1. Explain Business Ethics in Selling Performance Indicator 4.07b

2. ETHICS Ethics are the basic principles that govern behavior. NOT LAWS A high level of ethics will compel you to behave in a truthful way.

3. Importance of ethics in SELLING Ethics are highly valued because: – Salespeople are the face of the company – Customer’s evaluate the company’s ethical standards – Trust is the foundation of relationships

4. Low Level Of Selling Ethics Legal issues Customers become distrustful of the company Company’s profits decrease NOTE: The unethical behavior of just one salesperson can undermine the whole company! You need to know WHERE the line is drawn before you determine how close to the line you want to position yourself.

5. Illegal Selling Activities Misrepresenting the truth (bold-faced lie) Saying something unfair or untrue about another business Participating in bribery Providing inaccurate information to the customers Unfair competition: – making price deals, – requiring exclusive dealership – tying-in sales (making the purchase of another product mandatory) – requiring reciprocity (doing business only with those who buy from you.)

6. Customer-oriented Ethical Issues Salespersons must be cautious with: Gift-giving (Bribe vs Gift) Entertaining: can be viewed as favoritism or bribery. Answering questions - misrepresentation. Communicating product information – negative or exaggerate

7. Competitor-oriented Ethical Issues TEMPTATION to “do what it takes” to hurt their competitors. – Tampering with or hiding products. – Belittling products or questioning reliability.

8. Employer-oriented Ethical Issues Questionable employers activates: – Unreasonable pressure on salespeople setting unrealistic quotas… – Neglecting to pay commission : territory is split and distributed percentages. – Poor role model for ethical behavior. – Looking the other way.

9. Coworker-oriented ethical issues Employee-to-employee relationships: – Manipulating sales contests – Declaring sales totals completed for a previous month – Encouraging other coworkers to behave unethically.