The final facet of the ethics problem is what is referred to as role conflict. This is where the salesperson is caught between doing what is best for the employer versus what is best for the prospect or customer. A frequent scenario is a temporary price reduction due to an upcoming marketing promotion. In this case the customer is ready to make the purchase decision right now, yet could save 20 percent by waiting a couple of weeks. The trouble here is the promotion has not yet been announced to the public and if the sales person voluntarily tells everyone, then he or she will have no orders to turn in for several weeks.
Another dimension is the well known fact that many people in business think it is ok that is to "bend the rules" once in a while if it results in getting ahead. This attitude prevails not because it's permissible, but because few people are seldom caught and punished for these actions. After all, booking that last order of the year that puts you over quota by lying to the prospect about a pending price increase isn't going to get you fired.
So just how does someone go about deciding what is ethical? Several criteria can be applied to every questionable sales activity to determine this more clearly. The initial test is whether you would want someone to do the same thing to you. How would you feel not getting the whole story about a used car you are going to purchase for your spouse? What if the seller knows, but never states that the car was in a terrible front end collision and the alignment can never be fixed to where it doesn't affect the steering?
The next test is whether you would want others in the general public to know what you did. Would the things the customers say about you would all be nice and complimentary or would the details embarrass you? Consider if you had to tell your parents about each and every one of your sales. Would your mother or father be proud of you or ashamed that you are their offspring?
A final guideline is whether or not anyone can suffer any degree of damage by your choice of conduct.
Today it's very possible for any salesperson to rationalize away the justification for unethical conduct. This is especially true when things aren't going well in one’s sales career. That's when the temptation enters to bend the rules or do something wrong where the outcome is very beneficial. The reason salespeople are even faced with these opportunities to stray across the line is partly due to their loose supervision by others. Often, salespeople are remotely managed and their actions are not witnessed by company executives. Giving sales people this much implied trust requires that those hired must have a strong sense of ethical values.
In summary, ethics is at the foundation of the effort to elevate sales as a true profession in its own right. By reinforcing the concept that the size of the gray area between legal and ethical conduct is narrow, not large, progress will have been made in raising the standards expected of all salespeople.
The field of sales is undergoing dramatic change and evolution thanks to technology and other automation. Out of this picture a new breed of salesperson has emerged - the sales executive. This highly skilled and educated individual will have risen through the ranks of field selling by virtue of his or her commitment to a personal code of conduct. In the new order of selling, there will no longer be any room at the top for those whose conduct is anything else but absolutely ethical.
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