Friday, June 21, 2013

Cash vs. Conscience

If you are a business that prides itself on delivering quality goods, it’s important to remember that even when a potential client is throwing tons of cash to produce substandard work.

You know the drill – someone wants you to do something – and quick. They use lines such as “It’s only one time,” “Oh, no one is going to see it,” or “I’m not going to tell anyone YOU did it.”

If you hear anything like that, run and run far away. 

Why? The scenario will go like this:

Say you decide to help the client out and offer a service that is substandard and runs contrary to your modus operandi – they are begging, crying and whining so much you can’t stand it. Your instinct is telling you not to go ahead with it, but you do.

The product is ready and you cringe, and cringe a lot, waiting for you client to see it. They arrive and they say they everything is fine and they pay above the usual just to get what they need. However, what inevitably happens is that words gets out that you did it. People are perplexed. People are shocked. People start talking about the poor quality and rush job that your company just did. All that chatter gets back to you and you now have to defend your business’ reputation.

All for a few extra bucks.

Next time, when someone wants substandard work done at a steep price, consider the consequences.