Adam Ubertowski Ph.D. A graduate of Sociology at Jagielloński University and Psychology at Gdańsk University, doctorate thesis at the Faculty of Economics of Gdańsk University. He completed postgraduate studies in management under the auspices of the Central Connecticut State University. ICC Licensed Coach.
You are a psychologist, sociologist, and Ph.D. at economy. What are the origins of combination of such interests?
It did not happen in one day. I have always been interested in the broader social sciences and humanities. Nota bene, I started studying Polish language but after the first year I moved to sociology. After a while I thought it was good to broaden the knowledge about society by the knowledge about the unit.
Then I did postgraduate studies on management. And finally – to complement it: a doctorate in economics. I worked perhaps a little intuitively because I find all these issues in the field of my work today, namely: the psychology of business/business psychology.
How do you assess the direct marketing industry?
This is indisputably a very important area of social and economic life – otherwise nearly a million people would not have worked there!
How many industries employ such an army of workers?
Direct marketing is the best if not the only sales channel for a lot of products and service. No wonder that the importance of MLM is growing every year.
According to you, what skills are the most useful for MLM leaders?
Many features are common to all managerial functions. These are universal competences resulting from the manager's basic tasks , such as analysis, planning, leadership and control.
But in MLM a few competences are of particular importance. In my opinion, an extremely important role in the industry is the ability to delegate tasks, that competence must be unusually developed as far as the MLM leaders are concerned.
Similarly – internal sense of control, so called inner-direction. An MLM leader does not prop up with/by the sales structure as much as managers of banking institutions, for example. Therefore, he must rely on believe in himself even more. Also – he has to be a better motivator for his team.
Is the education important in order to achieve success in the business?
Hm, because of the profession which I perform, I should glorify the role of education. Eventually, I make a living of education, I am responsible inter alia for MBA studies. But the truth is that certain qualities necessary to succeed cannot be learned or "bought." Such an ability is intuition. Recent studies indicate that business decisions made intuitively are better than the ones thought over and analyzed.
Thus, even among the richest Poles, next to Jan Kulczyk and Leszek Czarnecki, holding university degrees, there are also people without formal education.
You spend time with people from the big business, you know a lot of leading figures of this environment. Taking into consideration this background, what is the image of the MLM person?
It is a difficult and complex subject. Opinions vary and they are not always positive.
Moreover, this is the aftermath of the early stage of the MLM development and not too positive image created in the media and documentary films, quite a tendentiously accentuating side parameters which are often created from above adopted, irreverent thesis.
This image, however, changes quite quickly to a more positive one. This is because of: displaying a professional MLM label or the debuts of the companies from the industry on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The presence on the stock market is always the highest ennoblement and it grants a kind of business nobility. This is incontrovertible evidence that the MLM industry is equal to other industries present on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, such as banking, construction, telecommunication, etc.
Now a question to you as the economics Ph.D. Does the economic situation on the global and national markets encourage the development of the MLM companies? What is your prognosis?
The experience of the past few years shows that any forecast reaching more than one year ahead is, by definition, marked by the stamp of divination. Logically, the MLM industry has a bright future, especially in Poland, which is also belated to the developed markets in this respect and where 75% of the population lives outside large urban areas. But logic is not always confirmed in economic life. I wish it neither to MLM nor to myself.
According to you, what should a beginning co-worker do to achieve success in the MLM?
First of all – he should check if he is suitable for this industry, at least in terms of personality. If so – he has a good chance for success, because a relatively small percentage of society is "a born MLM seller." If I was in this person's shoes I would also search for support of a strong mentor, since experience in this industry is particularly valuable, and thanks to the "care" of someone more experienced, one can avoid making simple but painful mistakes.
An MLM beginner should also create a long-term plan for himself with the most deferred gratification. Here, success is rarely achieved after a few days. Being aware that the real money will only become available after some time will help to avoid disappointment.
What do you mean by the term "success"? Is it possible to create such a
definition?
