The Road to Success Program (RTS) was created to accelerate your progress towards financial independence. RTS not only provides you with ample motivation to share the Kirby Opportunity with others, it also handsomely rewards you for the time and energy you must invest in educating and developing a Dealer into a Distributor.
Please review the program closely. PEP payments making it even more lucrative to promote the Kirby Opportunity. You’ll also find some helpful graphs and examples, which clearly illustrate the scope and magnitude of the program.
If you are currently active in the Road to Success Program, you already know how lucrative the program can be. If not, you may be surprised by the financial rewards available to you.
NOTE: The RTS Program does not pertain to the Russian and CIS Distributors. Please contact your Divisional Supervisors for more details.
Opportunity & Promotion Awards
The Opportunity Award plaque is presented to new Distributors when the Kirby Distributor Application/Road to Success form and Kirby Distributor Application/Background Report have been approved by the Company.
These forms must be submitted to the Company and approved by the Company at least three months prior to the time the candidate becomes a Kirby Distributor.
The Promotion Award plaque is presented to recommending Distributors when their properly recommended candidate becomes a Distributor.
Opportunity Award and Promotion Award plaques will be sent to the appropriate Divisional Supervisor for presentation.
Promotional Earnings Program (PEP Payments)
When you recommend a new Distributor, you have a one-time opportunity to choose when the PEP payments on that particular new Distributor will start. You may choose to have PEP payments start the month in which an account number is assigned to that Distributor, or on the first, second or third month thereafter.
PEP payments are earned for every Kirby unit purchased from the Company by the new Distributor as follows:
- $25.00 per unit during the first 12 month payment period.
- $10.00 per unit during all future years, as long as you qualify.
If the person recommended was a previous Kirby Distributor and you were the original recommending Distributor, the PEP payments will start at the point at which you left off, unless the previous Distributor was originally recommended by you under the Company’s former Road to Success Program, in which case the PEP payment rate will be $4.00 per unit, as long as you qualify.
If the person you recommend was a previous Kirby Distributor and you were not the original recommending Distributor, you may be entitled to PEP payments but no credit towards bonuses if that previous Distributor had purchased less than 360 in a consecutive 12 month period, and you were, in the sole opinion of the Company, responsible for his or her development.
To qualify to receive and continue to receive PEP payments, there must remain in effect a Kirby Distributor Agreement between you and the Company and between your recommended new Distributor and the Company.
PEP payments will be calculated monthly and a statement will be sent to the recommending Distributor.
PEP payments will be paid quarterly and will be sent to the Divisional Supervisor for presentation.
You and your recommended Distributor must each average 30 purchases a month for two consecutive months for you to receive PEP payments.
A. Monthly purchases for recommending Distributors and recommended Distributors are tracked over consecutive 12-month fiscal periods, based on the start month you have selected.
If both the recommending Distributor and the recommended Distributor each averages 30 or more purchases per month for two or more months, as outlined below, those months qualify for PEP payments.
The first month in any twelve month period is not eligible for PEP by itself. Both the recommending and the recommended Distributor must each average at least 30 or more purchases of Kirby units per month for at least two consecutive months.
B. Occasionally, Distributors purchase an average of less than 30 Kirby units a month. To address this situation, a further qualification opportunity has been provided for qualifying prior months for PEP payments as follows:
- If both the recommending and the recommended Distributor have 60 or more purchases of Kirby units in the most recent two months, but the year to date average is less than 30, the prior month qualifies for PEP, if not already qualified.
- If both the recommending and the recommended Distributor have 90 or more purchases of Kirby units in the most recent three months, but the year to date average is less than 30, the prior two months qualify for PEP, if not already qualified.
- If both the recommending and the recommended Distributor have 120 or more purchases of Kirby units in the most recent four months, but the year to date average is less than 30, the prior three months qualify for PEP, if not already qualified.
