In my september column, "Cheaters," I wrote about the benefit of relating to customers as people, even while remaining professional. Last month, I wrote about consulting with a customer about a house's older wiring and performing just a bit of the needed repairs. My customer's rag (rubber-and-cloth-insulated) wiring was going to need replacement sooner or later, but she didn't even want me to investigate the problem's urgency. A brief conversation about rewiring suggested that doing so was way out of her financial reach. This was only one of many indications that her budget was tight.
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