Since the inception of the information technology and the technological advancement of the marketing industry, many people are engaging into fraudulent activities. This is because they are able to gain financial gains and advantages to people through easier and faster means.

For this reason, authorities had been trying to suppress the growing trend of various frauds that are currently affecting thousands, if not millions of people.

Basically, fraud is a kind of trickery that is used for the individual’s benefits, mostly on the financial aspect. These kinds of frauds are absolutely punishable by law, though, its implementation and intensity may vary from one place to another.

In Criminal Law

In the context of criminal law, a fraud is absolutely punishable under certain circumstances that will constitute the deception of a certain individual from which personal gain of the fraudulent person is achieved.

Some of the common frauds that are abhorred by the law are:

1. False advertising

This refers to the achievement of some personal gains of the person concerned by give the wrong impression about a particular service, product, or a business. This can be executed by providing deceptive information projected in unreliable forms of advertisements.

2. Identity theft

In the credit card industry, identity theft is the common type of fraud. This is when the identity of the credit card user is stolen for the personal benefit of the person who wants to gain some financial access to the user’s finances.

There are instances that the criminal may use the identity of the credit card user to make some purchases, in which, the victim’s credit card is used. In turn, the victim will receive billing statements containing such purchases that he or she did not personally created.

There are also some cases wherein the identity of the victim is used to create some crimes, in which, after establishing such acts, they contact the person and blackmail him by asking some money in exchange of eliminating any criminal acts that were constituted through his name.

3. Forgery

This is also one type of frauds where the documents are obtained and processed with the purpose of using them to deceive other people or institution.

In this process, the person who ant to deceive other people will obtain documents that are fake, reproduced, replicas, or explicit reproductions of the original material. There are also some documents that may be originally done but the signatures that should have signified the authenticity of the document is forged.

The very concept of this kind of fraud is to modify an object to suit the personal gains of the offender.

4. False billing

This refers to the fraudulent undertaking of charging or creating billing statements to a particular person or an institution. Here, the criminals will extract money from these people, in which, the concerned person will think that it is part of his or her subscription on a certain company.

In this way, people may be deceived that they have been issued some renewal of their subscriptions, for example, but in reality, the true owner of such establishment that issues subscriptions are not aware of it.

5. Insurance claims

These refers to the act of deceiving the insurance provider under the guise of claiming the due claims and benefits.

For instance, there are some people who create “fake deaths” in order to claim the insurance benefits provided by the individual’s insurance provider.

These are just some of the many examples of frauds. All of which are punishable under the law.

Hence, if you think that you have been victimized based on the examples given, it is best to take some actions properly, otherwise, you will be left hanging on the brink of disaster.

Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides fraud prevention resources on this site.

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Tags: ethics, cases, advertising, marketing, concepts

“Never get in the way of a customer who wants to buy something!”

It’s practical advice, don’t you think? After all, if they’re making it easy for you to profit, why slow them down?

Only a fool would do that, or so it seems.

For instance, in the car leasing business, there are some clients who want to have cloth seats, believing them to be cheaper, and perhaps more comfortable than vinyl or leather.

But on many models, having cloth seats actually makes leases much more expensive, because frighteningly few want to buy a used Cadillac with anything other than leather beneath their derrieres.

So, if the expected resale value is less, then the monthly lease payments go up.

Clearly, if the customer is driven by a need to save money, ordering cloth, is outright foolish, but the customer, particularly one waving cash in your face, is always right, isn’t he?

Does the seller have a duty to set him straight, to try to talk him out of his choice?

If he does, might it be risky? Could he lose the sale, entirely?

What, exactly, is the ethical obligation of a salesman when a customer wants to buy the wrong thing?

If he really wants it, can it ever be “wrong?”

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He is headquartered in Glendale, California.

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I had a recent exchange of e-mails with someone who wrote:

“39 dollars for a book that proclaims itself to be a way out of depression and feelings of worthlessness for unemployed people?

Tell me: what does a PsyD know about unemployment and low-self-worth?

This price tag is atrocious.

You are victimizing the unemployed, the societal outsider, and I do not appreciate it.”

After my initial response, he wrote back: “I can’t say I expected any less than what you’ve given… a total dismissal of my opinion. Do you see no injustice in the “Catch 22″ of expensive “ways out” of financial difficulty?”

The gentleman raises a very interesting question. Is there something inherently exploitative about selling a product or a service to individuals who are in a place of great need and few resources?

There is a common expression in marketing: “Don’t try selling boxes to the homeless.” Why? Because they obviously have no money, that’s why they are homeless. Sales need to be geared to a more lucrative market and demographic distribution charts are developed that pinpoint geographic locations, professions, age levels, and ethnic distributions where household incomes are higher and purchasing is more likely.

Where does that leave the homeless, or anyone else who is in a difficult situation where help is needed but money to pay for it is unavailable or severely limited?

There is the government for starters. At all levels, our public agencies exist to provide the help and services citizens need, that is the purpose of paying taxes. In fact, they do provide those services to a greater or lesser extent, depending upon how well developed is that particular sector.

When the services fall short of what is needed, the private sector steps in. Apart from true charity organizations or companies contracted with some level of government, private services require regular income or will shortly vanish from the scene.

