Here is an account of my experience with Human Channel Marketing while exploring details of an ad they posted on Chicago Craigslist. Below is the ad as copied and pasted as it appeared in Craigslist. Complaints asks that you do not include any e-mail references, so I cut out the identifying portion of their contact e-mail info. The main body of the original post remains pretty much unchanged from how it was posted, less the obvious identifying characteristics of the posting number, e-mail address, etc.:
Comcast Sales Reps wanted $350 per deal (Schaumburg)
Date: 02-14,10:02AM CST
Reply to: [Errors when replying to ads? ]
We are seeking sales representatives to introduce residential customers to the new Xfinity product. We are working in the Northwest and the West suburbs of Chicago. Our reps on average bring in $1000 per week and our top producers bring in $3000 per week. We are seeking highly motivated and ambitious individuals that want to grow within a rapidly expanding company.
What We Provide:
-Exclusive Territory and Leads
-Personalized Training
-Positive Work Environment
-Cash Bonuses $
-Advancement Opportunity
What You Provide:
-Reliable Transportation
-Outgoing Personality
-Entrepreneurial Spirit
-Positive Attitude
This position involves in-person sales to residents in the Chicago-land area. Our client deems this the best possible way to acquire and retain new customers. Compensation for this position is on a pay for performance basis. Our company believes to reward those who work hard and promote only from within our company.
Please call the hiring manager 847.579.9539 or email your resum for faster consideration @humanchannelmarketing.com
Location: Schaumburg
Compensation: Commission and bonuses.
Seeing this ad, I thought it was an interesting and potentially lucrative job to investigate. I sent my resume as instructed for faster consideration to the e-mail provided in the ad. About 5 hrs later, a gentleman called me and introduced himself by his first name only, and asked if I had a few minutes. I indicated that yes I did, and he went on to say he was conducting a preliminary phone interview. That went something like this: He asked if I had any sales experience, what I was currently doing for work, and why I wanted the job. Seemingly satisfied with my answers after about 1 minute of my reply, he asked if I would be available tomorrow at 2:30pm for a face to face interview? I agreed, but asked why the commissions he was talking about in our phone conversation differed to what the ad stated? He merely said Robbie can explain that in more detail tomorrow, and he instructed me to report to an address he gave, go to the receptionists desk, and ask for Robbie (not himself who called, a different associate of the firm). This concluded the phone interview.
I arrived at said address at 2:15pm the following day, walking up; I noticed the building was older, and located in an industrial park. Seemed a little out of place in my head for a professional firm engaged in sales and marketing? I wrote it off to jumping to conclusions too early. Walking inside, I approached the receptionists desk, and announced I was here to see Robbie. The lady obviously was puzzled and asked me again who I was looking for. I repeated Robbie to which she replied what organization do you know Robbie to be with? Just as I was about to answer, a gentleman sitting in the waiting area of the main lobby jumped up, walked toward me, and asked if I was xxx. I replied yes and extended my hand and introduced myself by my full name. He shook my hand and said nice too meet ya, Im Robbie. He went on to explain that I was earlier than expected and that we had to wait for the office to clear out. He assured me this would only be a brief wait, and he would be right back, and asked me to wait in the lobby. 15 mins later he returned, apologized for the delay, and escorted me back to the office to begin the formal interview.
Upon entering the office, my suspicions immediately began to rise, given the incident at the receptionist's desk and what I was seeing. This place was the type of setup that could be assembled and fully torn down and moved out in an hour with 2 people with relative ease. The office was made up of a desk, maybe a filing cabinet, and 2 folding card tables with matching cheap plastic folding chairs? There was also a small rack of shelves fully loaded with Comcast fliers and door hangers, etc. There were 2 or 3 dry erase boards mounted on the walls, displaying the first names only of contracted employees, sales achieved for the week, sales goals, totals, and so forth. Oh and my favorite was something to the effect of a Certificate of Recognition from Comcast Presented to HCM as top producing Sales Contractor of the Year that was prominently displayed and framed on the wall above the desk.
Robbie proceeded to interview me, which roughly consisted of the same set of questions I was asked on the phone. He asked me if I had any questions, to which I replied, yeah I have a few based on what Im taking in so far. Being suspicious at this point, I asked about the business model, what exactly we were selling, and how deals were closed, and what training I would be provided. When one thinks of door to door sales, the cheesy Kirby vacuum salesman comes to mind. I certainly didn't want to be associated with that type of fly by nite riff raff.
Seeing my concern, and to HCM and Robbies credit, he answered each of my concerns in a clear, concise, and professional manner. He outlined what we were selling and why we were selling it. It more than satisfied me that the products/services being sold benefitted the end customer. I felt my initial doubts begin to fade away. I mean who cant get behind an organization that sells 3rd party a product/service from a reputable company like Comcast? Meanwhile the end customer saves money, and you make a decent living by selling it. A definite win win! They both deserved kudos for the solid case being made. Unfortunately, this was as professional as my experience got while dealing with Human Channel Marketing.
I shifted my questions more toward the compensation/commission structure. I asked Robbie to explain the difference in the commissions I was being told over the phone versus the ones posted in the ad. Quite frankly, I needed to have a lawyer present in order to sift through his terms and definitions of what types of deals there were, what constituted a deal, as well as how some deals were weighted more than other deals in special circumstances, and what was necessary to achieve the coveted 350/a deal mark.
