Science Behind the Mid-level Builder or Leadership Features
Diamond and Presidential Diamond
While the grassroots segment is most important to long-term stability and retention because ultimately it will always be the largest segment, the mid-level leadership segment is very important for the growth of an organization. These builders and future leaders are the energy of the team. Mid-level builders work in the trenches with the foot soldiers, training, motivating and leading. Successful mid-level leaders are the conduits that connect the distributors scattered throughout the organization with the marketing philosophy and marketing strategies of the executive leaders of the organization. Often this segment is neglected. Our independent study found that when the bridge between grassroots distributors and executive level leadership is too great, an organization will never reach its full potential growth. The mid-level leader is that bridge. A well-rewarded mid-level leader segment will be energetic and drive the growth.
The incentive features for this segment need to be very creative and scientifically designed. A successful incentive program should avoid encouraging plateaus or "parking lots." When there are wide gaps between achievement levels, leaders have a tendency to stagnate on the front edge of the gap. Also, if the plan pays too much too soon, it will short-change the leader from achieving his full potential. Why work harder and pull from deep within your best effort if the incentive isn't there?
A plan with carefully designed transitional stages will empower the leader to reach his highest potential. The journey to one's ultimate best isn't natural or easy. A wise compensation plan will encourage the right behavior at the right point in the leader's ascension.
The creators of a compensation plan use the various bonuses, group volume qualifications and structural requirements to mold a multi-talented team of leaders into a synergistic growth machine. The following are the features that have been designed to empower this leadership tier.
Infinity Bonus: The infinity bonus is an incentive that rewards the mid-level leader who begins to drive the growth in-depth, creating a strong foundation for a secure and long-lasting residual income. While the three level bonuses primarily reward the enroller and individual that works with their immediate downline distributors, the Infinity Bonus rewards the individual that assumes a wider range of leadership responsibilities.
The infinity bonus encourages and rewards a leader to help distributors from his fourth level down. It is important to create a two-step Infinity Bonus so that a leader will be encouraged to develop leadership in-depth. Without a two-step Infinity Bonus, there would be a temptation to avoid developing a leader that would block your infinity bonus.
The Diamond Infinity Bonus of 6% is for the mid-level leader that is on his way up the ladder of leadership. The Presidential Diamond Infinity Bonus of 12% targets the aggressive and more experienced mid-level leader that is developing other leaders. This bonus can be substantial.
The three-level volume requirement for the Diamond position (and above) encourages the leader to develop his leadership skills and build a more solid foundation for future success. There is a tendency for leaders to skip over grassroots distributors and work with individuals that already have marketing skills. In the long-run, this practice will rob the leader of success through attrition and weak spots in his downline.
The three-level volume requirements of $3,000, $10,000 and $20,000 for these mid and upper-level leaders serve as tools in the creation of the escalator of success.
The personal enrollment requirements: The right balance in personal enrollment requirements is essential for maximum growth. Requiring too many enrollments will rob the broader group of the leader's organizational skills. Core leaders need to be able to work deep within their organizations. Requiring the leader to sponsor too wide will keep this from happening.
It is wise to require a leader to enroll a moderate number of distributors. A leader should have the best mentoring skills. The leaders within an organization create a foundation of experience, knowledge and skills that permeate throughout the organization. These leaders are a type of lifeline to the organization. In my 37+ years of network marketing, I have observed that, when a core group of leaders leaves a company or organization, the unit falls apart and excessive attrition takes place.
The core followers that surround a leader duplicate many of the leader's skills and characteristics. Requiring each leader to mentor a personal group of disciples will only strengthen the organization's foundation.
Presidential Diamond Bonus: As the more experienced mid-level leader climbs the ladder of leadership, he will develop a number of other leaders at his same achievement level. A compensation plan must reward the leader for doing so. 4LifeTM rewards the Presidential Diamond for developing leaders at the PD level.
A Presidential Diamond will receive a 3% bonus on his first downline Presidential Diamond's business through the 3rd level of the second downline Presidential Diamond's business. When the first 3% bonus is blocked at the 4th level of the second downline PD, the Presidential will receive a 3% bonus from the 4th level downline through the 3rd level of the third Presidential Diamond.
