Thursday, May 15, 2008

Further EXCITING UK Updates!

Dear Leaders,

This is the most exciting times to be in the Amway business. Steve and Doug have written a note to all Executive Diamonds and above plus Amway Global employees and congratulated them on Amway UK winning the case. There was a similar letter addressed to all the Diamonds. And in case you missed it, there was an earlier letter just before the court judgment in which Amway UK DOUBLED the bonuses of ABOs as a form of appreciation for their LOYALTY, LOVE and BELIEF in the business - despite being suspended from sponsoring and holding training functions. (see below)

For those of you who might not know, Amway UK was threatened with closure more than a year ago. With immediate effect back then, Amway UK stopped all sponsoring activities, instituted sales quota requirements and many other reforms which they felt would keep the company in business. That means that for at least 12 months, there was practically NO NEW ABOs in UK and UK ABOs had a VERY TOUGH time staying LOYAL to the business. BUT THEY DID.

Notice that Amway UK decided to STAY in business through plain old fashioned Retailing (proving that the Amway business opportunity is NOT a headhunting game, but a totally steady, direct selling business) - not close down, change name, open a new company so that they can say bye bye to everything they have said and done and force all ABOs into the new company, escape and work around the government rules or accuse the government of unfairness, pushing all blame to the BERR etc. It is something we all have heard and believe in - that once Amway has entered a market, "WE WILL NOT PULL OUT."

When Amway UK was in the pits, some MLMers tried to win over ABOs to their business. Now with the courts behind Amway, if I am one of the competitors, I would RUN - because Amway is coming for YOU. Especially those MLMers who took advantage of the plight of Amway UK - "Hey, it is no longer the same Amway - come on, quit!" "No sponsoring? Awww, too bad, see how many people we are sponsoring into our MLM right now... how about quitting?" : )

If you know Amway history, KOREA went through a similar governmental challenge to their business many years ago too, and as much as 70% of the business volume were affected negatively. But again, like now, Amway Korea WON the case, and today, Amway leaders in that market (Leonard and Esther Kim) can produce 100+ new Diamonds in a single year. This is simply AMAZING for a people which just a decade ago despised Amway and tried to close it down. Today in Korea, NO COMPETITOR EVEN COMES CLOSE TO AMWAY.

On a sidenote, some major Amway support groups, including Network21 UK, were in high pressure to close down their operations too - since with no sponsoring and a sudden drop in the number of active ABOs, there were major LOSSES of income. Some did pull out of UK indeed (understandably), but here is the good news for all of you on this team -

NETWORK21 DID NOT PULL OUT OF THE UK MARKET!!!

Jim and Nancy Dornan's COMMITMENT to the Amway business is unparalleled, and you can now walk proudly proclaiming to the world that N21 is here to stay - N21 is a better networking system and with N21, you can build a BIGGER Amway business. With this awesome win in the courts, be prepared - AMWAY is going to take the UK by storm.

Enjoy the champagne.


--
Regards,

Rykel™ [Aen™] [林瑞祥]


*To: Global Employees
Global EDC and above

From: Steve Van Andel and Doug DeVos
Subject: Amway wins in UK

We are pleased to share with you the news that the United Kingdom's High Court has dismissed all government claims against Amway UK, validating the significant reforms we have made to the business model in that market.

We are happy for our UK colleagues and distributors, who have stood by us through an unimaginably difficult year of uncertainty and doubt. We owe them our gratitude – and our commitment to work hard to grow the UK market.

We are also gratified that the direct selling business model received validation from the court – as courts and regulators around the world have done for nearly 50 years.

But this is not a pop-the-champagne victory. This is a reminder that the marketplace and regulators hold us to the highest standards. We have an obligation to meet those standards – and we intend to do so.

There was good news: Support for the concept of multi-level marketing. Recognition of Amway's efforts to message clearly in company materials.

Most important, the judge found our "radical changes" in the market to be "fully formulated, comprehensive, open and transparent, and capable of effective and ongoing implementation without the supervision of the Secretary of State or the Court."

There is no mistaking that the changes Amway made impacted the judge's decision.

Even though he dismissed all three claims against us, the judge also had harsh words for Amway. He was not pleased with the way some IBO organizations had misrepresented the opportunity in the UK, and held us responsible for failing to enforce our rules.

We took issue with the government's numbers in the case, and we disagree with some of the judge's conclusions. In particular, our commitment to reform, in the UK and elsewhere, preceded the initiation of the case.

But that does not mean we do not understand what the judge meant when he wrote:

"I consider a winding up order to be disproportionate. The Secretary of State's investigation and the presentation of this petition are a sufficient salutary lesson to Amway and a clear warning to its peers that if the risks inherent in the multi-level model are not rigorously controlled then serious and expensive consequences follow."

We hear the message.

We accept the challenge.

We look forward to working with all of you, employees and leaders, to meet that challenge.

Steve Van Andel and Doug DeVos


Here is the earlier letter about the doubling of bonuses for those who STAYED with Amway:

Dear Leaders,

One year has passed since Amway took the action to suspend sponsoring. This was not an easy decision to make and was done in the interest of the long-term success of the business in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

We know the last 12 months have been very hard on many of you and we truly respect and appreciate your support, loyalty and gritty determination to grow and maintain your businesses under these difficult circumstances.

Some people have left but many of you have stayed with us. As a way to say 'thank you' for your commitment to Amway, we would like to announce the following:

For the months of May, June and July, we will DOUBLE your monthly core bonuses. This includes Performance, Leadership, Foster, Ruby and Pearl BONUSES.

We will not only DOUBLE your monthly bonuses but we will also Double any CVR you earn on your Customer Volume during the months of May, June and July.

We will be sending a separate mailing to all the CRC's in your groups with the same offer of doubling their bonuses as long as they can maintain the 5 / £200(€300) Customer Volume requirement.

This is our simple way of saying "thank you" to you for your continued support and faith in Amway and your focus on helping us move the business forward to a brighter future.

Yours sincerely,

Tom Denham
General Manager & Director Amway UK / RoI Limited


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