IBOAI Board Position on the Global Business Transformation

What lies ahead of us is a two-year period of examining all aspects of this business.  There has been mutual agreement between those of us in the field and the Company that we need to improve in numerous areas to make this business the opportunity of this century, just as it was for the last, and to improve profitability across the board.

Quixtar has led off this process with a new, improved compensation plan. It has agreed to give us more products that can be retailed, and the field has  agreed that we need to do a better job of education regarding product sales.

IBOAI's Board members and other IBO leaders will be working closely with the Company on all aspects of this transformation.  We all understand that it makes no sense to turn a great business upside down by making too many changes at once.  Instead, there will be periodic joint announcements on changes over the next two years.

The global business transformation now underway is not only exciting because of the enhanced opportunities for all IBOs, but also because it incorporates a higher standard of business practices than ever before, something vital to all of our long-term success.  We are working with Quixtar to make the concept of partnership a viable proposition that enhances the business opportunity for every IBO.

So, what do YOU think about it?

IBOAI's Board of Directors released a statement jointly with Quixtar on August 10 about both the business transformation and the terminations of certain IBO leaders.  In this topic thread, we'd like to focus on the Business Transformation.

Comments

[Dwight Spaulding]

I think this is a great and exciting move. I look forward to the changes. Don't get discouraged, things will only get better.

God Bless

[Tex]

When are the upline going to do their part in the business transformation, and tell the rest of the IBO's how much money they make on tools versus A/Q?

After all, it is known many Emeralds and above make much more on tools than A/Q.

Isn't it reasonable as "business partners" and "teammates" (the uplines' terms, by the way), that we should know this information, similar to what A/Q puts out regarding the average Platinum, Emerald, Diamond, etc., bonuses?

[Moderator's response -- Tex, this isn't a question for the Board to answer, this is a question for your upline!]

[Steve]

Product sales training will be great. As a building contractor, my relationship with material suppliers is very similar to my relationship with quixtar, in that I enter an agreement to market their products to customers that I locate and develop on my own. When a customer tells me my price is too high, it is my responsibility to actually SELL the customer on the value that I and my products provide--whether it's a window customer, gutter customer, XS customer, or Ribbon customer. Sometimes I sell, sometimes I don't. Welcome to the world of business. What interested me about the Quixtar opportunity was that the cost of launching a business was so much less; the risks? Honestly, comparison is crazy. My last ladder was over $400; my ribbon sales kit is around $35. I get no support from material suppliers that would compare with the training available directly from Quixtar, let alone training available from my line of sponsorship--other contractors in the real world. LOA training cd's are $2.50, compared to cd's available from a construction sales training company of $30 - $900 each. Oh, yes. And sales nationwide in the home improvement and new construction markets are down drastically and my services are big-ticket, one time purchase services, as opposed to my "quixtar" clients which purchase continually.

[David]

Please, don't go back to using the Amway name. Even though Rich and Jay ran a business with high integraty the name Amway still carries too much negative. And "pruning" the Quixtar tree of productive branches won't repair an older different tree.

[Eric]

Yes fly one flag, one flag shot full of holes, one flag that immediatly inspire's skepticism and negativity in many many people. It doesn't bother me, I personally couldn't care less what you call it. What worries me is that the world is full of people who need more time, money and choices, the compensation plan provides that very well, but in their minds Amway is a great way to lose money and friends, and won't even look at it. The name change will only make this business harder to build in North America. Changing the name to Amway is a lot like changing the name to Rip-Off-Lose-All-Your-Friends-And-Money-Pyramid-Scam-Idea-Of-The-Month-Blowing-Through-Town-Aren't-You-Lucky-I'm-Showing-This-To-You?-Get-In-Right-Now-And-Go-Broke-In-No-Time, to a lot of people. It's a issue of representation, the plan is what it is, and for many people Amway is a "one of those things where you gotta get people to get people... . or something, I don't really know, I just know that my hairdresser's milkman's brother had a girlfriend once who's dad did it and never made any money". So deciding to change the name to Amway is in a way misleading people from thinking this is a legitiment business opportunity into thinking it's a scam. The IBOAI is in place to help pave the road ahead, to make this business easier and more profitable to build, I thought. Maybe there's a lot I'm missing but the name change seems to be a course change to a more difficult course.