If public colleges don’t provide the classes you need, on a schedule convenient to you, you pay to attend a private vocational school that costs thousands of dollars more than a community college but gives you what you need, when you need it.

If the State Consumer Credit office can’t help you with your bills and creditors are driving you crazy, you pay a private credit company to work out some sort of financial survival plan.

If the unemployment office has not been able to help you find work, you may pay a private job coaching service to redo your resume, give you interviewing skills practice, and perform research in your field.

Are these agencies exploiting your predicament or meeting your needs?

If they give you what you paid for, they are providing a service. Obtaining solid vocational skills that lead to a good job, working out a manageable repayment schedule that allows you to live without the hounding of collectors, or transforming your self-presentation to allow successful competition for a good position, are all examples of worthwhile pay-for-results exchanges.

It becomes exploitative when a school takes thousands of dollars, provides training of questionable quality, and leaves you unemployed with huge student loans to repay. It is exploitative when a company takes money to reestablish your credit and fails to follow through, leaving you still battling collectors with even more depleted assets. It is exploitative when an employment-assistance agency charges you hundred (or thousands) of dollars and fails to produce the results they promised.

In the end, it comes down to what we need and whether we are willing to pay for a service we see as better than those publicly funded. It also means that we have a responsibility to ourselves to thoroughly research any company, or group, or author, before we hand over our money, to make sure that the services offered will be useful, that the source will deliver what has been promised, and what recourse we have if premature withdrawal is necessary.

P.S. I cut the price of the book in half, anyway.

Virginia Bola operated a rehabilitation company for 20 years, developing innovative job search techniques for disabled workers, while serving as a Vocational Expert in Administrative, Civil and Workers’ Compensation Courts. Author of an interactive and supportive workbook, The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a monthly ezine, The Worker’s Edge, she can be reached at here.

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Tags: ethical, marketing, unethical, strategies, target

It happened again, just the other day. Someone called, ready to order a product from me–and I talked her out of it. Does that sound crazy to you? Maybe it is, but I think it is a good business practice, and it is the honest and ethical thing to do in some circumstances.

In this case, the product she called about wasn’t right for her. I would rather not make that sale than have a customer who is unhappy with her choice to buy from me. Will she return and buy something else someday? Maybe. And if she does, she knows that I will be looking out for her best interests–not just to make the sale.

Although I don’t want to give the impression that this happens all the time, it has happened before. Sometimes I recommend an alternative product or service, such as suggesting that a class might be more beneficial than a consultation. Other times, simply offering honest answers and information helps the customer decide whether or not a purchase is right for them. I won’t refuse to sell to a customer, but I will always be honest with them.

What reputation do you want to have–that of the person who will sell anything to anyone, or the person who will make an honest effort to best meet the needs of your customers (even if that sometimes means not making the sale today)?

Copyright Cathy Stucker. As the IdeaLady, Cathy Stucker helps authors, entrepreneurs and professionals attract customers and make themselves famous. Get resources such as free articles, online courses, marketing tips and more at Cathy’s Web site

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We’re a chess set online retailer. With the stakes so high in terms of profit – what to do when competitors get more and more nasty? What if they threaten to send the boys round? Publish a little online defamation? Register confusingly similar domain names? Steal photography and other content to use in selling their similar products?

The maturing of the web has allowed hundreds of thousands of opportunities to people across every industry who previously couldn’t afford to get a physical store. And thousands of IT consultants have managed to join the two skills (technical and business) they have to jump into the shark infested waters of online commerce. This example of chess set retailing is real and current. The victim is a successful niche chess set company who suddenly appeared on the web by utilizing SEO skills, techie ability and a love of chess. After a year of trading, one of the chess competition noticed and started with threats and intimidation. But this has happened across many industries previously dominated by other web sites. What’s the best course of action and reaction?
# Flattery

The first thing we feel is pride in the work done. The victimizer has been in chess set retailing for 12 years, we have been active for just one. A fellow retailer has flattered us by recognising a loss of income from our attempts at online marketing of chess sets. Hell, we’re good! – what other industries might we impact? Of course, the reality is that we all build upon the ideas of others. we see an idea and think of some improvement. Inertia then becomes our enemy – continuous improvement is required. So enough with the feeling of being flattered and keep on with the innovation.
# No such thing as bad publicity

Naming the defauding site may have the effect of publicising the business to our detriment. Indeed the unethical web site selling inferior chess sets did refer to us directly, but probably realised that it was just sending people over to us. We want to focus on our business with a long term objective, so need to take action such that we don’t lose focus. This is one knee-jerk reaction that won’t necessarily help with the problem, but neither is ignoring the problem the best course either.
# Losing focus

We seem to be occupying the aggressor somewhat. Well, that’s something too. Whilst he’s focusing his energies on us, he’s distracting himself from his own company. Nike found this years ago. ‘Hold your friends close and your enemies closer’ only goes so far. Nike innovated from the gut – they came up with their own designs that no other ‘competitor watching’ could have inspired. Whilst our chess competitor is sticking pins in our voodoo doll, he can’t innovate on chess set design and better chess suppliers with clarity of mind. More market share for us then.
# Poor business

