Higher Authority Angle

My company loaned one of our contractors several thousand dollars recently. He was going through some tough times so we helped him out. Several weeks later after he closed on an equity line, we expected to get paid back promptly. After a couple weeks, our renovation manager that communicates with the contractor kept getting the “check book for the equity line hasn’t come in yet so I can’t pay you” excuse. I told our renovation manager to let me call the contractor and see what I could do. This is where the higher authority angle came in.

I called our contractor and told him how familiar I was with equity lines. I let him know that if he simply placed a couple calls, he could access the money somehow without having to wait for a checkbook to come in the mail. I also told him that we expected to get paid by Friday (it was Wednesday at the time).

When a higher authority figure enters a situation, the person with whom you have to deal with will generally get a feeling of importance. They feel more appreciated. They become disarmed and will agree to a reasonable outcome to whatever problem you may be having.

When you come across a terribly difficult person to deal with, do the best you can, cut your losses, and move on.