Maybe you stumbled upon Vector Marketing-Cutco job offer from Craig List, picked up a flyer, received an unsolicited invitation call for an interview or you have been invited to a cutlery home demonstration. You have come to the right place. First, cool down your nerves because this is NOT a scam although there are some resemblance.

It is a company which sells its cutlery through a network of independent distributors recruited by its marketing company called Vector.  It is more like a sales job, back in the old days except that you are paid for both bringing in leads (even if they don’t buy) or  commissions on sales which ever is higher. It is totally different from the stupid simple online business model that l prefer to use to promote ANY product by leveraging the power of internet.

Cutco Scam or Legit Knife Company?

In this review of Cutco and its sales rep recruiting company Vector Marketing l am going to share with you everything listed on the easy to navigate menu below. In order, to save your precious time you can jump to any section by clicking on one of the links.

Cutco is a well established company which sells up market knives through a network of distributors or associates. Vector Marketing does the recruitment of sales reps to sell Cutco products almost in a door-to-door fashion, cold calling, distributing of fliers and setting up of home demonstrations. It is the latter’s aggressive sales rep recruitment, unpaid training and deceptive promises by its managers, that gives Cutco some bad mouthing around the web. At worst, it is called a Vector-Cutco scam.

This is why;

Cutco prides itself a supplier of up-market cutlery with knives being the main product. It offers a ‘lifetime warranty’, ‘free sharpening’ and their knives are ‘American made’. There are a few complaints about the products. The warranty is well honored although there a few teething problems when it comes to accessing the lifetime free sharpening services in some locations.

So, what gives cutlery producing company a bad name?

Cutco markets its products through a company called Vector Marketing which uses pushy methods to recruit new sales representatives. It promises new recruits $18 per hour, which technically speaking is not bad for a new sales rep. What they don’t tell you is, it is the ONLY paid for the hour you will spend having a conference or a demo with prospective clients. All the effort spend cold calling and chasing busy clients to book appointments is NOT counted. Once sales reps exhaust their warm market (own parents, friends and other relatives) they can guilt into buying the relatively expensive products, they are likely to be chucked out of the team.

How Cutco – Vector Marketing Recruitment Works.

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You stumble upon Vector Marketing ads on Craiglist, get an unsolicited call because your ‘friend’ recommended you for the Cutco job or perhaps through an invite on social networks.

Everything sounds good and you are called for an quick interview which anyone hardly fails. Some of the managers request your for contact details of referrals, usually below 30 years. You return for more training, get a demo kit and you are let loose onto your warm market. You meet all the costs of driving prospects who meet the set conditions to the conference room or getting them to watch virtual demos. For instance, you may be required to bring in married couples aged 30+ earning a specified income and at times you are required to bring both to the demo which can be a mammoth task bringing them together.

You are paid $18 for any successful conference or a commission if there is a sale – which ever is higher. This in reality means, if you make a commission above the basic pay – say $20, you only earn an extra $2. We know commission is often paid, over and above the basic pay. The commission levels are on incremental basis, starting from 10% up to 50% depending on the sales volume.

Everyone starts out as a sales representative

Cutco Product Review.

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This is just a brief overview of a few popular products and not an in-depth review of each product which is obviously beyond the scope of this article. l am NOT in a position to answer any queries to do with the products. Kindly use the communication channels available on the official Cutco website.

There are complaints about the weight of the knives, the high price and poor delivery of sharpening services. However, there are hardly any complaints against the quality of the products or honoring the warranty. The products are made mainly from forged high carbon steel, have serrated edges (‘…. dentated, sawtooth, or toothed blade – Wikipedia) and easy to grip handles.

The cutlery is United States made, comes with a ‘lifetime warranty’  and free sharpening. There are shipping and insurance costs involved when sending the cutlery for sharpening.

Of course, no product is for everyone for one reason or the other. Even restaurants seem to avoid buying Cutco knives because the get stolen by unscrupulous clients — lol.

Cutco;

Steak knives set

These are some of the ‘high carbon stainless steel knives’ on offer. They come with an easy grip handle made of thermo resin which takes high temperatures to melt, does not easily loose color and hard to crack. While they are highly rated on Amazon, there are complains about the price and the weight.

Kitchen Scissors

Easy to hold, clean and sharp. There are lots of happy customers who use these serrated stainless steel kitchen Scissors. They can be disassembled for cleaning. Although, they are dish-washable there are complaints that they rust if you leave them to go through the drying cycle. Unless, your dish washer can be programmed and alert you before the drying cycle begins – this can be annoying. There are lots of irregularities when it comes to pricing depending on the source and applicable taxes in each state.

Hunting knife

Include drop hook and gut hook hunting knives. Comes with an anti-slip handle made from  ‘thermoplastic elastomer’ – a combination of plastic and rubber. Weaknesses of each material are negated by the positives of the other.

Cheese knife

Comes with handles covered with a combination of Polypropylene and Kraton which makes them tough, heat resistant and can endure cold temperatures. The holes reduces the surface area on which cheese can stick, which makes the cheese knife more efficient.

Other popular cutlery pieces include fillet, kabar and pocket knives.  Cutco spatula spreader and can opener are also cherished by users.

Is Cutco a Good Company?

