Quixtar Ada-tudes: A View from the Top : IBO Independence

IBO Independence

Monday, September 03, 2007 by Todd Krause
Category: Transparency, Quixtar Philosophy

Happy Labor Day to everyone out there in the field. Today is not like the Fourth of July where we celebrate the freedoms earned for us more than 200 years ago, but it is a day we can celebrate labor and the freedoms we have to work hard to achieve our goals.

You know, we live in a great country that provides all of us many freedoms. America has become the destination of choice for immigrants from around the world because you are free to worship, free to own land, and free to pursue your passions. The United States and Canada also have laws that their citizens must respect, so we're not completely free, are we? I mean, we're free to live the way we want so long as we obey the laws of our land.

The same is true for the Quixtar business. You are independent and free to build your business your way, provided you do so within the parameters set by your contract with Quixtar including the Quixtar Rules of Conduct. These are not onerous rules, by the way. Really, it's just common sense. If you're doing something that hurts the reputation of our business, it's probably against our rules. If you're doing something that gives you an unfair advantage over other IBOs, it's probably against the rules.

Your independence does allow for you to bring your creativity to your business. It does allow for you to focus on one Quixtar product area over another. It does allow for you to set your own hours. There are no quotas to meet. There is no "boss" to report to daily or weekly. You are in business for yourself, supported by Quixtar. AND, if you choose, supported by other IBOs and their authorized training methodologies. You are not merely a sales representative, because you can focus on sponsoring as much as you want -- provided you do it correctly and that retail selling remains the primary part of your overall balanced business.

You are independent in our business, but there are rules in your contract that are intended to protect everyone and help ensure that the confidence in and integrity of the business continues for generations to come.

Comments

MP Zildjian said: September 3, 2007 3:00 PM | #

Todd,

You couldn't have picked a better title!..Thaaaannk Youuu!!!...IBO Independence is right!...

IF YOU ONLY KNEW WHAT IS ABOUT TO OCCUR.

Sincerely,

TEAM.

Ohio IBO said: September 4, 2007 12:05 AM | #

INDEPENDENT Business Owner?

What a JOKE!

Jefe said: September 4, 2007 1:54 AM | #

Todd,

For over twenty years I would have applauded your comments and agreed with your statements.

June 13th is when this changed for me.

This was the day the "Founding Families" announced they would have Transformation without Representation.

Imagine living as a citizen of the United States and waking up one morning to the following headline.

"The President of the United States announces today that he is going to transform our country."

Within the next 12 - 24 months, the Executive Branch will be changing the name of our country from the United States of America to "The United Nations of the World." "We will also be flying the, more recognizable, U.N. Flag."

"We know that many of you have spent your lives building and defending the USA, but as the President, I believe we must now think more Globally", said the president today.

The Oval office has come up with several new ideas that will make our country better.

This is the "mandatory" 10 point transformation plan:

1. The USA will be changing from a democracy to a dictatorship. This will be done to help our image and avoid any political confusion.

( The "Senate and Congress will be allowed to operate, "Independently" of coarse.)

2. We are going to change the tax system to better balance the wealth.

Higher taxes ( Rules ) on the rich so we can supplement the poor. ( new IBO / First Circle )

3 We are going to change the way you make a living by implementing an anti-"B" business rule.

We will restrict any American that attempts to jump into the "B" quadrant because it may work too well and doesn't seem fair to everyone else.

4 We are going to rid the country of all Walmarts and low prices because that's not the country we are in.

( The cheaper product comes from overseas and we must take care of our manufacturing plants at home first )

5 We are going to reduce and or control all educational / motivational institutions.

* Any church, school, group, company, or business that seems to generate too much money could be labeled illegal in the future.

6. All News and Media outlets must be approved by the executive branch or will be deemed illegal as well.

ETC....

Could you imagine?

Maybe some of these changes would be good, maybe not. but no "vote" from the citizens?

There would be an immediate rebellion followed by a unprecedented revolution!

The President would realize very quickly that he kicked the wrong hornets nest.

I am sure he would slander the leaders of this rebellion, manipulate the media, and he would try to strike fear in everyone that disagreed with him or sided with the "rebels"

Could you ever imagine this happening in our free country? Never!

