I freelance, and I work from home. A lot of people work from home these days, and many try to hide that fact, putting on an image that’s bigger than they are by using a variety of techniques, such as continually referring to your company as “we” when there’s really only an “I”. Now, there’s image-building, and then there’s lying to your customers. When I was more directly engaged in consulting on marketing efforts for websites and so forth, I used to tell people straight out, “don’t lie to your customers.” It’s my contention that this is generally bad business practice… isn’t it axiomatic that you’ll end up building lies to maintain the one you started out with? That’s what I first thought when I read that fake office noise boosts credibility, and now you can buy a soundtrack with background noise so people think you’re in an office. I guess you’re supposed to hit the “play” button before you answer the phone each time, because the lack of office noise is one of the main benefits of working at home in the first place.
I suppose this is the new version of “fake it ’till you make it,” a strategy of which I’m not a fan. If you can’t be credible working from home, then the general trend nowadays is that a lot less people are credible, and some that are must find themselves wishing they weren’t. I don’t buy it. We’ve become accustomed to calling people on their mobile numbers and finding them stuck in traffic, on an elevator, in a restaurant, and yes, sitting at home on the back deck. If they weren’t available for a business call, they wouldn’t answer, so we’re no longer disturbing them if they’re at home. I take business calls on my mobile number, and if the location is noisy, I just move, whether it’s the kids or whether the squirrel in my back yard won’t stop chattering, I can always retreat to the study for the sake of courtesy… nobody really wants to hear that background noise either. But still, why try to hide the fact you work at home? Check your motivations on this one to be sure they’re sound.
Again I say, don’t lie to your customers. When they eventually find out you work at home, they can only wonder what else you lied about. You don’t have to lead with the information, but don’t hide it, it’ll only come back to haunt you in the end.
Alas, we live in an time when many deem it ok not just to fake it till you make it, but to keep on faking it. But if people can’t trust what you say, or whether you can deliver on your promises, it will go bad for you.
[…] Toderash writes about the temptation to lie or misrepresent yourself to your customers/clients when working from home. Because of the fear of being looked down upon […]
You’ve made some very good points here. I tend to agree with you — my post was more tongue in cheek — but I still think it’s an interesting tactic. There are tons of businesses out there that use answering services, PO boxes, and even virtual offices. I’m not sure this is all that different. And there’s a big difference in working from home as a freelance writer and in working from home as a consultant who charges $300 an hour and works on business plans to attract multi-million dollar investments.
Andrea, thanks for stopping by. I’m sure you didn’t mean to sound disparaging to freelance writers — some of whom can earn more in a year than the $300/hr consultant.
I don’t think that an answering service, PO box, or virtual office (business centre) are in the same league as deliberately masking the size of your company and office location. I can think of reasons to use a PO box. I might get annoyed with the inability of an answering service to give me any useful responses to queries beyond the script, but once I discover it’s an answering service it doesn’t reflect badly on the company. These are all in the category of creating the work environment you want/need and ensuring your client has the best experience you can provide. But when you take that next step and begin lying about where you are and how big you are, it crosses the line in my mind. What will you do if your client calls up suddenly to say they’re in town and want to come by for an office tour and meet the team? The results to that are the stuff sitcoms are made of! You either lie more to cover or tell the truth and lose face over the previous lies… neither one is acceptable.
Perhaps there’s a big difference… but in general I think the people who are comfortable in their abilities (i.e., they’re worth their $300/hr) will not feel the need to put on a false front. I know people that earn the kind of coin you’re talking about and work alone, from home… serving national and international clients. I tend to value a referral that comes with, “Here’s his card—he’s a one-man-show, but he’s got an answering service, and he’s good at what he does.” otoh, when I meet someone who’s making efforts to appear as more than they are (and one can tell), I’m going to knock a good 20% or more off my assessment of his abilities as well.
As I said, it isn’t necessary to lead with (or even volunteer) information about your size and location if it isn’t a strength to the client, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to hide it. You spend a lot less energy in being honest… it’s far less stressful, and in the end the client relationships you do have will be stronger.
I’m with Brent on this one. There’s an important distinction between presenting yourself in the best light and lying to them.
When I started as a consultant, I sacrificed to buy the best suit I could. I had a professional answering service (that was before even answering machines were respiectable) and I invested in high quality stationery.
I never advertised the fact that I worked from home. In those days it was far less common than now. But if someone asked me if I did I told the truth and used it as a way to distinguish myself from the large firms filled with MBAs that had no real work experience.
I did lose some business with that strategy. But I never had to remember who I told what to and I never had to worry about where I would meet a client. I could say, “Bob, you have a real office, why don’t we meet there?” We’d both laugh and get on with the work.
Funny, I just got a ping on this site. I hadn’t realized you’d replied back to me, almost 3 years ago!
I most certainly did not mean to disparage freelance writers, having started in that role myself many years ago. However, there’s often a difference in *client* expectations when it comes to a freelance writer and, say, a freelace writing firm. Learning to manage and meet client expectations is important.
I can’t personally imagine telling people that you have a real office when you don’t. However, I can see that some consultants feel that they have to maintain a certain image and, if that’s what their research and experience tells them, I can’t argue with giving the impression that you have a more official office set up, perhaps simply by using a virtual office for mail and phone calls. That being said, I think it would be incredibly misleading and time-consuming to go to great lengths to make it seem like you have a “real” office. (I cannot imagine playing fake background noise, transferring clients around to fake voice mail systems or answering from multiple email accounts…and I find it tiresome when work at home consultants talk about “heading back to the office” and so on, when it’s all about posturing.)
Still, I know an enginering firm that is run completely from home, except that the company maintains a “brand-name” address — they even pay the rent, mind you. The owner swears that no one in his business will hire a his firm for multi-million dollar projects if he lets on that he actually lives in a cityhome down the street.
I don’t think it’s worth much thought, though. Most consultants make their living through their reputations.