I wrote a post on social media reflecting on my industry, the industry of business training and development, and all the terrible, unethical things that are done by providers in this space.
If someone is charging top dollar for an offer, and there is a strict no cancellation/no refund policy, and they are using language around “commitment” as in, “We want you to be committed to your business, so there’s a no refund policy” etc, etc.
Stay the hell away. Especially if it’s a group program or course, and not one-on-one, individual coaching.
I discussed it on this video.
There was a really fruitful discussion, with some people challenging me on this, with sincerity I believe. But their arguments were not convincing to me. Here’s the original post, so you can read the comments:
Original Facebook post – Reflections on my industry
Please share this with friends and colleagues who have small businesses, or want to. People who do this and succeed are extremely good marketers, and are excellent at playing on sympathies, values, and trauma triggers. Even people who know better, people with a sophisticated sense of selling and marketing, get taken in. I have heard the stories.
I’m curious to hear from you, thoughts, insights, stories, questions.
Also, in case it’s helpful, I wrote a guide called Don’t Buy Now! It describes 11 different high-pressure manipulative sales techniques, so you can avoid getting caught by them. And I also discuss what I consider to be “ethical pricing” in business development.
You can get it here. And yes, please share this page with anyone who needs it:
https://heartofbusiness.com/free-stuff/dontbuynow/
With love,
Mark Silver,
Heart of Business, Inc.
Every act of business can be an act of love.
