The one thing that I have learned over the years is that you must be open and honest with you dealings in business because lying is not the answer. If everyone knows where they stand then there is no need to be dishonest and makes for a much better business relationship. Lying tends to come back and bite you and is actually a hard gig to keep going once you start this.
I had this scenario play out last week with a staff member not being honest with one of our service providers and I had to step in. The service provider was owed payment which was firstly not great and secondly they wee being lied to. This would end up with us losing the service provider and why you need to be open at all times.
What transpired was our client is owed a sizeable sum which instead of being paid 2 weeks ago was only being paid yesterday. Keeping quiet and not keeping everyone in the loop only creates distrust. I informed our service provider filling them in on the status of payment so if they needed to make a plan they could. This kind of situation is actually quite common when dealing with these large retail accounts even though we do not like it. They often delay payments saying they are missing a delivery note when we all know too well they are stalling.
The crazy part is we are second in the chain and if there is an account we owe money to then I have signed assurity or a guarantee I will cover this. This is not only stressful, but a constant reminder why we need to have the business diversified and not reliant on one client and why I am building other revenue streams within the business. Over the next 12 months the business will be unrecognizable from when we first started and why growth in other areas is crucial.
This has since been resolved and it is business as normal with the one exception the service provider will now phone myself if there are any issues. Trust is all you have ad if you do not have that then you have nothing. I blasted both parties who were at fault and told them to be open and fair and to never lie. If you owe someone a payment then talk to them and resolve this telling them what you are going to do.
I have been involved with companies before that have lied and cheated which ultimately ends up with them losing everything. This is the type of business practice I detest and why I somehow always end up in the middle. Shocking to think people find it is okay to lie and are normally not the ones who have to pick up the pieces.