5 /5 Dave Luttig: Hey, I know anyone reading this is familiar with the dozens or so offers places like Mariner flood the market with to generate business for themselves. Me? I usually throw out those checks after tearing them up seconds after receiving them.
That said, I recently found myself in an unfortunate situation not of my doing, but by the actions of several unscrupulous people who stole from my family and myself, which cost me, by my conservative estimation, a shade below a million dollars.
Yes, I am pursuing them.
Don’t know if anything can come of it, so in the meantime, I created for myself other financial opportunities. However, until those opportunities come to fruition, I have to had to finagle resources to find money to help get me through the bullshit to make ends meet. Eventually I hit a patch of road where the bridge didn’t go all the way across during this process.
Some of my junk mail had still been sitting on the table, and in it was a check from Mariner for approximately $2,500 bucks. Didn’t want to use it but I felt boxed in (a personal loan was out of the question from my bank, despite my solid credit rating, because I had just applied for SS), so I checked them out online. Nothing but good reviews. Personally visited the office. Everyone helpful and knowledgeable. So I made the decision and cashed the check. So far, so good.
But I really needed about another grand to complete the bridge. This meant going back to Mariner to see if they could help, as they offered to do during my first visit.
They did.
I met with Diana, who sat patiently and listened to my needs and offered several options. She was both informative and personable. We talked about our families, our pets, our lives. As a former career consultant who had dealt with executives in the six and seven figures salary range, I knew this was exactly how I conducted business. It’s about helping people, not trying to make money off them. Because businesses like mine, as with Mariner, is a business of trust. I used to tell my clients anyone can provide the services I do; it was a matter of how comfortable you were with people themselves. Do you trust them? During my professional days, I had referrals come as far away as Raleigh, Atlanta, and Texas just for me (being in Pittsburgh, thats quite a haul!). It’s the people that clients and customers buy usually, not the product. Sure, you want a great product, but all things being equal, and usually they are, it’s the people you trust who you go with.
Diana is someone who has my trust. I would’ve hired her immediately to work for me as a career consultant if I had my still business and was looking to recruit. She may have been in a position to sell Mariner, but she didn’t sell me anything. She helped me with my problems. That’s what a good business should do: help their clients; not sell them products.
That’s what Diana did. She helped me with my problems.
I highly recommend her, and by extrapolation, Mainer. If they’re all as good as her, you’ll be able to get across the bridges in your life, as well.
And be ever grateful to them for it.
