We all have protocols. Whether it’s a construction method or payment schedule, for example, these protocols are communicated to our customers in the hope that we will have a smooth, trouble free relationship through the course of a project.

But every now and then, for one reason or another, a customer or a vendor may ask us to vary from our normal procedures. The instinct is often to try to accommodate the request. We want to have happy customers or good relationships with our suppliers. So, we make exceptions.

The problem is this: With almost certainty, the exception will become the expectation.

For that reason, I never make exceptions without considering the idea that this will become the new standard. This customer will absolutely expect this same accommodation in the future. And you will probably be hearing things like, “Hey, you did this for Joe. Why not for me?”

As with many other things in life, ‘think twice;’ is a wise bit of advice.