BREAKING NEWS: Chris and Kim Prefontaine Resign from Lifemax
Chris & Kim Prefontaine are forced to resign as #1 global earners of Lifemax.
Kim and I were taught what elements make up a great Network Marketing company by two (2) industry experts who have each to date earned in excess of $20 million in the profession. I wrote about those elements in a 2008 article titled “How to Do a Proper Due Diligence on a Network Marketing Company.”
On July 19, 2008, we found them all to be in place when I visited Lifemax and met Jim and Sherri Wear, along with the head of operations at that time- Mike Batistelli, and the other staff at Lifemax. About 10 days later we launched the first of five Launch Events for our new Lifemax business and did so not only with our sponsor Paul Caldwell, but also joined by our CEO at that time Paul Rogers and our VP of Sales Jerry Yerke.
We were ecstatic that there was a team in place that we could build with and founders who would support that team. We considered Lifemax to be our home and built very hard as if that would be the case with no turning back. We had an amazing few years.
Kim and I, however, are now saddened to tell you that we can no longer speak, teach, educate & inspire about Lifemax and the elements that make a great company relative to Lifemax. Many of these attributes have changed which makes it uncomfortable for us to morally or ethically support it because it’s not the same opportunity. We have officially resigned – just 3 days after our 3 ½ year anniversary and many long days of building.
As a present distributor, it is imperative that you understand why we left.
Before addressing the elements, you can review a video blog entry I did in summer of 2011 titled “The Right Vehicle.”
In it I state how important it is to be in the right vehicle. The three components are:
1. One that has room in the driver’s seat (room for more leadership). Lifemax still does so that is in place!
2. A vehicle that is going in the right direction. Lifemax IS NOT as you will learn below, so that changed.
3. A vehicle that is going the right speed or the speed you need it to go. Lifemax is not, so that has changed as you will learn below. Since command has changed our sales have come to a screeching halt.
When we say that the elements have changed, let me be more specific. As you know from reading my “How to Do a Due Diligence…“ article about the necessary elements, they are primarily Company, Product, Compensation & Timing. The only thing that has not changed is the timing, but remember, I’ve always taught that timing is considered last because without the others in place- timing is irrelevant.
Ø Company
§ When Kim and I started the CEO had a plan and he communicated that to us relative to sales projections, markets to open, how to accomplish that, etc.. Kim and I have asked our current CEO and founder to share with us the Strategic Plan several times since taking over as CEO and have still not received anything and during that time our sales have slowed to a slow crawl if not flat. The #’s don’t lie and our income reflects exactly that – flat from 2010 to 2011. The years when there were experienced team members in place there was predictable growth.
§ When we joined decisions were made involving leaders with experience and staff with experience. Decisions are now being made based on pure emotion and religion and it’s quite scary.
§ Communication with the field is critical. When we joined it was almost daily with Corporate. Kim and I have not spoken to the founders live but twice since our Shine conference and one of those was them calling me to tell me I should not include my sponsor in any phone calls that I do with the field.
§ There is no longer a VP of Sales or a CEO or a president. With our President, CEO, head of communications and VP of Sales gone there is little to no field support.
Ø Compensation
§ I remember telling Jim and Sherri numerous times throughout 2008, 2009 & 2010 that a change to the compensation plan in a negative way (meaning taking money out of the pay plan) is death to a company in our profession. The initial compensation plan that Kim and I started with totally changed after the second Diamond was achieved so quickly in fall of 2009. It was bearable and still fine for new people joining.
§ With the experienced corporate members all fired, the founders and their new operations manager and CFO (all four having zero experience in the field and zero experience in the profession at all) began to make changes to the compensation plan all in an effort to retain more dollars for corporate.
· I used to say that there was no breakage and that was a huge advantage. There is breakage everywhere in our plan now.
· We used to get the Product Activation Bonus 100%. It’s now 50% and you may pick up the other 50% if you get your people qualified quickly if not – breakage to the company.
· EAQ Maker Bonus – previously the mentor bonus – same, we used to get it and now it’s timed to break to the company after 60 days.
· We had a large leg stabilizer component that dictated how Kim and I built for 3 ¼ years and this has changed effective 2/1/12. This single change in and of itself was the item that pushed Kim and I out. We told the founders as #1 earners when we met with them in May 2011 that if they do take away that component of the compensation plan, we would be forced to leave. We told them again on 2 live conference calls with other leaders listening and we told them again in a live meeting. The reason we told them this is because any compensation plan will cause us all as distributors to build a certain way. After 3 ½ years of building it’s not possible for the most talented in his profession to simply change that direction in a month or two or even 6. Sherri told us more than 5 times not to worry and that they would never take away that quickly and would give us time to adjust-2 to 3 years. They announced in December that effective 2/1 that would change and the change will result in approximately $2000-$4000 weekly reduction in our check and many others – you just don’t know it yet.
