Direct.Selling.Tactics.101

Sometime back, I've some encounters with direct-selling people. Their objective is usually to get you to buy a product and then get you into their league (becoming a downline). It usually starts with a concern of your well-being (health, career, desires etc.) and then selling you their product or get you to attend one of their meetings so that you can be quickly brainwashed.

Here is a compilation of tactics which I have encountered:

Tactic #1 - When You Are Sick

As human-beings, whenever we are sick, instinctively we will want to look for the fastest way to cure the sickness. This is also the time when we are most vulnerable. They will approach you with great concern about your health, reminding you when was the last time you had the sickness (or symptoms) and give you the impression that they care.

Some will present you with scientific facts to tell you that you are probably lacking in some nutrition or have toxins in your body. This will then be followed by an introduction of their 'miracle products' to cleanse your body of all toxins and heal you from all sickness.

To me, when a person uses this tactic, it immediately voids the good impression he/she gave me in the beginning. I will put the person on my caution list.

Tactic #2 - When You Are Down

Supposed you have a tough time in your career and you wish things could be better. You know, to get that big car, get that big house and spend more time with your family. You don't want to put up with your demanding boss, working late and etc. They will come by telling you how sad your life is for choosing the career you are in.

"Look at me! I work for myself.", they will tell you. "I can wake up anytime and do whatever I like.", they will continue giving you an impression that they live in heaven and you live in hell. Then, they will tell you about the glamorous lifestyles that their 'Diamond' managers are living. When you agree that you career is damn worhtless and your life is damn miserable, they will start telling you their 'marketing plan'.

Note: This is the most common tactic used to lure IT people away from the industry.

Tactic #3 - The Invitation

Ocassionally, you could be invited to some events (for free). My experience is further probing (or cross-checking) could lead you to discover the true purpose of the event - one of those Multi-level Marketing (MLM) talks. The events can be manifested in many forms. Once, I was invited to a fashion show in a shopping mall with the direct-seller performing her make-up skills on stage. Further investigations revealed that it is actually a MLM seminar.

There was also a time when I was asked to join a holiday trip. It looks pretty harmless among colleagues but then, further investigations revealed that it was actually an off-site 'brainwashing session'.

Tactic #4 - The Cassette (or CD)

Sometimes you will receive a cassette (or CD) in your mailbox sent to you by a direct-seller and no, you will not be cursed by Samara if you listen or watch it - Trust me, it will be much worse. The idea is to get you to listen to some bullshit and force you to return the cassette to the owner. You will then get more of the bullshit upon returning the cassette. So, the next time you receive things like these, toss it into the trashcan (if you did not order it). You never know if someone may call you up and tell you - "Seven Days".

Tactic #5 - The Miracle Product

Recently, I encountered an unethical form of bait tactics being used. Knowing that I'm pursuing a slimming program, I was being hard-sold a product that cost 4 digits that will speed up my weight loss. "It is absolutely made from natural ingredients", the seller claimed (Don't they all claim to be?). However, I'm wary of products which I need to ingest. *I don't want to end up damaging my liver or kidney. I do not have a Phua Chu Beng to donate his organs to me!*. So, I declined.

A few days back, I discovered that the same direct-seller was selling to my friend. To describe my friend, she is extremely slim and she constantly complained that she could not gain weight *Lucky her!*. The same product that was hard-sold to me for slimming is now being hard-sold to her as a weight-gain product (I guessed to some people, the product could be anti-cancer or anti-diabetic too).


So there you go - my list of encounters. I don't know about you but to me, people who use such tactics are very annoying to me. They look very fake and they make me question the friendship.