[Otto]

Wow, thats great.....I am waiting for the moment...but in the mean while, need to keep going representing Quixtar.

[Elizabeth]

Wow! I am soooo excited about the upcoming global business transformation. A willingness to embrace change can keep us growing in all areas of our lives. In my experience, this opportunity and product line from the corporation has gotten better every year, and the core of my upline support has remained true to its teachings...always encouraging, never judgemental! Compare this opportunity with it's modest startup costs to a well-known dessert franchise who estimates between $100,000 - $200,000 for a kiosk (and $50,000 for operating expenses in the first three months. Thank you for the countless hours you spend and will spend on the transformation.

Elizabeth

[ROS]

Thank you for leading the way!

I applaud Quixtar, NAFC and IBOAI for your leadership as we continue moving forward “during this exciting period of transformation in our businesses”.

I have always felt confident in the vision, integrity and leadership of the board and the corporation.

Thank you for making some very tough, but necessary decisions and backing them up with action, always staying true to our founding principles.

The Alticor family of companies (Quixtar and Amway) was, is and continues to be the best business opportunity available!

Thanks for doing your part, I will continue to do mine.

Sincerely,

Ros

[Lee Ziegler]

The name should never have changed in the first place!!All those years of hard work by great leaders like Charlie and Elsie Marsh who built this business the right way with integrity, was ignored so those people who wanted to profit off of their distributors and give people a bad taste in their mouth about the Amway business could try to hide behind the name Quixtar.If the corporation would step up with DVD's and Cd's.Start paying P.V. on them every one will have the information and you will eliminate this nonsense.What happened to the video series? Make a DVD of Charlie and Elsie Marsh.We are now on a roll don't stop the momentum let's get back to the basics that built this great company!!

[Gerald]

Procter and Gamble and Amway/Access are product manufacturers.
P-G, markets their products thru retail stores such as Zellers, Costco and Walmart, that is their business model.
A/A markets their products thru Quixtar, that is their business model. To change the name of Quixtar to Amway/Access will confuse people and they wont be able to distinguish the business model from the manufacturer. P-G likes to remain in the background, and so should A/A, that is their expertise.
I am not a Platinum yet, so I am not aware of all of the changes that will be happening in Sept, however this amazing business model, works the way it is for those that want to work it.
Please dont change the name, just keep improving it for all of us.
Thank you for your amazing support.

[Caroline]

Now I'm concerned. I've seen this or similar stated 3 times now.

"What Quixtar did was make announcements to the IBOAI without any notice, input, or discussion whatsoever as to significant business changes and at the same time advised the IBOAI that its contract with Quixtar would not be renewed September 1st 2007"

[jim]

I Hope the FTC takes you down! Good Luck Team!

[Rich Lichvar]

We remember the "bad old days." We were in the Amway business when Charlie and Elsie Marsh became the first Crowns. We still have several Crown cassette tapes from those early years; however, the 60 Minutes thing, Donohue, and Revenue Canada thing made it extremely difficult. We don't want to go back to that. We signed up in Quixtar to be Quixtar IBOs, not Amway IBOs.

Also, more products are fine as is more compensation; however, all the products and all the training in the world are worthless if the product is priced out of the market. In today's world many of the competitors have caught up in quality and concentration to what have always been great products; but with retailers like Walmart, Target, Costco, etc. the current pricing of Quixtar/Alticor products, with the exeption of XS, makes retailing difficult. And we are not in a "self-consumption" business, or least we had better not be; otherwise some of the Team allegations are correct.

Lastly, I think there is some "professional jealousy" in the way Team has been treated. If the Team practices were so bad, why weren't they questioned back in 1999/2000 when they started their way of doing business? As I understand it, Team has led IBO growth for the last 8+ years. Could it be possibly because their business system works? Could other LOSes be jealous of those accomplishments? I hope not, because if so, that is truly a violation of the spirit Rich and Jay began this whole thing with. And if it is true, then there are severe integrity issues with IBOAI and NAFC board members who chose to chastise Team.

