Moral conundrum

by 9 replies
11
Hello Everybody and thank you in advance for reading.

I have a bit of a moral conundrum.

To make it as brief as possible: I am a freelance internet marketer and I recently had 2 prospective clients come to me asking for help with their websites. Their last web marketer passed away about a month ago and they are stuck trying to find somebody to take over.

A little about the other company: it is a team of two business partners. The one who died is the marketer and the surviving one is the business/project manager. The surviving business/project manager told them that he was leaving the company and would no longer be able to help them and didn't even help with giving them passwords or a place to start.

My conundrum is: is it ethical to contact all their other clients and see if I can help them? I feel weird about it because it is like I am stealing business away and profiting from a terrible tragedy, but on the other hand these people are left in the dark and really need help finding somebody to maintain their websites.

If I do contact them, do I pretend like I don't know the situation or should I be direct and not beat around the bush?

Thanks so much for reading!
#off topic forum
  • When you have moral issues - just try thinking of how you would feel if you were the recipient of your proposed actions. If it would upset YOU to be treated that way - then don't do it.

    If you are thinking of scamming or lying, you need to hope and pray that nobody you are scamming figures it out.

    If that's not pretty simple, I don't know what else to say.
    • [ 3 ] Thanks
    • [2] replies
    • How would you know the names of the other clients?

      If the surviving owner gave you the contact information...go for it. You're doing everyone a service. If you got the contact information by other means...you should contact the owner of the business, and get his permission.

      Because word will get back. I guarantee it.


      Added later;
      I just went back and read your post again. If everything you say is accurate, it isn't a problem. People prospect and make sales all the time. Use the referrals if you can.

      But again, how did you learn about all the other clients?
    • Banned
      It's pretty simple . . it's business, you need it, and you're not treading on anyone else's toes, so go for it.

      PS - if you're uncertain for ethical reasons, then pass the gig on to another WF member where I'm sure it will be much appreciated.
  • Why not just work with the other owner above-board and get all of the passwords, contact information, etc.?
  • First of all, it is ILLEGAL for one that has controlled the reigns of a business on behalf of others to not give them necessary assets that are theirs before he leaves. If HE knows a key contact or password, he is required to give it to them.

    Technically, you are not allowed to in ANY way release or use their assets, such as customer lists, supplier lists, etc... But if they are going to close up shop, and leave those people in a lurch, I would say GO AHEAD! You aren't hurting anyone, and could help the customers.

    You are right though, TOUGH CALL!

    Steve
  • Ask the surviving partner to at least get word out about you and offer him
    some commission or referral pay.

    The communication should be above board and low key and respectful. Fact: This poor guy passed on. Fact: Everybody knows it. Fact: They need help. Fact: You are available.

    The show must continue for the other clients and they need someone to help
    them now. Might as well be you.

    Dan
    • [1] reply
    • Wow, thank you everyone for reading and sharing your thoughts!

      I can get them off of their portfolio website and by doing a -site:domainname.com search.

      To give more backstory (which I heard through the grapevine): The death was a suicide. Apparently the surviving partner was leaving the company before the marketer died. I am told that this played a part in why the marketer killed himself.

      The surviving partner is not responding to their clients questions (maybe because he doesn't know the answers, maybe he checked out of the company before this happened, or maybe he is upset by the situation.) Since he is not responding to his clients I do not expect him to respond to me. I guess I could try but I would feel weird about it.

      ---

      I don't believe I would be doing anything illegal or scamming. I'm just going through his client list on his portfolio and doing a web search. I'm not lying or doing anything dishonest –*which leads me to one more question for anyone who is interested in sharing their thoughts:

      Would it be better to send a general cold email to this list of people, or should I be direct and say something along the lines of "I know you last marketer died - I can help".

      To add one more layer to this, the two of their previous clients raved about how nice the guy was. Also, I would guess that most of their clients do not know what is going on since this happened just a month ago and the surviving partner is not super responsive. Should I be the one to break the news?

      Thanks again!
      • [1] reply
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