Unit 2: Ethics in Professional Sales
The sales profession can invite deception and unethical tactics because it is based on communication between individuals that involves a vital element of persuasion. We frequently ask our friends, coworkers, and trusted sources for recommendations on products and services and avoid buying equipment or services from individuals or companies that seem deceptive or unethical. We usually take our business elsewhere if a sales item or service fails to meet our needs or expectations. Most successful sales professionals recognize the importance of developing a solid relationship with their clients based on honesty and trust.
As a sales professional, consider your ethical standards and reputation and those of the organization or industry where you work. Your credibility and integrity often determine your success or failure, whether your position involves quick transactions or prolonged negotiations. In this unit, we explore ethical expectations and how to communicate ethically with your customers.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- define ethics;
- identify the expectations for an ethical communicator;
- explain how ethics function in professional sales; and
- explain the roles of trust and ethics in relationship maintenance.
2.1: Ethics and Trust in Communication
Communication skills are your primary tools for engaging with your audience (customers and prospective clients). There are many ways to capture the attention of those you sell to. It may help to think about your interaction within the framework of a public speaker presenting to a particular audience. Understanding the basic ethical codes we expect of public speakers is a great way to develop trust and ensure you behave ethically in your communicative practices.
This article offers a broad overview of sales ethics and will help frame the rest of this unit.
Think about the skills and practices you must employ to be an ethical and effective communicator. This article outlines our professional responsibilities.
This article offers guidance on ensuring you do not mislead your audience. It touches on the importance of honest communication and the long-term consequences of violating your audience's trust.
2.2: Professional Sales Ethics
Understanding ethics and ethical expectations within the sales field is critical for a salesperson. In this section, we examine ethics in sales, what it is, what it means, and why it is essential.
Listen to this conversation on the elements of ethical behavior in sales. How can you adopt these ideas in your practice?
Read this chapter on ethics in the sales field. It will help frame some key issues to consider when thinking about ethics.
This video on intellectual honesty explores aspects of communicating ethically as a leader. As you watch, consider how practicing intellectual honesty can positively impact your sales team and how you develop relationships with your customers.
2.3: Ethics in Relationship Management
As we have seen, an essential part of many types of selling is developing a solid relationship with your customers. For more relational types of selling, creating and building relationships is critical. In this section, we examine ethical practices in relationship building.
When you think about sales as developing and maintaining relationships, the ethical demands on your practices are at a premium. Read this journal article on the connections between ethical sales behavior, relationships, and customer loyalty. Ethics in the sales profession is essential to long-term success.
Watch this video which frames the customer relationship management process. It explains how ethical relationship management ultimately creates a positive feedback loop between you and your customers.