[C. Brumfield]

I would like to see the Quixtar name have more time to establish itself. I enjoy the business model and feel we market excellent products. I however agree that due to high retail pricing it is hard to make additional profits in my business. I end up selling at wholesale pricing to make the sale and count on building PV/BV. I have seen great improvements to the Quixtar website since 9/9/99. The business does continually try to improve. I would like to see more competative pricing to be able to make more retail sales to customers. LOC, Nutrilite, Artistry, and SA8 Bioquest are all tried and true products that generations have enjoyed.

[DK]

Where can I find the facts about this "Global Business Transformation" which I never even heard of until the issues arose with Team?

[Moderator's Response: See the following --

http://adatudes.opportunityzone.com/2007/07/03/Business-Transformation.aspx

http://adatudes.opportunityzone.com/2007/07/05/Clarification-to-Transformation-Post.aspx

[Board Voice]

[Moderator's note: when comments or questions, like the one posted by Caroline yesterday, call for a response from "The Board," we moderators go back to Board members to get a representative response. So when you see the name "Board Voice," that's what it is!]

Caroline wrote: Now I'm concerned. I've seen this or similar stated 3 times now. "What Quixtar did was make announcements to the IBOAI without any notice, input, or discussion whatsoever as to significant business changes and at the same time advised the IBOAI that its contract with Quixtar would not be renewed September 1st 2007"

Here's the "Board Voice" response:

The board first heard of the proposal to change the opportunity brand from Quixtar to Amway to align and take advantage of the stronger global brand when this was broached to the Founders Council. There are many who feel this is a beneficial move and also many who feel that it is not. Those differences were even reflected on the IBOAI board. While the court of public opinion is trying to decide, this decision is already a reality.

We had a special Board meeting solely for the purpose of discussing all the concerns with Company leaders and we think we definitely made progress. Jointly we are embracing First Circle and the need to transform this business. Is there more to discuss? Absolutely! Transformation is not a cute word. It is an ongoing task for all of us who are committed to making this business THE business for future generations.

[Lee Ziegler]

I was wondering who are the board members in the Founders Council?would the board please respond.Thanks

[Moderators Response: First, please note that the Founders Council and the IBOAI Board of Directors are two completely different entities, with one overlapping member -- Brad Duncan. We asked for and received a complete answer the Founders Council from the folks over at Quixtar. Here it is:

North American Founders Council (NAFC) is composed of the U.S. and Canadian Independent Business Owners (IBOs) who have the largest businesses, each with 20 FAA points or more. The current Founders Council members are Dexter and Birdie Yager, Bill & Peggy Britt, Jim and Nancy Dornan, Brad and Julie Duncan, Paul and Leslie Miller, Ron and Georgia Lee Puryear, and Tim Foley. NAFC meets periodically to provide feedback and insights to the company. ]

[J.E.M.]

Let's try this again. Where are the Board members of both the Founders Council and IBOAI that are to represent ALL IBO's across this country. You are not to decide what's in the BEST interest of anyone except, IBO's across this country. There for, it is clear across the full spectrum of different Organizations that the name AMWAY has become a name that nearly every American does an about face and runs away from. Knowing this, why are ALL of those on both Respective boards not standing up and fighting for what an overwhelming majority of the IBO's want. NO, NO, NO, to the AMWAY name. Beyond that, Look at what Alticor is posting on their site. It has become clear they will do whatever it takes, even at the expense of IBO's outside of the TEAM's organization!! As a Silver in the business, my organization has already suffered through this whole situation. Please respond?

[Johnathan]

One thing I would really like to see is the addition of Amazon.com and Apple.com as partner stores.

I had read years ago, that Apple was supposed to be included during the Quixtar launch, but the deal fell through because of something behind the scenes. Please look into this again, as I am a big Mac fan.

