We all know someone who is a “financial consultant” …someone who has tried to get us to buy their mutual fund or buy their better life insurance policy. I’ve had several of these “consultant” types contact me — normally because a friend, acquaintance or coworker passed along my name as a “person of interest”.
That’s how I landed in my most recent predicament — a coworker recommended me as a person who fit the criteria of a “person of interest,” which apparently is defined as being young and having a job.
Mouth salivating with the opportunity for a new sale, the consultant called and I agreed to meet with him. The first meeting actually went pretty well, even though it ended with him asking if I had any contacts who were young and had jobs that I could recommend to him (I knew it was coming). I declined his request for my contacts, but did agree to meet with him again to find out the next steps.
It was probably a month before we met again. In the interim, he requested to connect with me on LinkedIn. I obliged, as I often do after at least meeting with someone*.
The second meeting with the consultant came around, which, again, went well. I was ready to consider signing up with him. Again, at the end of the meeting, he asked me if I had any contacts I was comfortable sharing with him. I told him no.
[Right here is where he should have ended scene.]
He then pulled out a list of my personal contacts asking me if he can use my name as a reference for contacting any of the individuals he swiped from my connections…ON LINKEDIN. The names on the list were family, former coworkers and some folks that I met with only once. I immediately told him I was not comfortable with him using my name as a reference to contact anyone on the list. He proceeded to insist I give him my permission. I conceded that he could say that he and I are working together, but I in no way endorse his services, nor did I give him any of their contact information. He seemed satisfied with that. I have to admit that pulling out a list of contacts from LinkedIn was a little shady, but I understood that I kept my connections public and I accepted the consultant’s invitation to connect – I’m just as much to blame. Lesson learned for me.
[If the scene wasn’t ended before…here’s another opportunity to do so and still have my business.]
Over the next two weeks, three people who appeared on that list contact me. Contact A thought it was a business referral, which I then had retract and explain in detail. Embarrassing. Contact B met with the consultant. At this meeting, the consultant pulled out a list of Contact B’s company roster and told Contact B that I had given it to him. A blatant lie. Contact C met with him with no incident of consequence.
So be warned. There are those out there who are using LinkedIn to develop and expand their sales funnels — understandably, as that is one of the great benefits of LinkedIn. However, going behind someone’s back and using their name as part of your recruitment efforts is not only shady…it’s not ethical. LinkedIn has an established introduction process to connect with your connections’ connections. Use it.
Another personal philosophy of mine is to invest with ethical people. I’m old fashioned like that. No one who preys on my contacts without my permission is going to see a dime of my money. And, no one who lies about where they obtained information will see a dime of my money either. In my mind, they follow the same decent as Justin Kownacki‘s Marketing D-Bags.
What I have given this consultant is a mouse click…removing them from my LinkedIn connections.
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*It’s important to establish your own LinkedIn philosophy for accepting connection requests. Do you want to accept all requests to gain a larger reach, or a more concentrated connection circle? Only you can decide, depending on what you want to do with your circle of influence. A lot of times, your philosophy should/could be based on timing as well. Are you unemployed? Connect with everyone…etc. etc.
Filed under: Customer Service, Marketing, Social Media | Tagged: financial consultant, life insurance, LinkedIn, LinkedOut, networking, social networking | 4 Comments »
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