What Separates Plexus from Other Network Marketing Companies?

What Separates Plexus from Other Network Marketing Companies?

We hope this will become a valuable business-building tool for you.

When the new Plexus was formed in May 2008, it was with the desire to do network marketing as it could, and should, be done and not as it had been done. Now, some five years later, that goal has been accomplished and reaching it has given Plexus a unique culture. Without a lot of fanfare, Plexus has become one of the larger network marketing companies in North America – and it’s still growing. More and more people with MLM experience are asking, “What is going on at Plexus? Why are they growing so quickly?” This document will help you answer those questions. Also, when you run across people with network marketing experience who say they don’t want to get involved in the business again, you can share this document with them and encourage them to get back into network marketing with a company that is doing things right!

Here are 10 ways that Plexus is different from other MLM Companies:

1. No Hype

Many companies use hype as a business-building tool. This is particularly prevalent when companies are starting up. They will offer FREE sign-up with no purchase required so that they get massive numbers of people enrolled in the company without requiring their distributors (ambassadors) to invest one dime. Then, on a pre-selected date, everyone is urged to pay an enrollment fee to retain their position and buy product on the “promise” that they can earn commissions on the thousands of dollars of sales volume that will be generated on that first day. Plexus thought this looked too much like a house of cards – no commitment from those signed up and no loyalty to the company. Plexus has stayed away from using hype as a business-building technique.

2. Profit Sharing Available from Day One

Most companies, if they even offer profit sharing, only make it available to the top distributors. Plexus offers four separate income pools. The ambassador pool is available to all ambassadors from day one! The emerald, sapphire, and diamond pools are available to ambassadors as they rise in rank.

3. Internal Competition Virtually Eliminated

Most companies are fraught with internal competition – one organization working hard to be bigger and better than other organizations. When one gets a new idea or method for recruiting new ambassadors, they try to keep it away from everyone else so that they have a competitive advantage. Often that competition leads to cross-sponsoring – one organization trying to get ambassadors to leave another organization to join them. The way Plexus’ comp plan is designed, ambassadors realize that the more they help other organizations, and other ambassadors not in their organization, the more money they make. So, not only is internal competition virtually eliminated, but a family atmosphere is also generated. This is obvious at large events like conventions and leaders’ retreats. Everyone is working together to help each ambassador become as good as they can be.

4. Comp Plan Security

In most companies, when a comp plan change is announced, it usually means the company will ultimately take money away from the ambassadors. In its 5-year history, though several small changes have been made to the comp plan, the percentage of money paid to the ambassadors has never changed. 

Each month, the company adds up the total PV (Point Value) generated by the sale of each product and commits 50% to its ambassadors. That has never changed. The result is that, when a change to the comp plan is announced, Plexus ambassadors know it will only enhance some aspect of the plan to reward them for building their business correctly. The changes have never taken money away from the ambassadors.

5. The Sale of Business-building Tools is Not a Profit Center

Traditionally, the sale of brochures, CDs, DVDs, magazines, newspapers, etc., is a strong profit center for most companies. Often, that profit is shared in some way with the top distributors, which means they are always encouraging the ambassadors in their organizations to buy more of these tools. 

Plexus decided not to do this. The company wants its ambassadors to acquire these tools so that they can build their businesses quickly and effectively, and does not see the selling of business-building tools as a way to make extra money from its ambassadors. Therefore, Plexus makes every effort to offer these business-building tools as close to cost as possible. Also, there are no bonuses or other incentives given to top ambassadors for selling these tools to their organizations.

6. Husbands and Wives May Sign Up Separately

Most companies do not permit husbands and wives to sign up separately. Their policy is “one ambassadorship per family.” Plexus designed its comp plan to offer husbands and wives the option of signing up under one another. The plan was created in such a way that it actually provides a tremendous financial benefit to couples doing the business together - without hurting the company’s profits. Couples taking advantage of this option can virtually double their monthly income without doing double the work. Often, it enables one of the partners to quit a low-paying job and work their Plexus business full-time. Thus, they can grow their business even faster. 

7. Weekly and Monthly Checks

Some companies pay their ambassadors weekly, and some pay monthly. Plexus pays both a weekly check (business-building and rank-advancement bonuses) and a monthly check (from accumulated points based on the size of their organization). Receiving both weekly and monthly checks has made a huge difference in the financial health of Plexus’ ambassadors.

8. Seven Level Payout

Most compensation plans pay income nine or more levels deep. Some even offer payouts to infinity. Plexus took a look at this and decided that comp plans offering deep-level payouts only reward the top ambassadors, those who build especially large organizations. With each added level of payout, money is taken away from the levels above. As a result, what often happens in network companies is that over 90% of the ambassadors only make a token income while the top ambassadors make a fortune. That did not sit well with Plexus. They realized that all ambassadors, whether they build a small organization or a large and deep organization, play an important role in the success of the business. Thus, Plexus limited their payout to seven levels. This decision resulted in two things. First, ambassadors at all levels have an opportunity to make a good income from building their business. Second, because the ambassadors in their organizations are making decent money, leaders find that their income is very secure: Ambassadors aren’t constantly quitting because they are not making enough money to justify continuing to work the business.

9. No Windfall Profits from the Comp Plan

Some compensation plans are designed so that the company makes what are called “windfall profits.” Basically, in these plans, ambassadors can generate sales in their organization, but because they fail to meet some arbitrary qualification set by the company, they fail to earn all the money available to them. They have several thousand dollars in sales volume, but because they didn’t meet a certain qualification, they are only paid on a portion of their sales. What happens to the sales they don’t get paid on? It either goes to the company or to the company and its top leaders. That is called a windfall profit.

A binary comp plan is the most blatant example of this kind of comp plan. The plan seems extremely easy to work because it only requires you to build two legs. However, when it comes time to be paid, the payout is based on the leg with the lowest volume. And, in binary, it is almost impossible to have two legs that have the same volume. The money you lose because one leg is stronger than the other generates a windfall profit for the company and those leaders with very large, deep organizations. Plexus will not let its ambassadors lose money in this manner.

10. No Windfall Profits from Retail or Preferred Customer Sales

Some companies set one PV amount for each product they carry. It is based on the wholesale price of the product. Thus, if a product is purchased by a customer at retail, or at a preferred-customer discount, the company makes extra money. Plexus sets three PVs (point values) for each product: One based on the retail price, another based on the preferred customer price, and one based on the wholesale price. This eliminates any possibility of the company making a windfall profit from products sold to retail customers or preferred customers, and guarantees that ambassadors get the maximum amount of PV possible from each product sale.