Ethics in Selling – Sales Blog Entry

This is a four part series on ethics in selling, made up from various notes and thoughts that I am compiling into a training and development program:

Intro to sales ethics:

What are ethics? Ethical behavior can be described as conforming to accepted standards of social or professional actions. Therefore unethical behavior is viewed as wrong, not conforming to accepted standards or professional actions, contrary to conscience, or morality, or law.

There is no such thing as “ethical selling.” You are either ethical as a person or you are not. The issue of discussing ethics in sales somewhat misses the global aspect of the concept of ethics. Whether we are in the office or at home, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, we are judged by our behavior. Our personal friends and community network and our business network are inseparably integrated. Ethics have no boundaries as we live in a globally connected world.

In the NHL (National Hockey League) if a player is convicted of drinking and driving, the league suspends them. Although the unethical activity occurred outside of work hours, the league understands the impact of a team member’s behavior on the sport. We are always representing our organization’s brand—even when we are not in uniform. Conversely non-business activities like volunteering at your local soup kitchen to help
feed the homeless, or with a local community group, positively affects your personal and business brand.