Our chess retailing aggressor clearly has a poorer business model than us if he has to resort to this kind of behaviour. Why doesn’t he work on his own business and compete in an ethical way rather than the threatening and abusive emails he regularly sends? If he believes we are taking his chess sets market – then why not work on improving his such that customers see a better business? Is this really so difficult? Perhaps he should be working another type of business. Or working for continuous improvement. Harassing the competition in some mafia style suggests a bullying manner that would be better channelled elsewhere.
# Legal action

‘Theft’ of intellectual property rights (chess photography, chess product names, chess product descriptions…)- whether yielding any advantage or not – is just that – theft. The plain fact is that such illegal use of property rights may well confuse customers and lead to the wrong conclusion – that the cheaper chess set product is the same as the original site – what a great find? In the world of chess sets, most families will be truly defrauded as they unknowingly have a defective or inferior product at the expense of our company. They are unlikely to compare the product with another and so may never know the quality chess set they could have had. Sometimes, therefore, legal action is required in order to establish the bounds of unethical behaviour. Action can be threatened against the site hosts and against the aggressor company itself. Often a lawyer’s letter may suffice, but may be seen as ‘bluff’. So real court action may be required to bring the matter to a conclusion. Taking this course of action amidst physical threats is something demanding courage, especially when the chess aggressor’s last name has a distinctly Sicilian ring to it. But the only other option may be to be bullied. As in the school playground, bullies have to be stood up to even when a bloody nose is the result.
# Site warnings

It has to be remembered that bad publicity is still publicity. Mentioning the aggressor may only serve to send potential customers scurrying over to the site to see his side of events, and his chess sets. We did wonder whether to post the emails sent to us on the site – but the use of bad language is so bad that many filters would block our site. We have resorted to posting a notice of inferior chess set copies being available with language that communicates our ethical stance on such matters. Each overlapping product has a notice attached. This is by no means ideal – but it’s better than nothing. (Suggestions welcome…)
The new world is here. Online retailing and competition is a fact of life. Competition is good for consumers and good for business improvement. But as in the schoolground and in the High Street/Mall there are aggressive unethical bullies online too. Actions can be taken to offset the aggression, evasive tactics can be used with some success, but the end game may involve taking hooligans to the law to stop the murky activities affecting the sanity of our lives and helping us have societies with admirable qualities we all look up to.

Author: Baron Turner of ChessBaron UK, USA, France, Canada. You can check his site here.

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Tags: ethical, marketing, unethical, strategies, target

More than likely you have seen them cropping up all over the internet: work from home schemes promising participants vast sums of money for selling a product, stuffing envelopments, clicking ads, making phone calls, etc. The plans are as varied as they are innovative. Unfortunately, many are scams meant to extract cash from your wallet and certain to leave you feeling miserable and stupid. So, just how can you make sure that a work from home plan is legitimate? By continuing to read on for some suggestions to help you avoid being cheated.

Better Business Bureau – Check with your local Better Business Bureau {BBB} to determine whether the company has had any complaints levied against it. If it is an out of state concern, check with the BBB in the area [state] where the company is based.

State Attorney General’s Office — Every state has an Office of the Attorney General and in most cases it is this office that is tasked with investigating complaints against companies. Some states allocate this responsibility to their Bureau of Consumer Affairs agency or similar department.

Online Forums, Blogs, etc. — Google a search on the internet for the company’s name and narrow the results further by including negative words such as complaint, scam, judgment, etc. If a company is up to no good, likely that information has been published somewhere. Caution: too much praise about a company could be a company “plant” placed online to create a positive spin about their operation. Conversely, bad news could be a single disgruntled person. Get as much additional and independent information before making a determination whether something you read online is actually true.

Personal Investment — If you have to pay for the product, i.e. to receive a list of companies providing information work information, etc. this should be a warning flag to you. Any outlay of cash on your part should raise some concern.

MLM — Some work at home businesses are nothing more than multi level marketing [MLM] schemes. This means you make a percentage of the sales of people you bring in to the business below you. Not all MLM schemes are illegal…unethical may be another matter!

In all, exercise extreme caution before agreeing to any work from home plan. If a work from home plan sounds too good to be true, than likely it is false. Ask hard questions and do not sign a contract before letting a legal professional [of your choice] review the plan.

Copyright 2005 — Matthew Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on a variety of topics including: advocacy, automobiles, aviation, business, Christian themes, family, news, product reviews, travel, writing, and more. Samples from his portfolio are available right online.

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Tags: ethical, challenges, business, marketing, responsibilities

Something happened to me this week that really took me by surprise but made me stop and think. An online networking acquaintance of mine “borrowed” an article I had written and posted it on her blog as her own. Needless to say, I was shocked to see my article on her site with no credit given to me, and I felt violated, not unlike how I felt when my home was robbed many years ago. To top it off, her business is directly competitive with mine, so I felt a double “slap in the face”. I’m certain that I was not meant to see that blog, but alas, the online community is really not as vast as it appears to be!

I feel compelled to write about this because I have a feeling my situation is all too common. Articles are a dime-a-dozen on the net, and what’s stopping anyone from taking something they did not write and posting it on their site or blog as their own? Nothing! Nothing but integrity.

