Gerry Reid's Professional Development Tip of the Week
Do Business with Integrity and Honesty.
- This article is different than most I write. It is clearly an editorial and complaint about how one person does business. It may appear negative. I hope you will think more deeply than the surface complaint and discover some powerful hidden messages about value systems.
The "tip" is "Don't do business the way Mr. ABC does." Or better yet, "Integrity is like quality - It may be difficult to define and describe, but it sure is obvious when it is not there!"
I just experienced yet another case of someone, somewhere, doing business with little regard for integrity. I don't want to encourage his success (or wrath) so I will not mention his name. You can figure it out if you want to.
The Story.
You may have seen the ad -"ABC's Success [year]." His claim is that in a one-day seminar you can hear 10 famous speakers and personalities speak about "How much you earn is determined by how much you learn."
Well Mr. ABC, the only thing I learned from you today is how to make money by scamming others. The ad said "If you register by July 19, you will receive an unbelievable special early registration price of only $49." (Regular price $225) Notice that the fee is for registration - there was no mention of reserved seating. Well, I was interested and excited to attend, figuring I could get there early and get a decent seat, so I called the 800 number. (Equivalent of 1-800-555-SCAM)
Well guess what. The $49 registration gets you registered alright . . . in a "special section, reserved seat" . . . in an auditorium that will seat 10,000. The "special section" is in the top ten rows in the topmost level, BEHIND the stage! $59 for the next ten rows, $79 for the next ten rows and so forth until you find out that in order to get a seat in the "general auditorium," where ypou can actually "see" the speaker, the ticket price is $125, and that is for the upper half of the balcony! Only $179 f or the main floor!
The Editorial.
It is not that the program is not worth the price - after all, there are ten great speakers, Zig Ziglar, Barbara Bush, James Lovell, Larry King to mention just four. The point is in how the advertisement is so misleading as to the actual cost of a reasonable seat. Not only that, the operator taking the reservation gathers all your information (name, address, phone, credit card) before telling you where the $49 seats are and what the other options are. (I asked that the information I gave be deleted and was told it would be - yeah, sure. Glad I gave them a coded address so I'll know when they reuse or sell my information.)
Mr. ABC is a vivid example of people inventing unique ways to scam others, to lie by not telling the whole story, to basically not give a *&%# about anything other than making money. Could you feel good about being behind this kind of scam? I would not be able to feel proud of myself running a business that way. Integrity, forthrightness, and honesty are values being lost when the truth is "avoided" and hidden in the non-existent fine print.
Imagine what our children and young adults are learning from Mr. ABC's approach - "How much you earn is determined by how much you learn." Lesson learned? You can earn more by being deceitful than by being honest. Heck, that's obvious to any criminal. Sadly, it brings a negative image to the speaking and seminar business which impacts me and others as well.
So What? & Conclusion
Are you setting a positive example the way you do business? Can you stand face-to-face with your customer (or your God) and be proud of how you advertise and do business?
P.S. to Mr. ABC:
"Mr. ABC, I learned from you without spending a cent. I learned that integrity continues to decline and that money is the ever increasing drive in this society. I'm glad I hang around people who do what they do with honesty and integrity. We may never become as monetarily advantaged ($ rich) as you, but we are assured that an increase in business ethics and basic values, if they ever begin to increase again, will come from us, and the people on your program, not from the likes of you."