The Money Is There When You’re Ready
Written by PinkPeace
We often discuss Mary Kay director incomes on Pink Truth, criticizing how the numbers are presented. I want to show lurkers and other readers how directors twist the truth to present an unrealistic picture of income potential in Mary Kay. The sad part is that, not only do they deceive prospects, they deceive themselves.
I would venture to say that every recruit was presented with the Applause magazine pages showing NSD incomes and top director checks. I know I always showed those pages to prospects. My national was Christine Peterson, and she was consistently in the top three of the Sapphire sales division, with monthly checks ranging from $40,000 – $75,000.
“Can you believe it?” I would gush. “She was a kindergarten teacher making little more than $20,000 a year. Now she makes three times that in ONE MONTH!” I would explain that this was our “legacy” in our national area. “Christine just teaches all of us to do what she does, so that we can make the same kind of money she does.”
Then I’d point to sales directors who I personally knew, and show the prospect their paychecks. “I know Susie Smith – she’s just the nicest person – and she made $8,500 last month. And here’s Janie Jones. She’s a single mom with three kids, and look at her check for just working part-time: $6,000 last month. Can you get excited about that?”
Inevitably, the prospect would ask me what MY check was for the last month. Rut-roh. I had to scramble, because chances were I was trying to block that number out of my mind (especially when I subtracted chargebacks, car copays, director suit fees, car insurance and whatever other expenses were taken out that month). I didn’t want to lie to the prospect, exactly. But I didn’t want to tell her the hard truth either, because why would she want my job then?
So I quickly added up my base check – you know, the one that gets published BEFORE any deductions are taken – plus my sales for the month. That usually came to around $4,000 or so, which sounded a lot better than the maybe $1,200 that actually got deposited. But, oops. I guess I didn’t really tell her the real sales, per se. Maybe I told her what I ordered during the month, instead. Well, whatever. She didn’t need to hear all the details, right? The NSDs always taught us not to clutter the minds of prospects with lots of picky details. If she wanted to know all the info, she’d ask. Otherwise, just give her the basics.
But then, the question would come. “Why aren’t you making the $10,000 a month paychecks?” It wasn’t asked in a mean way. The prospect was just curious. I mean, it’s only logical. If there’s that kind of money to be made, why wouldn’t you go after it?
Now I had to get really creative. Deep down I wondered why I wasn’t making that kind of money, too. I worked so hard, but I couldn’t get to that magic number of unit members where that money would just flow to me. I saw other, much less ethical directors make it big, and I couldn’t understand. Mary Kay was God first, so why didn’t my above-board/Mary Kay way business practices get me farther along?
It must be me. It couldn’t be Mary Kay. I obviously didn’t have enough charisma and people skills. I needed a better work ethic. I had to boost my “deserve level.” I was deficient in my faith in God and living out Biblical principles. And I wasn’t trusting the company the way I should.
After all, Mary Kay is the greatest opportunity for women! Mary Kay works when you do! The only way you can fail is to quit! Winners always get up one more time when they’re knocked down! Mary Kay isn’t for the chosen few, it’s for the few who choose!
So, I’d blame my lack of income on myself. I’d say to the prospect, “You know, I make the money I make in Mary Kay, because I choose to work very part-time. I’m not saying that every woman in Mary Kay makes a six-figure income. But isn’t it great to know that that’s the potential we have in this awesome company?
The money is there when you’re ready to step up to the next level. What other company would have that kind of money waiting for you when you’re ready for it?” I’d point to the NSD checks in Applause, and the prospect would nod and get starry-eyed, and we’d go on to the next part of the presentation.
Whew! I got through that question. Again.
It didn’t seem like such a lie to me, because there were women getting big checks. But what I neglected to explain was that only the tiniest percentage of sales directors would ever make that kind of money. The remaining 98% – 99% of the 14,000 sales directors (which included me), would never come close to the famous “executive income” that was promised us by our uplines. And certainly a mere consultant would never make commission checks.
I also never spoke of all the director business expenses that can eat up hundreds of dollars every month, BEFORE the company takes out chargebacks, copays, insurance, etc. Why bother with all that, when chances are the prospect would never even be a senior consultant, much less a sales director?
So no, I didn’t make that kind of money in Mary Kay, even in my best month.
But, hey! Isn’t it great to know that the money is there when you’re ready to step up to the next level? Isn’t it?
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It is my hope that eventually these recruits will ask decent questions, like:
– “How big does my downline need to be before I start making $5000/month?”
– “How much does my downline need to lose in the aggregate for me to net $5000/month?”
– “How much does the average MK sales rep lose per month? Per year? Lifetime?”
– “If I build a 100-strong downline, how many new reps do I need to recruit per year just to replace the ones who drop out?”
– “Research shows MLMers need 249 folks, on average, in their downline before they start turning a true lifetime business profit. How long does it take, on average, to build a MK downline of that size?”
Questions about real sales positions and realistic income expectations are easily answered by the hiring manager in a traditional company. In MLM, no one knows the answers to these questions because no one tracks this information. In fact, information like this is hidden from the sales force (although corporate has the data to easily answer ALL of these questions, but they won’t).
MK Corporate knows that nearly everyone is losing money, and they also know that these losses are their gravy train, so they won’t say a word!
Prospect: “Why aren’t you making the $10,000 a month paychecks?”
Me, the recruiter: “Well Sally, I’m not recruiting enough people, people just like you. You see, if I could convince you and many others to order a $3600+ package, I would be making that amount. How about it? Will you order/buy the package? That’s it, that is all you have to do. You don’t need to sell or use any of the products you order. So, are you ready to help me? I would love to be able to show you my 10k check next month.”
Pretty sobering when you cut to the chase.
Ewww … I hope you steam-cleaned your conscience afterwards. It is all about pretending the rare results are always within reach of anyone.
I always look at the BOTTOM of the ranks, because that’s where most people are. If they point to the top 10 of their 123-member team, I know that 113 of them are making less than #10 does.
I hear the saying “you miss all the shots you don’t take.” Well yeah, I get that. But on the flip side – what about when you miss all the shots you do take? Perhaps that’s a sign that it isn’t meant to be.
The other side of this equation is the DEBT you amass. You might get a 3500.00 gross check and then deal with your deductions, but there’s also previous debt on your WAY to Car and Director. Remember all the times monthly production was short and to stay “On Target” required another wholesale order? No worries! You’ll sell it! The LAST thing you need is more product…but YOU NEED more product (orders) to STAY on target for the total required goal, or you have to start all over again, losing CREDIT for all the previous months you, “Stretched”. Brilliant! Diabolically brilliant.
In her YT videos, NSD Janis Trude introduces her guest, gives their MK bio and flowery accolades, then adds, “…and her highest paycheck hasn’t been written yet!”
Don’t hold your breath.
Wowzer… boy we were good with verbal and cognitive mythology weren’t we? So so thankful we got out when we did. Excellent post PP!