Friday, 9 May 2008
Business Ethical Dilemmas
| Business ethics is one of my passions. Ethics is a very gray area, with answers sometimes not as simple as they first appear. Ethics is something that you explore through discussing cases in your workplace and working through all of the pros and cons of a decision before making your final decision. So here is a real life ethical dilemma to work through. One of your top regular clients calls you with a huge rush job. Income from this job is about double your regular weekly income - but they can easily afford the bill. You can fit it in with a few late nights and still keep your other work under control. As you start to research the job you realise that the job is wrong for the client and that it will not get them the results they are looking for. Do you a) keep going b) ring the client and talk through your research recommending they cancel the project (and lose the income in the process). In answering this think through the reasons for your decision. I look forward to hearing your thoughts Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony Putting your business into words Labels: business ethics |
I like to do the best for my client - and I rely on their goodwill, their word of mouth promotion of my business and their repeat business.
Here's a recent example:
I was exhibiting at a show a couple of days ago. A young woman was really interested in a particular necklace. She loved it and kept coming back to try it on. The colours were great on her, but it was just too short and didn't sit right.
If I had encouraged her she may well have bought the necklace but the possible consequence was that she may never have been 100% happy with it. So she would probably never buy another from me.
I was honest and told her that it wasn't sitting right - it needed to be longer but I wasn't able to amend the necklace simply due to design constraints.
I asked for her contact details and should I be able to obtain more of that particular stone I will email her and we may be able to do a bespoke piece for her down the track.
The result? Whilst she was disappointed that the necklace couldn't magically be made perfect for her, she was grateful for my honesty, my time and more than willing to part with her contact details - and she may still make a purchase later on. She also brought other friends to the booth later on, who made their own purchases.
So, yes I would advise the client that it isn't for them and forego the $$ this time around in the hope that they would appreciate and respect my honesty which may result in more business with them down the track.
Thanks Annette - I am getting a few emails quietly saying the same thing ... to stay within your business integrity and forego the money.
Perhaps it is just the people who read this blog, but when I used this scenario with a group a few years back we had a 50/50 take the money and run vs be honest split.
Maybe people are becoming more honest as the years progress?
That's an interesting question but personally, there is no dilemma. I have been faced with this situation a number of times and I would never consider anything other than what's best for my client.
In this specific example, I would discuss my concerns and reasoning with my client and if they still wanted me to go ahead with the job, I probably would, but only after making sure they were aware that I didn't believe it was in their best interests.
My policy is that I will always look after my customers' best interests. That is worth much more than whatever amount of money the job in question is worth.
I agree with everyone eles. I could not take the money and run, and still sleep at night. The clients don't come to us just to get a job done, they want the RIGHT job done. We are their guides, to some extent, and we would be failing in our duty if we ignored that side of our work.