get_ethical_now.htm

In case you haven’t already noticed, ethics are an absolutely critical factor in the equation that is client relations. Good ethics can help you build strong, long-term relationships with your clients--a result that will help ensure your success in business. Bad ethics, on the other hand, will send your relationship to the bottom of the sea faster than a rogue iceberg floating in the North Atlantic. And, if you’re like me, that’s probably just about the last place you want your nifty little business to end up.

In business, you’re virtually guaranteed to face an amazing amount and variety of ethical landmines. Depending on your personal situation, you may be lucky to encounter these challenges only every once in a while. Other businesspeople aren’t quite so lucky--facing ethical challenges almost constantly. But while the nature of the challenges--and the frequency with which you face them--may vary, there’s one thing for sure: you are going to be challenged.

And the temptation to stray from the good side of the ethical line to the bad can become tempting at times--sometimes very much so. We’ve all faced situations where a little lie here or there could make a difference in the amount of money we bring in, or the client referrals we get, or the fame and glory we attract—sometimes a big difference. With bills to pay, mouths to feed, and lifestyles to support, the idea of a few extra bucks in the old checking account can be a very compelling one indeed.

In my many years in the wonderful world of business--both as a corporate wienie, and as the owner of my own business, I’ve seen the impact of good and bad ethics on client relationships, fortunately, mostly the good. I have, however, seen the bad as well, and the results were definitely not pretty. In fact, they were downright ugly.

While you might put feeding your clients blatant lies at the end of a very long list of things not to do, not everyone necessarily shares your point of view. In fact, some businesspeople make lying a major part of their business plan--often with disastrous results. Have you ever faked the results of a study or report for a client, or used made-up data? Have you ever fudged on your resume or on your firm’s qualifications? I’m not talking about a simple embellishment like “One of the best freelance photographers east of Interstate 95”; I’m talking about making up your Yale undergraduate degree or creating a long list of experience with Fortune 500 companies where, in reality, there is none.

Here’s another prickly predicament for many businesspeople: conflicts of interest. Conflicts of interest occur when your personal interests or the interests of your business conflict with those of your client. Conflicts of interest come in many different flavors: management consultants who, either intentionally or unintentionally, pass confidential information between common clients who are also in competition with one another; architects who insist on the most expensive materials possible (and who just happen to receive a kickback from the manufacturer for their trouble) when something much less expensive would do just fine; financial consultants who churn investment accounts to generate large commissions, while slowly whittling away their clients’ principal. The list of possibilities is virtually endless.

And avoiding conflicts of interest isn’t always as easy as you might think. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that it really is a small world after all. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve learned from a client that I know his friend, relative, business partner, colleague, competitor, or enemy. The point is, just as anything you say can be used against you in a court of law, so too can the information you pass from one client to another be a conflict of interest, and it can destroy the trust and the relationships you’ve worked so hard to establish with your clients.

Years ago, I learned that lesson the hard way, but learn it I did. I was talking to a client--let’s call him Tom--about a new project I had just started for another client. I guess I should have clammed up when Tom’s ears perked up as I detailed my client’s plans for rolling out the project. Unfortunately, I didn’t. Sure enough, Tom jumped on the idea and ran with it. When my new client got wind of what had happened, I caught absolute holy hell for my transgression. Looking back, I was probably lucky I didn’t end up in court. As it was, I destroyed the trust we had established and, with it, our business relationship.

Trust is the glue that holds relationships together. This is as true in our business lives as it is in our personal lives. When we violate accepted ethical standards and practices, we violate the trust that we have developed with our clients. The question is not whether you’re an ethical individual (you’ve already proved you’re not), but in what form your unethical behavior will next rear its ugly head. You lied on your resume, will you steal diskettes or toner cartridges from the supply room as well? Will you deliver a crappy product and try to pass it off as a great one? Who knows?

I know someone—let’s call her Susan—who once referred a business acquaintance to a good client of hers. Extremely happy to get the referral, the business acquaintance agreed to pay some small amount of money to Susan as a finder’s fee. After signing a contract with the client, he reneged on his promise, not only destroying the trust and good will that he had built over the years with Susan, but ensuring that he never received another referral from her. According to Susan, it wasn’t the money that hurt--the amount was a relatively small one--it was the fact that she felt used and abused by someone she trusted.

What will your client do if he or she finds out that you’ve made up expenses that don’t exist, or that you really don’t have the experience that you claim, or that you’re fudging the results of your work? Do you really want to find out?

The most important thing to remember about ethics is that we all make mistakes from time to time in our projects--we are human, after all (at least, most of the businesspeople I know are). Ethics isn’t about mistakes, however, it’s all about intent. It’s one thing to send a client a duplicate invoice by mistake. But it’s another thing altogether to consciously bill your client for expenses that you know full well had nothing to do with him or his project.

The first situation is an honest mistake; the second is lousy ethics.

One more thing. Ethics are not absolute; they vary depending on the prevailing culture and the dictates of the industry and the organizations that you work for. So, for example, while some clients may be looking to you for ways to stay within the posted speed limit, others may want you to go as fast as you can without getting arrested. Your job is to be sure that your own ethical standards are at least as high, if not better, than the clients and the companies that you work for, and to be sure that you avoid compromising your own values and sense of fair play. Anything less, and you’re treading on very thin ice.

Make it a point to become conscious of the ethical component in your own business life. What rules or values are you willing to bend or to break to advance your own cause? If you make it a point to be alert to the times when your ethics get mushy, then you can do something about it. If not, then you may not realize you’ve got a problem until it’s too late.

We all know the difference between right and wrong (you do know the difference, right?), and we all know when we have crossed the line that separates good ethics in our line of business from bad ethics. Cross the line once or twice--with just your little toe--and you’ll likely cause little harm to your clients or to your business. Cross the line too often, or jump in with everything you’ve got, and you’ll soon find your reputation tarnished, perhaps even destroyed, and your business along with it.

And, in business, a good reputation is everything.

Article written by Peter Economy. Peter is an Associate Editor of Leader to Leader magazine, and coauthor of the books Home-Based Business For Dummies, Raising Capital For Dummies, and the upcoming book Why Aren’t You Your Own Boss? Visit him at his Web site: http://www.petereconomy.com