Hey all this is a post for everyone here and hopefully for Peter Harris and the Commercial Property Advisors Team.
I did not sign up for this program but I am here to share my experience with hopes of helping others and also Peter Harris.
I found Peter Harris through a video on Youtube. I thought the way he explained things and broke them down was fantastic. This guy has a lot of free content out there and I commend him for that. He seems like a pretty likeable and well intentioned guy.
I signed up for his book/audiobook and listened to it almost all the way through.
After all that I decided to "reach out" to sign up for his protégé program. I am a digital marketer by trade so I wanted to see their sales funnel and also legitimately learn more about the program.
If I could choose one word to describe my experience it would be Disappointment.
So why was I disappointed and why am I even writing this review? First I'm writing this review because the experience bothered me so much. I'm a positive person like most of you probably are, and trusting, and the the way Peter Harris has his program set up to "sell you" is a thing of the past and something I would call predatory. The saying "if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it's a duck" .. well yea that applies to HOW YOU SELL YOUR PROGRAM. And in Peter Harris case it looks like a scam and sounds like a scam. So is it a scam? My logic tells me yes, however if it is NOT a scam then guess what? Peter Harris - you have to change your sales funnel method!
So I was extremely disappointed for the following reasons:
1. As I said, Peter Strikes me as an honest guy and is giving out TONS of free valuable content, even his YT comments have great feedback.
2. His book/YT audio book were very helpful.
3. Once I got into his "protege" funnel I felt deceived, and was "positioned" in a way that is predatory and takes advantage of people. It's the scam sales funnel 101 that you read about online with old ladies spending their last dime on some "guru".
4. The biggest disappointment is probably in myself because I trusted Peter and then once I got into their protege sales funnel that trust was broken by this God awful sales funnel he's using.
So what is the Protege Sales funnel and why is it so disappointing?
Here's the deal, IMO if Peter Harris IS a legit guy he doesn't HAVE to use this sales funnel - that is another reason why I want to put this out there. It could be possible that he is an honest guy and just using outdated marketing methods which is DAMAGING his brand and reputation.
Here are the red flags of his sales funnel.
1. Red Flag #1 - Positioning: He doesn't mention anything about pricing or what his protege program is until you sign up for it, that in itself is a red flag, but the most important red flag here is the position you are put in when you sign up. You are treated as a "student" trying to gain "admission" to their program. The same as if you are trying to get into Harvard. They have you write up an application, and explain that not everyone gets admitted. This is a red flag because its BS. I was able to schedule a call with someone the same day. This "positioning" is way to aggressive and in my opinion dishonest. Dishonesty in marketing is one of my arch nemesis's and I know it can seep into a marketing campaign if someone is inexperienced in marketing or uses some agency in which that is all they know - well this is using it.
2. Red Flag #2 - Phone Call Lead Off: So the next red flag is that you are put on the phone with someone. God Bless the poor souls that have to make these calls. I'm sure most of them believe they are doing good, however I assure you, you can have a much more legitimate sales job. This again is "positioning" the person on the phone as the "prey" and them as the "predator". So the biggest red flag here is how they start and explain the program. They start off saying that you will be in the program until you make $1,000,000 profit! You split it with Peter 50/50 which of course is no big deal, however they say you will be in the program until you make $500k/profit! This is the most aggressive tactic I have ever seen. They are serving it up like you are guaranteed to make $500k. Now I straight up said there has to be some kind of contract and price and they did cover it with me (I don't know if they normally do that or only did it because I asked), however the price is $15k-40K or more.
For me this is a major red flag and irresponsible. First you put people on the phone, so that is an intimate situation, second you lead off telling them that they are basically guaranteed to make $500k and will do so for as long as it takes until they get there, then later say it costs $15-40k .. they even say once you make the $500k you'll get the $15k-40k back.
What is most disappointing about this is as I did my diligence after the call I found a youtube video of a lady who is NOT a high/medium income individual give her review of the program and she had nothing bad to say about it, she just said she was unsuccessful because she didn't put in enough effort because she had too many life situations going on. She also enrolled and saved up because she was in financial hardship. THIS is one of the main issues with this type of sales strategy. If you are someone who is devoting energy to promising people riches, then taking them for $10's of thousands of dollars, you should be exposed for what you're doing and you should also stop what you are doing immediately because you are a drain on society and your soul will thank you for stopping in the afterlife.
My point here is that not only is this tactic effective on people who are strong and intelligent, but it is also effective for people who are weak and desperate and that is the real issue. When you are weak and desperate you are desperately trying to find a way out and looking for someone to trust. If someone weak and/or desperate comes across this program they stand to lose thousands of dollar they may very well not have and that will put them from a bad situation to an even worse situation.
3. Red Flag # 3 - Second call with "Director of Admissions": I was on the phone for 2 hours with the first guy. He wasn't a bad guy, but they definitely want to gain your trust and want to make you feel like "$15K" is no big deal. To end the call they will tell you "you seem like a great candidate and i want to move you to the next step" so again, more positioning. This time you'll speak to the "director of admissions". Give me a break. I did not do this step as I already knew what to expect .. they would further position you, sell you, invoke that greed within you, then have you sign on the dotted line and pay them. I never saw a contract but if i had to guess I'm sure it says something like "if you don't make $500K it's not our fault and we are keeping your money". There is just no way someone can guarantee you make $500K and have 100% success rate.
The other issue with this sales process is the amount of time they make you invest. The more time you invest in something the more incentivized you are to actually sign on the dotted line, because you think to yourself "well i put in this much time so far, might as well finish it up".
The issue with this scam/con sales process is that the guys on the phone are aiding and abetting the victim on the phone to do something which is not in their best interest. Can the people on the phone and Peter Harris himself brainwash themselves into thinking they are helping people? Absolutely! It's not hard for humans to justify their behavior, however I believe if Peter Harris is truly an honest person that he should stop this sales process at once and use a different, more honest, more modern sales method.
Final Conclusion
- I did my due diligence after the first phone call, there was not much info to be found. On here there are people who wanted to know about the program and almost no one could say it worked or not.
- I found one lady online give an independent review, and as I said she was lower income, didn't say anything bad, and put the blame on herself. She is likely too forgiving of the situation and it seems like she was enrolled in some "cheaper" program that costs maybe $5,000.
- From that point forward I have still watched Peters videos, however I now look at it from a different perspective and question whether he actually has real CRE experience or if he's just a "teacher" trying to scam/con people into forking over $15K. I'm reading another experts book and they talk about how Triple Net leases aren't really the greatest to produce income, and in one of Peters videos I just watched he says investors LOVE triplenet leases. Who's right? I don't really know, however I do know the expert whos book I'm reading does CRE day in and day out and showed me their properties, while I've never seen anything from Peter and I don't even know what his CRE business actually is.
A final word to Peter and the Commercial Properties Advisors Team
Whether you agree with this or not, what you are doing is a scam/con and unethical. If you believe you can help people, get rid of your protege program as it is today or transform it into a modern day sales funnel. Charge a monthly fee, have multiple students at once all use zoom meetings, or even sell a course for a certain amount of money.
DO NOT continue to tell people they will make $500k and that it cost $15K+ to do so. If you want to keep using your phone sales method - be HONEST and do not pressure people or "tilt the scale" with words and huge promises like that. This is what scammers and con artists do. If you don't want to be labeled a scammer or con-artist then you simply have to change your ways.
Right now Peter Harris and team looks like a scam/con, and act like a scam/con, so therefore is a scam/con - if they want to fix that .. then they have to stop scamming and conning people - it's that simple!