I thought the same of this business!

The founding families decided to do a "Global Transformation". OK, this is a business, not a country.

But the IBOAI board voted 100% no confidence, then the LOA heads, then my team along with my wife and I.

All businesses like ours, have a continual tug of war between what the field wants and what the company wants.

Most "other" companies fail because of this... But we are different. We are a democracy...

Or so I thought.

Not only do I have no voice after 20 years, I am told I have no choice either.

What you have said the last 3 weeks is "if you don't like what we are doing to our country you can leave, but don't think of taking any of your kids, friends, family, or neighbors with you."

Just Leave, alone! We will provide for all you leave behind.

IBO independence?

In my opinion, not any longer.

rdknyvr said: September 4, 2007 1:58 AM | #

MPZ, funny thing is, Todd probably does know what's about to happen, with insights that neither you nor I have at this point. I know you're thinking of something else, but regardless of what happens with TEAM and how many decide to sit out their 6 months, the Alticor businesses are starting a "surge" and I use that in the best commerce sense of the word.

I know from your other posts that you are not here to be persuaded, but let me pose a question nevertheless. Is the following a familiar phrase that you might have heard in your introduction to this business: "... a franchise-like business oppportunity, scaled to the individual." I did, and our LOA used/uses modified TEAM concepts. If you know what a franchise is, it does provide business ownership, and a measure of freedom -- as long as you "play between the lines," to pick up from the title of Orel Herschiser's book.

If you've ever looked at a franchise contract, you will know that there are a lot of things you have to agree to and adhere to, and the power generally is not on your side. And under defined circumstances, you can be "fired" or "terminated" from your independently owned business. In contrast, the Quixtar business agreement provides a lot more flexibility, but it is still their business model, regardless of the fact that it was you who applied it and sponsored your friends and family.

I have a friend who is VP of a life insurance firm. Most new reps start out with a list of family and friends. Nine out of ten don't make it past the first year, but any contracts they do get signed with family, friends for policies do not "belong" to the rep, the contractual relationship "belongs" to the company. The same applies if said rep decides to resign and go to work for a competing insurance company. Non-competes are in place with respect to his former "book" with the old company for a period of time... standard business practice.

In the same sense, the distribution channel that you contributed to building with the Quixtar business model (not TEAM's, it was and is Quixtar's) is the property of Quixtar, in the sense of commercial and contract law. Of course they don't own your friends and family, in the sense that people are "chattels," (they're not) and that's not what they were saying. But the distribution channel comprised of the individuals with contracts with Quixtar is the property of Quixtar up until said individuals resign and wait out their contractually agreed to non-compete period.

So at the end, I agree with Todd -- here in North America we have freedom of association, rule of law, and the right to make our own choices. It's totally up to you, within the parameters given and agreed to, to stay or move on. Genuine best wishes with whichever course you eventually choose. :)

Circleman said: September 4, 2007 12:14 PM | #

Hey Todd,

Here's the problem. How can Q/A believe that:

".......because you can focus on sponsoring as much as you want -- provided you do it correctly and that retail selling remains the primary part of your overall balanced business."

Retail selling as "THE Primary Part"?? So we are to have retail selling as "THE primary part" and STILL have a "balanced business"? What percentage would you say is "THE primary part"? To me, that means more then half. There are only two ways to create volume, personal use and retail, right? So, that means more then half, over 50%?

I'd REALLY like to know what documentation, reports, etc.. that you have available to even remotely suggest that "YOUR" IBO force "has retail sales as a primary part" of their business? If this documentation exists, why don't you let EVERYONE know the numbers and end the confusion.

Are we to assume that MOST of the Q/A IBOs ARE following this rule? If they are, post it. If they aren't, will there be a mass "firing" for breaking the rules?

It seems that Q/A has decided to MAKE "sponsoring as much as you want -- provided you do it correctly") their focus and discarded the second half of the rule regarding retail sales being "the primary part" of our business.

We all know that the retail sales percentage is not even close to 10%, let alone 50%. We have to make "educated guesses" because Q/A doesn't give us the facts regarding this, and if the actual numbers did coincide with your policy, you most definitely would make them public, I would think...????

