What's Important in Choosing a Company

[Eunice Coughlin]

When I first started out in MLM, I joined any company willy-nilly whose product lines appealed to me. After a few years in the wrong companies for me, I learned that I needed a list of things I was looking for in the perfect mlm company. (Many thanks to Andrea for making me see that this was essential to my mlm success.)

So this is not an exhaustive list. Just mine. And it will probably change with each company that I join from now on. Not that I'm planning on leaving any of my current companies.

Non-negotiables:

NO companies that market exclusively with the "party plan". I'm not good at those party plan mlms. I don't like inviting people over to my house or having to go to other people's houses. And I don't like putting on a "show". That's not to say that I won't join a company that has a party plan. It just has to have other methods of marketing that can be just as successful as the party plan.

OK to be involved in other mlm opportunities.

OK to market online with my own website. Not always a good idea IMHO to market your product with it 's own website devoted exclusively to your product. But I don't like it when a company tells me that I can't do it.

What are some of your non-negotiables? Do you read your policies and procedures before joining a company? Do you try to understand the comp plan before signing up? Do you think this is even important?
I'd love to hear what you think!

[Rohan]

Well, I'm done with health products, nothing bad in them at all, but I want/need to try out something different now, something thats commonplace!! and really easy to sell.

Some parameters:

1. Decent enough sign up cost, I have no inclination, energy or motivation to sell anything that has a horrendous price tag to it.

2. Easy to sell, commonplace, something most people would take an affinity to.

3. Nice well paying compensation plan i.e. - I'M TOTALLY DONE AND OUT WITH BINARIES, wont touch that with a 20 foot pole, period.

4. I'd prefer to have a website for each MLM I promote, especially a lead capture page, nothing more! don't want to intimidate them on the first visit itself. If they are interested they can always signup for more information.

@ Eunice questions :

"Do you try to understand the comp plan before signing up? Do you think this is even important?"

Your kidding right ??? OF COURSE!!!! dont you think its important to get paid well for the efforts you put in ? what kind of a question is that :) hehehe....

[Eunice Coughlin]

Hi Rohan,

Believe it or not, I've called people about opportunities and they don't know what the comp plan is or how it works. I struggle myself with understanding some so I usually call the company's customer service people and have them explain it to me over and over again until I understand it. :-)

I'd love to know why you are done and out with binary plans. So far, that's the only comp plan I've had any success with. That would make a great blog post!

Thanks for your comment,

Eunice

[Rohan]

Binary is double the effort! usually just one side takes off and the other struggles, got to keep a balance to get paid, too much of a headache and its just putting extra dollars in the company's pocket.

Matrixes are better.

[Larry Brauner]

Eunice, I'm a network marketer since 1997. While choosing the right company is important, there's nothing more important than choosing the right people to partner with.

The best people ablility-wise and integrity-wise tend to flock to the best companies. They also tend to have good systems and resources in place for their teams.

The best company with the wrong people is, in my opinion, a recipe for disaster.

[Eunice Coughlin]

Yes, I do agree! That's another part of my checklist and another lesson I've learned along the way...make sure you like the people you are working with and the way they work!

I can tell you some real horror stories of what past uplines have said and done to offend my friends and family. So glad those days of "making a list" are over!

[Andrea Goodsaid]

Well we already know I'm fond of matrices (hate that plural)... of a certain variety.

Yes, I agree with Rohan that Binaries are way more work than others -- they do frequently require a balance and usually only pay out on one leg which I see as cheating... or maybe it's more of a smoke screen to make people *think* they're getting more of a percentage on volume than they really are.

And I also agree with Larry, people first, company second. If you build with people you forge long-term bonds with -- the companies get less of the 'power 'cause you can always pick up and leave if need be.

Working with someone you like is really important.

That said, no point in building with a company that has crummy P&Ps (who other conversation) or a history of canning people unfairly when their check gets too large.

Happens more often than you'd think.

Thanks for the thread Eunice!

Andrea

PS. I have a page on my site that lists the sorts of 'truths' I've learned over the years (written at your prompting in the first place Eunice!):
http://mynaturalnetwork.com/mission-statement/

[Joan]

A couple things I look for are a low or zero "joining fee" and a free website. I don't use the website exclusively as a marketing tool but it's handy to have one to refer people to or so people can order retail from you. Also, if someone wants to join you in the business, they can go to the site and sign up there.

I know their websites are replicator sites and NOT the first exposure you want people to have to you and your product but it's harder to do business without one of these site, IMO.

I was a Watkins rep at one time and they charge $20/mo for a website, plus a big set up fee. I got the website for a few months so I could put recipes on my website and link the ingredients to the ordering page but as time went by, I got aggrevated about having to pay for it.

