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I would not want to be a Realtor. Not because I don’t respect the profession, but because I don’t like to work that hard. I’d be preaching to the choir if I described in detail everything involved in what you do for a living, but there is one aspect of your business that I do want to talk about – selling yourself. In my mind, it’s the hardest part of your job and one that takes the greatest amount of energy.
A major part of any salesperson’s job is getting his or her name in front as many people as possible. It takes creativity to find ways to get through people’s “someone is trying to sell me something” filter. Some Realtors are better at it than others, and sometimes it comes down to being in the right place at the right time.
Many times successful promotions involve working with people you don’t know or have never done business with. This is not only unsettling, but it can also be costly.
I received a letter from member the other day that described a situation that he (or she) would like me to share with others. I’m not going to disclose the people involved, but anyone interested in finding out more may contact me at geoff@ecaor.com. For the sake of the story, I’ll refer to the Realtor as “Bill.”
Bill connected with someone we will call “Pam” who represented herself as the general manager of a local hotel/motel, the “ECAR Inn.” Pam met with Bill at the ECAR Inn and presented him with a promotional opportunity to advertise on the hotel’s keycard holders – the folders the hotel gives to its guests with the keys in it. Bill agreed and paid $3,000 for the advertising - $1,500 when the order was placed and $1,500 when the proof was approved.
The proof came in within a week, and delivery was to be made the following month. When the product didn’t arrive as promised Bill called and was told there were complications. So things continued to drag on. After six months the keycards still have not arrived and Bill has not been able to get a satisfactory resolution.
As it turns out, Pam misrepresented herself when she said she was the ECAR Inn general manager. The actual manager only met Pam when she presented the promotion to him. The people involved in the production of the piece were available on occasion, but eventually their tone became one of threats and intimidation.
Whatever the outcome may be, Bill feels like the whole thing was a scam. He paid good money for an opportunity he believed would put him in front of many thousands of visitors to our area. $3,000 doesn’t seem like a lot to get results like that, but it’s a lot of money when you end up with nothing!
As Bill continued to look for answers, he noticed a couple of things that may help you avoid a similar experience:
- In the initial correspondence with Pam, she said not to call the ECAR Inn office because “the employees would not be able to help him.” She only wanted to communicate by email.
- The agreement did not include a product delivery date. This has made it difficult to claim that there was a breach of contract for non-delivery.
- The ECAR Inn was not a party to the agreement, so there is nothing that compels the hotel to actually use the holders. As it turns out, the ECAR Inn is not going to use the holders – although seemingly they were going to originally, So even if Bill gets the product, they aren’t going to do him any good.
While it may be easy to spot a scam after the fact, it’s not always easy to know who is offering a legitimate opportunity and who isn’t. Here are other suggestions that may help:
- Get references when working with a new company or individual, especially if you have to pay money up front.
- Be skeptical of individuals who encourage you to move quickly so as not to lose the opportunity being offered.
- Talk to someone else about the idea, someone who does not have a stake in the deal.
- Step back and consider the worst-case scenarios. Be sure that you do everything possible to minimize the potential for problems.
Maybe you’ve had an experience similar to Bill’s. If you want to publicly share information, I would only say that you may want to avoid divulging the people or companies involved. I’m not an attorney, but it’s one thing to know something about someone else and it’s another thing to say something about someone else publically no matter how true it might turn out to be.
You’ll notice I never have mentioned my Dad’s name. By the way, he spent his whole life in sales. Maybe that’s why I hide behind a computer.
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