If You Build It They Will Come!!!

By Frank L. VanderSloot
President/CEO

September 2004

Nowhere is this phrase more appropriate than in the case of Melaleuca. In June of this year we enrolled over 63,000 new customers in the United States and Canada alone. That is the best month we have ever had in our 19 year history. Our average customer has a little more than three persons per household. So, 63,000 households represent almost 190,000 people! 190,000 people would comprise a fair-sized city. They would fill more than three of the largest football stadiums in the country. It's a lot of new customers no matter how you look at it. And it all happened in 30 days!

These are truly exciting times! If we had tried to imagine the absolute most aggressive growth rate possible it would have been hard to imagine this! We have already gone public with our prediction that sales in 2004 will exceed $600 million. What is amazing about that is that by the end of the year, all $600 million of product will have been used up and our customers will need some more the following month. None of the product that we sell this year will go into someone' s garage or into their inventory that will still need to be sold to the public at some time in the future. The product that we sold last month is already in our customer's hands, being used up as we speak. These customers will almost all need our products again, not only next month, but every single month next year. Therefore, our company will continue to grow and our people will continue to prosper.

There's no question that we are all building Melaleuca together and that the customers are indeed beginning to come. But that is not all who will come if we continue to build at this rapid rate. The customers will come. The business builders will come. The hopeful will come. Those who need security will come, and the "MLMers" will come, the "get-rich-quick" folks will come. The media will come. They all will come!

As we evaluate our current situation we cannot help but be thrilled with the success we are experiencing, but wisdom dictates that we take a good look at and be prepared for who will indeed come.

Throughout our history we have made an effort to point out that it doesn't matter as much where you get to in life as it does how you got there. For the most part, we are extremely proud of the people who have joined us to build this great company. Throughout our history we have taken great care to build this business on solid business principles. In doing so, we have developed several axioms and idioms to make the points that we believe from the foundation of a strong, legitimate, long-lasting business. Some of these axioms are: Provide exceptional products at reasonable prices. Don't exaggerate. The truth is always good enough. Be a master of the understatement. Lead by example. Don't quit your job. Put product first. Be a student of the products. Be consistent. Get out of debt. Take life seriously. Have fun!

We have found that those who practice these principles are those who thrive in Melaleuca, but we have also learned that where there is a lot of money on the table, there is always the temptation for some to cut corners, to cheat a little, perhaps lie a little (or a lot!), or exaggerate a little.

Usually those who yield to those temptations eventually self-destruct. Since our business depends so much on the trust of others, those who are less scrupulous tend to be discovered early on and soon lose the confidence and trust of those who follow them. They learn that their tactics are not appreciated and neither are they successful. They soon become discouraged and go someplace else where they are more welcome to exercise their approach to the marketplace. Even though the unscrupulous do not seem to do well building a Melaleuca business, we have learned that when huge sums of money are at stake, the unscrupulous will continue to show up.

Especially now that our leading Marketing Executives have proven that it is not unusual for a healthy Melaleuca business to earn hundreds-of-thousands or even millions of dollars per year, the get-rich-quick folks will come. Some will be "MLMers." I am not suggesting that all MLM people are or have been unscrupulous. But I know several honorable people who have done well in multilevel companies who eventually found themselves having to promote something that they themselves did not really believe in, and more often than not eventually found themselves pitching a money deal rather than products with true value in the marketplace. And in most cases, even the honest MLM folks eventually have found themselves surrounded by folks they knew to be unscrupulous and have watched those unscrupulous people rise to the top of their company and later be part of the cause of the destruction and fall of that very company.

This seems to be the pattern of most MLM companies. Those who have destroyed their own MLM companies will eventually come to try to find a home with Melaleuca as they discover this is where the real money is. To those folks I would say, "Please go somewhere else. Your culture can only cause us harm. You are welcome here only if you are willing to change your ways." That approach may seem harsh but it is necessary if we are to continue the magnitude of success that we are currently experiencing. I would admonish all leaders at Melaleuca to never allow their new recruits to turn Melaleuca into a "money deal" or anything else that looks like a multilevel company. I would remind them that Melaleuca' s success has come not because of the business opportunity, but because people have become educated on the value of our products. Our success comes from those customers who have taken the time to learn about the science behind our products. They want to have longer, healthier lives. They want healthier, safer homes. And they want to be affiliated with an organization they can be proud of that puts quality products, family values, the environment, and honorable principles in front of profits and material things.

We must protect Melaleuca from those who might operate their business in a manner that is less than honorable or in a way that could hurt someone. The foremost reason to do that is because it is just the right thing to do, but for those who need more encouragement than that, let me remind you that "If we build it, they will come." Not only customers will come, and honorable business builders will come, but the unscrupulous will also come, and close behind them, the media will come.

Melaleuca has never sought out the media, but now because of our achievements, they will eventually come. We can't stop them. If we make mistakes, they will find them (and report them). But if we build it right, they will come as well. We have a wonderful story: A story of phenomenal products, exceptional people, and resoundingly honest business practices. We would love to have our story told by the nation' s media, who, if we have built it right, would further legitimize the efforts of thousands of people over nearly two decades. Often, however, the press is not looking for a wonderful story. They're looking for something else. And if it is there, they will find it. If any Marketing Executive operates his business in an unscrupulous manner, you can bet that the press will discover him and expose him. And all of Melaleuca will be painted with the same brush. It is up to us to police ourselves and to be diligent in how we and those around us operate our business.

"How could Melaleuca ever hurt anyone?" you ask. If you encourage someone to quit their job so they can build a Melaleuca business, they could easily get hurt from that. So don't do it!

If you exaggerate the quality of our products and they follow your directions instead of their own doctor's instructions, they could get hurt from that. So be careful not to suggest that someone use our products instead of following their doctor's instructions.

If you enroll someone as a Preferred Customer without clearly explaining the Preferred Customer program and the monthly commitment, they could get hurt from that. We have actually seen this happen. When it does, we issue a warning to the Marketing Executive the first time it happens and we terminate the Marketing Executive the second time it happens. There's no need to not clearly explain the Preferred Customer program. We cannot afford for this to happen. It affects all of us.

Our reputation as an honorable business has been earned by literally thousands of Marketing Executives who build their business in an honorable way. That reputation will continue only as long as we are worthy of it. We congratulate all those who have helped make Melaleuca what it is today. Our efforts are being rewarded with magnificent growth. We have built it. And they are coming by the tens of thousands! And as we continue to build, more will come. The question is: What will they find when they do come? The answer to that question is: They will find whatever we have built!

Let's be careful to be honest and truthful in everything we do in building this company. In our presentations, let's take the time to tell about our quality products first and then talk about the business opportunity. Let's carefully explain the Preferred Customer program, its commitment, and its benefits very clearly. Let's build it right, and strong! And it will be here long after we are gone, for our children and our children's children.

If we build it right, they will come by the millions! And it will endure for generations!

Sincerely,
Frank

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