Success is always something very individual. For one of us only a gold medal in gait at the Olympic Games will be a success, for another – the very fact that he can move unaided. Emotionally intelligent people should know themselves well enough to be
able to determine what a success is for them and not get frustrated with the fact that they do not get what is completely beyond their reach.
In the MLM there is the greatest number of people who should define the financial success of a few hundred zloty per month. But also in the same group there are people who do not appreciate their own potential. They are satisfied with just a fraction of the financial result.
In addition – for a balanced, person who is not burnt out in the prime of life success should always be located in the future. An awareness that the best years of business are already behind me is a powerful discouragement.
How can people who have already been working in network marketing for a few years maintain their motivation?
If I had a universal key to open the gate, I would be a multibillionaire. Motivation is probably the most difficult problem in MLM and sales in general. It is a very complicated, specific mechanism, which has to be constructed by each of us for our own use.
What is even worse – motivation by definition is not very resistant to time, so each of us has to continuously reconstruct this mechanism. Therefore, I would recommend expanding the repertoire of motivation by participation in soft training courses to anyone who deals with selling, especially in the MLM industry.
According to you, what actions spoil the image of the industry and what can help it?
A large share of amateur sellers who think that anyone can sell has been ruining the image. There is no particularly high barrier to entry the MLM industry, so it attracts a lot of random people. If they define themselves as "salesmen"or "peddlers" – the image is ready to crash.
The MLM industry must certainly work hard on its image. The improvement of PR is favoured, as I mentioned before, by the presence on the Warsaw Stock Exchange or displaying the biggest stars' business successes in the non-expert media.
Building of awareness that people, who have achieved great financial success with the simultaneous vast business acumen, function in the "direct sale" is the best way,
in my opinion, to build an accurate image of MLM and attract the most valuable people to the industry.
You also specialize in the recruitment and selection. What would the requirements for an MLM leader be?
As I mentioned – an MLM leader would have to meet all the criteria required in any other managerial position. In addition, I would especially check his inner-direction, the ability to delegate and motivate, resistance to stress.
Furthermore, I believe that the MLM leader should be able to sell (and not just manage the network) and he should also have a high competence in the art of presentation.
You have been watching the industry for many years. Do you see any positive changes in the multi-level marketing?
Certainly. I would describe it as "the transition from canvassing to the MLM. " As the MLM label is fundamentally different from what we associate with "canvassing," today's market is different from the one 10 or 15 years ago.
Today it is a mature industry, with its own periodicals, Internet sites, present on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. And sometime ago? Somewhat amorphous, enjoying a bad reputation, non-core area of the economy. It does not change the fact, however, that staying at the position, and especially the next steps in a positive direction require intensive work from all of us
Thank you for the conversation
Adam Ubertowski Ph.D.
A graduate of Sociology at Jagielloński University and Psychology at Gdańsk University, doctorate thesis at the Faculty of Economics of Gdańsk University. He completed postgraduate studies in management under the auspices of the Central Connecticut State University. ICC Licensed Coach.
He is the MBA GFKM Program Director; he conducts author lectures on "Business Psychology" at the Faculty of Economics of Gdańsk University. For twelve years he has been the president of the board of the consulting and training company, specializing in HRM.
He has participated in hundreds of projects including consulting and training for companies: AstraZeneca Poland, BRE Bank SA, Budimex SA, Elektrobudowa SA, Energa SA., Gdansk Repair Shipyard, Generali, Grupa Lotos SA, Hestia, Lafarge, Lek Poland, Masterlease SA, National Bank, Nordea Bank Poland SA, Petrobaltic SA PGNiG, PKN Orlen SA, PKO BP, PKP, the Polish Post, Polkomtel SA, Polpharma SA, PZU SA, Raiffeisen Leasing, Roche, Ruch SA, SGS, TPSA, U.S. Pharmacia, Zentiva.
He specializes in conducting training courses and coaching for managers at medium-high level and the field of advanced communication techniques.