If all the IBOs who were not following the second half of this rule were to write you and "confess", what would happen? Anything? In my opinion, it wouldn't be "shocking news" at the mother ship.

jthompson said: September 5, 2007 6:03 PM | #

IBOAI has not changed. TEAM leaders have mis-represented who/what Amway and IBOAI is.

IBOAI is not a Union. They simple give advice that Quixtar listens to. Quixtar then has final say in what they do.

IBOAI advices brought about: (who i think main dude was)

- Quixtar (online busines)

- XS Energy Drink (Greg Duncan...)

- Trim Advantage Protein Bars (Yager)

- More Money in the Plan - transformation

- and lots more

If you trust me (i am your friend and mentor) and I have been telling you that John Pumpernickel is a Democrat..... and you never met him but i kept telling you he was a democrat.... and one day you finally meet John Pumpernickel and you discover he is a Republican. Who do you get mad at? You get made at John Pumpernickel for flip-flopping and converting his political views.

You don't even question the fact that maybe I (your friend/mentor) may have been lieing to you for years.

TEAM has been building their business, misrepresenting who/what Amway/IBOAI... is. Now that all are knowing who/what Amway/Q/IBOAI is and does... they are saying "Look they flip-flopped, you can't trust A/Q/IBOAI!!!"

When the truth is more so that A/Q/IBOAI did not flip-flop so much as TEAM ibos PERCEPTION of A/Q/I is what has changed.

Tex said: September 6, 2007 12:39 AM | #

You can't talk about independence if Quixtar prevents the upline from disclosing where they make the vast majority of their tools from, the tools.

You have repeatedly refused to answer this question (using silence/non-response).

What is Quixtar's position on this issue? Somebody from Quixtar needs to answer this question.

Law enforcement authorities WILL be contacted soon if an answer is not forthcoming.

It's called conspiracy to promote a bait and switch operation.

rdknyvr said: September 6, 2007 11:38 AM | #

Tex, the way I see it is that if Quixtar were to allow specifics of what might be earned "in the future" from sharing tool profits, with prospective IBOs at sign up -- beyond the statement contained in the registration form alerting them to the possibility that profits are earned on BSMs, (long sentence, sorry), then legally, they could be in a position of having an IBO induced to start a Quixtar business (business A) in order to get "profits" from future participation in the tool company (business B), which could be construed as a pyramid approach. Does that make sense?

So on very sound legal grounds, they do not want hypothetical profits (inducement) from business B to be the reason people are asked to join business A. That in itself would then open them up to legitimate pyramiding charges, or the possibility of them, even though it would be the BSM-member recruiter making the pitch, not Quixtar. So they are protecting themselves -- very legitimately -- from adverse legal exposure and risk, by forbidding "disclosure" (or inducement offer) of specifics of BSM profits during sign up.

Personally, while I agree with you on some of the tool profit issues -- is the BSM's priority training people to have strong product-moving, profitable Quixtar business or is their primary motive their own personal profits, and I think the answer varies with the system -- I'm on Quixtar's side on this particular point.

Apologies again for the long sentences... :)

Aron Gannon said: September 6, 2007 9:50 PM | #

rdknyvr,

Your blog name is a bit of a challenge for me. However, you have some great, inciteful comments--especially the one above.

