Why Multi Level Marketing is a Money Laundering Business

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Why Multi Level Marketing is a Money Laundering Business

MLM or Multi Level Marketing has been around for many years, and everyone knows someone who was talked into joining one of these “passive income business opportunities”. Over the years, however, MLM has quickly gotten a bad name for itself because of the dubious sales techniques and the false claims made to new recruits. The question remains, however; is MLM really a scam?

Identifying MLM Sales Strategies

The basic idea behind MLM businesses is to set up a chain of clients and distributors to sell products and services or recruit new members into the chain. In essence, this type of sales strategy is a sound one, but there are some inherent differences between setting up chains of distributors to make a profit and collecting money from new recruits who are then forced to sell products and services that are expensive and unpopular. Does your recruiter make his or her money from your sign-up fees? Are you required to get others to join to make a profit? If you answered yes to these question, the MLM business you are about to join is a scam.

The Expense of MLM Products and Price Fixing

Price fixing is a major problem with MLM businesses. As each new distributor joins the business, they are provided with a list of products that they are required to sell, and you will be able to separate a legal MLM business from a dubious one simply by analyzing the costs of the products and services. Prices that are fixed, inflated and will not sell well to the general public are signs of a scam and not a good business opportunity. These prices need to be inflated so that those on the higher rungs of the chain will make money, but these ventures end up failing very quickly, and those that bought into the idea are left to wonder where their money went.

Selling Directly to a Consumer VS Multi Level Marketing

Marketing directly to the end consumer is a safer, more effective way of starting up a business, and you do not have to deal with all of the “warning signs” and marketing schemes associated with fraudulent MLM businesses. The words “passive income” are all too convincing to the average person, but it takes hard work to set up a new business, and anyone promising anything less is bound to be looking to put a hand in your back pocket.

When you are marketing directly to a consumer instead of involving yourself in a chain of distributors, you will be able to set your own prices and ensure that the quality of the products and services you sell are high. Do not be fooled into thinking that MLM businesses are simple, quick or efficient ways to make money; it is the products and services that will make you money, and if they are too expensive, of a low quality or involve paying fees for the “privilege” of selling them, you are bound to find yourself red-faced and wondering how you fell for this type of scheme at all.

Appraisal Feedback

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Appraisal systems have been around since the industrial revolution when they were used to measure the production of a workforce. There were clear definable objectives, produce x number of widgets by Friday, they were by default SMART and very much tied reward as the workers salary was often based upon weekly production.

Many people feel their pay-rise, and continued employment, depend on performing well in a short interview. People worry about appraisers who may not like them; who have to make subjective judgements and who may have stepped “out of the wrong side of bed that day”. Many people worry about their inadequacies being exposed and about being belittled.

The purpose of the session should be to talk about the employees job performance. It should be an opportunity for the supervisor and the employee to determine where supportive action is needed. The performance appraisal should not be used as a disciplinary tool.

Performance appraisal is the end of a process that goes on all the time – a process that is based on good communication between manager and employee. So,more time should be spent preventing performance problems than evaluating at the end of the year. When managers do good things during the year, the appraisal is easy to do and comfortable, because there won’t be any surprises.

Appoint an Implementation Team. This task force should be a diagonal slice of both appraisers and appraisees from different levels and functions in the organization. The implementation team is responsible for accomplishing the two major requirements for a successful system.

Appraisal time is dreaded by both managers and employees. In the 15 years that I worked in the sales and marketing division I think I actually saw my evaluation 3 or 4 times. Yes, I was supposed to sign it every year but I rarely had the opportunity. I’d usually ask my manager for a copy in February or March. Most of the time he would say it wasn’t finished yet. I’d persist for 3 or 4 months and then give up.

Managers delude themselves into believing they can assess staff performance, even if they hardly ever see their staff actually doing their jobs, or the results of their jobs). Not possible. Most managers aren’t in a position to monitor staff consistently enough to be able to assess well.

The appraisal form is a lightning rod that will attract everyones attention. Design the form early and get lots of feedback on it. Dont believe anybody who tells you that the form isnt important. Theyre wrong. If youre designing a new form internally, make sure it assesses both behaviors and results.

A manager needs help an employee by explaining to the person what isn’t working. Recently I was told about an associate attorney who had worked for a partner on a project. When the project was completed the associate assumed the partner liked her work since the partner took it and never made any comments on it.

Prepare an Appraisal form (or format or questionnaire) based on the role of the HR person handling particular functionlisting the grades, evaluation criteria etc. It should clearly specify that people with so and so rating will get this much of increment and people above X rating will be considered for promotion.

Getting Maximum Results of Automated Voice Calling

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Automated voice calling is widely being used by different organization to serve their respective needs. However, getting maximum beneficial results of automated voice calling is very important for organizations using this innovative feature. For that proper planning and collection of relevant data related to customers is necessary.

