We came home from a recent trip to find that our youngest daughter, who still lives across the hall from us, had gone on a cleaning binge while we were gone. Unfortunately, she pulled her bed away from the wall only to find what looked like dirt and water streaks underneath her windowsill.

That was the only place in the room for this discoloration. My wife, on a hunch, went into the next bedroom on the same side of the house, only to find paint bubbling, also only underneath the windowsill.

Our first thought was window problems. Our second thought, which quickly replaced the first, was mold. Mold in the walls, mold potentially creeping into the HVAC system. Our daughter probably shouldn’t be sleeping in there until we determine what it is.

We found this anomaly on Sunday evening and with some diligent phone calling we were able to get a window company to come out on Tuesday and a second window company to come out on Wednesday.

We fully expected to need to replace those two windows. But that would not necessarily eliminate the mold problem. Would it?

The first window company man came in and slid, what he called, a Moisture Meter, all over the affected area in both bedrooms. He showed us the meter readings while he was doing it, in order to “verify” what he was seeing. It appeared that we had significant moisture in both walls.

He also gave us the entire dog and pony show, regaling us with his display case of how everyone else’s window is made and how HIS company’s windows are made. Which, of course, are superior to almost every other window on the market. He had all the bells and whistles in his display box, including a heat lamp that, when projected through the various window panels in his display box, demonstrated how effective each window is at battling the elements. Of course, his window reigned supreme in this demonstration.

At this point, my wife and I don’t know what we don’t know. We have some level of trust based on what we saw on the moisture meter readings, and the salesman seemed sincere and trustworthy.

When we quizzed him about potential mold complications…he lied. Maybe not intentionally (how could it not be, you might ask?). He said that his company would pull out the old window and thoroughly inspect the internal wall beneath the window. If they saw mold, they would cut out the drywall underneath the window. They then would replace any wet or moldy wood and would thoroughly remediate any mold problem before putting in new drywall and THEN replacing the window.

Their price was reasonable. Much less than we expected. Even though we had a second window company coming in the next evening, my wife wanted to sign the papers with this company because we both trusted what the salesman presented to us, and we didn’t want to lose the price. We did not hand over any money, and the only catch was that we had to confirm the purchase by midnight Friday. This was Tuesday night.

I told my better and smarter half that I was going to keep the appointment with the second window company because it didn’t cost us anything but an hour of time. I wanted to see if the second company, essentially, would confirm what the first had diagnosed.

A third variable came into play. A friend messaged me and said, “hey, a friend of mine is a certified home inspector, and you should have him come evaluate your problem. He’s not trying to sell you windows, he’ll just tell you what he sees for his fee and leave.” After some wrangling with the CSR, I was able to get the home inspector to come Thursday (so we could still make the Friday midnight deadline).

Long story short, the second window company was skeptical of any mold claim. He took some scrapes and he took some photographs, and he was at least honest enough to say he did not know if it was mold. He took his evidence back to his shop to have the experts there analyze his scrapings and his photos. He didn’t even give us a price for windows or take out his dog and pony show. His skepticism about the mold raised a red flag with my wife and with me.

I also kept the appointment with the home inspector. After his evaluation (following the skeptical second window guy) two things became apparent: My Irish-German better half was going to be having a pointed discussion the next morning with the first window company. And there’s a good chance we don’t need new windows at all, or at the very least, just one.

My wife spoke with four different people at the first window company. The first said, “hell no, we don’t do any mold remediation.” The second one said, “Geez, I don’t know why ‘Bob” told you we do that. Maybe you misheard him.” The third character tried to smooth things over and save the sale. The fourth was the first guy that came to our home.

In the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) report “Trust-Building Advertising Works” (January 2026), one of the key takeaways is that trust-building can promote large shifts in: customer acquisition, sales value, sales volume, profit, market share, customer loyalty and reduction of price sensitivity.

Further, the report indicates that trust-building is more than twice as likely to stimulate large, positive changes in perception of brand quality and brand loyalty.

I hinted earlier in the article that, perhaps, the first window guy didn’t intentionally lie to us. He had been an independent contractor for a number of years and had experience in many home improvement scenarios besides windows. So, when he explained what he would do to remediate the mold, perhaps he was thinking about what HE would’ve done as an independent contractor.

Small business owners should coach their salespeople and technicians this one simple phrase: “I don’t know but let me find some answers for you and I’ll get back to you as soon as I have the information. Is that okay with you?”

Don’t lie to your customers. Don’t tell your customers that you provide a service that you DO NOT provide. Don’t use fancy sales techniques to attempt to make a sale. SOLVE YOUR CUSTOMER’S PROBLEM.

If you’re searching for the guy who can develop a marketing strategy for your customers to know you, like you and TRUST you…give me a shout. I’d be happy to help.

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