POLICIES & PROCEDURES (P&P) / COMP PLAN MOST COMMON “DO’S”
1) Websites: Coaches are permitted to develop their own websites to promote and market Beachbody products if they choose to not utilize the replicated website provided by the Company. Coaches must submit these personally developed sites to Beachbody Compliance for review/approval to ensure that all policies are adhered to (Section 3.2.2 of the P&P). Critical areas of compliance include proper use of income and product claims, minimum pricing, discounts and giveaways.
2) Independent Contractor Status: Beachbody Coaches are independent distributors, not employees of the Company. Accordingly, Coaches must always identify themselves as an “Independent Team Beachbody Coach” or “Independent Beachbody Coach” on websites, business cards and any other marketing materials to prevent confusion regarding the relationship between the Coach and the Company when conducting their Beachbody business (Section 3.16).
3) Commercial Outlets: While Coaches are strongly encouraged to retail and sell the Beachbody products and services through direct contact, Coaches may only display and sell products in retail or service establishments which sell or provide services to private clientele, such as gyms, workout studios and doctors’ offices. Retail establishments such as malls, kiosks, public retail stores, discount buying clubs and restaurants are prohibited. Fitness instructors or trainers may also be Beachbody Coaches, but may not use the Beachbody workout programs as part of their gym programs. For instance, a trainer can provide “plyometrics inspired” exercises but cannot provide “P90X inspired” exercises (Section 3.7).
4) Trade Shows/Expos: Coaches are welcome to participate in trade shows, Expos and other similar forums. Before submitting any deposit for their participation, Coaches are encouraged to contact Compliance in writing with the event details to obtain further approvals. Any Coach created advertising or marketing materials must be submitted by email to the Compliance department (compliance@beachbody.com) for approval prior to the event. (Section 3.8).
5) Blogs and Social Networking sites: Coaches are permitted to advertise the Team Beachbody business opportunity and discuss their journey on personal blogs and social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, but must always identify themselves as an Independent Team Beachbody Coach when doing so. Advertising on blogs and social networking sites must follow the advertising rules as noted in the P&P. Coaches are NOT permitted to sell Beachbody products via online auction sites or social networking sites, but may use links to refer product sales to their Coach or personal websites (Section 3.32).
6) Message Boards: Utilizing the Message Boards to support members with their fitness goals is highly recommended. Coaches have flexibility on the ways they deem supportive, from simple words of encouragement to friendly internal challenges – Section 3.2.7 of the P&P and the Posting Guidelines located directly on the Message Board site provides the specific rules governing the use of the Boards.
7) Marketing/Promotional Materials: There are numerous resources available on the Team Beachbody website (located within the Coach Resource Center) for Coaches to download and use for their business activities. Coaches are also permitted to develop their own promotional materials but must obtain prior approval from Compliance before distributing such materials (Section 3.2.1).
POLICIES & PROCEDURES (P&P) / COMPENSATION PLAN MOST COMMON “DON’TS”
1) Online Marketplaces: Coaches are expressly prohibited from selling Beachbody products on online marketplaces, which include eBay, Amazon, iOffer, Craigslist and other similar sites (Section 3.32).
2) Keywords: Exhibit A of the Policies and Procedures (P&P) lists Beachbody Company and Product names which are expressly prohibited for use by any Coach in keywords, URL domain names, usernames and other Internet Search Engine optimization, including meta tag keywords. Any confusingly similar variations of these keywords (such as PX90 rather than P90X) are similarly prohibited (Section 3.2.3).
3) Product Pricing: Coaches are not permitted to sell or advertise products below the published retail price. Any additional discounting or incentives, such as free or reduced shipping charges, are similarly prohibited unless offered directly by Beachbody (Section 5.2). The current Team Beachbody price list and product catalog may be found in the Coaches Online Office.
4) Income Claims: When making income claims, Coaches must always include the Income Claim Statement which is a disclaimer regarding any income claims or references, and ANY claims of guaranteed income are expressly prohibited. The Income Claim Statement can be found in Section 3.6.3 of the P&P. In addition, when making income claims, Coaches must direct customers to the Statement of Independent Coach Earnings, the most current version of which is located at www.teambeachbody.com/incomechart.pdf. As the FTC and several states have specific laws and regulations regarding income claims and testimonials, it is MANDATORY that Coaches comply with this policy as failure to do so not only violates Company policy but also violates federal and state regulations.
5) Message Boards: The Boards were developed for the sole purpose of supporting the member community. Accordingly Coaches are not allowed to recruit members in any manner, including telling members to contact them offline (Section 3.2.7). Similarly the WOWY Cool Down chat room is to be used for the motivation and support of fellow fitness members. Any recruiting or solicitation is therefore strictly prohibited.
6) International Marketing: Coaches are permitted to register as a Beachbody Coach and offer and sell Beachbody products in only those countries for which the Company is approved to conduct business, which currently is only the United States (Section 3.18). Although Beachbody is currently in the process of registering for Canada operations, until it secures Canadian approval, NO Canadian Coach activity, including registration, is permitted in any manner.
7) Commercial Outlets: While Coaches are strongly encouraged to retail and sell the Beachbody products and services through direct contact, Coaches can display and sell products in retail or service establishments solely which sell or provide services to private clientele, such as gyms, workout studios and doctors’ offices. Coaches are not permitted to conduct sales of Beachbody products out of mall stores, kiosks, food establishments, discount or buying clubs, or any other general public retail or commercial outlets (Section 3.7).
8) Return of Drop Shipped Product: When Coaches choose to drop ship to a customer, (Coaches who take payment from customers directly and then purchase product from Beachbody and have the product sent directly to the customer from Beachbody’s warehouse), they act as the direct selling entity and therefore must provide all direct customer service, including returns, for such orders (Section 9.3).
9) Non‐Solicitation: Coaches are free to participate in other multilevel or network marketing business opportunities. However, Coaches are not permitted to recruit Beachbody Coaches or customers for any other business. Similarly, Beachbody Coaches cannot market or sell non‐Beachbody products to Beachbody Coaches or customers, nor can Coaches market Beachbody products alongside non‐Beachbody products on websites or other Coach advertisement (Section 3.9.1).
This FAQ provides only a summary of important points of the Beachbody Coach Policies & Procedures.
Please review the complete Policies & Procedures in its entirety (http://images.beachbody.com/tbb/pdf/comp_plan.pdf) in order to maintain your compliance as an Independent Team Beachbody Coach. For any submissions, questions or to report any compliance violations, please contact Compliance directly any time at compliance@beachbody.com
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