Hi there, thanks for taking the time to learn more about how to protect yourself from fake, fly-by-night, copycat type companies that currently offer various BPO products for sale through the internet.
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Buyer Beware: All BPO products are not created equal!
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In the last two years since I first opened my eBook business, nicolesdreams eBooks, I have seen a HUGE transformation from the amount of competition that offer similar products as mine. Just in case you don’t know about me yet or my company I own nicolesdreams eBooks and my website is located at: www.nicoleocean.com
My name is Nicole Ocean. I am a Realtor, BPO Trainer and eBook author that is located in Bellingham, Washington. I do BPO work myself and have worked for over 30 BPO, REO and Asset Management companies in the past 2+ years. I also offer my services as a private BPO Trainer as well.
Let me focus back on why I am writing this blog. If you are like me you definitely do your research when you are about to make a big purchasing decision. So, I wanted to take a few moments to let you know that I have noticed the need to differentiate myself from the pack.
Plus, I wanted to help educate you more about steps you can take to best protect yourself when making a purchasing decision and exactly what to watch out for as you are getting ready to purchase a BPO product no matter who you purchase it from.
I am completely aware of who my competitor’s are and most of what they offer. I enjoy the challenges and rewards that come with having competition. I learned this skill from a young age because I have played sports all of my life so I feel that having competition is a very healthy and rewarding experience overall for me. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to know how my products are different than my competitors and in the fact that I was one of the first companies to offer eBooks on the BPO business. I sold my first BPO based eBook in January 2007.
Let’s move on to my main issue. One of my biggeest concerns that I have now is that when someone is interested in purchasing material on BPO’s. They typically go to Google.com and put in keywords, such as: “Broker Price Opinion” and “BPO’s.” When I last did this myself I found plenty of people and companies that were offering either eBooks or some type of product on the topic.
I have purposely researched many of my competitor’s extensively and even purchased a few of their items. Most of them have purchased my eBooks also. Sadly, I have found that many of my competitor’s are indeed some of my past customer’s who purchased one or more of my eBooks and they are now offering a very similar item for sale. (THIS IS VERY CONCERNING TO ME) The fact is that some of these people have stolen my content and are trying to sell it as their own. I have had to deal with this one a half of dozen of occasions personally because of someone infringed on my copyrighted material whether it be reproducing my BPO Manual or copying and pasting information from my website and my eBay auction ads. I will talk more about this and list those people and companies that have done so within the next blog I write.
Let’s continue to move forward. Although, I feel that it is always good to have more choices than less when it comes to purchasing a product. There are things that buyer’s need to be aware of before they make their purchase. The first is the fact that not all companies offer good quality material. I have seen quite a few “fly-by-night,” copycat companies pop up out there in the last 6 months to 1 year.
From past conversations I have shared with customers they let me know their opinion on the various other programs on BPO’s that they saw online and/or ones that they had purchased and had found them to be inferior to mine. They shared with me how frustrated they were with receiving a lower level of customer service then what I had provided to them. I am always grateful to hear such kind words and as such it is nice to see all of the pride and hard work that I put into my business truly does pay off!
My main concern and the reason for writing this blog is two fold; that some of my competitors are coming across to potential customers as being something that they are not. Many of the products that are out there are being sold by an affiliate or a reseller. So the people that sell someone else’s material are not able to provide a personal approach or understanding into the business themselves. Some won’t even post their contact information on their websites. If the customer decides to purchase one of these products, then they will likely encounter an issue. I think that this is where the problem starts for most of these unsatisfied customers. They may have purchased a product and found that they cannot do anything to remedy their situation or even get a refund back.
Here are a few things to watch out for when considering purchasing any online product and especially one that has to do with the BPO business.
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WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR:
*Does the company have a money-back guarantee?
*Do they have their contact information posted on their website that includes their company name, phone number and email address.
*Can you reach a live person when you call them?
*Are they the actual author or their product or are they simply a reseller or affiliate out to make a quick buck from someone else’s product?
* Have they actually done or are doing BPO’s or REO’s themselves currently?
*Do they offer support, consulting or private training to their customers?
* Do they offer their product in more than one place (Ex: I sell my paperback through Amazon.com,
*Do they email you back within 24 hours when you inquire about their product(s) or have a question after you made a purchase through them?
*Do they have ‘actual’ customer testimonials posted on their website that are not fake people’s names, photos and testimonials that are just copied and pasted from another site (To date, I’ve had two of my competitors use my own customer testimonials on their website as if they were their own).
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Many of my competitors do not offer many of the same items that I have listed above. I offer every one of those items as well as believe in providing the highest level of customer service possible. I love to exceed my customer’s expectations!
Before you make a decision on which BPO product you want to purchase please do me a favor and consider the above items.
Plus, I’d like to recommend a few websites that you can use to learn more about the person and/or company that is offering a BPO product you may be interested in purchasing.
Better Business Bureau
(To see if they have any complaints on file or if they are rated to be a trustworthily company) http://www.bbb.org/
WhoIs
(Use this website to learn more about the person behind the product. Stay away from them if their domain information is kept private and they do not provide a contact phone number). http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp
Real Estate Licensing Board or Real Estate Commission
(Put the above keywords into a Google search. Use the state that the person lives in to check to see if they are actively licensed real estate agent or broker).
Google
(Put in the person/companies name into a search query to learn as much as you can) www.google.com
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Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog! I’d like to personally invite you to come check my website as well as that of all of my competition. I hope that you come back to me because you have truly done your research and you see the value in what I have to offer to you!
Best of success to you,
Nicole Ocean
Realtor/BPO Trainer
nicolesdreams eBooks
www.nicoleocean.com
360-223-2482