Aron Gannon said: September 6, 2007 11:08 PM | #

Tex,

I realize that I said I was going to wean myself from blogging a few days ago. However, I feel bad that you love the Quixtar opportunity but you're completely hung up on the tool profit issue. As I scan through blogs it seems like almost all of your comments come back to the tool issue. I believe that I have a great upline and we utilize Yager's Internet Services Corp. to produce training materials, (as well as Quixtar-produced tools and Quixtar corporate speakers too). I haven't seen tool prices go up in the six years that I have been utilizing them. I know that my team leader gets a lower price on tools than I would if I ordered directly from Internet Services. That's because he orders in bulk to stock a tool room at functions. Paid employees are there to process orders. It's more convenient to get tools at the seminars, and they're still very reasonably priced. Plus, what does my leader do with outdated tools in his stock? He can't just send them back. He has to eat those old calendars and other stuff. I just can't see how my upline is getting rich from a couple of $7.00 CDs and a $12 book that I purchase every month. They didn't produce them, and typically they're not getting any speaker or author royalties either, since they didn't speak on the CD or write the book. I spend way, way, way more money on Quixtar products for myself and my customers as opposed to tools. Logically that's got to be where the greater profit is for IBOs. I think one of the reasons why in some organizations the tool profits are reserved for the bigger pins is to encourage IBO leaders to mentor people in depth. This may require travel expenses and maintaining an up-to-date tool inventory. Tool profits or wholesale pricing on tools my help to off-set these expenses. My upline is not pushy about tools. IBOs that are in the hunt tend to be hungry for this information. We're free to take them or leave them. I imagine that there are some IBOs that make a lot of money on tools, but I think they've got to be the exception. (Orrin might be doing well with tools because he owns his own tool company.) According to Quixtar's published figures for average incomes at various pin levels, people are making a lot of money from the Quixtar compensation plan alone. For example, founders executive diamonds make over three-quarters of million dollars a year from the Quixtar plan. That in itself is worth pursuing.

As a side note, I have access to a lot of phenomenal free teaching available through weekly conference calls hosted by the Yager sons, on-line meetings, as well as podcasts on xsgear.com. I've recently discovered all the great information on the Opportunity Zone blogs. The bottom line is that this business opportunity is too good to get immobilized by any one issue.

jthompson said: September 7, 2007 11:57 AM | #

Tex,

why are you trying to THREATEN Amway Corporation? Your "tool comment" spamming is out of hand.

Why don't you buy a plane ticket and fly to the Corporation and talk to them. Amway execs are not going to listen to your spamming and treat it with credibility, especially since you don't disclose your name.

Prepare your case and go to ADA and have a meeting.

MASSIVE profits are better than LITTLE profits.

start your own blog instead of spamming other peoples blogs with comments that have zero relation to the threads/posts.

tex, what is the solution? if you are expert on moral tool systems, write a document/book that includes the problems you see and what specifically the solutions are to make tool systems meet your moral criteria.

Editor's Note: Actually, Tex and I have spoken on the phone and I am aware of his identity. I also understand his point of view and his belief that, as our blogs currently exist, he needs to frequently post these views so that all newcomers are aware of tools income. Tex's recent comments on company rules regarding disclosure of IBO leaders' income from tools are the latest twist. I will ask someone from Rules and/or Legal to provide a response. -- RL

DPW said: September 18, 2007 3:49 PM | #

Can we all just not respond to Tex and let him go away. That would be great. The tool debate is a rhetorical, factless, il-researched point that is the epitome of beating a dead horse. I know that my upline platinum gets a break on tools and that my upline diamond gets some money for tools, but to say that that is the vast majority of their income is ridiculous.

Like I have said before, dude spends too much time and puts too much stock in 20/20. Not to mention, how can Quixtar put out a disclaimer on tools that they do not control the distribution or price of?

Tex said: September 22, 2007 5:23 PM | #

rdknyvr Sept. 6,

While I appreciate your opinion, I am still expecting an answer from Quixtar on this issue.

How are tools any different than telling a prospect what may be earned from Quixtar in the future when the Platinum, Emerald, Diamond, etc., levels are achieved?

This also doesn't explain (except greed) why the tool prices can't be reduced to result in less profit, so the tail no longer wags the dog, as Rich DeVos corrrectly stated in the 1983 "Directly Speaking" recordings.

The problem is 2-fold: the prices create massive profits, and there is a lack of honesty with the claimed downline "business partners" and "teammates". In my opinion, if you fix the second issue, the first will take care of itself.

Ismael Moreno said: October 14, 2007 12:31 AM | #

I suggest that no one should be talking about how QUIXTAR or AMWAY work toward the profits through this Blogs; for the reasons that a new fresh IBO who is barely starting an independent business can easyly get discourage because of this kind of comments. I have not been in the business that long yet but at least have understand what Quixtar is doing for us and has for others in the past, such as Dexter Yager, Don Wilson, Randy Haugen, Billy Florence, Don Storms and many others. Because no matter what people think if this mans and thair families are leaving a good life stile is because they believed what this business could do for them and they have pay the price.

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