That’s a tough call – but you made the right one. No matter what the profession, it’s in the best interest of the industry to have at least a “cooperative spirit”. I am often asked to speak about the finer points of certain aspects of technology and I almost always agree. In so doing, I know that some of my competitors will be in the meeting and will take away information that can and probably be used against me the next time we go head-to-head in a competitive bid situation.

In my opinion, a lot of people can “get a job” but it’s through a conscientious effort of relationship building that we keep a client. This other chap may take an IFS cross member install away from you when working with a new client and complete this one task - but he will not easily sway one of your loyal customers with whom you have built a relationship.

Regardless of our craft or industry, success is achieved by building relationships that foster long term, repeat business as people grow to trust us and appreciate our commitment to excellence as we practice our trade.

I’m rarely the “cheapest” when I bid jobs, but I always try and be the best so that when the task at hand is finished, the customer feels good about the value received and looks forward to using our services again. Most people who just shop price are not the ones you want anyway. From the tone of your posts and the picture’s we’ve seen you run a first class establishment and my guess is that you sleep well at night knowing that your clients receive excellent value and you look forward to working for them on an ongoing basis.

So you helped a competitor to maybe complete a task – that’s good of you. I doubt seriously if he’ll be taking any of your clients with that bit of knowledge as that’s told him how to perform a task – not build a relationship.

My two cents,
Glenn