• 80% of individuals agree that they are willing to put in extra effort at work if they know that their organisation is run ethically

• 77% agree that if their employer acted in a way that contradicted their core principles, they would definitely leave the organisation

• One in four individuals believe their employer is not doing enough to promote ethical behaviour

• One in four individuals experience people behaving unethically towards one another in their organisation

• One in four individuals believe that their organisation’s employees would not adhere to the code of ethics if they thought that profits or funding would be harmed.

So what’s the link to sales process?

It all has to do with the congruency or alignment of salespeople’s personal ethics and values, and how their personal ethics and values align with the sales process they are being asked to implement.

If 80% of individuals agree that they are willing to put in extra effort at work if they know that their organisation is run ethically, we could also draw the conclusion that a major percentage of salespeople will put in extra work if they believe the sales process they are asked to implement is aligned with their personal values and ethics.

A key question for business owners and sales managers (and salespeople of course), is to what extent do salespeople believe the sales process they are asked to implement is ethically sound and aligned with their personal values?

Having trained, coached and interviewed thousands of salespeople and hundreds of sales managers over the past two decades, what I know to be a truth is that many salespeople who have been ‘trained’ and ‘instructed’ to use sales processes, including scripts, questions, tactics and closing strategies that they feel embarrassed, confused, frustrated, apprehensive and even ashamed to use, are more likely to be underperforming and suffering from stress.

If you’re a business owner or sales manager, or a salesperson who has even the slightest hint of apprehension about the validity and appropriateness of the sales process being used by your business, I encourage you to contact me…..because ethical selling is not an oxymoron and you can sell successfully and still maintain your integrity…..regardless of how tough the market and competition are.

When you’re hired by a company as a salesperson, it’s your role to sell the products that you’re hired to sell.  No argument there….and while there are still some potential ethical issues if a company hired salesperson is selling a product to a customer that they know isn’t really going to meet that client’s needs and expectations….that’s not the ethical situation that I want to focus on here.

The Current.com.au article discussed how Panasonic Australia recently launched a major trade promotion, ‘LUMIX – Shoot for New Zealand’, where the top performing salespeople from around Australia will win a great photographic opportunity in New Zealand.

Now, this has nothing to do with Panasonic, Lumix or cameras.  We could be talking about wine, other electical goods, hardware tools, and the list can go on and on…..even into discussions on the ethics of on and off line affiliate programs and partnerships.

This opens up the question of when salespeople have the opportunity to sell a number of different brands from different companies – and that the incentives the suppliers are offering to the salespeople can potentially sway their advice when making buying recommendations to their potential clients.

If you’re a camera salesperson, what a great opportunity…..but what if that opportunity, if not handled well when you’re talking to potential customers, could cause buyer apprehension, leading to no sale as the result?  What if not handled appropriately, could do serious damage to your own reputation and that of the store where you’re working (or own)?

Here are two scenarios – which would you be more comfortable and confident with if you were selling cameras?

Scenario One:  A potential buyer enters your store and has no knowledge about Panasonics trade promotion that incentivises camera salespeople to sell their Lumix cameras.  You’re keen to win one of the top 100 spots for a trip to NZ, and you make sure that you sell the benefits of the Lumix camera over and above any of the others.

Scenario Two:  A potential buyer enters your store and has no knowledge about Panasonics trade promotion that incentivises camera salespeople to sell their Lumix cameras.  You’re keen to win one of the top 100 spots for a trip to NZ, but your approach doesn’t change.  You ask the questions you need to discover which camera will be right for this particular customer’s specific situation, and based on what you learn, you make  a recommendation – if it’s the Lumix camera that’s what you recommend…if it’s another brand, you recommend it.

What if anything would change if you knew that the customer was aware of the Panasonic promotion?

I personally do not have any issues with incentives for internal company salespeople.  I also do not have any issue when suppliers of different brands offer incentives for retail salespeople to sell their products.

Where ethics comes into it, is when the recommendations and advice are solely based on the incentives, and not meeting the customers’ needs, wants or expectations.

If you have an ethical selling situation that you’d like to share (your anonymity is assured), please email me at info@salescoachcentral.com