Moving on from that head spinning explanation, I asked why it was better for me to work as a 1099 contractor for HCM as opposed to working direct for Comcast performing the same type of job, while enjoying full benefits as an employee? (I had done my homework and knew for a fact Comcast was hiring direct off their website for the same job description) His answer was simply we pay a FAR better commission per deal, you will make WAY more money here Seeing me reeling in my head, and reading my return to skepticism, he went to the dry erase board. He pointed out the top sales dog James and what he was making on an average week. I thought to myself, if true, James is making a HANDSOME living doing this. I wrote off my judgment of Robbies fast talking on the commission structure to my own lack of industry knowledge in this type of sales arena.
Seeing the excitement return in my eyes, Robbie was visibly relieved and smiled. He went on to offer me a no strings attached proposal that would have me shadow a salesman the next day working in Elmhurst. You know, to see firsthand how we do things and if this type of work is for you. I agreed that would be a good idea. At this point another associate happened to come into the room toward the end of our interview, sifting through some papers on one of the tables. Robbie shook my hand, and pawned me off to this associate in order to take down some info in order to communicate the meet point tomorrow.
As me and the associate walked down the hall to the lobby area, I introduced myself by full name, and you guessed it, I was only greeted with his first name. He handed me a clipboard, which I was thinking there would only be a simple basic info form for me to fill out in order for them to be able to get a hold of me to confirm the meet point later that day for tomorrows work in Elmhurst. Skimming through this document, I discovered it was a Subcontracting type agreement, approx 4-6 pages long! The cover page was asking for very sacred personal info, such as my SSN, DOB, full legal name, address, and drivers license number, etc. I pointed out to the gentleman that I was under the impression that tomorrow was a trial run to see if the job was for me and asked why I was being asked for such personal information? He responded that since I was balking at filling out and signing the document, I would have to talk to Robbie to work this out. He asked me to wait and he would go get him to talk with me.
After a few minutes, I hear someone walking down the hall and I looked up expecting to see Robbie.instead, it was yet ANOTHER associate named Shanna. She asked me what my concerns were. I repeated to her what I told the other gentleman, that I thought this was a bit much seeing as how I wasnt agreeing to take the opportunity until observing for the day. She tried to reassure me that all the info requested was for tax purposes, background checks, etc. I said Im fine with that, ONCE I AGREED to take the position. She had a visible negative reaction to me standing my ground and not yielding any info that was obvious through her body language. I even offered to give basic information short of the most personal stuff. I went on to explain that in a day and age of rampant ID theft; I just wasnt comfortable giving out my SSN, etc. I asked if I could take the documents and review them on my own time and pace, so that I would be ready to sign up if it was a positive experience shadowing the next day.
She declined and what she proceeded to say sent the alarm bells in overdrive! First, it was apparent to me they were hiding something in that Agreement, or at the very least were not wanting me to have time to read the fine print further. Second, she stated that there were 2 important things to note in the Agreement as conditions to work as a 1099 contractor there. 1) There was a 250.00 fee I was responsible for in order to cover training costs, etc if I decided to quit before making a certain number of sales to cover the cost of training me. Loosely translated, if I didnt make a single sale and quitId owe them 250.00, or if I had worked and earned any commissions and quit, the 250.00 came off the top and Id be paid the remainder.in any event I was signing up to be on the hook for any differences in earned commissions and that 250.00! 2) I was subject to a non compete clause that forbade me from working anywhere in this type of work from 6 mos to a year. The second item I have slightly less of a problem, but still seemed unreasonable, but not nearly as outrageous as the first!
While this was taking place, Robbie walked through the lobby toward the front entrance for a smoke break. Upon me exiting the building, he asked if everything was ok and was I still on for tomorrow? As he finished his cigarette. I replied that I thought I rubbed some fur the wrong way with the other 2 associates with my stance on not giving up personal info. He reassured me that everythings cool and those others are just more tightly wound is all. He took out his phone and took my number and said he would be in touch later to set up the meet in Elmhurst the next day, either by phone, text, or e-mail. I smiled and said thanksand went on my way.
If you guessed I never heard a peep from anyone later that day to iron out the details of the work in Elmhurst the next dayDing! Ding! Ding! You would be correct! No one ever contacted me from HCM about the position again.
As a former employer, I feel it is important to convey to all prospective employees/contractors of Human Channel Marketing, or anyone making similar requests like detailed in this account, that such costs are considered normal to the general contractor, and are NOT generally passed on in this manner. Typically, it is considered a normal cost of doing business to hire and train a sub-contractor or employee.
I would RUNnot walk away from contracting with HCM under the circumstances if they are similar to my experience.in my opinion, they are a very unprofessional and dysfunctional organization at best. At worst, they reek of being a fly by nite ring of potential ID thieves preying on unsuspecting folks who are desperate for work in a tight economy. I am not claiming the latter to be fact, but it sure had all the marks for personal info being ripe for the picking for either an ID thief, or any disgruntled former employee, given the number of people asking for it and the number of people having access to it without a suitable on site storage system.
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