Individual expressed need for telemarketing services - We waived setup because we were familiar with the style of campaign - We spent 4 hours setting up the calling - We spent 4 hours coaching the company owner on making calls themselves in conjunction with our services - We gave individual (Kristina will be referred to as individual as she is the only employee of the company) the strongest sales tool in their arsenal - We helped customer define their edge in the market place - We helped with logistical setup for back end lead management and delivery - We developed sales strategy and scripting with a formal rebuttal guide - We offered the use of a pre-existing lead generation site to help them look more reputable and established as their website was a liability in the sales cycle but they could not afford better at the time - We offered coaching on lead development so individual did not have to purchase leads from other services and resell them as their own - We did all of this without payment as individual stated they were waiting for a business loan and promised payment a few days into calling - We trusted this individual and moved forward because we felt our services would truly help this person develop their business and succeed, we sometimes do this for very small start ups (somewhat of goodwill). When the day came for payment to be delivered - it wasnt - individual responded check was in the mail. Check came three days after expected (no problem) as my asst was on the way to the bank we received an email warning us to not cash the check, we inquired as to what was the matter, individual stated money wasn't in the account, also stated they wrote check from wrong account and would send from proper account in "a few days" we responded no problem. 1 Hour later individual says "ok no problem sorry go ahead and cash it I moved money over". We then send asst back to bank and deposit. - Individuals ex-husband starts calling us making demands that were not discussed - without warning - we deal with it and work with them to get them what they need. Kristina maintains that everything is going fine "I love it, you guys are great, I am so lucky to have found you, you're all a wealth of knowledge" also individual asked us to partner with them about 15 times in the past week - Calling continues for four days. After the forth day of calling our bank calls and informs us that the check had a stop payment placed on it. We call individual, they state they had made some banking mistakes and the proper check was in the mail and would like us to continue - Well here is where the buck stopped. She didnt inform us as to stopping the payment on the check and was obviously trying to extend this process of waiting to enable her free calling to jump start her company as just a few closed deals, which may have come in 3 more days of calling, would bring in a considerable amount of income immediately under the pricing structure and over head. We then confronted the issue head on. All of a sudden individual started responding with concern over a privacy policy (which was accidentally not sent in the account setup) We addressed the issue and sent a copy to them immediately.individual started dodging phone calls as per our status... It really didnt make sense at all. We had gone above and beyond with this person in an effort to help them and work with them on budgeting and establishing them. After finally getting ahold of this individual it was mutually agreed upon that we would not work together and we asked for billing for our 15 hours of time served (that was a bargain considering all of the knowledge we transferred to this person) in an agreed upon amount. They said no problem they would send it out. That was two weeks ago when individual promised to mail out the amount to cover our time spent with her. Today we were informed that they would send us a check for $12 to cover the returned check fee. Yet another check promised to be sent. This individual is obviously looking for someone to do the hard work of making the first few sales for their business for free to help them begin producing revenue and they are using very sneaky methods of making this happen instead of good old fashioned hard work. Lesson Learned - Whether we are familiar with the campaign, trust the individual / company, or look forward to helping a new business form... Our company policy will be upheld in the future and no services will be delivered without payment in house before hand - This individual received information that potentially is worth thousands and in the end it cost us $12 and 15 hours of time. Good Luck Kristina you will need it.
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