Customer Care industry is among one of the most popular users of voice calling software. They use this feature in their IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems. This feature provides multi dimensional benefits to customer care industry. It reduces the extra burden of work related to product or service promotion from call centre agents. It keeps your customers better informed without additional time from your staff. Better customer support, lower cost of doing business, it just makes sense to use automated calls.

Proper Planning Key to Success of Automated Voice Calling
Before starting any pre recorded voice based promotional campaigns, one needs proper planning. Without proper planning, it is impossible to get positive results of voice campaigns. The planning phase includes three basic things:

Recording Fully Relevant Message Pre recorded messages are among the most important inputs for every voice based marketing, promotional or customer feedback campaign. So, its very crucial to record a brief but fully functional message that can put forward your words in front of potential customers.

Collection of Contact Numbers The primary intention behind every call to the customers or client is to present your products and services in front of him in best possible manners. You also need to ensure that your words are being heard by your targeted pool of customers. For that, you need to ensure correctness of numbers present in your contact’s database.

Perfect Timing to Call Usually people do not prefer attending anonymous calls or calls intended to marketing and promotional offers all the time. So it will be better, if you maintain different database of your customers according to their preferred timing to attend such calls. You can get details of their preferred timing through your Customer Relationship Management system.

Ensure Ways of Accepting Response In case of positive interest your potential customers may require further details, therefore you need to ensure proper ways of providing further information to your customers. This is very important for conversion of potential customers to registered customers.

If you are having a perfect plan along with all the above-described things on place, then no doubt you will get the best results of your voice calling campaigns.

Customer Service Making Every Phone Call Great!

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Customer Service: Making Every Phone Call Great!

The phone rings. I answer it with trembling hand, because at the time I was an Eastern Regional Customer Service Manager for Matheson Tri-gas. Outside calls usually meant a displeased customer that asked for the manager. I thought “What did one of my customer service representatives do now?” After taking a deep breath, I answer the call to an anger customer. Funny thing was that the customer did not have a real problem… No late delivery, No billing issue, etc. He just did not like the way the customer service representative talk to him in a gruff manner. In fact, he got the information he needed. This article focuses on how to make every call GREAT!

What makes a GREAT call?
These five points will make your calls go smoothly and inspire that WOW feeling in your customers.

Greet the customer with style
The greeting sets the tone for the call. Before picking up the receiver, you should take a deep breath and get focused in the moment. Ready, Set, Go and answer the call. You need to answer the phone with the same greeting every time. The greeting starts with the “Hi”, “Hello”, “Good morning”, or “Good afternoon”. Next step is to state your company’s name. This might sound simple but you want the customer to know that they reached the right business. Third, you build instant rapport by stating your name. Finally, ask “how may I help you?” This statement leads into our next important topic of the tone of your voice.

Set the tone with your voice
Voice tone is a vital ingredient to the great call. You see, we receive almost 80% of a message through non verbal communication. On the phone, you stripe out all the hand motions, body postures, and facial expressions of a face to face conversation. This leaves you with only the tone of voice for non-verbal communication on the phone. To get the full impact on the phone, I suggest slightly exaggerating your tone of voice and voice inflection. Yes, I know it will feel strange at first, but you don’t want to end up like the customer service rep in the story above. Do you?

Smile
Tom Hopkins, a world renowned speaker on sales, says to place a mirror on your desk and smile before answer the phone. I got all of my customer service rep mirrors for their computers. Why smile? Smiling puts you in the right frame of mind, to answer the call with compassion and empathy. Smiling also affects your voice tone, helping you not sound so gruff. Even if the customer is angry, keep that smile on our face. It will help you control your emotions so that you will remain calm under fire and not get defensive.

Use their name
Nothing builds rapport quicker than using the customer’s name. On the call, you should say there name at least 3 time during the call. If you have difficulty remembering names, the best tip for this is to repeat it back to them. When the customer says “Hi, my name is Tom”, you simply say “Hi Tom, how can I assist you today?” or “Hi Tom, how are you today?” Don’t stop there. I always have a pad and paper next to the phone and write it down. If you can not understand, for example a customer with a heavy accent, I ask them to spell their name. I suggest stating their name at the beginning of the conversation, somewhere in the middle, and at the end, which takes us to the final point of thanking the caller.

Thank the caller
Thanking the caller is an often missed but important step. Thank the caller and make sure you use their name in the process. Instead of just stating goodbye, thank them for using your business. This step makes the customer feel appreciated and leaves a positive last impression.

As you can tell, you can minimize problems and create a great call with slight adjustment to your interaction with the customer. By starting the call with an excellent greeting, a great tone, and super attitude, you benefit by the customers reacting to you more positively. Most importantly, remember to make every call GREAT.

