1 December 2025
A few weeks ago I needed some work doing on the house. A section of wooden guttering had rotted and was starting to drip water, so it needed replacing.
After researching companies online I picked out three who had good references and called them up to visit and give me a quote.
Two of them got back to me within a couple of days with what they recommended and what it would cost. The third, who looked the best from my research, also said he’d check it out, but he was busy and it would be the following week before he could visit. It was only a few days away, so no problem.
I never heard from him again.
OK, he might be so busy that he doesn’t need the work. Maybe he can pick and choose his jobs and mine wasn’t big enough. Maybe he’ll go on to bigger and better things and be really successful.
But that’s not the point. In PR terms it is a really bad move. I found it disappointing.
He could have politely declined at the start. He could have made an easy excuse. He could have referred me to someone else he knew who would do a good job. He could have priced it high, so it either put me off or it would be worthwhile for him to do the job.
Instead, nothing.
Will he get a good reference from me? No. Will he care? Probably not.
The problem is that it’s not just me he lets down, it’s other people as well. It’s the way he operates. That won’t change. It’s why he’ll never grow to become a big business.
At the moment, he’s got the most control over his company’s external perception. If he gets bigger and takes on employees, he’ll lose some of that control. If he’s not doing it right now, his employees won’t either. They’ll be worse than him.
His reviews and reputation will suffer. He won’t continue to get 9s and 10s out of ten.
He’ll become an OK 7. He’ll continue to get work. It’ll be hit and miss.
The real issue is that when you look at a business and see one element that lets it down, there are more problems behind the scenes.
Businesses never have one department that’s not functioning properly, but everything else is perfect.
It either all works well or it doesn’t. The bad bits are just the ones that you see. The bigger you get, the more the problems start to show.
When you’re a small business, you can often get away with it; pop round with a smile and an apology if you think it’s necessary. Otherwise, let sleeping dogs lie and move on to the next one.
When it’s one of your employees that’s copying what you do, they won’t go back to smooth it over. They’ll just go home.
That’s the culture, that’s the brand you are building.
At the moment, he’s getting work, he thinks he’s being successful. He’ll be where he is now in 20 years’ time.
Maybe I’m doing him a disservice. He could have had a medical emergency that put him out of action for a few weeks. Maybe something else happened. Do I give him the benefit of the doubt?
Then again, maybe nothing happened and he just decided not to come back to me or just forgot.
It really doesn’t matter. It’s too late. I’ve moved on. Harsh? Business is harsh. If you’re not on it, for whatever reason, someone else will step in and take your business off you.
That’s PR. Good and bad. If you can control it, do it. If you can’t or don’t, people will make up their own minds.