Those of us who own our own businesses work hard to promote them and the competition is fierce. Writing does not come easily to everyone, and those of us to do write do so with effort and time invested. So please, if you see something that you love and you want to use it, please, please ask for permission. Very often, writers are willing to allow their work to be used if proper credit is given. Just ask. Or better yet, write your own article and allow others to read and re-print (with permission, of course!).

About the author:

Ellen Gaver lives on the Central Coast of California with her husband and their teenage son. Ellen is the founder of Slo County Moms, an organization dedicated to promoting health and wellness through education, and to mentoring men and women who desire to work from home. Committed to family balance and a healthy lifestyle, Ellen is passionate and helping others create the life they’ve imagined. You can check her site.

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Tags: ethics, internet, marketing, privacy, copyright

Sales training and marketing tips based on reality selling becomes almost obselete when you enter the world of online marketing and selling. The average marketing person stands amazed at the millions of advertisments, listings, promises of success and money.

This is something every online marketeer will experience. Be careful of the undercurrents of being drawn in to such excitement, if you do not keep your wits about you. I am not going to scare you away. but I do want you to listen. This can prevent you losing a lot of money because the REST of the package seems geniune.

After spending lots of time and money, seeing some results but not having the time or patience that is needed to drive a proper marketing project for business or product, one tends to turn to the one that says: I am a millionnaire and I will show you the shortcuts to get there.

Very easy writing, very clever words, lots of things that make sense. Nothing wrong with that.
I am even able to identify that it is similar to doing magic.

You visualize, you use tools, you get manifestation into reality. Watching the results are really exciting, when you see that this different strategy makes your hard work visible to the millions using search engines.

Tempted further, you make use of the massmailing program underwritten by such an advertising guru. They too seem very geniune. Speaking of legal opt in e-mails etc.

And you make the mistake to sit back and relax. And Believe. Nothing wrong with that either, except never to let your guard down. You are afterall a “protege” of this big, sucessful man with his empire.

Let your alarmbells go off when the phone rings. You had to submit your telephone information when you made the purchase for the book, or when you subscribed to the program.

Listen, LISTEN when that call comes. At first your heart races, when you are told that this is the time to act NOW. Not tomorrow, not waiting for the hardcopy document. Careful, clever questions are asked about your budget, how much money you would have available on your cards, whether they via/mastercard. You are smoothly being told that you will be assisted by a professional to drive your business to ultimate sucess. Brilliant initial sales pitch.

The executive will be insistant. Grab your creditcard and give out the information over the phone! Along with the little 3 digit key at the back. Yes, now over the phone! And to agree to give away thousands of the big US dollar because unless you act NOW, this chance will be gone forever!

DO NOT do that. Ever. This is when your alarmbells should be ringing so loud, that you make an excuse. You play for time. You get a reprieve for delay from the executive of this marketing giant.

This is the time surf the Web and use the right keywords. They are : Scam + the Company name.

Dear marketeer, so eager and so keen, be prepared for the shock when you see tens, even hundreds of listings of people who have been caught. Because nine out of ten times, THAT phone call IS a scam.

You can report it, you can mail the relevant company and ask for an explanation. Chances are that you will get an automated reply telling you that they will come back in 24 hours. Which they do not.

Suddenly all the companies that are so heavily promoted by the guru, this saviour of online advertising and marketing, send out urgent emails that they not in any way associated with this company. They agree that you should NEVER give out this information on the phone!

Your emails from the mother company will remain unanswered. The phone number will be different.

You came away from a huge scam. Scared out of your wits perhaps, but intact. Never, NEVER work with a company that calls and just asks for your credit details over the phone. Do not think that just because the owner shows off his new car, and pictures with his boat and throws around huge names, that they are 100% geniune.

For if you do, you are easy prey to scam.

The emails to you will stop after your queries, no more advertising emails sent to you. And no, even if you insist, you will not even get a remote explanation of why they need to do this.

I have been a sales and marketing manager for many years. I am not blind to opportunity and chances to grow. I am not adverse to new strategy. I give motivational talks to business people and it works. The reason for this warning is clear. If they can ALMOST get me, would they succeed in taking your money?

Listen to your instinct. ASK for more detail, whether by fax or email. Request references.

Search the internet and check if maybe, just maybe this is a scam.

Just a word of warning.

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From the middle of last century until today we have become the “throw away society”. Buzz words like “disposable” and “one-use” have been commonplace. Where we used to “make do and mend” in the war years we now simply replace items that are no longer functioning or are no longer wanted. Now this is great if we have an everlasting supply of clean energy to make replacement goods and bottomless land fill sites. But we have neither.

In poorer countries this problem is negligible as most spending goes on food and essential items, leaving very little to be thrown away. More affluent societies, however, are at last beginning to wake up to the fact that the throw away lifestyle is not sustainable.

How did we get here? Several factors have conspired to bring about our disposable disposition. The main one is affluence. As western societies became richer, the demand for goods rose. Also, our salaries rose. Manufacturing needed to be faster at pumping out goods. Product design and work practices needed to be changed to accommodate increased volumes and in an affluent society it is hard to recruit and maintain the staff needed to keep these places going. As a result, the factories were located in poorer states at increasing distances from the end user. Electrical and mechanical goods were made with ever fewer serviceable parts to the point where some goods these days are totally sealed and repair is just not possible.