International Diamond Requirements:
Rewards:
An example of how the International Diamond Bonus works:
| International Diamond | |||
| Level 1 | 2% | ||
| Level 2 | 25% | ||
| Level 3 | 5% | ||
| Level 4 | 12% | ||
| Level 5 | 12% | Diamond | |
| Level 6 | 12% | Level 1 | |
| Level 7 | 12% | Level 2 | |
| Level 8 | 12% | Level 3 | |
| Level 9 | 6% | Level 4 | |
| Level 10 | 6% | Presidential Diamond | |
| Level 11 | 6% | Level 1 | |
| Level 12 | 6% | Level 2 | |
| Level 13 | 6% | Level 3 | |
| Level 14 | 3% | Level 4 | 1st Presidential Diamond 3% Bonus Begins |
| Level 15 | 3% | Level 5 | |
| Level 16 | 3% | 2nd Presidential Diamond | |
| Level 17 | 3% | Level 1 | |
| Level 18 | 3% | Level 2 | |
| Level 19 | 3% | Level 3 | |
| Level 20 | 3% | Level 4 | 2nd Presidential Diamond 3% Bonus Begins (This bonus is paid through 3rd level of either the 3rd Presidential Diamond or the 3rd level of the 1st International Diamond whichever comes first) |
| Level 21 | 3% | 1st International Diamond | |
| Level 22 | 3% | Level 1 | |
| Level 23 | 3% | Level 2 | |
| Level 24 | 3% | Level 3 | |
| Level 25 | 2% | Level 4 | 1st International Diamond 2% Bonus Begins |
| Level 26 | 2% | 2nd International Diamond | |
| Level 27 | 2% | Level 1 | |
| Level 28 | 2% | Level 2 | |
| Level 29 | 2% | Level 3 | |
| Level 30 | 2% | Level 4 | 2nd International Diamond 2% Bonus Begins |
| Level 31 | 2% | 3rd International Diamond | |
| Level 32 | 2% | Level 1 | |
| Level 33 | 2% | Level 2 | |
| Level 34 | 2% | Level 3 | |
| Level 35 | 0 | Level 4 | |
Gold International Diamond:
Rewards:
An example of the Gold International Diamond bonus:
| Gold International Diamond | |||
| Level 1 | 2% | ||
| Level 2 | 25% | ||
| Level 3 | 5% | ||
| Level 4 | 12% | ||
| Level 5 | 12% | Diamond | |
| Level 6 | 12% | Level 1 | |
| Level 7 | 12% | Level 2 | |
| Level 8 | 12% | Level 3 | |
| Level 9 | 6% | Level 4 | |
| Level 10 | 6% | Presidential Diamond | |
| Level 11 | 6% | Level 1 | |
| Level 12 | 6% | Level 2 | |
| Level 13 | 6% | Level 3 | |
| Level 14 | 3% | Level 4 | 1st Presidential Diamond 3% Bonus Begins |
| Level 15 | 3% | Level 5 | |
| Level 16 | 3% | 2nd Presidential Diamond | |
| Level 17 | 3% | Level 1 | |
| Level 18 | 3% | Level 2 | |
| Level 19 | 3% | Level 3 | |
| Level 20 | 3% | Level 4 | 2nd Presidential Diamond 3% Bonus Begins |
| Level 21 | 3% | 3rd Presidential Diamond | |
| Level 22 | 3% | Level 1 | |
| Level 23 | 3% | Level 2 | |
| Level 24 | 3% | Level 3 | |
| Level 25 | 2% | Level 4 | 1st International Diamond 2% Bonus Begins |
| Level 26 | 2% | 1st International Diamond | |
| Level 27 | 2% | Level 1 | |
| Level 28 | 2% | Level 2 | |
| Level 29 | 2% | Level 3 | |
| Level 30 | 2% | Level 4 | |
| Level 31 | 2% | 2nd International Diamond | |
| Level 32 | 2% | Level 1 | |
| Level 33 | 2% | Level 2 | |
| Level 34 | 2% | Level 3 | |
| Level 35 | 2% | Level 4 | 2nd International Diamond 2% Bonus Begins |
| Level 36 | 2% | 3rd International Diamond | |
| Level 37 | 2% | Level 1 | |
| Level 38 | 2% | Level 2 | |
| Level 39 | 2% | Level 3 | |
| Level 40 | 2% | Level 4 | Begins 1st Gold International 2% Bonus Begins |
| Level 41 | 2% | 1st Gold International | |
| Level 42 | 2% | Level 1 | |
| Level 43 | 2% | Level 2 | |
| Level 44 | 2% | Level 3 | |
| Level 45 | 2% | Level 4 | |
| Level 46 | 2% | 2nd Gold International Diamond | |
| Level 47 | 2% | Level 1 | |
| Level 48 | 2% | Level 2 | |
| Level 49 | 2% | Level 3 | |
| Level 50 | 2% | Level 4 | 2nd Gold International 2% Bonus Begins |
| Level 51 | 2% | 3rd Gold International Diamond | |
| Level 52 | 2% | Level 1 | |
| Level 53 | 2% | Level 2 | |
| Level 54 | 2% | Level 3 | |
| Level 55 | 0 | Level 4 | |
Platinum Diamond: All requirements and rewards for this position are the same as for the Gold International Diamond except for the total organizational volume of 1,000,000LP.
