Back in the day, I was a computer programming consultant at a large steel mill in Baltimore. Many of the steel workers did not like nor trust us tie-wearing, college educated types and, in my role, I worked closely with many of them.
One in particular continually expressed his distain for us "computer-types." Need-less-to-say, not many of us enjoyed working on a project with him.
One such project fell to me and, after installing the software fix, I discovered that I had made a coding mistake that immediately affected all of data output of that program. I was able to quickly change the code to process correctly and then went into the database and replaced the data output with the correct totals -- all likely completely invisible to the user. He wouldn't have to know that I made a mistake and I wouldn't have to deal with the user's anger ... and cursing. "What they don't know won't hurt them (or me)."
While lots of folks hold to that quote, there's a lot to be said for being honest and transparent, especially in business practice and customer service. I decided to suck it up and let him know what had happened and that it had been fixed with no impact.
I took a big breath and dialed his number, telling him that the fix had been installed and a discovered error corrected. I was greeted with silence ... and expected the worse.
"Let me tell you, Steve. You are the first computer-type that I've dealt with in all my years who has ever admitted a mistake. Thank you for finding it and correcting it, and letting me know about it."
Whew!!
Several weeks later, I needed to go out into the mill to meet with another user on a different issue. He spotted me as soon as I entered the area. Even though our conversation had gone better than imagined, actually facing him put me on edge.
He walked up, put his arm around my shoulder, walked a couple of feet to a couple of other workers standing nearby and said, "Guys, this is Steve -- that computer guy I was telling you about. If you ever have a problem or question, this is the guy to go to. You know it will be done right."
Being honest with customers, especially when the news isn't great, is the best policy. That's common sense, but often hard to practice.
When you're facing a similar crossroad, consider taking the road less traveled.
