The relationship you have with your MLM company should be one of mutual respect and support, right? After all, you can’t be successful without your company and they can’t be successful without you. On that basis you would expect your company to trust you to promote them ethically and you would trust them to provide you with the best products and marketing plan.
Some companies just don’t trust you. You can tell by the length of their policies and procedures that they don’t. The longer it is, the less they trust you and the less freedom you have as a distributor. It’s so ironic that this industry is all about freedom, yet some MLM policies and procedures are way more restrictive than employment contracts – beyond what you can imagine.
A fair network marketing company should have policies and procedures that are up to 10 to 15 pages long, according to Rod Cook of MLM Watchdog. Any longer than that and I would the question the motives of the company. I used to think that all MLM company policies and procedures were the same – just some legal flotsam where you would tick “I accept” when downloading some free software, but they’re not…
They are your contract and they define your relationship with your company. They define your rights as a distributor for that company. Not knowing what your rights are can have serious consequences in the medium to long term. Many of the leaders I have gotten to know over the last 2 years learned the hard way and they have absolute horror stories that you would not wish on your worst enemy.
So with that said, let’s understand why some companies have very lengthy policies and procedures…
Companies with large overhead always have long policies and procedures because someday, they may need to “steal” your paycheck to pay for that overhead. And they always have their policies and procedures written in the most incomprehensible “legal-ese” because they don’t want you reading them!
Some of them are totally unreadable, even right from the start, because they are designed to wear you out before you get to the bad parts, the so called “gotchas”. So always keep this in mind as a rule of thumb for companies who have looooong policies and procedures: start reading from the back, because that’s where all of the nasty bad stuff is.
It’s really amazing what some companies put in their policies and procedures. They can literally own your life.
- They can treat you like an employee, without any of the benefits that come with being an employee.
- They can control your actions for a period of six months to a year after you leave them.
- They can control and monitor the actions of all of your family members and hold you responsible.
- They can hold you responsible for the actions of any of your downline members, regardless of which level they are on.
- They can legally remove your right to sue the company or remove your right to a trial by jury.
- They can make you responsible for the legal fees if you decide to take them to court.
It’s umbelievable, but this stuff is real. Companies just don’t want you to know what they can legally do to you. I’m not saying companies are intentionally hanging you out to dry or want to do you ill, but they can have all their bases covered without giving you an inch if you ever come to disagree with them.
There are very few companies where the policies and procedures protect, and are fair to, both the company and the distributors.
So what do you do if you come across a set of policies and procedures that you can’t understand? Easy. Don’t sign it. It’s not worth the risk, because every paragraph they write, every word, can be used against you. If a company has shown you that amount of distrust, and disrespect BEFORE you even join them, why would you want to work with them?
Thanks to MLM mentors, Bob and Anna Bassett for their work in uncovering MLM policies and procedures and inspiring this post.
For more insights, listen to Bob and Anna Bassett’s coaching call on MLM policies and procedures.
To your MLM success,
Wayne Wu
P.S. I would love your input! If you have an opinion that would contribute to this discussion, please leave me a comment below.
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Related posts:
- Deadly MLM Policies and Procedures (Part I)
- Deadly MLM Policies and Procedures (Part VI) – Can You Fight Back?
- Deadly MLM Policies and Procedures (Part III) – Termination and Renewal
- Deadly MLM Policies and Procedures (Part V) – Are You Being Blackmailed?
- Deadly MLM Policies and Procedures (Part IV) – Making You Responsible!
- Why You Should Run From MLM Companies with High Overhead
- Will Your Network Marketing Company Allow You to Retire?
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