When I talked to older traditional salesmen about how good it was to carry out business through the Internet, many of them always said that the business received from the Internet was fake, and that there were many frauds and few real good business. This is a big misconception. The network marketing, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, is actually a simpler and more efficient way of promotion. To put it frankly, it is just cheap ads.
Whether a real customer or a fraud comes to us, we still need to deal with them in the traditional business way and identify the quality of the business. To prevent being duped is a complete reflection of one’s experience and ability in the business. As long as the ability of prevent deception has been improved, there will be no problem to carry out network marketing. Just as people who practice martial arts must learn how to defend first, people who want to dive in network marketing must learn to identify the frauds on the Internet first.
Several years ago, I built a corporate website for one of my friends manufacturing packaging materials. A few months later, the visits to the website, as indicated from the background data, had reached the prerequisite for receiving business. So I called him to ask how it was working. However, he said, “Don’t mention it. I did receive a lot of business calls, but most of them are small orders. I finally got a big order, but the customer turned out to be a fraud. I spent thousands of yuan treating him to meals and entertainment.” I said to him that it was not the fault of network marketing. While using the Internet for marketing, the company reveals a lot of information on the Internet, which makes it easy for customers to find you and know you, but also gives frauds the chance to take advantage of it. That’s why it’s important for every one of us to be aware of online scams at all times. Here I’d like to tell some real cases for your reference.
Online Scam One
When I was conducting the printing business in Xi’an ten years ago, I got a call from Cangzhou, Hebei. The man on the other side of the phone said that they were in the pear canning business and needed to print about 200,000 yuan of trademarks. He claimed that he saw the contact information of our company on the Internet and wanted me to go to their company. We were doubtful of that at that time. There was a long distance between Xi’an and Cangzhou. Why didn’t they print their trademarks in the vicinity? The man answered that it was because the quality of their local printing was poor. For the sake of prudence, we didn’t agree to go immediately. Instead, we made a design and sent it to them along with a formal quote according to the procedure. After receiving them, the man called back and said that the design was good, the price was reasonable, and they wanted us to send a person there to sign the contract and take the deposit. After discussion, we decided on sending me to check it out with only 1,000 yuan.
Soon I took the train to Cangzhou and found a hotel to stay. When I arrived, it was almost noon. I called the man, saying that I was going to their company and would like them to tell me where it was. He said, “You are not familiar with this place. Let us come to find you.” In less than half an hour, the man came along with four people and introduced them as sales director, sales manager, office manager and the like. After the meeting, it was natural to have a meal first and then talk about business. I said in a polite manner, “I’m not familiar with the place. Let’s go to the restaurant you recommend.” So they chose the restaurant they often went to. Soon the seafood was served, followed by Chinese baijiu and beers in turn. I didn’t drink very often, but urged by these people, I drank at least two big cup of beer. At the table, they said that the contract could be signed this afternoon, but it must be sealed by the general manager, and the 30% deposit as stipulated in the contract should be agreed on by him, too. So we’d better visit the general manager after the meal with gifts worth a few hundred yuan. After the contract was signed, we could enjoy a nice dinner and go to karaoke later for the celebration. I was hammered and very uncomfortable at that time, unable to realize that their advices should cost at least 2,000 yuan. After all these years, the only thing I could remember that tasted good was the mantis shrimp, which was full of shrimp ovary. It was very delicious, just like the mitten crabs in South China.
When the lunch was almost over, the man saw that I was not going to pay for the bill, so he asked one of the four to get the bill. That person handed me the bill, which was only about 300 yuan. So I nodded and wasn’t going to pay for it. Having no choice, the person had to say, “Give me your money, and I’ll go pay for the bill.” Only then did I realize that they wanted me to pay for the meal (note: I was not playing dumb. When we started business in our early years, we knew little about the rules in the business worlds, and always thought that the customer might want to do the honors). All right. I would pay for it. When the meal was over, the manager, director, or whatever left.
Next we were going to buy gifts. But before leaving the restaurant, I was not feeling well and had already thrown up in the washroom. As I was unfamiliar with the place, the place to buy gifts was of course chosen by them as well. But when I got to the door of the convenience store, a dramatic scene occurred. I threw up again and suffered temporary loss of vision. I was terrified and asked them to send me to hospital at once. At first they thought I was faking it because I didn’t want to buy gifts, but then they realized the seriousness of the problem. So they called a cab and went straight to the hospital. Halfway through the drive, my eyes started to get better and I became sober. So I told them there was no need to go to the hospital anymore. Then again, they immediately advised to buy gifts. I said to him sincerely, “I didn’t bring that much money with me this time. How about you lend me some money first, and I’ll pay you back when your company has paid the deposit?” Thinking I was suspicious about them, they kept explaining to me. But when they knew that it was the truth, they stopped mentioning the dinner and entertainment. Soon we separated. When I returned to Xi’an and called them again, the man in charge had been changed. The successor invited me to their company for business talk regardless.
