Mala……..

I am most of the way through the NII course you are talking about and have some suggestions for you. I have found the information in the course to be helpful to me and the presenters have been generally well informed, but they do tend to suggest that everyone can do all of the techniques they teach which is clearly not true…… they admit this in the presentations.

What you must be aware of is they methods they use to sign people up and their inclination to refer you to other services that also have big fees. Among other things, NII use the sales methods of Brian Tracy…. an american sales guru and seminar speaker who has identified “gap analysis” as a preferred way of selling a product or service to a prospect, ie you…! This concentrates on the gap between where you are now and where you want to be in the future financially and personally. Your NII sales consultants job is to widen that gap as much as possible then demonstrate how NII can be the “bridge”, helping you attain the money freedom…etc that your after etc etc.

So be aware that the questions they ask are not just general and off the cuff……. they are part of a defined system of selling you a product.

They are clearly out to manipulate your responses emotionally so that you will be very keen to sign up. The best approach in these situations is to make a strong statement up front that you can return to easily… before the sales pitch gains momentum. Believe me, these people are very persuasive and if you read the Four Corners transcript you will see they are using sophisticated techniques to manipulate your responses, ie, the “anti-sell” and “create pain” etc.
Start the conversation by stating that “I’m here for information only and I will not be signing any agreements or contracts tonite…. I need 2-3 days to consider my financial position.”
Have a look under the general discussion topic of “Dodgy” on the second page of this discussion forum and you will see a range of responses to the NII course
For Four Corners transcript see <http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2003/transcripts/s836869.htm……> Its a report (program transcript) into the investment seminar industry and worth a read before you make any commitments.

Some points;

1. 16k is a lot of money and represents a deposit on an investment property in itself, ie, 1 or 2 bedroom investment property within 10 km of the city. You could start your investment portfolio with this money.
2. There is a wealth (pardon the pun) of property investment literature out there which provides excellent information on how to get started and what to look for in terms of property investment. This would probably cost you less than $200.
3. Property www sites offer data on % rises in property values for various areas and suburbs of Melbourne so a lot of data can be accessed from these.Try; http://www.reiv.com.au/information/pg_info_medianprices.html
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=bhp&t=res

If you have the money to spare, the information can be helpful, but go in with some degree of wariness about what they are passing off as concrete facts

The best approach in these situations is to make a strong statement up front that you can return to easily… before the sales pitch gains momentum. Believe me, these people are very persuasive and if you read the Four Corners transcript you will see they are also using quite sophisticated techniques to manipulate your responses, ie, the “anti-sell” and “create pain” etc.

Start the conversation by stating that “I’m here for information only and I will not be signing any agreements or contracts tonite…. I need 2-3 days to consider my financial position.”

At this point they will agree with you but may make other offers…. such as signing up but deferring the payments for a few months while you sort the financials… They don’t give up..!!

You have to be strong…… I wasn’t …. but I have got enough out of the seminar to add value to my investment properties (2) and increase my knowledge.

Don’t sign up on the night….!!