Don’t Worry About Your Sales, You Can Buy Your Rank
What will MLM directors do to make sure you reach sales quotas?
Fifteen years ago I thought I would be able to make some extra money through MLMs. This was when social media was brand new and not a staple of our lives. I was coming off a difficult year in my life and needed to bring in part-time money from part-time work. I had a career I loved and had an advanced degree to be able to do. I didn’t enter into MLMs thinking I could replace my job with this income. I simply wanted to avoid working seven days a week to pay my bills. The idea of making money by hosting a few parties a month was wonderful.
I did research before picking the company. I had been to enough MLM parties, as a buyer, to know there were inherent problems for long-term needs. First, I was concerned about returning customers. I wanted people to come back to me to order more of what they wanted. I felt companies like Pampered Chef didn’t encourage people to order more. How many pizza stones do you need? I now understand this is why items get discontinued and new items get added. It creates a false sense of demand. I ended up focusing on companies that sold consumable items. At that time I was looking at companies that sold make-up and candles. The reality was that a consumable product doesn’t make a difference. I was the end customer and as long as I kept ordering more, the product was consumable.
Second, I considered their sales metrics. I knew very little about what I was doing but I considered what I needed to do to maintain my business. What were my sales quotas? What would my cost be for the items? Did I have to order a specific amount of product to begin my business? I liked that I would buy a kit with more than just products, thinking this was a sign that I would be supported. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was the real customer. Yes, I was getting a discount but it eventually forced me to consider the real cost. When I ordered with a 50% discount, a portion of what I spent went to multiple people in my up-line. Then the company made their profit. The only support I got was pressure to order more.
I narrowed my focus to Mary Kay (make-up and skincare) and Party Lite (candles). At this point, I was talking to the people who would be my up-line. This is where I made the final decision and one conversation swayed my decision but should have sent me running. I was very anxious about my ability to sell the items. I understood that my success depended on my network of people: family, friends, and colleagues. I knew I didn’t have a big network to pull from. I loved the idea of selling candles but how many others would want them.
The conversation happened between me, my Party Lite recruiter, and her director. We discussed my business debut party. I was informed that at this party I would need to sell a certain amount. It triggered my anxiety and I asked the logical question: what happens if I don’t sell that much?
“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you do,” the director told me.
That statement made me decide to go with Mary Kay but why?
Rank Buying
Rank buying is a simple idea that you and your director will do whatever you need to do, pay whatever you need to pay, to move you up the ladder or keep you active in the MLM.
The directors’ comment suggested they would do unethical things to make sure I made their quotas. Now I’m sure that it would include them giving me orders from their customers, ordering from me themselves, or having me order my own product to fill the order. Years later, when I was selling Thirty-One gifts for my own tote bag obsession, I always put my orders in as parties so I could meet my minimum to stay active and get the bonus gifts. I always added my own order to a friends’ party so they would get more from the party and I would get a certain commission.
The goal of rank buying isn’t to help me build a sustainable business selling products. It’s to make sure I hit a quota so my up-line can continue to make money off me, even if we have to spend our own money to do so.
This is how many MLM consultants and directors buy their rank. It still goes on today. Savannah Marie, on YouTube, exposed how MONAT consultants bought from each other to help people increase or maintain their rank within the company. If you don’t think of this as fraud or unethical, you have to at least recognize that it’s a cycle that can’t be maintained. Doing this only costs more money than you’ll earn.
It should have been a red flag for the entire business model. I should have realized how incentivized directors were to do whatever they had to do to make sure consultants stayed with the company. Mary Kay, which I ultimately picked, encourages you to have an inventory. It may be harder to see rank buying when the consultant has an inventory but it's there. Mary Kay offers prizes for how much consultants order. Nobody within a consultant’s up-line cares what happens to the purchased product, as long as you order more and more.
This is a vicious circle and one I’m glad I got out of before I did too much financial damage. I know I was smart to avoid a company that hinted at rank buying but I would get sucked into a different one later. If you’re considering accepting an opportunity, make sure you ask what they’re willing to do to make sure you meet sales quotas or stay active. If it feels wrong, it probably is.
