Pocketbook Predators: How Mary Kay’s Sales Force Manipulates, Targets and Traps Their ‘Prospects’

As a family member (or significant other) of someone who may have fallen prey to the charms of Mary Kay Cosmetics’ manipulative tactics, it is important to know that, like other multi-level-marketing companies, Mary Kay Cosmetics’ predatory sales force has dozens of scripts and numerous ways to trap their targets (known to the pink predators as ‘prospects’). Unlike other MLMs, however, Mary Kay’s predators target, almost exclusively, women.

To that end, Mary Kay predators have developed a vast their arsenal of tools that use psychological manipulation to lure their female victims into the pink fog of Mary Kay Cosmetics.

As one example, in this “Low Key Recruiting Script” (attributed to Mary Kay National Sales Director Lisa Madson), the pink predator is instructed to use the target’s children, as well as a potential liason (presumably for single women), as motivators for joining Mary Kay:

“This is my favorite page. I want to ask you some questions about your career. I don’t want you to answer me out loud; I just want you to think in your mind about the job that you are at right now. At your current job, do you have all the flexibility in the world? If you wanted to take a day off for your son’s soccer game…could you?? If you wanted to take off for your daughter’s pep rally, could you?? If you all of a sudden had a hot date with that special guy and he wanted to take you somewhere special in the middle of the afternoon…could you go??? Do you have all the flexibility in the world right now???” [Emphasis added.]

Just as importantly, while Mary Kay predators use psychological manipulation on their targets, it is important for Mary Kay’s predatory sales force to “prequalify” who is a good target and who is not.

One of the important attributes the pink predators look for is whether a woman has the financial means to afford a career with Mary Kay. In other words, does she have access to money?

In the following checklist (attributed to “Independent Future Executive Senior Sales Director” Pam Kelly), a target’s financial means is important when evaluating whether she is right for the Mary Kay “team.”

Questions that center on the target’s financial means include:

• Does she pay a mortgage (good), or is she a renter (bad)?
• Does she have a credit card and checking account (good), or does she pay cash (bad)?
• Does she have a financial support system like a husband or family (good), or is she a single mom and no support system (bad)?
• Did she buy a Skin Care System (good) or just one or two items (bad)?
• Did she ask how much inventory is best (good), or whether she HAD to buy inventory (bad)?
• Can she write a check for her starter kit (good), or does she have to save money (bad)?
• Does she own her own car (good), or does she no car or only one in her family (bad)?
• Did she buy her products in full (good), or did she use the payment plan (bad)?

To help clear up the obvious question these finance-oriented questions raise about whether Mary Kay is really offering “opportunities” or whether it is merely profiling its targets for their ability to pay into the pink pyramid scheme, the clarification comes at the bottom of the questionnaire:

Ask yourself, “If my team consisted of all Consultants just like this prospect (An Exception), would I have a successful, professional and goal oriented team?”

In other words, if the target doesn’t have at least some financial means, the Mary Kay “opportunity” will probably not be offered to her.

Who is a Quality Mary Kay Prospect – Pam Kelly

Related:

• The Dark Art of Emotional and Psychological Manipulation on Display in Mary Kay
• The Sharks of Mary Kay Cosmetics
• When Pink Pigs Fly: Mary Kay Is There To Help Predators Conduct Their Businesses ‘Ethically…’
• Pink Truth: Sales Directors Who Think They’re Doing The Right Thing

Pink Truth: Tasteless–Mary Kay Directors and NSDs Defending Unethical Business Practices