The Science Behind the Upper-Mid Level and Executive Leader Features
International Diamonds, Gold International Diamonds & Platinum
The compensation features must also reward the leaders for identifying and training other leaders. Some pay plans discourage leaders from helping other leaders reach new levels of achievement. Sometimes it means a cut in pay for one leader to help another leader advance. 4LifeTM uses the three-level volume requirement of 20,000LP to encourage the executive level leaders to develop strategies, systems and training that will work for grassroots distributors. The top level leader cannot afford to invest, on a continuous basis, his personal time in maintaining three-level volume.
The majority of three-level volume is produced by grassroots distributors. If an executive leader spends a majority of his time building and replacing what has fallen away, he doesn't have time to develop quality leadership throughout the world. This predicament pressures the leader to develop automatic systems, marketing tools and effective training that will support grassroots distributors. Although leaders attempt to create these strategies, generally, they fall short.
The three-level volume requirement is a powerful force to encourage the leader to take time to create more effective strategies for the grassroots distributor. Another purpose of the three-level volume requirement is to appropriately reward the upline sponsor who brought the leader into the business. There is a tendency for the executive leader to only fulfill whatever volume is required and then move deeper within the organization in search of other leaders. If the three-level volume requirement is too low, the sponsor isn't rewarded appropriately.
A careful balance is needed between three-level volume and overall group volume. If the three-level volume is too high, it will rob the overall organization of the leader's personal skills. If the three-level volume is too low, there will not be enough incentive to motivate the leader to develop the best possible systems and strategies for grassroots distributors.
4LifeTM uses a combination of structural requirements and overall group volume to create the "stepping stone" process that encourages the development of leadership throughout the organization in order to build a strong foundation for continuous growth and the retention of its distributors.
Volume requirements without structural requirements have a tendency to leave large groups of distributors stranded without intermediate levels of leaders to manage the growth of that particular group. It is important to have leaders of various levels of experience scattered throughout your organization. These leaders serve as pillars supporting the superstructure of your organization. Every distributor will function better when there is a leader within reach.
International Diamonds are required to have one Presidential Diamond in two different legs. Each of these PDs are required to have one Diamond in two different legs. This equation, theoretically, could provide six leaders per 20,000LP. A smart leader will try to position leaders in such a manner that every 20,000-30,000LP will be supported by at least six leaders. It is better to work smart and save yourself a great deal of headaches in the future. An organization without sound management will suffer a great deal of attrition.
The group volume requirement of 250,000LP for Gold International Diamond, along with the two 2% Gold Bonuses, creates the potential for very deep penetration. This category is for the "super heavyweights." A lower volume requirement would have created excessive blockage and limited the depth of penetration. In order to attract the "super heavyweights" it is important to provide the potential for deep penetration.
The Premiere Bonus of 2% creates an incentive for a team paradigm. The influence of a Gold International Diamond has a tendency to cross organizational boundaries. This bonus is a reward for such influence. In addition, the company needs the Gold Internationals to work together unselfishly in order to help develop company-wide strategies. The Premiere Bonus is 2% of the total international sales volume. One-half of this bonus pool is divided equally between International Diamonds and above. The other half is decided based on the volume of each participant.
The Platinum bonus is one percent of the total International sales volume. This pool is divided between Platinum International Diamonds.
In my 37+ year career, I have never encountered a compensation plan so scientifically designed. The 4LifeTM pay plan addresses the needs of each segment of networkers better than any other program that I have studied. The purpose of a compensation plan is to encourage and reward productive behavior. This compensation strategy addresses these core purposes better than any other pay plan that our research team examined.
- Mike Akins