Over-priced High Performance Blenders

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According to a consumer study, the ideal price point for a durable high performance blender is from $250 to $300. And when consumers are finally offered a $200 blender they are not fully aware what a true high performance blender is. As a result they buy just about anything that appears to fit into their budget.

The ideal and durable high performance blender however is either a 2 hp or 3 hp blender. Recognized blender brand names like the Vita Mix, Waring, and Blendtec blenders cost between $350 and $600. Another true high performance blender brand has emerged however for $250. This one is uniquely equipped with a 3 hp motor yet yields in the blending torque of a 2 hp blender. Waring has a 3.5 hp blender that yields in a 3 hp blending torque. The Blendtec and Vita Mix blenders, each 3 hp, yield in 3 hp torque and the Vita Mix 2 hp yields in 2 hp blending torque.

The blenders considered in this price study are following:
– Vita Mix Vita Pre 2 / 1003
– Vita Mix Vita Prep 3 / 1005
– Vita Mix TurboBlend 4500 Blender
– Vita Mix 5200 Blender
– Waring MX1050XT
– Waring MX1200XT
– Blendtec HP3A Blender
– Blendtec Total Blender

Vita Mix blenders have been made for over 80 years, Waring for over 60 years, and Blendtec (aka K-Tec) for over 35. The Vita Mix blenders have probably the greater authority and experience in reliable blender building. Its 2 hp Vita Mix 4500 Turboblend Blender has been chosen the 2 hp blending torque standard; the measure of all.

In comparison to the Vita Mix 4500 2 hp Turbo Blender (nothing really turbo about this blender), the 3 hp Vita Mix Vita Prep 1005/3 commercial blender is a much stronger blender. It blends everything that the Vita Mix 4500 Turbo Blender blends only in about half the time. The result is finer and much more emulsified than with the 4500 Blender.

The Waring and Blendtec 3+ hp blenders are just about the same as the Vita Mix Vita Prep 3 hp blender, when it comes to emulsifying flax seed, strawberry nuts, making peanut butter or grinding wheat into flour dust. A 2 hp blender to the other hand takes more time, the content gets warmer, and at the end there are slightly rougher pieces left than in a 3 hp blender. We are not talking big of course. The emulsified seed and nut piece-size difference is in the 0 millimeters. You still however can see little dots of seeds.

Price differences between a 2 hp blender to a 3 hp blender from Vita Mix is over $150 in respect to the Vita Mix 4500 Turbo Blender and the 3 hp commercial Vita Prep 1005. The Vita Mix 5200 blender, also a 2 hp blender is of course just as expensive as the Vita Mix 3 hp blender. It would not make sense to acquire the 5200 model when one can get a 3 hp for the same price.

A 3 hp motor in China or Taiwan, if bought by 1000 to 5000 units in one shipment, costs between $15 and $25 dollars. Based on a production cost study, it has been found that high performance blenders such as the Vita Mix, Waring, and Blendtec Blenders (including the OMNI and the Health Master Blender) cost between $40 and $100 dollars. Then of course it becomes a question why these powerful blenders cost retail between $350 and $600?

Vita Mix Corporation, for example, has an interest to protect its market. A price battle between dealers could threaten this market. The company sells its blenders, just like Blendtec and Waring, to consumers through dealers. Dealers most of the time purchase their inventory from distributor wholesalers. Distributors have a contact factory rep to go to for inventory placement. Everybody wants his cut of the pie, increasing the cost to the consumer. Of course, for blenders such as the Vita Mix 5200 at about $450 sold consumer direct and the affiliate marketers getting paid about $70 to $80 in commission, leaves for Vita Mix about $370 in gross profit.

The Vita Mix 4500 Turbo Blender, as simple as it is and equipped with a 2 hp motor costs about $70 in production. Suggested retail price is $ 400. Wholesale price is $ 275.00 and the Distributor purchases the blender for around $ 230.00. But if you compared this blender with the Vita Mix 2 hp Commercial Vita Prep 2 blender which costs retail $ 400 as well, and cost wholesale $ 440, it does not really justify why a Vita Mix 4500 without the variable-speed turning knob should cost the same.

While the ideal price of the Vita Mix 4500 Turbo Blender is $330, based on consumer demand and availability, it is overpriced advertised. Dealers are allowed to receive phone calls to sell the blenders for whatever price they agree on. But if found in MAP advertising violation, dealers will be cut off from its wholesaler and manufacturer. All, Waring, Blendtec, and Vita Mix follow this rule. However, a blender margin too big, and too many competing blenders, better, more sophisticated with more power sold to consumers for less makes an advertising price demand difficult to follow.