Goodwill is a Value which is Maintained or Lost.

            There are times when it is not covenant to stop you tasks to talk to someone about something unrelated to what you are doing. Sometimes people come up and try to make small talk to see if you are approachable. It is important that you take the time and make an effort to be social. Back when I first went out on my own a man, I thought I knew approached me and told me her heard I was starting up a construction company. This man used to manage a grocery store before he retired and then he opened a lawnmower shop, sales and repairs. He told me that when he first opened an old man came to him and gave him some advice that he was going to pass on to me. He said, “If you do a perfect job that person might tell someone, but if you do something wrong, they’ll tell everyone.” The man has since retired but he would drop bits of wisdom off every once and a while. Once while I was at his shop picking up a piece of equipment I man walked in and asked him how much he’d fix a weed eater for. After he told him the cost the man said a guy in the next town would do it for $10 or $15 dollars less. He gave the man back his pieces of the weed eater and told him to take it to that guy. The man said he wanted him to fix it. He told him no that his prices weren’t negations. This same man would sharpen scissors for older ladies for no charge.  He explained it this way. I help the people I wish to help; I don’t stand out in the street and shout I help so and so now. I just help how I want and it is no one’s business if I give my profit away it is mine do with as I please, but no one going to come in my shop and try to take my profit.  The man with the weed eater did return later but he never tried that price comparison again. Those old ladies had kids and grand kids that came to purchase items from his shop.

The saying goes that it is much easier to keep a satisfied client than to try and win one back. Running a business is going to cause you to adjust to a little give and take but you must remain the one in the control of your giving. Be careful how you treat others including your employees, you never know when a small gesture of good will comeback and help you tenfold, but a bad reputation will haunt you like a plague.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source or taken by the author. No image or group of photos is intended to represent the people the author serves. The author does not care about Race (that is a politically correct term that he does not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. He prefers the term ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.) He is a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662. He’s a member of the CRMLS and The East Valley Association of Realtors located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.