4.15 Marketing

Ethical & Technical Considerations in

Selling

Ethics in Selling

Determine how they conduct relationships with their customers, employers, and competitors.

Customers - involve the use of entertainment and gifts and the disclosure of confidential information

Employers - involve expenses and job changes.

Competitors - how companies talk about competitors and treat competitive products.

Concerns from Employees

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Demographic discrimination

Equal pay and compensation

Retaliation

Pregnancy, Race, Religion

Sexual Harrassment

Concerns from Coworkers

How do bad work ethics affect you? EXAMPLE: Group projects – who pulls their weight???

Poor work habits

Do coworkers possess appropriate skills to complete the job?

Personal problems

Concerns about Customers

Theft (Hotel Towels)

Fraud (Insurance Claims)

Overpayments (Receiving too much of a tax refund)

Tampering – returning a functioning product for a refund, switching price tags, etc.

Concerns about Competition

Comparing / Sharing information

Underselling (price cutting to drive down pricing)

Unethical Practices (Example: Furs)

Plagiarism

Concerns about Sales People

Sales people may encounter many situations not covered by company POLICY and therefore must develop personal standards of right and wrong.

Can lose their self-respect and the respect of their company and customers

salespeople with a strong sense of ethics will be more successful than salespeople who compromise their own ethics for short-term gain.

Reciprocal (Mutual) Sales Considerations

How can this create an ethical situation?

Two or more parties make an agreement to work with each other

This can deliberately ELIMINATE the competition, which makes the sales agreement UNETHICAL.

Technology - SALESHow does technology assist sales people?

How does technology impact sales forecasting?

How does technology affect sales presentations?

How does technology affect web-based sales?

How does technology affect sales of computers?

How does technology prospect sales?

How has technology CHANGED in the past 10 years?

TECHNOLOGY IN SALES

Caroline is unable to travel to a client's office but needs to demonstrate product features and be able to answer questions as they arise. What technology tool would be helpful to her in making a sale?

WEB PRESENTATIONS, TELECONFERENCING, SKYPE, WEBINARS, ETC.

ACTIVITY (Part 1)

Working in a group of three, think about a sales person you or someone you know has had an encounter who made you question his/her ethics in regards to making a sale. Prepare to discuss what principals were violated.

Activity (Part 2) – Research• What technology can be used for prospecting

• What is an example of the NEWEST technology to demonstrate products to clients?

• What technologies are used to process customer orders?

• What technologies are used to see if a product is available?

• How has the use of technology affected the selling process?