As to compensation plans, honestly I don't understand the ones I'm a member of very well. They all seem so overly complicated. Maybe it's just that I'm not earning huge amounts of money where it's necessary to understand them.

People I talk to about any of my businesses mostly are interested in the products themselves and when you talk compensation plans, their eyes glaze over.

I totally agree about the product being in the cost conscious range. I used to use Sunrider and altho I loved the products, I think most people thought they were outlandishly expensive. One reason I switched to Uri Life too was that I felt I got the same quality for a lower product price.

Another aspect, the product should be understandable (I suppose "easy to sell, Rohan). Using Sunrider again as an example, they are herbal products and not everyone is sold on the idea of herbs giving you all the nutrition you need. They had to take it on faith - with in the end, I found I didn't possess myself in the product.

Now, tell people a product is fruits and veggies - THAT they can understand and they know they need. Or if something is organic, they can see the sense in that too.

[Eunice Coughlin]

I know what you mean about comp plans, Joan. My eyes glaze over just thinking about them, lol. I think it's a good idea to know the types of plans and how they work to avoid getting ripped off in the long run.

For example, I was a distributor for NuSkin last year. Hoo-boy, did I learn from them about what comp plan not to be involved in! Some of them just make money for the upper levels and you've got to work hard to get there. That's why most people don't an the people at the top continue to make the big checks.

I like the Uri comp plan and HTC, of course. As long as I put forth a little effort to do my part, I make a decent check and it's growing! Plus, the products are great which is the most important thing to me. I can't invest time, money and passion in a company's product that I don't believe in.

Eunice

[Melody Thacker]

I started out with a direct sales co Tupperware and one thing I didn't like was you had to be a manager to receive sales credit for consultants you referred. I still have no idea how one got to be a manager, ha ha.

I don't think I'm a true MLMer as I generally favor more of a direct sales model. I wouldn't go near a company that didn't support and encourage retail sales.

I joined Watkins simply to be a wholesale shopper, got intrigued with the compensation plan and the way the business worked. Here I am today, over 7 years later doing something I really love and being one of our team's top leaders! Sometimes I can hardly believe it!

It doesn't bother me at all to pay $19.99/mo for a personalized corp site because I compare it to building my own shopping cart site, having to keep it updated each month, processing payments, shipping etc and to me it's a very small price to pay. I can focus my time and efforts on marketing and training and it's a write off as a business expense.

To be honest I don't know that much about other types of compensation plans or business models.

[Lisa Willlard]

Eunice,
Here's my list..

Is the business model all about recruit, recruit, recruit. Your business model should give you flexibility. Retailing and team building should both be options. Team building equals residual income and that is definitely where the money is. But companies should give you options. After all, team building takes time and a budget. Use a portion of your retail sales to fund your team building activities.

2. Does your company management have experience? Do they understand what it takes to build a business from home? Do they care about the distributors? Or do they care about just making money?

3. Do you have value priced products? Can the average person afford your products? If so, great. If not, you need to reevaluate. You need products that are affordable. If you don’t, you will be in the convincing business, which isn’t much fun.

4) Did you read your policy and procedures? What are the policies on having a personal website, internet network marketing? If you know you want to build a business using the Internet, you must check out their rules and regulations. Is the policy and procedure section 20, 30 pages long? If so, why? It shouldn’t be.

5) How many people does it take for you to make $10k in residual income. Some companies need 10,000, 8,000 4000, or even 2,500 distributors to make $10k per month. So, do your research and find out the numbers.

BELIEVE Success!


Lisa Willard

[Trina Gentry]

Great posts and replies! I've been with a few types of comp plans and they all have their benefits and negatives. I'm enjoying the matrix plans currently as I really enjoy the team building aspect.

Other thoughts ~ one plan I've been with requires sponsors to purchase more and more every month as their team grows and they reach new levels. That is very discouraging to me - I understand keeping up with a minimum volume, but when one is growing a team, that alone requires more work if you wish to be a good sponsor. To add a large volume of sales on top of that requires a lot more work than I want to do. And you can't take much time off and not get the sales, as you'll lose your team. I've seen folks purchasing product to stock just to keep their rank and members - not good. So one is more "trapped" in the business the farther up you go, with less freedom. Freedom is the reason I want a home business.

I've been-there-done-that with companies that require opportunity meetings to convince folks of the greatness. I don't want to rely on someone else to "convince" or sell the company. No thank you - not the way I want to work.

P & Ps are really important to understand. Are there warnings if you happen to do something out of compliance? I've seen folks lose their entire organization for advertising in a way that was not approved of, and they got no warning, just the axe.

Since we all have different understandings and experience with comp plans, how about a group dedicated just for that? I'm always keeping one eye open to look at new opps, it'd be great to get feedback on the plans.

Trina