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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Kim Klaver
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Article Title: Craig, Stan And Karen: Shaklee Comments
Clarification
Author: Kim Klaver
Word Count: 828
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=100830&ca=Marketing
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Hello Craig, Stan and Karen:
Let me explain and clarify my remarks about Shaklee and Mr.
Roger Barnett (Mr. B.), the current owner and CEO of Shaklee.
The comments section doesn't take links, so I'm responding to
you here. It's in three parts. Sorry, no time to make it
shorter.
First, know that I've worked with thousands of Shaklee reps
(and Excel reps, Craig) over the last 10 years. I use Shaklee
products, and have nothing but the greatest respect for the
company Dr. Shaklee began.
Karen - I have not met Mr. B. I�ve seen the initial recruiting
CD he did when he came on board. Plus various versions of the
Shaklee corporate website since his arrival (including the
original video there with former Excel rep Pat Hintze pitching
Shaklee as 'the greatest business opportunity in our
lifetime'). I�ve also seen Mr. B's silhouette on some current
distributor websites aiming to get more Shaklee recruits. To
entice them, they offer up 'Mr. X' the billionaire man. "Just
WATCHING what he gets involved with," gushes the web page, "can
make you rich. Imagine how much money you could make as his
PARTNER?"
And of course, I continue to work with Shaklee reps.
That said, here are the observations that provoked my comments.
1. Shaklee's strength and bread and butter income over its
50-year history has been the loyal reps who love and use the
products. Hundreds of folks have told me they order
$300-$1200/products per month, and have been doing so for
years, for their own use.
2. Most reps have given up actively recruiting anymore (I mean
those that have not dropped out altogether), and those left are
just ordering products now (that's the case in other NM
companies as well.)
3. Shaklee's field is nearly 85% women, slightly more than the
industry-wide number of 80% women (80% per the DSA).
4. 85% of those in the business across companies are part time,
per the DSA. Shaklee numbers are similar, as far as I know.
5. Most of the women I've worked with, ESPECIALLY the part
timers at Shaklee, have told me over the years that they prefer
getting customers to recruiting. The full-timers do both, and of
course there are a few mad woman recruiters, like my friend
Kathi Minsky who came over from Excel, but she's the exception,
not the rule. That's why almost everyone in Shaklee knows her
name.
Here's why these things, if true, matter.
Shaklee's original mission.
Shaklee was created to manufacture and market natural food
products and earth-friendly household cleaners
The founder, Dr. Forrester Shaklee, was a nutrition and
save-the-planet nut. He offered individuals who wanted to share
in that mission the opportunity to earn a steady income by
spreading that message and getting as many people as possible
to use his natural and earth friendly products, through direct
sales. I'd guess he hoped to make the world a better place by
doing that.
And it's worked for 50 years. Some of the oldest and most
revered Shaklee reps (in the company for 30 years+) were the
best people at gathering customers in the old days � and yes,
also today. They have thousands of customers and thriving
businesses now that no one could destroy, like Kay Ferguson, a
customer gathering queen (from whom I buy).
So the original focus and love of Dr. Shaklee was, seems to me,
on creating products to get into the hands of customers who love
and use them by means of individuals who would introduce them to
others. Many customers liked the products so much they decided
to sell them, too.
When Mr. B took over, the focus shifted to another part of the
business - the recruiters, the business builders. When Excel
went bankrupt in November 2004, a well known group of their top
recruiters came to Shaklee. They persuaded Mr. B. that
recruiting was the really big game, and within a month or two,
Shaklee announced to their world that had set up a similar kind
of recruiter program, with the fast start bonuses. And the old
Excel recruiters could now do and promote the same thing they
had done in Excel: make money fast by recruiting and selling
those initial packages, and bring in others who want to do
that, too.
This was promoted heavily throughout the company, with former
top Excel people like Mr. Hintze on the Shaklee website
promoting the Shaklee opportunity, and many of the old Excel
reps doing the opportunity conference calls for the new deal.
(Most of them have vanished. A notable exception is Kathi
Minsky and I'd bet that she and her team made that entire
episode worthwhile.)
I couldn�t help but wonder if Mr. B. knew that this particular
focus, i.e. the
- continued on next post (Part II)-
About The Author: Kim Klaver is Harvard & Stanford educated.
Her 20 years experience in network marketing have resulted in a
popular blog, http://KimKlaverBlogs.com, a podcast,
http://YourGreatThing.com and a giant resource site,
http://BananaMarketing.com
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