Mike McDaniel
GBStay away from The Leading Group... I used this company to help sell products (hired them, really) via an Instagram ad. I initially mentioned that I'd like to make an extra couple thousand dollars, per month. They said that seemed reasonable, after a start up period. I paid a few thousand dollars to them, registered a website, created an Ali Express account, paid for Slack, etc... all the things I was supposed to do. We set up a TikTok business account and I paid for ads. I had an original "account manager," who researched products and (allegedly) tested different marketing campaigns. I had a few sales, but nothing significant... this was after a month or two, maybe. Not totally sure on the timeline. Communication was sporadic. After a while, nothing was happening with the store. No sales, no communication from the AM. I was given a new account manager after about six months... he was very nice and optimistic, spoke about trying new products and new campaigns. But really, nothing major happened. I think I sold a few things. The second manager was more engaged, though... but having a few people add a product to a shopping cart, then not buy anything, doesn't really sound like a successful store. After approximately 10 months, I'd say I spent about $10,000 for the service, the ads, buying and fulfilling the products, the Slack and Shopify accounts. And I think the store probably did less than $1,000 in total business. So, spent $10,000 to do less than $1,000 in revenue... not profit. Revenue. Super bummed. It sounded too good to be true, so shame on me for falling for it. I wanted to be patient but I was tired to paying for the TikTok ads each month. And, in a show of good faith, they didn't charge me the monthly $500 that they're supposed to collect (since there was no activity on the store, they said they didn't make me pay). EDIT: I'm updating my review, based on the feedback from TLG. I had an account for almost a year, not 3 months or 6 months. I was pretty patient. Based on our initial Instagram chats, I was told that breaking even, or even turning a profit in six months, was very doable. They included screenshots of Slack conversations from APRIL of 2023. Almost a year ago.. nothing from the last six months, when I kept asking for updates or when I was given a new account manager. Or when I was told that they would 'investigate' why the store wasn't performing, then I wouldn't get a response.
Matthew
ECI wish I'd bought 7k in toilet paper The 2nd week after hiring this company I was contacted by the website starter. She spoke broken English and it was difficult to communicate. Took about 2 or 3 weeks for the first item and the site to be completed. It made 0 sales. Took about 3 weeks longer to build a new site and new product which didn't make enough revenue to cover the advertisements (600+mo). The company also charges minimal $500 monthly. So your sales after tax, shipping, cost, and ads needs to be around 2k to make a profit. Its a head ache at best, but you are looking for a quick way to spend 7k of Savings, give it a shot
Scott
GBHighly recommend!! I just want to say that this ecommerce agency rocks! I worked with them for three months, in the beginning sales were a bit slow and I was a bit worried, but they told me that the store was still in the testing phase and I should be patient. I'm in the 3rd month and they've totally transformed the store, sales went up in the middle of the second month and i'm making more than i could imagine, they've totally nailed it! The team was friendly and patient with me, which I really appreciated. If you're looking for help with your online business or you're looking to start, these guys are the real deal!
Austin Canterbury
GBJoined leading group 4 months ago to… Joined leading group 4 months ago to run my store ads. I’ve worked with so many agencies before and no one was on able to do it better than them. As soon as I signed up the first thing I got was a whole remap of my website and let me tell you just by looking at the re design of my store I was instantly able to tell these guys were it. We started running ads a week after and sales started to come in. Unfortunately I had problems with my old supplier and couldn’t get orders to ship out. The leading group came in clutch and offered me their own supplier right away with $2 cheaper than my old supplier!!! So far I am very happy, thank you leading group.
Jen
GBScam ALERT I joined the leading group back in August after speaking to a representative. When I had the initial meeting with The Leading Group, I came prepared with a list of questions and the representative answered all of them with patience. I ended up deciding to invest in 2 Shopify stores. Be aware as soon as your check is cashed you are on your own and the communication stops. I was told that “most” of their customers make between 6-10k a month PER STORE after about 3 months. They did tell me this number can’t be guaranteed but that it would be close to it and I wouldn’t be disappointed. Well, the disappointment started shortly after I started. Its not exactly hands off, you have to set up the entire shopify store yourself, and when its completed TLG will input the product they chose for you. I was told that ONCE a week the rep’s in charge of my store would have a phone meeting with me to go over sales and protocol. This NEVER happened. Not ONCE. They never reviewed with me products that were being sold or told me before advertising was billed. Over the course of 3 months I lost about 15k. The products being sold are all dropshipped from China. I was told the items ship between 7-10 days of order being placed. This was a LIE. I had angry customers blowing up my phone and email for weeks. Many of which did not have their items shipped for over 3 weeks so I can understand their frustration. Also I didnt know that my personal information would be accessible to them, as I was told TLG manages the stores for you. TLG assigns you representatives for each store and the “communication occurs on an app called Slack. That you also have to pay for. And the communication is rare. Often taking days before I got a reply. Do yourself a favor and stay clear of The Leading Group. REPLY to below response: If you do your research the negative reviews for The Leading Group are all consistent to what I had stated. When I said I was dissatisfied and wanted to shut down my stores because I was putting out more money than I was making every month, they offered no resolution. But I am not surprised by the reply one bit. They contacted me Saturday and offered me a “reasonable refund” if I deleted my review. I didn’t trust this given their reputation, especially since they were asking that I had remove my review BEFORE the company decided what they will refund me. Unfortunately, I wish I did better research before doing business with TLG. Hard lesson learned.