In days gone by a factory would produce finish goods and do a good side business in supplying parts to customers or repair shops. In affluent countries those days are gone taking with them the watch repairer, the radio (and tv) repair man, the cobbler etc etc. Even replacing the battery in an electric wrist watch is often virtually impossible.

Many authorities around the world are now trying to put the brakes on this trend and even trying to reverse it. They are asking for products to be designed to allow repair and parts replacement. In some areas – take Europe for example – they are introducing legislation that will force companies to take back (or at least take responsibility for) goods at the end of their life.

I am firmly of the opinion that, as this sentiment takes hold – and surely it will, we will be slowly warped back to the old days of repair shops and an increasing trade in spare parts. I am also convinced that this mini revolution is nearly upon us.

So have a walk down your local high street or shopping centre because it may look a little different in coming years with cobblers, watch menders and tv repair shops making a come back.

Of course, there have been some companies that bucked the throw away trend. Insect-o-Cutor have always provided spare parts for their fly killer machines. An Insectocutor fly killer can often go many years without needing any special servicing (they are guaranteed for 5 years in any case). If, however, they do need a spare part, then these are readily available from Arkay Hygiene at www.eeeee.co.uk. This availability is partly explains why it is common to see Insect-o-Cutor products working after 20 or even 30 years. In fact some Insect-o-Cutor fly killers from the 1960′s are still around and doing and excellent job.

Replacement parts for Insectocutor fly killers – such as the lamp cover for the F1 Fly Killer Model – can be purchased at this site.

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Tags: ethics, sales, marketing, training, article

To get a new client, we might be inclined to make concessions no matter what the cost: offer a second or extra long sample session; reduce fees; set session times we don’t want to work. We might leap at any opportunity before looking at the possible return on investment of time. These situations end up being lessons learned, sometimes painful ones.

Before you get caught in another good lesson, set up your business with strong boundaries. They create a friendly and ethical structure that allows others to find their place with you. They speak volumes about your professionalism and keep both you and your clients on track.

Want only as much for your clients as they want for themselves.

If you find yourself feeling frustrated about your client’s results, you are wanting too much for your client. Challenge them and let go of the outcome. If you can’t let go of the outcome, you may need to let go of the client.

If this is happening often, consider setting criteria for your prospective clients. In my own business as a mentor coach, to avoid getting started with someone who isn’t ready to make progress, I pre-qualify possible clients by asking:

“Are you committed to building a successful coaching practice and ready to invest your resources (time, energy and money) to making this happen now?” I may even go further to inquire about how much time they will dedicate and how many months of coaching they will budget.

I’ve found this puts clients on notice that the success of the coaching is largely up to them. It also raises the perceived value of my coaching services because they see that I don’t take on just anyone.

Stand firmly by your chosen fees.

Set fees that will pay you well for the time it takes to market to, coach and manage your clients. If you discount your services because a prospective client won’t afford your fees, in essence you’ve discounted the value of your services. So will your new client. The coaching won’t be as effective because they will be depending on you to take on some of the burden of their financial limitations. This forces you both out of the Co-creative Relationship.

Consider developing group coaching at half price for individuals on a tighter budget. This way you offer them something of value without taking on their financial problems as your own. Once your practice is well developed you can have a client or two on partial scholarship where they pay at a reduced rate for a limited time, say two – three months. Then the fee goes up to your full rate. You’ll want to be sure they’ll make a strong commitment to doing their own work. And never call it a discount.

Create and hold time boundaries.

If your stated session time is an hour, do your best to keep that boundary. When answering inquiries, let the caller know you are available for a specified amount of time. These are courtesies that also keep you on track.

I enjoy my work and have often forgotten to hold time boundaries. I’m learning to value my time and energy in new ways. If I do spend extra time with a client, I note it by saying: “I’d like to gift you ten extra minutes today.” This effects my client two ways: one, they understand I’ve loosened the time boundary, and two, they perceive additional value.

When someone says “Jump!” look before you leap.

When asked to do something – take on a role, task or project – give yourself time to thoroughly review how well it:

- Fits your interests.

- Aligns with your business purpose and niche.

- Provides a good return for your investment of time.

Say no, unless it will pay off for you. This applies to non-business opportunities as well. If you’re overcommitted, you’ll not be able to dedicate enough time and energy to satisfy any of your priorities, especially your business goals.

Turn down work that isn’t ideal. If clients are not a good fit refer them to another coach that fits the client’s interest, values or price range better. It will make room for the right opportunities and your ideal clients.

Enjoy the structure and professionalism these boundaries bring to your business. In the next edition we’ll discuss coaching ethics, another set of important boundaries.

Rhonda Hess mentors professional life coaches to create financially successful businesses. With the guidance of her expertise in niche marketing, Rhonda’s clients create compelling programs to manifest their unique visions. Rhonda has trained and certified over 200 coaches through Coach Training Alliance. She co-authored the ecourse, the Coach Training Accelerator, a complete manual for coaches.

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Just a few minutes ago I was debating what to write about this week — something interesting, perhaps, or maybe it was about time to give some credit to snails, I thought. Then, by some random stroke of luck, fate or writer’s lightning (a term I created just now), I received a phone call from a credit card company…

“We are all ready to complete your application,” the woman told me. “We just need to ask you a couple more questions.”

