As an IBO, I was told that I "needed" to attend all of the company's meetings and functions. According to what I was taught, attending all functions meant "attending them all." True North series host Brad Duncan previously mentioned on a tape that downline should not cancel standing orders even when IBOs resign because there would be an immediate need to replace that individual if they did so. During my time in WWDB, our group was told that, while not everyone in WWDB may have taught this, we should purchase 5-7 additional tapes/cds on top of our existing standing order because we should be listening to new material on a daily basis and because we should be passing out these materials because they will sponsor new people. Up to this point, I am not aware of anyone who has distributed a cassette tape or a CD and had someone decide to join the Amway business as a result of listening to that cassette tape or CD.
At the time I was working in the business (at WWDB), our group was informed that WWDB was a not-for-profit corporation. Even though that statement was shortly withdrawn, the WWDB leaders stood on a podium in front of tens of thousands of IBOs and said that no profit could be earned from tools. We now understand that it was a fabrication. We also know that many of these leaders are still active in the classroom, and as far as I am aware, not a single WWDB leader has ever been held accountable for their deception. Some of these deceptions may have resulted in untold financial losses for the downline. I'm confident that if I'd realised that some uplines made the majority of their revenue from tools and that their advise was a conflict of interest, I would have been less committed to them and the tools. Amway supporters are currently talking about how negative misinformation about the company is affecting their business, yet it appears that the majority of damage to Amway has been done by IBOs themselves, such as misleading people into attending meetings. As far as I'm aware, no one has ever been held accountable for the financial losses suffered by downlines and former IBOs who were misled about Amway's products and services.
Now, I'd like to highlight that I do not believe the tools are effective and that they do not yield any outcomes for me. In their defence, Amway defenders would say that the system contains the vast majority if not all of the company's new emerald and diamond inventory; yet defending Amway will neglect to mention that there are also tens or hundred thousand individuals who utilise the system without success. There is no credible, unbiased evidence that the system achieves any results that I am aware of, to the best of my knowledge. It is for this reason that IBOs later tell about how they have become a kinder person and how their marriage has been strengthened as a result of joining the system. While these are excellent side benefits (if they are true), they are not the primary reasons for starting a business. However, uplines come up with all kinds of reasons as to why IBOs did not profit, even blaming the IBOs who put their faith in them for their failure to generate a profit.
This gets me to the fundamental reason of having tools in the first place. In reality, tools exist to generate earnings for your upline members only. Initially, I believe the tools were created as a motivator and training tool for new and distance IBOs. However, it appears that GREED eventually set in, and many uplines began emphasising tools, not because they desired downline success, but because their tool businesses were wildly successful, resulting in thousands of captive downline dedicated to the system. Many independent business owners (IBOs) who worked hard, never missed a meeting or function, and did not sponsor any downline were nevertheless told they needed more and more tools, which I believe to be true.
In my opinion, the real reason for owning tools is so that your upline's tools business may be successful.
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