For Enterpriner - Your Product and AmWay/MLM
Hi Enterpriner !
Originally posted by enterpriner
Others: pl. bare with me this is totally out of focus post to this thread!
Hi Abdenour Achab:
I am impressed by Amway style marketing guys. I like to know few things from them can you please help me out:
I am not involved in AmWay and can only give you second hand information. AmWay has changed its name in the US to Quixtar,
and I will be using AmWay and Quixtar interchangeably.
1). How do I introduce my product to that chain.
You can always approach them. Whether or not they will accept your product or service is a different story.
What I would recommend is for you to ask that question to Paul Zane Pilzer. Paul Pilzer is a former economic advisor to presidents
Reagan and George Bush senior.
Pilzer developed an educational product for school kids, and tried to distribute him through several channels, most of them
traditional (Barnes and Noble, etc.). All distribution channels failed except one: AmWay.
He is now a stay at home dad and runs
http://www.thewellnesscommunity.net web site.
He is very generous with his time and answers all the questions addressed to him on that forum. He doesn't respond that fast
to e-mail. So you would be better off posting the question on his
forum rather than e-mailing him.
2). Can I build a separate chain, totally out of that product chain, picking few good guys in that chain ?
Sure ! This is free country. According to data from software compnanies that sell software to would be MLMs, over a thousand "MLM"s are created every year in the US. I use quotes because many of the so called MLMs are actually pyramid schemes that provide no value to end consumers in terms of a valuable product or service. They are created solely so that the
owners and people at the top make a lot of money in a zero-sum game where most people actually lose money.
But many others are legitimate MLMs. To mention only the ones that exceeded a Billion dollars in annual sales (YES, a Billion+/year), there is:
1 - AmWay (started by selling soap, now sells everything
under the sun).
2 - Shaklee (sells vitamins).
3 - Mary Kay (sells cosmetics).
4 - Herbalife (sells herbal supplements)
5 - Excell Communications (phone and internet services)
There are over a hundred other MLMs selling million of $$$ a year.
3). How flexible is the owners ( people who decide which product to be sold) to add new product.
There are two kinds of MLMs with respect to that question.
Some MLMs are created to market a specific line of products and/or services (like Legacy For Life, the one I am involved in). Those would not be open to consider your product.
Other sell a wide variety of products/services. Examples: AmWay, Market America. These are the ones you should approach with your product or service.
Besides asking Pilzer for his own experience, I recommend you look at Dr. Charles King's book:
"The New Professionals: The Rise of Network Marketing as the Next Major Profession".
Two chapters in the book are catalogues of exisiting MLMs, along with King's due diligence investigation of them.
That will give you a list of companies to approach.
4). What is the normal margin the company(company & its sale force) keeps.
For example: If I want to supply a Brand new Sony TV priced 400$ in bestbuy to your company what is normally excepted buy price you (your company) will have ? Just for comparison, I will not be supplying a branded item. I will have a special brand name for your company alone( this brand need not have adv out side, your company will take care).
You are touching here a very important subject: the economics of distribution in general, and of MLM in particular.
If you bought a $600 brand new Sony TV at Best Buy in 1990, you would be paying:
$120 (or 20%) for Sony's R&D and manufacturing
$480 (or 80%) for distribution. That's include Sony's marketing campaigns
for branding, BestBuy's TV and radio ads, BestBuy's store,
etc. etc. etc.
Today, mostly thanks for cheap advertising on the internet, the same TV would cost you only $400 at BestBuy, as follows:
$120 (or 30%) for Sony's R&D and manufacturing
$280 (or 70%) for distribution.
If the same TV was sold through a legitimate MLM such as AmWay or Market America, it would only cost the customer $300:
$120 (or 40%) for Sony's R&D and manufacturing
$180 (or 60%) for distribution. Mostly commissions paid to
distributors, since UPS would ship directly the TV from
Sony's wharehouse to the home of the customer.
A distributor would buy the same TV for only $240,
the distributor's wholesale price.
What MLM does is cut distribution costs from 70% to 60% to customers, 50% to distributors, resulting in substantial savings
to both (the consumers), and at the same time making millions
to distributors who built large networks.
5). What is the return policy your company have ?
.
Again, the company I am involved in is not among the ones you want to approach. But just to answer your question, we offer
a 90 days no questions asked money back guarantee for new customers. Customers can consume our product for a couple of months and, if for any reason, they are not completely satifsfied,
they get a 100% refund, no questions asked.
6). whom to contact for such info.
I believe that was answered mostly answered above.
When you contact individual companies, ask for the marketing VP.
PS: I am not interested in being a sale force. I just want to make use of that energy you guys have.
I hope you can find an MLM to distribute your products. Remember to be persistent. Don't give up if a couple of them turn you down.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks
Ent. [/QUOTE]
You are very welcome. Please don't hesitate to ask more questions if any of of my answers is not clear enough.
I am by no means an experts, but I investigated this industry for 6 months before deciding to join, and which company to join.
So I have learned a few things in the process and I thank you for giving me the opportunity to share that knowledge.
Not in this forum