I was asked to bid on a marketing project yesterday. While preparing the bid, I found that I needed to clarify my stance on certain business practices. Specifically, I stated to my prospect that a form of partnership he was seeking was not permissible within my ethics and posed a conflict of interests.
In other words, I knew that type of partnership would make feel disingenuous and possibly cause me to lose sleep down the road.
In our day-to-day business dealings, most ethics-based decisions are cut-and-dried. Companies often have codes that specify what’s acceptable and what isn’t. But in the sales field, when deals are often made on-the-fly, requiring flexibility and innovation, we’re tempted to push the ethical boundaries. So it’s especially important to not only know your company’s code of ethics (the “letter of the law”), but also apply moral standards (the “spirit of the law”) to situations that aren’t so black-and-white.
Sometimes being ethical means you sacrifice a sale. But clarifying your position upfront helps you avoid an uncomfortable situation or damaging legal ramifications.
Temptations and traps to avoid
- Misrepresenting your product or service
- Price fixing
- Bait-and-switch practices
- Surprise charges and add-ons after the sale
- Misuse of proprietary data and customer lists
- Padding an expense account
- Badmouthing a competitor
- Kickbacks to the buyer
- Unauthorized signing of agreements
Whether or not your company has a defined code of ethics, defining and following certain guidelines are not only common sense, but good business.
Ethically responsible questions to keep in mind
- Do I know these claims to be true or am I just saying them because it guarantees a sale?
- Am I doing my best to educate the customer about the product before the sale?
- Do I understand the terms of the sales policies and what’s legally binding?
- Can this data be divulged or is meant to be proprietary?
- When quoting statistics, do I know the primary source and if it’s reliable?
- Do I know federal and state laws that apply to the company’s products and warranties?
- Am I making clear what triggers any claims to a money-back guarantee?
- Do I always think twice before saying anything negative about a competitor, another customer or a fellow employee?
- Do I ask permission before using a testimonial from a satisfied customer?
- Am I focusing on solving my client’s problem or am I just intent on making the sale?
Please comment and tell others what you’d add as #11.
- LuAnne Speeter, President, Minnesota Cause Connection Inc.
Related post: How ethical are you really? Take this quiz
7 comments
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October 30, 2009 at 5:51 am
tcummins
LuAnne,
You have produced an excellent list and some timely observations. My Association (www.iaccm.com) covers those who are involved with the consequences of sales or marketing misrepresentation (or ’stretching the truth’). In a recent global survey, our members expressed concern over the negative impact of the recession on ethics – at a time when of course the public and political eye is very much on business behavior. You’ll find more about this on my blog – and in particular a recent entry on Sales Incentives, Ethics & Honesty.
At IACCM, we care about ethics because they underpin trust; and without trust, overall trade will suffer. That is not good for any of us.
Going forward, perhaps we should collaborate on some of these common interests. And as for #11, I would like to suggest a principle I learnt some years ago when making risk decisions: Think about the press article that could result from your action (of course, in most cases that is imaginary, but the point is that whatever you do will get distorted – how much could your action be the next juicy story to damage your company’s reputation?).
October 30, 2009 at 4:01 pm
LuAnne Speeter
Thank you for your excellent 11th point, Tim. In this age of transparency, it’s not far-fetched to imagine how your actions could potentially play out when exposed to the world, whether on the Internet, through legal action or simply word-of-mouth. So if you don’t think it’s something you’d be proud for others to know, don’t do it!
October 30, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Dr. Sushanta Kumar
Thank u very much, Mr.Tim.
At this crucial time, your excellent points are very important and to keep in mind carefully prior to starting any activity related to this.
Hopefully there will be a good exposure.
Regards.
October 31, 2009 at 6:30 am
Ozlem Hakanoglu
I would add another question based on my experience with sales professionals: most of the time they are not available anymore after the deal is closed, they are either out for other sales opportunities, or have left the company. And if you reach them, they mostly say that they are not a lawyer, so may not know contractual drawbacks for the customer, or that they are not a technical person, thus they are not in a position to clarify functional details.
So I would also add to ask:
“Am I ready to stand behind or advocate the product/service also for after the sale; do I want to be reachable and accountable for what I have said today?” In other words, “Do I care about the long term satisfaction of the customer, and am I ready to listen to complaints and resolve them in a fair manner?”
So there is the question of how much you feel affiliated with the product and the company you represent, how much you really like what you are selling and the principles and values of the company you represent.
In fact, lack of such kind of loyalty or commitment to the product, the company and to the customer, I believe, is one of the prime sources of ethical questionmarks concerning sales functions, aside from the pure drive for more sales in order to achieve performance standarts and to keep the job/advance in profession.
October 31, 2009 at 10:11 am
LuAnne Speeter
The solid long-term relationship is the ultimate prize. Thanks for your valuable contribution, Ozlem.
November 30, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Julie Teran
LuAnne ~ Thank you for the timely reminder to all of us sales people heading into the holiday season! I especially appreciate #10.
Best wishes.
November 30, 2009 at 8:13 pm
LuAnne Speeter
Thank you, Julie – and best wishes to you and everyone at Mintáhoe!