INQUIRING WITH A BUSINESS OWNER TO TRICK THEM AND GIVE THEM HOPE
Full disclosure … this blog post is more of a rant … Lately something has been happening to me a lot … so much so that I feel compelled to write a blog post about it … because could it really be that this is ONLY happening to me?? I doubt it … here is what has been happening:
INQUIRIES COME THROUGH MY SUBMISSION FORM THAT SEEM COMPLETELY LEGIT … BUT THEY ARE TRICKS.
And this has happened NUMEROUS times … do I have a target on my back? Idk … but this is how it goes:
I get a real inquiry for website design through my website … the people seem legit, have working websites (which desperately need help imo), I send them the requested information … I never hear from them again.
When I reach out a week later (which is a part of my process when I get an inquiry and never get a reply to my response) they all have the same curt response: WE AREN’T INTERESTED … that’s it, that’s ALL they write and it’s ALL of them. Seems sus.
Sometimes this person and I even have hopped on a call and the call seems too good to be true … even saying they want to hire me and they will be emailing me later in the week to start the process … never to be heard from again.
HEATHER, IT’S CALLED GHOSTING AND HAPPENS ALL THE TIME … THIS ISN’T A CONSPIRACY …
Are we sure?? I’m not convinced … if you reach out to a business with a true inquiry about their services and are clearly interested, why email such a offensive response back when I check back in? I’m telling you this happens ALL THE TIME … so here is my theory:
THESE BUSINESS OWNERS ARE FRIENDS WITH ONE OF MY COMPETITORS AND THEY ARE FISHING FOR MY PRICING TO SHARE WITH THEM
So, why do that? As business owners, shouldn’t we all feel for each other and realize how hard things are … especially RIGHT NOW in this economy? That every inquiry a business owner gets is a ray of hope that is exciting … yes, I still get excited over every inquiry that comes in … and what about this thought:
HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF SOMEONE DID THAT TO YOU?
Is the ‘golden rule’ dead? Are we all just sharks in the water without a care in the world who we potentially hurt? Maybe this is a new trend for new businesses?
“Hmmm, I’m not sure how to price my services or how to word emails back to potential client inquiries … I’ll just have a few of my friends pose as inquiring clients and steal the information they collect for myself …”
Well, that’s real sh*tty if you ask me … Does this happen to you? Please tell me I’m not the only one … or wait, maybe I do hope I’m the only one because this isn’t a trend I want catching fire …
XO~ Heather
