Don’t Be a Vicim of Marketing Malpractice

Marketing Companies and Consultants Take Advantage of a Company’s Lack of Marketing Knowledge to Squeeze More Money Out of Them

It Happens All the Time and Most Businesspeople Don’t Even Realize It

I have a 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid. I bought it new on April 25, 2008, and it has run PERFECTLY every day since.

Last July, at about 110,000 miles, the Hybrid battery light came on… literally the first problem with the car I ever had.

So I hauled it down to the dealership—they confirmed the hybrid battery was dead and wanted something like $4,400 to put a new one in.

I said no way and got the car back. It was still drive-able, so I was able to get it home.

I found a company online that installs refurbished hybrid batteries; it was going to be $1,700—still a lot of money, but cheap compared to $4,400. The company had to come up from Houston to install it (on my property), and they gave me a one-year warranty.

Later in the year I left the car at the airport. When he got back, it wouldn’t start. It was completely dead.

I immediately started cursing my decision to get the refurbished battery.

I paid $200 to have the car towed to a dealership .

It took them 10 days to figure out that “we can’t pinpoint the exact problem but the hybrid battery and the electric system that controls it is definitely bad.”

Great…

So I called the battery company to see if they would honor their warranty; they said they would—I could either have the battery shipped to do the work, or I could haul the car back home to get it done here.

I tried to find a mechanic who could do the install there (the battery company would pay for shipping of the battery, but not the install). The dealership wanted $495 to install it. I found a guy who would do it for $200, but I’d have to arrange a tow truck to get it to him.

Meanwhile, I ended up buying a whole new car—I was so frustrated with that Camry that I just wanted to get rid of it. I asked the dealership what they would give me on a trade-in… they said $500—the car is worth about $5,000 with a good hybrid battery, but with a bad battery, almost nothing.

Crap.

So then I tried to find somebody to haul the car to me . This is a whole other mess I’d rather not talk about… but I finally found a guy who would do it for $800.

So my choices were:

– Pay the dealership $495 to install the replacement battery that would be shipped from the battery company

– Pay a guy $200 to install it, but have to pay another $50 to $100 and the hassle of arranging to get it towed to him

– Either way, I’d have to get the running car home so I could sell it—either haul it or fly up and drive it down… either way probably $500 to $800

– Give it to the dealership for $500

After much tribulation and delay, I finally paid a guy $800 to haul it to my house. It would normally be about $600, but it costs extra to haul a non-running car.

Today, the car finally got to my house.

The guy pulled up in front of my home and knocked on the door. I asked if there was any way to navigate his car hauler onto my driveway, so the Camry wouldn’t be on the street. He looked at me funny and said, “I don’t have to do that. I’ll just drive the car.”

I said, “What do you mean? The car doesn’t run.”

He said, “Yes, it does. I drove it up on the car hauler.”

I said, “What the heck are you talking about. The hybrid battery is dead.”
He said, “No, I think it’s just the regular car (starter) battery. I haul these hybrids all the time. The dealership always says the hybrid battery is dead, but lots of times it’s just the regular battery.”
He drove it off the truck and onto my driveway. He showed me that he had connected a portable jump charger unit to the battery—with that it started and ran fine.

The entire time, it was just a garden variety dead battery. $79 at AutoZone.

I paid $200 (tow) and $110 (diagnostics at the dealership) and $800 (to haul the car) to get it to my driveway. Two months—MONTHS—worth of unnecessary aggravation.

Sound familiar, business owners?

Tons of Marketing Companies and SEO/PPC Consultants take advantage of a business person’s lack of marketing knowledge to squeeze more money out of them. It happens ALL THE TIME… and most businesspeople don’t realize it. (It’s probably even happened to you!)

At Adult B2B Marketing, we hate that crap.

We’re always honest. We always play by the books. And we never sell you stuff you don’t need.

We know you’re no expert. You come to us because you NEED an expert. And we take that responsibility seriously.

In fact, we regularly turn down clients we feel wouldn’t be a good fit for us (or us for them).

Sure… we could take them on as a client—even if they aren’t a good fit—to collect their monthly payments and fatten our bank account. That’s what a lot of companies do.

To us, that’s wrong. We have these things called “morals.” And we adhere to them uncompromisingly.

We’re the kind of company that tells you a $79 dead car battery is a $79 dead car battery… not a $4,400 dead car battery.

If you want confirmation we’re the straightest of shooters, CONTACT US for a marketing evaluation.

We’ll candidly tell you where your marketing is succeeding, where it’s failing, and EXACTLY how to fix any problems.