In theory this makes a lot of sense. I mean, hey — when someone applies for a credit card, it’s only logical that questions would follow. It’s like that snail I was going to compliment earlier, whereas I must give credit when — and only when — credit is due. But this theory should not apply to me, as I have not applied for a credit card within the past couple of years, not even to get a free mug or basketball with my favorite baseball team imprinted on it…

“I didn’t apply for a credit card,” I told the woman.

And this was true, of course, because who I am to lie to a person on the other end of the phone without being a politician?

“Well, you were recommended to us,” she told me.

Now, this is a nice gesture as well. I am normally honored when people recommend me for something, even when I am recommended to give up my place in line, or to give up my seat on the bus. But in this case I needed more information…

“Who recommended me?” I asked.

It was a question so succinctly worded that it could only produce an accurate and succinct answer…

“Ummm,” she said. “Well, we thought you would be a good fit.”

I can understand being a good fit for a college, a job or even a sweatshirt. But what exactly does it mean to be a good fit for a credit card? The fact that I have the desire to buy things and often must act upon those desires in order to live? I bring up this whole debacle in the column not only out of lack of other subjects to address, sans the snails, but more so because I think credit card companies need to learn from the phone call I just discussed, in the following three ways:

1. Never tell someone he or she is a good fit unless the person tries on the credit card beforehand, at which point the card is probably so stretched out that it no longer works. But then again, neither does this whole telemarketing plan regardless.

2. If you tell a person he or she was recommended by someone, make up a name of a person who served as the recommendation-giver. In times of creative lapses, use the name “Jason A. Creditcard.” This may seem incredibly fake, but the level of fakeness will never be surpassed by the false level of sincerity involved in this phone call.

3. Rather than telling a person that he or she has applied for a card but apparently didn’t realize it, use a snappy line such as “We’re trying to give you credit, dude!” This takes away from the professionalism of the phone call, but on the flip side, everyone likes to be called “dude.” And some of us even like credit.

Following these tips will probably destroy the purpose of marketing ploys, but then again, I guess that could be the point…

But I digress.

Greg Gagliardi is a teacher and writer. His stream-of-consciousness weekly humor column, “Progressive Revelations,” has been ongoing since 1998.

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Tags: ethics, marketing, research, strategy, communications

When you decide to undertake a new business or internet enterprise or if you already have a business be prepared to deliver the goods. That is over deliver. If you want to stand out amongst the countless mediocre businesses that are out there, give of yourself and share all the resources you have at your disposal. This is not only a good philosophy to adopt, but it is mandatory.

There is way too much competition and too many alternatives available in todays’ marketplace to offer some run of the mill product or service and expect people to be satisfied. Others may get away with it, but that doesn’t make it alright to perpetuate this practice. Make it your mission to blow your customers away with the value you offer. You may fear this will exhaust you or overwhelm you, but I can assure you the opposite is true.

Outside forces tend to come into play when they are truly necessary. If your mission is to help others and offer a business, service, or program that is of value it will get noticed, and as such others will rally behind this system and actually contribute to and multiply your efforts. You will find this reaction energizes you and inspires you to offer even more value. Also the concerted effort behind this cause will gain momentum.

So few people actually make themselves available to spend the time assisting their newly recruited clients or customers and offering them the assurance and support they need. By simply going the extra steps and taking the time to answer questions, offer training, return phone calls, return emails, and show your concern; you are fostering more trust and a stronger bond that will pay off in the long run. You’re establishing long term relationships and ties that carry on.

Learn a lesson from the top businesses or noted personalities who are among us today. What are the commonalities? What qualities do they share? Above all they are givers. They blow people away. Disney World does this, Walmart does this, McDonald’s does this and even Brittany Spears. All in their own way, they offer something and they don’t hold back. Fan or not, this is undeniable. Walmart has teams of marketing experts seeking out name brand goods to offer at lower prices. Disney always surprises us with the latest in animation and technology. And yes, Ms. Spears may take a detour or two, but she ultimately shares her talent and is rewarded because of that.

If this sounds foreign to you or like unnecessary baloney, I would encourage you to reexamine your intent and your expectations for success. A customer can always buy from someone else or a new client can always seek a service elsewhere. Don’t let them. Don’t be concerned with “the how” as much as the effort. If you put forth more effort, even more than you think you possess, you will most assuredly enjoy the rewards, and in most cases more than you can gauge by a bank account.

If this has been helpful and you’d like to learn more Go Here for more marketing tips.

James Broadfoot is an entrepreneur, web publisher and online marketing specialist. Take a Look Here to see what else he’s up to.

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Tags: marketing, ethics, sales, ethical, deliver

Okay. Let’s say you just closed the killer deal of the decade. You’re a real estate agent and times have been tough. You waited long for this latest commission sale. Just before the house closes, you take one last walk through with the previous owner who tells you the toilet overflowed last week and flooded the bathroom for over three hours. What would you do?

Or, you’re a new salesperson for a consumer electronics store with a limited knowledge of the items on sale in your department. You work on commission and so far you haven’t made any sales. Finally, a customer approaches you about a very expensive, big ticket item. He asks you if the item has a certain feature and that it is a deal breaker. You think that it must and answer yes. As he walks to the cashier, you find out that that particular model does not have the customer’s desired feature. What will you do?

