Independent Business Owners (IBOs)

In order to understand what IBO customers want in terms of products and service, Amway builds up typical customer profiles. These are made as full and accurate as possible. In that way, Amway can target its current support services. Equally important, it is able to anticipate the future needs of its various customer groups, and can target them with specific product information.

Amway knows that most IBOs are entrepreneurial individuals who want to sell quality products to people they know or meet. Most also fall into the ABC1/2 categories of socio-economic grouping. This is often used by marketing departments to segment the total audience and identify particular groups they want to target.

Most of Amway's IBOs are well educated and ambitious, and many have families. Working from home, they supplement their family income mainly by working part-time, although some work full-time. Most of these IBOs have web access, many of them having bought PCs to support their children's educational progress.

The research revealed that many IBOs felt they needed more support for their selling activities. In particular, they wanted quick, secure access to more accurate, up-to-date information that related specifically to them. The answer had to lie in a carefully constructed, properly run, well thought-out Internet operation.