Pink Free - YIPPEEEE

I was a long-time MK customer (7 years) and I really truly loved the skin care. My recruiter was a friendly acquaintance of the family. I was aware she was selling MK, but I already had a consultant. She called me and warm chattered me on the phone for over an hour and successfully used her "Overcoming Objections" chart until I finally relented and said yes, I would sign up to be an MK consultant. I was excited about the possibility of owning my own business, but I was not comfortable with direct sales. My recruiter assured me that it was not direct sales, I would have a website and I didn't have to walk up to people to sell anything, that I could go at my own pace and that the product would sell itself. There were so many different ways to be successful at MK. MK was about the business of helping women feel better about themselves and empowering them to be more independent and successful. I love skincare and I love helping people, so I was SUCKERED in. Against my better judgment, I signed my agreement at a power breakfast a few days later, and ordered my starter kit.

With those words of promise, I set up my home office and waited on my starter kit.

When my starter kit arrived, I let it sit for a few days before I opened it. I received an email from my new director telling me to open the box and familiarize myself with the product. My recruiter called and told me the same thing, and then asked me about recruiting. I told her I didn't want to recruit and I didn't want to book a lot of parties, I just wanted to sell the product.

I don't think my recruiter or my director heard a thing I said over the course of the next two weeks, because every time they called me, they would ask me the same thing, "Did you book any parties? Did you order your inventory". I told my director that I was a little short on cash, so I couldn't order just yet. She recommended the MK credit card. I told her that I didn't qualify. My director told me to fill up my planner with appointments and just book book book. She said I would be able to pay for my inventory by holding appointments and if I got someone to join MK it would be even better for me. She said it was easy, just ask my recruiter to help me. They forgot something, I didn't want to book a lot of parties, and I didn't want to recruit!!!

In the meantime, my recruiter was constantly calling me trying to sniff out new prospects while warm chattering me to no end. During EVERY phone call, my recruiter kept recommending the $600 package. Guess what? She made sure she mentioned at least 3 times during each conversation. (Sound familiar?)

I told her that $600 was impossible for me to handle right now. She told me that she started with the $600 package and that it made it easier to have inventory when someone ordered.

She must have forgotten what she told me about her initial inventory order, because one day when I told her I absolutely could not afford the $600 package, she said, that when she started, she only ordered the $200 package and is working her way up to the $600 package. I also checked the website to see her sales, she hadn't even sold $600 worth of product. I never said a thing to her about it. I just listened to the lies and looked for the truth in the books and on the web. I found out how much commissions our uplinks make off each new consultant and their wholesale purchases. I didn't have a problem with their commissions, I had a problem with the way they were trying to make it.

I would ask questions about the products and how to market them. I would get no straight answers. I would ask about what kind of inventory to start with, and I would get people's
I-stories, goals and dreams of Seminar, teambuilding tips, anything but what I asked about. It was like talking to a brick wall.

I didn't feel my recruiter was listening to me. I would read the materials and ask my recruiter questions, but she never gave me a straight answer. I asked about MK policies and procedures. I kept reading the material on the Unitnet website, and I kept asking questions. I was not too happy with the scripts, especially when they train the consultants to deliberately select someone, and pay them a "genuine" compliment all towards getting them to attend an event, and eventually sucker them into being a consultant. I wasn't impressed with the cardboard stars awarded to consultants who ordered hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of inventory. I don't like cheap jewelry. I don't like snow jobs. It's easier to keep more profits when you shower someone with compliments and distract them from real numbers. I didn't like the procedure for having a skin care class where you get people's information all toward recruiting them into MK. It was sneaky and deceptive.

My breaking point was when I talked to my recruiter about someone close to me who was down on her luck and had become homeless. During one of our warm chatter sessions and she tried to get the person's information so that she could recruit her! A homeless person? Someone who was living in a shelter who didn't have two nickels to rub together? That did it! I knew then that it was time to go. I was so upset, I made my decision right then. Everything my recruiter and my director said to me from that point on simply tightened my resolve.

I have a lot of people who love and trust me, some with their very lives. The last thing I wanted to do is to steer them toward something I wasn't sure about myself. Then my NSD kept saying "Fast is Easy, Slow is Hard". I have never worked in a company where the directive was to act fast and think later. My recruiter was a friend of the family, but not someone I said more than "Hello, how's it going" in a whole day to her. All of a sudden, we were instant gal pals (YUCK!!) She is a nice person, don't get me wrong, but we never really traveled in the same circles. We were acquaintances who shared some family friends. I didn't know what warm chatter was until I read the manuals and training sheets.

I grew impatient and decided that MK was not right for me because I can't trick people I know and love into believing that I have their best interest at heart, when in fact, I'm trying to "catch the vibe". I couldn't look at myself in the mirror if I did MK, so I quit. I felt bad because I'm not a quitter, but I had to leave MK with my self-respect still intact. MK used to be about the product, but now all the sharks circle when there's a new prospect in the room. The products could collect dust on the shelves for all they care. They only want the commissions.

And what's with the constant changing of the products after someone has ordered a large amount at the recommendation of their directors? The directors know ahead of time what is changing and they hold the information until the appointed time and then the consultants are in a mad rush to unload. One director actually advises consultants to sell their last chance inventory at a discount, or give it away as door prizes at the events -- can you say waste of money?

The funny thing is, while I was waiting for my starter kit in the mail, I started doing research online about the pros and cons of having an MK business. I came across Mary Kay Opinions, www.thepinkingshears.org , and MK Survivors. I started reading different stories and I was able to relate to quite a few. Thank God I didn't get too caught up before I realized I was not going to succeed in MK. I jumped ship before it was too late and while I may be stuck with a soon-to-be donated starter kit, I'm free!! I'm free!! I'm free!!