The Cost of Integrity

Business is business, or is it? You have to draw a line somewhere in the sand that separates the ethical companies from the unethical ones and as an SEO we have certainly had to draw this line. We were initially concerned that it was bad business practice to turn down business, but after about a millisecond of thought we decided that operating with integrity is a key value in our business and that regardless of the opportunity cost we would hold true to that value.

The Dilemma

The story is about a company that sells computer parts online. Their sales and technical support is outsourced internationally to save money, and they have a “wonderful” trick in their bag called up-selling. Let’s say you plan to buy a motherboard from this company, after placing the order you can expect a call from an international person that wants to sell you a motherboard and CPU combo. Seems fine so far, but much to your dismay they cancel your order because you decided NOT to buy the computer combo. I know about aggressive sales tactics, but this is downright derogatory.

Our Decision

As a result of this intriguing corporate philosophy, they have 20% negative feedback on the internet and have somehow convinced themselves that 20% negative feedback is industry standard. Now, this might be industry standard when it comes to mafia-related activity but in my book that isn’t acceptable. So what do we do when faced with this company that is willing to pay out the nose for SEO work? We tell them to look elsewhere. We love helping companies, but getting into that lions den just isn’t our cup of tea. We decided that a company that operates like that will inevitably be a difficult customer and we’d just rather not get involved. I hate to turn down business, but sometimes you need to think about your own integrity first. Needless to say, we felt good after that decision even if we did have to painfully turn down business.

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