Image via Wikipedia

Two tree-cutting services come to my home on separate days.

I point them to the branches dangling over my roof and ask for an estimate.

The first guy says, “it’ll run you about $750, but I can’t do it now. This is a Dutch Elm treat and you can only cut those in the winter months of they get Dutch Elm disease and then you have a huge problem on your hand. I can come back in January of February.”

The second guy comes on another day.

He says, “I can do it right now for  you for $300.”

There’s a concept in sales called FUD, “Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt” and old-school salespeople were coached to create that in the minds of their customers in order to get them to purchase.

In an age where everything can be checked quickly on Wikipedia, it does you no good to lie about what type of tree I have in my yard.

It benefits you a lot more to just tell the truth upfront.

And not just today, but in the long haul. Why would I ever entertain anyone else even soliciting my tree cutting business?

Honesty is the bedrock of relationships and when people value the relationship, they aren’t price shoppers.

Post was written while listening to...John Lee Hooker, Will The Circle Be Unbroken