|
|
|
|
The doctor prescribes MLM |
This article was originally submitted as a Letter to the Editor to The Straits Times and Business Times, but it was not published. Later, when I joined TODAY newspaper,I offered it as part of a 3-article series on MLM (multi-level marketing) but only one article was published
An updated version of it finally got published in The Straits Times when I re-submitted it in 2004, following a report about doctors being involved in MLM businesses.
Boundless riches
A doctor once told me a most incredible story about boundless riches. Best of all, he invited me to share in this fantastic fortune.
This happened in July 2001, when I was running my hifi business. One day, I received a telephone call from the “secretary” of a Dr Kwan, who said he wished to see me about setting up a sound system for a convention at Suntec City.
Even though I did not deal with such equipment, I went to meet Dr Kwan, just to explore business possibilities.
While waiting for him, I met his “secretary” along the corridor and was puzzled that she did not have an office. I asked about it and she said she was actually not his secretary. She said she and Dr Kwan worked together on some business projects.
Dr Kwan told me he was organising a really huge convention on psychosomatic medicine that would feature 4,000 speakers.
Not 4,000 participants, but 4,000 presenters!
Later, when I told this to a friend, he immediately asked: "If each of them speaks for 10 minutes, how long would they take?" Assuming 8 hours per day, the answer is 83.3 days!
Back to the story... The event is so big, Dr Kwan said, that he has to book the entire Suntec City, not just one or two convention halls.
He kept impressing upon me that such events are organised for profit. A much smaller event he organised a few years earlier, he said, reaped $2 million and the money was donated to the medical library.
In another convention held abroad, he said, he booked the hotel venue before the hotel was built. By doing so, he obtained the rooms at only 10 percent of the published rate and earned a tidy profit by charging delegates 50 percent.
Certainly benefit
All this while, he did not say what his requirements were for the sound system. But he kept saying that those who work with him "would certainly benefit”.
So I asked, “Are you saying you want me to sponsor the sound system for the convention and that I would benefit from it?”
Dr Kwan then switched subject and started to talk about a multi-level marketing programme called Nu-Skin.
He said Nu-Skin was a very strong company whose growth would take off exponentially in the next two years, as it expands its network into Malaysia and China.
He invited me to join the programme with an initial "investment" of $980. This consists of $65 joining fee, $15 for some documents and a receipt book, plus $900 (US$500) worth of Nu-Skin products. With this investment, he said, I would easily be earning $10,000 per month within six months.
“What has this got to do with the convention?” I asked. I was puzzled.
By the time the convention takes place in 2003, Dr Kwan explained, my earnings from Nu-Skin would be very much higher, and so I would be able to help him with the convention.
He assured me that it would be very easy. I don’t even have to sell Nu-Skin products, he said. All I need to do is recruit others to sell. I need to recruit only four persons to earn the sort of money that he talked about.
“So would you like to join us?” Dr Kwan leaned forward, smiled and almost whispered into my ear.
I was too dazed to answer. I said I would think it over.
"Don't think too long," Dr Kwan urged. He said Nu-Skin would be officially launched that coming Saturday, July 28. “There will be lots of people lining up to be recruited. Don’t miss this golden opportunity.”
False pretexts
After I left, I realised that Dr Kwan and his “secretary” had used false pretexts to get me to meet him. She was not his secretary. The reason she called me was not for Dr Kwan to discuss a sound system for a medical convention. The real reason was to recruit me to join their MLM network.
Even though I did not part with any money, I felt conned into driving all the way - and closing my shop for three hours - to meet him.
I realised also that Dr Kwan lied when he said I did not need to sell any products. Each time I recruit someone, I would be effectively selling the person $900 worth of Nu-Skin!
I do have friends on the Nu-Skin programme and they tell me that it does not work this way. Nu-Skin does not insist on a minimum $980 "investment".
I filed a compliant with the Singapore Medical Association, but I was told that the association dealt only with doctor-patient cases. It suggested that I complain to the Singapore Medical Council instead. I was too tired to pursue the matter further.
The doctor had made me sick!