· As #1 earners in the company and responsible for building the entire training system, tools system and webinars for the company that today exist as the core training system, we received support & marketing dollars measuring between $3000-$7500 monthly between 2009-2011. We were told this would not go away and then 3 days before our support payment was due in December (with it already allocated to a trip that following week) we were told we would not receive it that week and not ever again.
§ IF YOU TAKE THE REDUCTION OF $2000-$4000 WEEKLY AND THE CANCELLING OF OUR SUPPORT TO HELP THE FIELD, THAT AMOUNTS TO A POTENTIAL $21,500 REDUCTION IN MONTHLY EARNINGS. NOT POSSIBLE FOR KIM AND I.
· When we joined you received three business centers at platinum and that was taken away one year later. That would not be that bad except those that paid $4000 (cost at the time for platinum) were grandfathered and allowed to keep them. To date, they have not allowed those that rightfully own those to open them and recently decided that they couldn’t unless they met certain criteria. So understand this: Those of you that paid $4000 as an enticement to buy platinum now have new rules that changed 3 ½ years later. That is bordering if not directly a fraud and there will more than likely be a lawsuit because of it. Bad press.
· Senior Leadership Bonuses are the 8th bonus published by the company. We were told in 2008 that they were not to start until Diamond Rank-we told the field that. When we reached it quickly, we were told they would start at Double Diamond. Sherri told us she would announce them starting at Double Diamond at the Shine Conference. When we asked post conference why she didn’t, she responded “…I heard you guys may hit Double Diamond soon and that means we’d have to pay them if we announce and we’re not ready to…” When we reached Double Diamond in fall 2011 we were told they would start at Presidential Diamond Director. Really?
· At the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 when we still had Paul Rogers as CEO, for our efforts in traveling the world, setting up systems, etc we were to receive a % override of U.S. Sales and Sherri promised on many occasions that that would not go away without plenty of notice. In February of 2010 I received an email that that would end that month.
· Forget the technical aspects of compensation for a moment. When we had three verbal commitments broken by the founders, we started to second guess our instincts and our involvement:
¨ Verbal commitment to maintain travel and support dollars…cancelled.
¨ Verbal commitment to not change large leg stabilizer without plenty of notice…45 day notice given during Holidays.
¨ Verbal commitment to maintain % override bonus…cancelled.
Ø Product
§ No one can argue that Mila is amazing. It’s a great flagship product and will continue to be so and has helped and will continue to help so many people. By itself, it’s wonderful.
§ One of the reasons that sales are flat is that the plans to introduce new products (that almost happened in 2010 and again in 2011) were halted by our current CEO and a decision made to have no further product line extensions. This has proven to be very limited and will continue to stunt growth which will stunt the growth of your checks. This was quite frankly the very least of our concerns and would not in and of itself cause for a departure after 3 ½ years of hard work because the strength of Mila – if everything else was still in place – can sustain moderate growth.
Have any of you noticed that the core leaders since 2008 have all left. The company has not been able to retain ONE leader from the beginning of the launch. Kim and I tried to weather the storm and support the company but it has simply crossed the line of acceptable as of the end of 2011.
Have any of you noticed that the President, CEO, head of communications and 2 VP of Sales have all been fired? Are they all bad? All but the head of communications had extensive careers in the network marketing profession and have gone off to continue their success. All have been portrayed as failures by Lifemax as if they’re all bad – are they really?
Kim and I love you guys and have built simply amazing relationships. We will not be calling all of you as we don’t want to let our decisions affect your business, but wanted you to know what happened.
In the coming days we don’t know what will be said or how many people will feel threatened by our decision. There may even be some that repurpose this letter and twist it into something it is not. We are shocked at this, and encourage you to beware of why some might do this. For this reason we want to spread the message that if you have any questions about this matter please consider contacting us directly instead of assuming anything that you hear or read. Most important is to know that we are making this decision for our family and future and not to tear down or hurt anyone else.
For the past 3 plus years, we have enjoyed building a great business with all of you. In that time we have achieved Double Diamond Director and helped thousands of people earn millions of dollars. And as you know, our hearts, and energy were directed toward helping as many people as possible. There have been thousands of people that have come into our team and we have been fortunate to get to know many of you very well and care about you and your families.
We wish all of you the best and hope that our paths cross again soon.
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