In this day and age of situational ethics, it is easy to justify telling small mistruths. But, when the home buyer finds out he has dry rot underneath his upstairs bathroom or the customer at the electronics store finds out that the big ticket item does not have the deal breaker feature, what will he think of your company and what will he think of you? What will your supervisor think of you?

Moral excellence is your best life exemplified. You become the best you when telling the truth is more important than making a sale. When you tell the truth clients will respect you and trust you. When you start telling little white lies to get ahead, you’re bound to find yourself without a future.

Eric Coggins — Is life all you want it to be? Are you living the way you want? Do you need a little encouragement to get through the day? Find articles and stories that will pick up your spirits at http://www.thebestyou.org/ Do you operate a business in Southern California? You can find low cost adspace at this site

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Tags: sales, marketing, ethics, moral, customers

Recently, I observed two businessmen meeting for breakfast at a local restaurant. Before entering, one of them decided to purchase a newspaper from the vending machine. He deposited his $.50, removed a paper and asked if the other gentleman wanted a paper? The other businessman said “Sure.” So without closing the door or adding any additional coins, the first businessman took a second unpaid paper for his friend.

After this exchange, I took $.50 from my wallet and went to the vending machine, deposited the coins, opened and then closed the door without taking a paper. Then I took another $.50, deposited the money and walked away with just one paper. As I walked into the restaurant, one of the business men held the door, but could not look me in the eye. I wonder why?

What I did not know was that in the parking lot was the individual that I was scheduled to meet. He came as a referral from an existing client. Shortly after I had entered the restaurant, he followed and told me that he had observed what had just happened. Because he witnessed the demonstration of my ethics, his next question to me was “When do we start?”

Integrity is part of your sales ethics, business ethics or values and should be clearly communicated to all your employees, customers, shareholders and stakeholders. Within the strategic business growth action plan, this is called a values statement.

Probably one of the best definitions of integrity is doing the right thing when no one else is looking. Over the years, I have amended this to include the following phrase “and without knowingly receiving a benefit from said actions.” Your actions then become truly authentic.

Many times in business, the winks and the nods take over. Behaviors such as demonstrated by the two businessmen become common place. These behaviors are justified by rationalization, Well, everyone else does it. Then business owners begin to wonder why their employees lack poor work ethics or why productivity is declining?

Keeping integrity alive and well in any organization is a daunting task. Years of conditioning have allowed these unethical behaviors from taking pencils to not paying for newspapers to become the guiding beacons.

One of the easiest actions for any company to take is to begin to build a high performance and ethical culture is to eliminate all gossiping. By taking such a direct action will not only improve productivity, but more importantly will demonstrate that the executive team truly believes in the organization’s core values.

Sales Coaching Tip: Take action by creating a Values Statement within your strategic growth action plan if you do not have one. If you have one, revisit and ask yourself, are you consistently demonstrating this core values? Share these non-negotiable behaviors with your employees, customers and stakeholders. The results may truly be surprising.

Take this free sales skills assessment to help you increase sales.

Is your business facing inconsistent or insufficient cash flow, lackluster sales to poor productivity? Maybe some exercise at the sales coaching training gym will get you to where you want to go?

Leanne Hoagland-Smith helps small business owners to C Level executives from Chicago to Indianapolis to worldwide who are truly tired of struggling to unlock the results that they want.

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Tags: sales, marketing, ethics, market, ethical

At 7:00 a.m. in a perfect world, there wouldn’t be a criminal coming to an automotive dealership, wandering the showroom while waiting for his car to be serviced, and while there, taking a credit application and several copies of drivers’ licenses that were left on a salesperson’s desk the night before.

Unfortunately, this major safeguards rule violation and others can happen at any time at any dealership unless there’s an enforced process of adhering to finance and insurance compliance laws.

Some dealerships use the threat of termination to force employees to comply. This approach is effective on the surface, but doesn’t truly make the employee care about protecting the dealership.

Unintentional mistakes can happen during hectic days. For example:

* A salesperson leaves the permission-to-drive slip in the car after a customer’s demo drive.

* A sales manager pulls the credit of a “phoned-in” co-signer.

* With several deals waiting, an F&I manager has a customer sign a blank menu “”in the interest of time”".

But in a government investigation, offering busy-day excuse for such mistakes is like hiding behind a skinny lamppost to avoid machine-gun fire.

The way to bulletproof your dealership and potentially save millions of dollars in lawsuit payouts is to comply with every rule, regulation, policy and procedure.

This is attainable if all dealership personnel are committed to creating and maintaining a culture of compliance. This starts with building habits.

The first step is to totally secure all personal and private information in the finance or sales office with locked doors and file boxes. Identify who will control that information and designate them in your information security plan. Every employee should be aware of the designated managers, and sign an acknowledgment.

Maintain a protected central location for copies of driver’s licenses, deals in the works or any information the sales staff will need to access on a daily basis. Set up a procedure that defines the use of this information. Impress upon the staff that this is the system. Their daily routine will conform accordingly.

Stored deals from previous years and dead deals need to be in locked file cabinets at all times, with only the people designated in your information security plan having access. Sales people will soon realize that only an authorized manager can look up an old deal.

