Scoundrels Everywhere - Lessons Learned

Scoundrels Everywhere - Lessons Learned

This is Episode 13 of the ongoing Lessons Learned series. For all the information, and an index of Lessons Learned episodes, go to the Lessons Learned Page. 

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Today's topic:  Scoundrels Everywhere

I've never understood people who just want to get their hands on other people's money without earning it. Don't get me wrong: I like money. I'm a big fan. But my first impulse is to EARN it, not take it.

Literally since Day One in this business, I've seen people who try to make a living taking money from people without earning it. I've never seen anyone actually "make a living" doing this, but I've seen plenty who rip others off when they can.

Note: I'm not talking about people who are simply incompetent. That's another story. (See Episode 9.) Here, I'm talking about people who sell fake services or bad products, and those who simply don't deliver what they say they will.

Some of my favorite stories involve these scoundrels. I've been called as an expert witness in several court cases. In each case, I was there to inform the judge or the court about what constitutes appropriate, professional standards. For example . . .

In one case, a major national corporation whose name you would recognize was suing an IT service provider because he told them that: 1) Their data would be stored in a secure data center; 2) It would be backed up to a mirrored site at another secure data center in another state; and 3) Everything was up to spec with the latest industry standards (ISO, SOC 2, ISAE, SSAE, etc.). In reality, dude had a server in an open rack in his garage. It was backed up to a server in a rack in his father's garage, in another state. AND he was defending his actions as appropriate. He lost the case.

In other cases, IT consultants sold obsolete hardware, used hardware, and even obsolete, used software and operating systems. And, quite often, they charged full price and counter-sued when they got caught. I think deep in their hearts they really didn't understand that that's not how business is done.

While it's sad that these jerks exist and rip off your clients, I can also say that I've had clients rip me off as well. One client I'll call Steve, because that's his name, ordered a new server from me when he had no intention of paying for it. He literally took possession and never paid the bill. He (personally) is the reason we moved our "Get paid in advance for everything" rule from 90% of the time to 99.9% of the time. He intentionally stole from me.

On very rare occasions, I've been ripped off by a distributor. In each case, it came down to a greedy sales person who refused to give up their commission. In the worst instance, I thanked my stars for multiple vendors, and simply started ordering from others. 

Someday, I'll tell that story in detail. But the bottom line is that I took about $30,000 per month in product to another distributor. After more months than you'd expect, someone called me and asked why. After I told the story, they apologized profusely and asked how they could make it right. I told them to call back when they have a working time machine.

Thankfully, these examples are rare. Unfortunately, they are also not "unheard of." Everyone in business has had a bad experience in business. And almost everyone has been ripped off from time to time.

I find it very irritating that I have to work in an industry where this kind of thing happens. This irritation is one of the motivating factors behind the formation of the National Society of IT Service Providers. YOU work in an industry where this stuff happens. And you are likely to come across clients who have been burned by other consultants.

We as an industry need to fight this kind of greedy and illegal behavior. We need to post our code of ethics on our web sites and lead with them in sales calls. We need to separate ourselves with the single most important element in sales: Trust. When you're squeaky clean, you never have to worry that clients have heard these stories about your company.

Comments and feedback welcome.

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Next week, one of the most important lessons I've ever learned! 

Up next . . .   All the Pieces Come Together

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