And so on, until the 12-month period is concluded and the last 11 months have been examined in the same way. Ultimately, if you and your recommended Distributor purchase 360 units or more during the 12-month period, you will earn PEP on all your new Distributor’s purchases.
Payment for the current month is only made when all previous months qualify under the above rules.
We recommend that you refer to your monthly RTS Statement to review prior purchases and determine potential earnings.
NOTE: These additional qualifications apply to each 12-month period as a separate period, or fiscal year,
commencing from the first day of the month you choose to receive PEP payments on your recommended Distributor.
In addition to PEP payments, Distributors earn prominent levels of accomplishment, recognition plaques, award jewelry, and cash bonuses for promoting others. Click here to learn more about the RTS plaques and jewelry.
Payments Following Your Retirement as a Distributor
You will continue to receive Road to Success PEP payments for ten (10) years after your retirement as a Kirby Distributor and the resulting voluntary termination of your Distributor Agreement.
To qualify, such retirement must occur after your 20th year as a Distributor or on or after your 65th birthday.
All the requirements for receiving Road to Success PEP payments shall apply to such payments received by you after your retirement, except the requirement relating to the purchasing of Kirby units by you. You will not be able to recommend anyone as a new Distributor after your retirement.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Program, if you (or your surviving spouse, as the case may be) shall at any time engage, in the sole opinion of the Company, directly or indirectly in any business which competes with the business of the Company, you shall immediately forfeit any and all ongoing payments otherwise payable to you under this section.
Upon your death after retirement, PEP payments to which you would be entitled will be made subject to and in accordance with the following “Death Payments” provisions.
In the event of your death, at which time you were an active Kirby Distributor, and at the same time you were earning Road to Success PEP payments, all such PEP payments to which you were entitled will be paid to your surviving spouse, if said surviving spouse is offered by the Company and elects to execute a new Kirby Distributor Agreement, and so long as the spouse continues to satisfy the purchase requirements and continues to operate the Distributorship in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Kirby Distributor Agreement and applicable Kirby Policy.
In the event of your death, at which time you were an active Kirby Distributor, and at the same time you were earning Road to Success PEP payments, where the Company doesn’t offer and/or your spouse does not execute a new Kirby Distributor Agreement, all such payments to which you were entitled will continue to be paid to your surviving spouse for a period of ten (10) years or until your spouse’s death, whichever occurs first.
In the event of your death, at which time you were a retired Kirby Distributor, and at which time you were receiving Road to Success PEP payments, the Company will continue to make Road to Success PEP payments to your surviving spouse, which you would have been entitled to for the remainder of the ten (10) year period or until your surviving spouse’s death, whichever comes first.
In the event your surviving spouse retires as an active Kirby Distributor, retirement benefits may be available provided your surviving spouse satisfies the requirements set forth in the Rules which were applicable to you.
NOTE: All death benefits contemplated to be made hereunder shall be subject to legal notice and
proper releases as required under the Ohio Revised Code or other applicable legal authority.
All payments, credits, bonuses and awards under this Program are made only to individuals and only individuals may participate.
In the case of active Kirby Distributors which are corporations or partnerships, one individual from each such Distributorship will be designated the “key individual” and shall be recognized by the Kirby Company for all RTS purposes. Such recognition will be final and conclusive and shall not be subject to any modification, except upon an agreement in writing between the Company and the Distributorship.
A Distributor will not receive any Road to Success payments for recommending his/her spouse to become
a Kirby Distributor.
The Road to Success Program started December 1, 1981. The provision of the Program as amended by these Official Rules are effective January 1, 1991, but are not retroactive. The provisions of the Program, as revised herein, apply to you and all candidates recommended, accepted and who enter into a Kirby Distributor Agreement on or after January 1, 1993.
If you have recommended people who became Distributors prior to January 1, 1993, you may continue to qualify for benefits under the Road to Success Program of 1990, which immediately preceded this Program and outlined herein.
