So I am a painting contractor. I do some decorative/plaster finishes but that’s not my main thing; mostly I do, you know, regular painting. Mostly high-end/custom residential, and some commercial. In the past, I have occasionally worked with someone who does nothing but murals, decorative plaster and faux finishes.
Recently I got a call from a realtor with Sotheby’s Realty; they do mostly “luxury” real estate. She got my number from a client of hers and wanted me to do some work on a house she has listed. It was routine painting - remove wallpaper, prep, and paint walls and trim in a couple of rooms. We did it, everyone is happy and now she is referring me all over the place for painting. Great.
However! Somehow, she thinks that I am the other person, who does the really awesome faux/mural work. But I am not - I do a lot of that sort of thing, but not as awesomely as the other person. In fact the other person isn’t even in business any more (as of last summer: she had knee replacement surgery and decided not to do physical work any more.) I guess her client gave her my number either in error, or because he forgot who did what, or something.
It took me a while, like a week, to realise she thought I was Other Person. Granted, I am awesome at what I do. But now I am really dithering. Do I tell her I am not actually Other Person who does awesome faux/mural work? Won’t that make me look really skeevy (instead of merely dense.) Do I wing it and hope nobody wants me to do something I might not be able to do well? Do I simply figure out how to do the particular finish someone wants and I hope I do it well?
I hate lying, but now I feel like I’ve been passively untruthful. I like this client and she likes me, we have rapport, and on the basis of one job I just completed for her, she is extremely happy. And I won’t lie: someone who has the potential to throw me lots of high-end work is valuable. But I am really uncomfortable that this whole thing is starting out on the basis of mistaken identity.
you could mention in a conversation that it’s too bad [awesome other person] got hurt and can’t work anymore, but you’re real excited to be getting more of this type of work.
Has she referenced the other person’s past work as yours? Has she called you by this other person’s name? If not, then there’s nothing unethical about accepting work offered to you. You don’t know if she is confusing you, other than your own insecurity. Don’t let that get in the way of future business. Now if you are offered work that you don’t know how to do or is completely out of your skill set, there’s nothing wrong with sub-contracting that work out to someone more qualified.
Actually, not directly. But once I realised who the referring client was (I had to look him up) I also then realised that she very clearly thought that I was the person who did the rather dramatic metallic plaster finish in his foyer. I worked on that job, but only did the more pedestrian painting.
**
Procrustus** - yes, I could do that. But it would be sort of admitting, weeks after that fact, that hey - I’m not that person.
**not what you’d expect ** I know it! Therein lies the rub, I guess. I just don’t know how to couch the revelation.
On the one hand, on the basis of one small job, she is very pleased. So, no deception there. I was called for a job, I (we: I should not discount the work my two very competent employees do) did the job promptly and well, client is happy.
I suppose now that I have had a few responses and am thinking about it, my main concern is that I don’t want to lose a potentially lucrative client, so to be honest my concerns are more about covering my ass than being truly ethical. Huh.
In the book customers for life* Carl Sewell had an entire chapter on ethics. In short the lesson was: if you are trying to decide an ethics question picture; you choices as the banner headline in tomorrow’s morning newspaper.
Act accordingly.
Since we don’t know exactly how you figured out that there might be a misunderstanding about who you are, I’m not exactly sure of how you should proceed.
So here’s my advice:
Make sure they know your name, your business name and any relevant details (contractor’s license or whatever). Don’t let those be wrong. If you correct them on the name and there are no further questions, there’s no need for you to elaborate.
If you’re being credited with work you/your company didn’t do at all, admit that. Go ahead and say “Mural person and I worked together a lot until they retired, and that was actually a project I wasn’t involved in” since that would be true.
If you did have any role in the work (like the mural person was a subcontractor for you), then take reasonable credit for it - a general contractor should be able to take credit for the work a sub does. After all, the contractor found the sub and coordinated the project; he doesn’t have to apologize for not doing everything himself. Just don’t take any undue credit.
Since you do some mural work, just play it by ear when offered projects. If someone offers you something that’s beyond your ability, just fall back on “Mural person and I worked together on that until they retired, but I’m not sure I should take on that project now that they’re no longer available.”
You may also want to find a relationship with a replacement for mural person. Being able to say “Mural person retired, so I now work with new person” is a great way to be both honest and competitive.
She was given my business card by the client, and I emailed her an estimate from my work email, so she knows exactly who I am. I’m certainly not misrepresenting my identity.
Indeed. And I did actually work on the foyer project in question: I did all the high ladder-work on the foyer, so that is completely truthful.
Exactly right. In this instance, if anything, I was a sub for Other Person. It was “her” client. I did all the regular and base-coat painting as well as the ladder-work on the plaster (under her instruction.)
Beautiful!
I wish I could, but reliable + good people are very few and far between.
Glad I could help. From the clarifications, I think you’re representing yourself well, and covering your bases ethically. Even if you feel it’s the case that you were working under the other person’s instruction, the mere fact that you worked on those projects gives you valuable expertise you can use now that you’re taking the lead. You certainly don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot by deprecating your talents or your role unnecessarily.
But now I am really dithering. Do I tell her I am not actually Other Person who does awesome faux/mural work? Won’t that make me look really skeevy (instead of merely dense.) Do I wing it and hope nobody wants me to do something I might not be able to do well? Do I simply figure out how to do the particular finish someone wants and I hope I do it well?