About 4 years ago I was at a Best Buy in Springfield, VA shopping for CDs. The guy browsing next to me must have noticed my hat, because he suddenly asked me, "Are you an Indians fan?" I said that I was and we talked about the upcoming season for a minute or two. As I tried to excuse myself, he asked what I did for a living. I mentioned IT and then he asked if I ever did anything on the side. I said yes and he asked for my contact info so that he could call me about an opportunity he wanted some help with. He wouldn't give many details about what he needed and said he would explain more later.
The next day I met him at a Starbucks nearby and he & his boss gave a pitch about the difference between working for someone and working for yourself. Clearly this was not about freelance IT work, it was some kind of sales pitch. They asked if I wanted to make a lot of money. They asked if I had what it took to run a business. They kept repeating keywords like "opportunity" and "business." After minutes of this blather, I interrupted them and asked them to cut to the chase. They continued to ramble on. Finally, they said that they were holding a more formal meeting the next night at the Springfield Hilton for a group of smart young guys like me. They assured me that all my questions would be answered if I attended this meeting. I politely declined their invitation and excused myself (amidst much ado about how I should stay and hear more).
I felt like an idiot after wasting an hour with those schmucks and headed home. Over the next few days, I received several followup voicemail messages, but they eventually left me alone.
A few months later, I was shopping at a Circuit City and a stranger came up to me and asked, "Indians fan, eh?" At that moment, I decided to stop wearing hats so often. After a few minutes of talking about the upcoming baseball season, this new guy asked what I did for a living and (in a far too cheery tone) if I ever did any work on the side. I paused, looked him straight in the eye and said "No." He must have seen something in my expression or read something in my tone, because his salesman demeanor suddenly slipped away. His body language was so different, it was clear that he HAD been about to do the sales pitch had changed his mind. He mumbled something under his breath and slipped away.
I was relieved that I'd scared him off but it made me sick that while I may have saved myself, he & his ilk would continue to prey on unsuspecting electronics store customers. And after wasting over an hour with two different reps, I still had no idea what their strange business scheme was or what they were after.
Time passed.
Last night, I received a phone call from Steve Behr to confirm a meeting with him in Tyson's Corner at 6 pm. I had never heard his name before and had never agreed to any meetings, so I was quite confused. He had a very schmoozy demeanor and repeatedly used my first name, as if we were long lost pals. He said that he'd scheduled a meeting with Michelle to discuss a "business opportunity" that he thought she & I could help with. I told him that she hadn't mentioned him or any meeting to me. And furthermore, what was the great business opportunity he wanted to talk about? His vague answer and dodginess made it clear that "Steve" must be part of the same group from years earlier. I told him that I'd speak with Michelle & she would call him to confirm.
I asked Michelle about this strange call and she said she wasn't sure what this guy had in mind, but that she'd met him at RADIO SHACK a few days earlier and she though we could at least hear him out. "Nooo!!" I cried. "This guy's in league with those douches I met with 4 years ago, I'm sure of it!" She was surprised at how certain I was about his sketchiness. She told me that he was hosting a meeting at the Tyson's Corner Hilton at 7 pm tonight (apparently, these guys love Hiltons) and had wanted to meet with us beforehand. I called the hotel and found that a group named "iCommerce" has a meeting room booked from 7pm to 11pm.
These quote from their website confirmed that all 3 of these entrepeneurs work for iCommerce:
Are you making the kind of money you want? Ever thought about a business of your own?
No matter what your goal, this business works the same way: the more people you register who buy and sell products with you, the more you grow and the more you make.
I called Steve back and asked if he was affiliated with iCommerce. He said that his group uses a lot of different brandings, so yes, maybe he was, but he wasn't sure. He then used that as a segue to discuss e-commerce and asked if I'd ever looked into starting my own business. I said that I'd met a few of his kind years earlier and asked if these hotel meetings would train me to hang out at electronics stores all day. He said that it wasn't all about hanging out at electronics stores, it was about building a business, yada yada. I told him that I didn't want to waste any more of my time with him or his schtick. Incredibly, just like the coffee shop meeting 4 years earlier, no matter how rude I was, he was completely unfazed and kept giving his pitch. I swore at him, he laughed it off. I told him I wasn't interested, he said to call if I changed my mind.
By the way...
If you're interested in a terrific "business opportunity," please call Steve at (301) 466-9061 !!! I'd love to hear what kind of businesses each of you open! |