I want to go on record as saying I enjoyed the crazy Charlie Sheen of six months ago much better than the reserved, respectful Charlie Sheen that we see today. In case you missed it, Sheen is making the rounds (Tonight Show, Emmy’s, Comedy Central Roast) in an attempt to reverse the damage that he did a while back to his career when he screamed of tiger blood and warlocks.

But as any good HVAC contractor knows, it is a lot easier to blow a reputation than it is to build one up. Sheen is a good reminder that you better be doing a stellar job from the start and just improve from there. I am guessing if your company had a three-month debacle like Sheen did earlier this year, your company would not be in business.

That means making sure any new hires are able to meet your lofty standards before you let them interact with a customer. It means constant reminders and training for even the longest-serving employees. While I don’t believe your new tech will shout, “Winner, Winner, HVAC Dinner,” he could be turning off customers in ways that you may not be aware of. And here is guessing that the customer is not keeping his discontent to himself, but rather sharing it at the neighborhood dinner party.

Because once you get branded as bad/crazy, it takes a long time to dig out. Jon Lovitz proved that point during the recent roast of Charlie Sheen. “How much cocaine can Charlie Sheen do? Enough to kill two and a half men,” Lovitz said.

Some might suspect that this entire blog was written with the sole purpose of being able to tell that last joke. Well, in fact, yes it was.