Teamwork is important to a culture of compliance.

Make sure every employee hears you say “we” are protected because of these procedures. And stress this: “We’re a team in every aspect of this dealership, including doing things right.”

That fosters sales people’s respect and reinforces their desire to help keep the dealership compliant.

The goal is compliance as a natural way of doing business.

Take personal responsibility if you catch a violation.

Sit down with the offender and say, “We messed up, I’m counting on you to not let this happen to us again.”

Explain that to protect “our dealership” is why, for example, the employee must fill out a permission-to-drive slip for a dealer plate. Say: “Don’t let the customer leave it in the car next time; it compromises their personal information.”

Because of gained respect for the F&I department, sales managers will enforce 100% turnover to F&I, knowing customers’ personal information is secure.

In turn, the F&I department will help the sales department hold more front end gross.

Good habits developed in compliance will pass over to all areas of operation, such as menu selling.

The F&I manager will give a properly presented menu with all optional products fully explained and disclosed for every delivery every time, no matter how busy the day gets.

In a culture of compliance, the F&I manager will happily get used to making more money and enjoying higher customer satisfaction scores.

Robert W. Linkonis Sr.

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Tags: law, ethics, article, business, marketing

“With over ten years behind me since I walked into Federal Prison, I can clearly see the effects of the choices we make. We can wander in the illusion of life and think that we have eluded the consequences of our choices, but those consequences are inescapable. Whether in our personal life or in business, the choices we make on a daily basis will always have a consequence.

Don’t mistake, however, the word – consequence. Consequence doesn’t carry with it an emotional outcome of good or bad. Consequence is just the outcome. Whether it is good or bad depends on the choice made and how the recipient feels about the consequence. Let me give you an example from a perspective that looks back over some time.

The day I walked through those prison doors was clearly one of the worst days of my life. I can’t begin to describe how low, unworthy, and valueless I felt as I took on my new identity. I went from being what some folks would describe as “somebody” to being what most would call a “nobody.” I was effectively the lowest of low in our society. Yet, looking back over my life since then, I found that this was one of the most valuable experiences of my life. Not only did I learn many valuable lessons that have been life changing, I’ve also found that sharing these lessons have been beneficial to others.

One of the greatest gifts we can give to others is to help them along their journey. Afterall we are souls having a human experience.

The following is my journal from the first day after my admission into Federal Prison. Perhaps the insight will help others. Read it and see where it takes you.

October 3, 1995.

I’ve been here less than 24 hours and understand that I will have time for reflection. I also now appreciate a good mattress! Sleeping on a 4-inch thick plastic mattress stretched across metal bars is not very comfortable. Should I expect more? This is prison.

As a new inmate there is nothing to do. I need to concern myself with something, but what — I have no idea. For now, I’m writing to my children. My first letter from prison, and I feel sad. I know will be amazing how much they will grow during my absence. It’s clear to me, that no amount of money can replace the loss that I feel right now.

It’s been less than 24 hours and I have never had so much time to do what I want and the lack of freedom to do it. What I want is what I can’t have.

It’s 9:10 p.m. My cellmate, Buck, and I have just had an interesting conversation. It took some time for Buck to ask me what I was in for. Still being concerned about self-preservation, I told him I was a thief. He asked me what I stole? I said, “money.” He asked, “how much?” And a sternly as I could muster a response, I responded, “Is it really important how much?”" We both seemed to understand that we were here, for reasons beyond what appeared on the surface. The amount was irrelevant. What was significant was what we did with the time we were given.

As we experience life daily, know that we are all more than what we seem and that each experience that we encounter in life has a purpose and meaning. We may not know at the moment what the meaning is or what value it brings. Make no mistake, meaning is there, we just have to look deep to find it.

As you read these articles, which include Lessons from Prison, you may find that you want to know more. Two specific results, which came from this experience, are the establishment of the Choices Foundation, a non-profit organization and a book that will be published in the late spring of 2007 – Success Beyond Illusion. The Choices Foundation funds educational scholarships for underprivileged youth and speaking to youth in High Schools, Churches and Universities about the effects of the Choices we make. If you would like to schedule a presentation for your organization, contact Chuck Gallagher here.

Whether the choice you make deals with your spouse, your family, business associates or people seemingly unknown to you, you do have an impact and your choices do have a consequence. In today’s society we seem bombarded with the effects of ethical choices and are reminded that bad choices = negative consequences. For information on how this message can be shared with your group go to this site.

Chuck Gallagher is a successful sales executive, business entrepreneur, and professional speaker with humble beginnings: he was raised by a single parent in the projects. He has led a $25 million sales region with 100 sales representatives and started his own training business with projects in 30 states. Gallagher currently helps corporate employees realize the ramifications of their ethical choices. Through his own choices, Chuck learned this lesson the hard way.

In the middle of a rising career, Gallagher lost everything because he made some bad choices. He has since rebuilt his career and his life back to immense success. With more vulnerability than the average keynoter, Gallagher shares with his audiences his life journey, the consequences of his bad choices, and how life gives you second chances when you make the right choices.

For information on booking Chuck Gallagher as a speaker for your event or conference go to his site.

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Tags: making, decision, ethical, marketing, moral