Also, I had read years ago that Amazon was interested in being a partner store, but that they refused to take out any product in their catalog that competes with Quixtar coreline, which most (all?) partners are required to do. (I don't mean that Amazon was asked to stop selling coreline competitive products to *anyone*, but just not through their "partner store" link.)
Well - I think Amway/Quixtar should get over it, and link to Amazon as a partner store anyway. Amazon is the number one web store, very easy to use, and very well respected. I shop at Amazon anyway for certain products that are not available locally, nor through Quixtar, and/or are cheaper through Amazon.

In addition - would the new Amway consider opening its own storefront on Amazon, as Target and Avon have done? I think this would be another great tool to get products out there in front of the public, and of course Amazon could be limited to offering items at full retail to avoid undue competition. I would say it would work well to "assign" these Amazon customers and their BV/PV to either of 1. a pool that would add money to the QBI plan, or 2. the closest Platinum distributor to the Amazon customer's address.

Something else - is the product line of "Options" being phased out? Since the Options catalog will no longer be available to order, and will no longer be part of the new Choices (which I assume will refocus on coreline items) - I have to wonder.
I suspect that most Options purchases are self-consumption and don't represent a significant amount of sales or PV/BV volume.

I will admit a streamlined Choices that focuses on higher-profitability coreline items might be a better choice for me to hand out to potential customers.

I'd also like the ability to generate "affiliate links", web links to individual Quixtar products that contain my IBO number embedded within the link, so that I could post in my own weblog about products, link to them, and earn PV when people buy. As long as this was limited to a personal weblog, personal e-mail newsletter, etc. I think it would be okay. Just don't let people use these links in systems like Google AdWords, as then you'd have IBOs bidding against each other.

[Tex]

Still awaiting a "Board Voice" response to my August 14th posting.

[Moderator's note -- a response has been posted together with your August 14 message]

[Tex]

Regarding retailing, two suggestions:

1. Prevent the Platinums and above from telling their IBO's to ignore the rules (such as the retailing requirement in order to earn downline volume bonuses) and listen instead to the upline, as they know better how to build the business.

2. Prevent the Platinums and above from teaching their IBO's how to "fake out" the Quixtar site to record retail sales that don't occur.

Both of the above happened to me personally, and I know these have also happened to MANY other IBO's.

[Tex]

I don't have an upline left.

Ever heard of Bruce Anderson? Gone. Tool issue.

Randy Haugen? Gone. Tool issue.

Don Wilson? Gone. Tool issue.

Who's left? Dex. He's on the Board.

My research has shown most systems charge about the same on tools overall. Some web sites are less expensive, but they charge more for CD's, or vice versa. This is a Board issue. Post it.

The corp is transforming, now the Board needs to do some transforming of their own. It starts with the truth. Post it.

[Chuck]

Moderator,

I am a very strong supporter of Alticor/Quixtar/Amway, and have a deep respect for men like Jim Janz and Bob Andrews, but your posted Board response to Tex's important question on 8/14 borders on the laughable. In fact, it is almost pathetic. So here are a couple of different questions for the "Board":

"First, in light of the numerous lawsuits and arbitration hearings that Quixtar and Amway have been drawn into over the years as a result of tool issues and alleged tool abuses, and the current tool related legal issues in the UK and Russia, and less so in India, should Alticor/Quixtar/Amway promote more transparency by LOA tool systems in North America regarding tool income disbursements to LOA leaders, the level of income derived from tools by those LOA leaders in relation to their Q/A income, and the cost of tools themselves? Secondly, if the answer to that question is 'yes', how might Q/A consider it best to approach the issue?"

Hopefully these questions won't lead to further tap dancing...

Chuck

[ken shinn]

I do not know what the team has in mind but Let the Team Go -let them get a product line and compete with you --competition should make you better--you have not had any in this business model. That is part of Alticors problem-too many years with no competition-like the liberals in these liberal dominated states--they can say and vote like a socialist and still get elected. In the retail big box world you should be able to compete but you do not by a long shot!Give me a product that I compet in the marketp place and I will sell for you,if I get compensated fairly.

[Tex]

Ken,

There are plenty of other MLM's and Direct Marketing companies out there, what are you talking about?