In an amendment dated 5/1/06, if a Factory Distributor, who has purchased a minimum of 360 units in a consecutive 12-month period resigns, he remains under the original recommending Factory Distributor. If the recommending Factory Distributor retires and the inactive Factory Distributor returns to Kirby, the new recommending Factory Distributor can earn RTS PEP on the recommended Factory Distributor, but not bonus credit. If the retiree was to become active again, the retiree will not receive RTS credit.
If in this same instance the inactive Factory Distributor becomes active again and there is no new recommending Factory Distributor, the retiree will once again receive RTS credit until his retirement period ends or the Factory Distributor terminates whichever comes first.
The Company reserves the right, at any time, without the consent of any Distributor or any other person, to amend the Road to Success Program in any respect and/or to terminate the Program in whole or part without liability or further obligation by the Company to the Distributor or Distributorship.
The Company shall have the sole and exclusive right to interpret the provisions of the Program and to determine the rights and status of Distributors and others under the Program including, without limitation of the foregoing, the eligibility of persons to receive payments. Such determination by the Company shall be final and conclusive as to all persons and for all purposes of the Program.
If any attempt is made by a Factory Distributor to deceive or defraud The Kirby Company by manipulation of the RTS rules, the company has the full authority to take the necessary action to reclaim monies that were paid as a result of the deception or fraud.
Nothing contained in these Official Road to Success for Distributor Rules, shall change, amend or modify (or be deemed to change, amend or modify) in any way, any provisions of the Distributor Agreement entered into and by and between the Company and any Distributor. In the event of conflict between the Official Rules and the Distributor Agreement, the provisions of the Distributor Agreement shall govern. In all other instances, the terms and conditions of these Official Rules shall apply in the event of any conflict between the Rules and any other printed material or oral representations or interpretations dealing with the Program.
The Indemnification Section contained in your Distributor Agreement shall apply to any payments made by the Company under the RTS Program, including, but not limited to, death benefits, where such payments are later shown under proper authority to have been made in error. The sections contained in your Distributor Agreement dealing with the assertion of an action, claim, suit or demand, and dealing with applicable law also apply to the RTS Program.
The following questions are provided to help assure your understanding of the operation of the Program. They are provided for interpretive purposes only and do not, in any way, modify the Official Rules of the Program.
Question: What happens when one of two candidates, who left my organization to form a partnership, or to work together in one organization, leaves and forms his/her own Distributorship? Do I then get Road to Success credit for both candidates?
Answer: No.
Question: What happens when a new Distributor resigns or leaves Kirby and later becomes a Kirby Distributor again? Does his/her original recommending Distributor receive credit?
Answer: That depends. If the person you recommend was a previous Distributor and you were the original recommending Distributor, then the PEP payment rate will start at the point at which you left off. You also may receive RTS PEP credit for Distributors who were previously recommended by a Distributor other than yourself, provided that the recommending Distributor purchased less than 360 units in a consecutive 12-month period and you were responsible for their development in the sole opinion of the Company. Should the Company authorize RTS credit in such an instance, the recommending Distributor would receive $10 RTS PEP payments and no credit toward RTS bonus payments for the previously recommended Distributor.
Question: What happens when a Distributorship, which is a partnership, is dissolved to form two separate Distributorships? Does the person remaining in the originally established organization get Road to Success credit and PEP payments for recommending his or her previous partner?
Answer: No.
Question: If I have resigned or left Kirby prior to the time PEP payments are normally made, will I receive PEP payments earned while I was an active Kirby Distributor?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Can I receive bonus credit for a Distributor who has resigned?
Answer: Maybe. If you recommend a Distributor who purchases at least 360 units in a consecutive 12-month period and then resigns their Distributorship, you will continue to receive credit for that Distributor for RTS bonuses. This rule is retroactive to January 1995 and, therefore, includes Distributors you recommended who purchased at least 360 or more units in a 12-month period and resigned their Distributorship anytime after January 1, 1995.
SP7399 – Revised 6/2012