I was taken advantage of by an unscrupulous know-nothing coach early in practice.

The guy bragged about a “marketing” degree, however he should probably go get his money back, because his degree is completely worthless.

As a marketing expert, it is abundantly clear he really didn’t know a thing about marketing.

I paid him thousands of dollars, eventually being so dissatisfied that I told him I wanted out. He threatened to charge me the balance of what I “owed,” however he didn’t, and for that I suppose I am grateful.

Knowing what I know now I wouldn’t have joined, because there were two YYYYYYYUGE red flags that should have alerted me to his fraud, and I want to share them with you now, so you can make more educated decisions about who to hire, what to buy, etc…

 

Long term contract

“I don’t believe in lifetime subscriptions, maybe it don’t fit in with my retirement program”

            – Frank, played by James Caan, from Michael Mann’s movie “Thief,” 1981

I signed a two year deal with this coach. The paperwork was like 10 pages long. I had to sign, date and initial all sorts of stuff.

Question: does this sound like something that would be a good idea to get involved with?

It’s a coaching agreement. I’m hiring him. I should have HIM sign MY documents, not the other way around.

Does it sound like this guy is all that confident with his program, if he has to have me sign 10 pages worth of documents?

Probably not.

It sounds like he just wants to make sure he gets my 12 grand.

If you ever decide to get coaching, be very wary of long term contracts or commitments. If you are ever facing the proposition of hiring a coach, make sure you are able to get out of the deal if you are dissatisfied.

 

No satisfaction guarantee

If you are buying a product, look for a money back guarantee, and if you are buying services, look for a satisfaction guarantee so you can part ways with the service provider if you are dissatisfied with whatever services you are purchasing.

When buying a product, this is a no-brainer. Make sure the guarantee is a good one, at least 30 days, so you can evaluate the product and try it out.

As far as coaching or services go, would you ever hire any sort of professional without having the ability to terminate the agreement if you didn’t like the guy?

Think about it: if you hire a mechanic, accountant, doctor or other professional and you don’t like their work, you are free to go to anyone else you want…

It should be the same with coaching. It’s great to have a coach – a coach can keep you accountable, keep you focused, a coach understands where you’re coming from, the day to day struggles of being a doctor and entrepreneur, and can help you make the most of yourself and maximize your potential.

If you decide you aren’t a great fit, you should be free to look for someone else.

 

Know up front what you are getting

When I signed up I was promised a big box of stuff I could use to build my practice.

What I got was completely underwhelming.

It was like being a kid and buying that awesome looking remote control car from Toys R Us, only to come home, open it up and realize the incredible looking high performance machine on the box moved slower than I could crawl, was connected to the remote by a wire, and on top of all that – the batteries only last 10 minutes.

*sigh*

Before you sign up for anything, know in detail what you are getting. Make sure it has a guarantee so if it sucks, you can give it back.

Seriously the “box” with the manuals and materials was worth $300 at best and really started everything off on the wrong foot.

Plus the scripts were terrible.

Hopefully these guidelines will prevent you from getting ripped off like I did.

 

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