“You just talked yourself out of a job,” my mother quipped after I put down my cell phone. I was at her house resetting the controls on her Monitor heater after last weekend’s power outage. She’d just overheard a conversation between myself and a prospective customer.

“That’s because I’m honest,” I replied, returning to resetting all the heating schedules. “I’m not particularly interested in spending that poor woman’s’ money for her when she’s not going to get good value for her dollar.”

“Honesty?” My mother feigned a look of bewilderment. “From a contractor?”

Mind, my mother makes no distinction between the chap who fixes her refrigerator and the chap who paints her house — it’s still a sad commentary on the general attitude toward the industry.

And I suppose she’s right — from a certain point of view. Certainly I could have simply done what that woman on the phone wanted me to and taken her money. One more customer. One more invoice paid. One more sale “closed”, keeping the percentages where they’re supposed to be.

I know trades people with that very attitude. I’ve cleaned up their mess; dealt with their frustrated and angry customers who felt bilked by hard driving sales people or employees out to “do it quick and fast” to “make the buck”. Time being money, you understand. It makes me faintly nauseous.

I suppose I’m just horribly old fashioned, but I’ve always figured I’m in business to be of service to those who call me for help. First and foremost that means being as honest as I can with them, right from the beginning. And sometimes that means telling them it’s not in their best interests to pay me to do what they want me to do.

Does that cost me money?

In the short run, certainly. I “talked myself out of a job” today. And I’ve talked myself out of other jobs by being honest about the true cost of the project when the customer was just aching to hear and believe the rosiest “low ball” picture they could find.

In the long run? I don’t know. And in truth, I don’t care. In my fifteen years in this business I’ve learned it’s far more important to me to be able to look at myself in the mirror in the morning and like what I see than it is for me to be able to look at my bank account and like what I see.

And while that might make me poorer in the wallet, I can count myself richer in spirit, for I am fortunate enough to be able to call many of my long standing customers “friend.”

Technorati Tags: dishonest contractors, contractor ethics, service trade ethics

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