Honesty and Hype
Thursday, April 26, 2007
As I've mentioned before, I receive a lot of spam in the comments box here at REAL Quixtar Blog, which I typically filter out. You're very welcome. But one marketing comment (below) caused me to pause for a moment because of the sheer volume of hyperbole it contained in promotion of something that apparently involves product (unspecified) but focuses on a business opportunity (hmmmmm.....) and promises you can have "everything you want." This is not a message we've not heard before.
There was a link included (which I omitted) but I couldn't visit the site to find out more because Quixtar's corporate filters don't allow us to visit questionable sites, which apparently this was. But the posted comment itself helps make a point. To a sensible person it screams "run away!!" (even though I know they must generate some leads using this tactic). This post tells people that there's a money game being played here, and if you play the game right, you can get rich. Personally, I love games. I can be very competitive, whether it be dominoes or cards (ask my brother and sister-in-law), Scrabble or Scattegories (ask Nick or Anna), or Soccer (ask my doctor, who will operate on my torn ACL in less than two weeks).
When it comes to business, however, there needs to be substance and not just gamesmanship. This is people's money we're talking about. When you present opportunity (to me, anyway), you had better be ready with facts and not just hype. When Quixtar launched in 1999, there were similar emails floating around promoting our business opportunity. Fortunately, the Quixtar management team had the sense to quickly create a Zero Tolerance policy for online spam promoting this business.
How much of the tone and tenor of the message below ends up in the personal pitches made by some IBOs to business prospects? I suspect that, for the majority of IBOs, more sober presentations about the opportunity are made. I know that for some, however, the pitch below is not objectionable. With little emphasis on product, a focus on income isn't a balanced approach. When that focus shifts to BIG money, with no reference to the need for product sales, the equation becomes even less balanced.
In presentations I made at Achievers and since, I've made a case for open, honest, and transparent communications about our business opportunity. Without that, IBOs and the company both lose credibility and our reputations suffer. When a person's experience does not match the hype, they leave with a bad taste in their mouth. And then they tell their friends. Providing a complete picture about what a person can expect in our business may lead a few to walk away. It's better to have them walk away before registration with a full understanding than have them walk away after they got in based on unrealistic expectations.
If they walk away from our opportunity before registering, they may still be interested in our business later. And even if that's not the case, at least they'll respect the company and its representatives for their honesty. When a prospect signs up and discovers he or she is not likely to go Diamond in two years (while possible, it is not probable) or that they are indeed in the Quixtar business and that Quixtar is, in fact, closely linked to Amway (despite strong statements they are not), all credibility is out the window.
It will not matter that many wonderful people have provided such positive testimonials about our business at www.thisbiznow.com. When prospects or new IBOs discover information from another source that they believe their sponsors or uplines should have presented to them, their trust in those people will have been damaged, and their trust in our business will diminish. The repeated cycle of unmet expectations has caused great damage to the reputations of Quixtar and Amway -- one person at a time over a great many years.
I am passionate about all of the GREAT things about this business. Great products. Great people. Great plan and experienced support from an industry leader. I can never understand why some feel it is necessary to hide and conceal and distort. Presenting the facts should be compelling enough for viable prospects to make the choice for our business. If they're not, then we need to transform our business so that the facts are even more compelling (which, by the way, is what our First Circle initiatives are all about).
I hope you, like me, believe that the following promotional message is a load of hype that has no place in a respected business presentation, and that we do as much as we can to distance ourselves from operators like this.
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"The Movement of Money Creates Wealth. You are wealthy in direct proportion to The Amount of Money that Moves through Your Hands."
"Paid members receive over $5,000 of The Hottest Big Money-Making products on the Net...and They are all yours to do with as you please. Use them, sell them, whatever you do...get them all. They are a license to print money! Most members opt to Market The Secret Pays Opportunity rather then separate the Hot Money Makers in the back office. The Choice is yours."
"Imagine, a marketing website that promotes what will be the biggest global undertaking to hit the internet. Imagine getting substantial rewards from referral marketing. Imagine, a complete business marketing website that can move countless $100 payments instantly through Your Hands. Imagine, a payplan that pays to INFINITY based on leveraging the efforts of others in a never ending profit line, ALL moving $100 bills through Your Hands."
"Now imagine not one, but several never ending profit lines that go on, and on, and on...to infinity. You get the picture. It's Gold Found....Bring a Shovel! With The Secret Pays marketing website, you can have everything you want."