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•  The cutlery meets required standards and is of high quality.
• For ever warranty, made in America and free sharpening are great selling propositions.
• Lots of rewards for new sale reps who excel in selling the products including sponsored trips to conferences.
• Potential earn commissions as high as 50% when compared to affiliate programs that offer as little as 4% per sale.
• You get free marketing training including how to close sales and can help in improving self confidence as you handle rejections.
• Gives young people an opportunity to get their feet wet in the working environment – Better than playing Pokemon go… LOL.
• Commissions are based on sales rather than on recruitment as in most MLMs or Network Marketing Companies.
• You know get a free demo kit which you can return if you fail to make the cut.
•  Clear progressive path up the ladder and everyone starts at the same level (sales reps).
• Flexible working hours and you can get some breaks in-between depending on how ‘nice’ your manager is.
• While others complain about deceitful marketing by Vector, when l visited the website it clearly stipulates that you get what you put in and you must work very hard to succeed. l quote;

‘It is very possible for reps to do well right out of the gate, but success is not guaranteed. We are definitely not a “get-rich-quick” company and we take pride in our reps for being the hard-working and motivated individuals that they are’

Is Working For Cutco Bad?

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• Every house hold has cutlery and convincing the owners to buy expensive cutlery can be a daunting task.
• The promise of $18/ hour can be misleading and deceitful if not well explained.
• You can make a loss if the cost for gas and chasing leads surpasses the basic pay of $18/hour or commissions from sales. Remember, you can toil all day and if you don’t find eligible leads you get $0.
• There are complaints that some of the conferences are just full of hype by those at the top.
• Most rewards are given in the form of ‘knives’ which means again you need to resell them if you want cash. (It should be optional).
• Pestering, annoying and guilting your loved ones to buy high priced products can strain relations.
• You are an associate with a fairly independent schedule but you are continually called to report to office.
• Attending conferences can leave you in debt if you did not make any sales.
• Door-to-do selling of product is now a bit dated when most people do their search and purchases online.
• Expensive items with a lifetime warranty means there is likely to be no repeat buyers which narrows down the market as time progresses.The market can literally get ‘saturated’.
• Most products are bundled into expensive sets which can be difficult to sell when compared to selling individual items.
• There are complaints against poor knives sharpening services depending on one’s location. Looks like small offices are constantly moving once the market in one area saturate.
• Bringing couples to demos or conferences together can percent a lot of challenges due to differences in work schedules.
• Payments for leads seams to be too depended on the your manager’s personality rather than on strict laid down procedures.

Cutco’s Compensation Plan and Levels.

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The comp plan is based on levels. Everyone starts at the bottom as a sales rep.

#1 Sales Rep.

You earn commissions (starting from 10%) from sales and basic pay for each successful conference or demo as determined by your manager.

#2 Field Sales Manager

These are seasoned sales reps who surpassed the set ‘minimum career sales’. They now earn commissions above 20% on product sales. They still sell the products to new customers, offer more products to their existing customers and represent the company at local product expos.

#3 CUTCO Sales Professional

As recommended by the Region Manager based on sales, commitment and loyalty. They get all the Field Sales Manager benefits and will also become a Closing Gift Consultant.

#4 Closing Gift Consultant

They liaise with companies and offer gifts or samples to their employees as a hook to purchase the products. They can also negotiate payment terms with employees.

#5 Assistant Manager

Outstanding sales reps can be considered for this role. The assist in the day to and running of local offices and their role include recruiting of new sales representatives. They also facilitate meetings and workshops in their areas often addressed by those at the top. They still have to sell products and maintain high sales volumes.

#6 Branch Manager

There is are opportunities every summer to become one of the branch managers. Establishing new offices, recruitment and training of new reps. Implementation of the overall business plan.

#7 District Manager

Run permanent offices allocated to them located in established locations. They must have demonstrated excellent sales skills and are willing to train others to do the same.

#8 Division Manager

Experienced and high performing District managers can be considered for this post. They supervise the running of District and Branch offices. They are good at team building and developing leaders.

#9 Region Manager

Lead one of the Regions comprised of several divisions. They report to the CEO.

There is a clear progression and career path within Cutco. If you work hard enough and get those sales, you can climb up the ladder.

Is Cutco A Scam, Pyramid Scheme or Legit Program.

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Clearly Cutco is NOT a scam.The products are great and come with an unprecedented life time warranty. It is only the predatory sales tactics of Vector Marketing which brings the name of the company into disrepute. Additionally, the dated sales strategies of annoying loved ones do not help matters. People are ‘forced’ to buy the expensive products out of guilty and compassion NOT because on need.

Cutco is a legit business which can regain people’s trust if it rein in Vector Marketing and stop the unethical recruitment of sales representatives. Telling me how much l will earn as a recruiting tactic is deception, an outright scam at its worst. I am not sure if we can call it a pyramid scheme since recruitment is only done at managerial level. There is also no evidence that managers earn money off what new people they recruit’s sales.

Wrapping it up…

l hope you found this review useful. In my own opinion, one must examine their target market before enrolling. l am a fan of reverse engineering which l found to be fail proof. For instance, l create a website to promote any product, service or opportunity months before l join the promotion. With a website already frequented by targeted buyers, success is inevitable. If you are interested in pursuing such a business model, you can read about it Here.

Share your opinion or experience with Cutco and Vector Marketing in the commentary box below? My role is to initiate dialogue!

 

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