BEGGING (:ROLLING EYES:) - now THERE was an IBO who was DYING to SELL some product - I got some samples from an IBO.
XS 'Energy' drink? Provides NO 'energy' whatsoever. Tastes like crap. Costs much more than other Energy Drinks.
SA8 Laundry Detergent? Does NOT CLEAN your clothes! You have to put put FOUR times the recommended amount of detergent to get your clothes clean. Tide, on the other hand, cleans your clothes perfectly at a much lower cost.
GLISTER toothpaste? ABSOLUTELY THE WORST, CRAPPIEST, TOOTHPASTE, I have EVER tried! It doesn't even create enough LATHER, to clean your mouth! Your mouth doesn't even feel clean, after you brush your mouth. Compare that to Colgate Total - your mouth feels CLEAN, FRESH. Cost? $8.5 for a 4-PACK of 8.5 oz tubes. ONE tube lasts me for NEARLY FOUR MONTHS.
If IBO's are prospecting at Wal-Mart and then turn around all tell the same prospects that Wal-Mart sells junk, etc. - in essence, what they have done is tell the potential client that they are morons.
Insulting potential clients doesn't translate to sales to well in the business world.
A poster on my blog said:
Smart people = IBOs and;
Morons = customers
Perceptive, I have a few more examples of crappy Amway products compared to Walmart products.
Xs Protein shakes $35.95/12 11oz and 35g of protein, as compared to EAS shakes at $1.99ea for 17oz and 51g of protein.
The XS protein tasted like shit and had some kind of gelatin in it. EAS protein is top of the line and much cheaper.
Don't forget about smart menu ketchup compared to Heinz. Tolsom aftershave at $14 a bottle compared to Aqua Velva at $3.49. There is absolutely NO superiority in Tolsom compared to Aqua Velva. The Amway shampoo at $9.60 for a 10.5oz bottle is the most ridiculous of them all. At that price it should not only clean your hair, but it should cure baldness as well.
There are so many products Amway sells and honestly, I'm still seacrhing for one that is superior to anything Walmart sells
Comparisons to Walmart are based on the fact that Amway sells "Anyway" products...meaning you buy them 'anyway'...get it? So the Walmart link is stating that instead of going to Walmart and buying products, you can purchase them on Amway because you are going to buy them anyway, it is not based on price or quality comparison.
Also, perceptive - QUIXTAR-AMWAY INFILTRATOR, the prices come out to be about the same as energy drinks, cheaper if you typically purchase Redbull-about $2 a bottle. Just so you know.
"that girl", red bull is much cheaper than XS energy drinks. I will accept that XS has a better variety of flavors.
But look at value. I mean you can get a bottle of Suave shampoo for a buck
(20 ounces) while satinique might cost over $8.00 for less shampoo.
There are many other examples, but I think my point has been made.
That Girl, first of all you can't get everything on Amway as you can get in Walmart. Can I buy milk or bread at Amway? What about Pepsi or Coca-Cola?
Can I get Edge shaving gel? Aqua-Velva shaving cream? EAS protein? Crest toothpaste?
There are many, many products you can't get at Amway that you can get at a Walmart or grocery store.
Also, you mentioned the energy drnks are the same price as Red Bull. That's not really important. Energy drinks are a fad, and nobody NEEDS to drink an energy drink.
Regardless, the amazing price makups of Amway products makes them almost impossible to sell to a RETAIL customer and that's why IBO's are not taught to market products, they're told to get other people to sign up as IBO's. It's the only way Amway can move products and the 96.6% of products that are sold to IBO's while only 3.4% are sold to retail customers proves it.
I did not state that you can get the same brands- I said products. Products include everything you mentioned-shampoo, colas, shave gel, etc...
Needing energy drinks or not is actually not relevent, I was merely posting a response to a specific person that mentioned the price of their energy drinks, regardless whether or not you "need" them-who cares?
IBO's are taught to market products, there are many people that never become an IBO but join, for free, as a client because they only want to purchase things through Quixtar. It seems like a lot of you do not actually know what you are talking about...
http://www.quixtar.com/products/product.aspx?itemno=748178&ctg=14027
You can see here that at $23.99 for 12 bottles, the price comes out to about $2 a piece, like I stated, which is the same price or cheaper than many energy drinks including redbull.
That Girl, some people would rather have name brand products for a much cheaper price than some generic brand at 3 times the price (I.E the shaving gel, aftershave or shampoo)
The energy drinks are not a neccesity for me, the other products I mentioned are. I could care less about XS energy drinks. One product Amway sells at a competitive price out of how many?
Not only that, I asked if you could buy milk and bread through Amway. Can I?
Dreambig, good luck chasing the end of that rainbow.
What's we're talking about here is that WalMart provides better prices anf value than quixtar. Also, WalMart is a real store that makes money from customer.
Any business where you as the "owner" consumes the majority of your business's volume, you are going nowhere fast.
I love how asking legitimate questions is "picking on" someone - so much for that 2-inch thick Rhino skin.....
So, you're just like Subway owners now? You're a franchisee? Care to tell us the address of where your Amway store is located?
I have two friends who own Subway stores, quite a difference between their real business and your Bidnez...
1) They don't feed their families by Subway sandwiches (they gotta buy food "anyways") and play grocery store.
2) They have to make money to stay in business.... and unlike A/Q people, they do.
3) They know what a P/L is.
4) They don't hawk Subway at bookstores and gas stations (where all future millionaires are found)
I'll take my "unhappy" life over your phony and fake "positive" life anyday.
I'm glad you don't work with me, either. I only work with acheivers and winners - not slacking "dreamers".
Cheers!!
P.S. - I was in the biz for four years, so I know what happens in your overpriced social club, thanks.
Sad to say that most people in any business do not know how to run a business. I have been guilty of that myself. I owned a real estate investing firm in Hawaii during the housing boom and made plenty of mistakes. Then I saught advice from wealthy real estate investors and I soon began to make out quite well. The key was I actually did what they taught me, even if it didn't make sense.
When I became an IBO in Quixtar a few years back, I quickly learned that what they were teaching was far more valuable than any of the teaching that I had learned prior to. Sadly, people are not all on the same mindset or level of confidence when approaching this business....nor do they truely believe they can build it. I spent over $80k on mentors in real estate over a period of 2 years....and I made it all back and much more. The mentorship via World Wide Dream Builders is worth much more than that, but the price tag makes it hard to believe for some.
Johnnyring,
I'm from Hawaii. What is a real estate investing firm?
I have worked at Walmat they do not take care of the employees. I am not amused by the treatment I received. Quixtar on the other hand, has support, family,friends, We build self esteem in our family. I have never seen so much support from another place of employment and guess what? It's real
Well thought out analogy. Quixtar is a very interesting business model that has both good and bad qualities. The key like all things in like, take what is important to your and move on.
Ken
http://www.nbiznow.com
Posted by: Ken | February 19, 2008 12:02 AM