Online Scam Two
Half a year after our company managed to receive business from the website, which was in November 2005, I was already engaged in blister packaging materials. One day, I got a fax request for quotation from a city in Henan, which was written sincerely, saying that they were a large company and needed bubble shells for their export products. They wanted us to make a sample and quote a price. They had a nice order quantity, and they put it frankly that they could pay a 30% deposit and pay the balance before shipping as long as the price was reasonable. It didn’t cost us much to make a sample and deliver it, so I started working on the prep work and soon sent them the sample with a quote. For the sake of prudence, we checked the company name they offered on the Internet and was sure that it was a big company indeed. A few days later, the man called us, saying that they had received the sample and agreed on the price. Then they asked us to send someone to their company. But I said, “I won’t send anyone there. You can come to our company to talk about it, through which you can also know better about the strength of our company before making the payment.” Seeing our cautiousness, he had to give up.
Online Scam Three
A friend of mine set up a factory manufacturing paper products. There used to be very few new customers taking the initiative to call him. But after the launch of the website which boasted a good ranking, he could receive two or three business calls every day, though all of them were small orders. Finally, one day, he got a phone call with a large demand. The person on the other side of the phone required him to go over immediately for the business talk. It was 4 p.m. at that time. When he rushed to the office in an office building in Shanghai, he saw the scale of the company was big. It looked like a branch of a large enterprise in Shanghai. The person approaching him was very friendly. They got down to the business at once and he offered a quotation. The man was satisfied with the initial offer and claimed that since it was a very urgent order, it would be placed soon. Because of his confident attitude during the talk, my friend was convinced that this deal was in the bag. When it was time to leave, it was already seven o’clock. Feeling excited, my friend invited the man for dinner and karaoke afterwards, which cost him over 2,000 yuan in total. A few days later, that man called him at about 4 p.m. again, saying that the leader had agreed and he could come over to sign the contract. My friend rushed there and everything went smoothly. So again, they went out for dinner and entertainment, which cost him more than 3,000 yuan this time. However, after several days of waiting, he still didn’t see the order. He called back, and that man told him that the purchaser of their head office was still unsure of certain details. He also suggested that, to facilitate the cooperation, my friend should invite the purchaser of the head office for dinner when he or she came to Shanghai. At that time, my friend realized that something was wrong. So he put it directly on the phone, “We haven’t made a single order so far, but I’ve already spent 6,000 yuan. Now I have to spend more?” After that, they lost touch.
The frauds mentioned above just want to eat for free and make a few bucks. But if you follow the following principles, you are less likely to fall for it. These frauds have something in common:
First, the product they are going to buy doesn’t require technology and is common to see in life (e.g., cardboard boxes, printed materials, and plastic parts);
Second, the order they promised is large, and the payment terms are attracting;
Third, the place they choose for the business talk is usually a hotel, an office room, or a restaurant, rather than a workshop or the office in a factory.
Fourth, the places for meals and entertainment are mostly chosen by them and are familiar to them.
There is a simple principle in the business world, that is, never give money to them or spend a lot on them before they pay the deposit of the order. Real big customers wouldn’t mind this. If they are truly big customers and have a big order, they will definitely visit your factory to ensure the good implementation of the order. On the contrary, most frauds are not interested in the factory tour because that is your territory. They have to defraud you on their territory.
But of course, what we’ve talked about is just little frauds encountered by small companies. The big frauds are more sophisticated and proficient in lying and they will swindle cash directly.
Online Scam Four
Mr. Chu was the owner of a printing factory. After being bombarded with calls from Baidu’s salesmen, he spent a few thousand yuan on online ads in 2005. He was a hard-working person, so he left his phone number on the ad, hoping to carry out the business by himself. One day, he received a phone call from Wuhan. The man on the other side of the phone claimed that they were a rare earth manufacturer whose products were for both civilian and military use, and there was a huge potential in this market. They wanted to find a local company in Shanghai to help sell their products. Since it was a totally unfamiliar industry to him, he didn’t care very much. He just had a look at their website, which was actually a free website registered on Alibaba, and didn’t agree to the request for cooperation. A few days later, a customer wearing a military uniform approached him. He said that he found the company through the Internet and needed a quotation for a kind of printing material. On the draft the “soldier” provided as the sample of the printing material, he saw the same product as the one he found on that website several days before. When talking with the customer, he learned that the product they wanted mainly originated from the northwest and the cost was high. The customer heard that there were low-cost sources in Hubei, but he didn’t where to find them. The shrewd Shanghainese replied immediately, “One of my relatives happens to be in the rare earth business. I’ll get the quotes for you.” When the customer left, he asked that person for the quotation according to the contact information on that website, and found that there was a difference of a few ten thousand yuan for one ton. The intermediary fee was more than the monthly income from the printing business. Then he signed the contracts with both parties. To be on the safe side, he charged the “soldier” a 30% deposit and had the buyer confirm the sample (a small pack of rare earths) in advance. But after he made the full payment to the personal card designated by the company in Wuhan, the buyer and the supplier disappeared, and he lost 80,000 yuan in one go.
As long as we are not greedy and keep alert to the pie in the sky with cautiousness, we can avoid such incidents and put more energy into network sales.