Quiz 8: Making the Sales Call

Salespeople sometimes are faced with an ethical dilemma that asks them to choose from options wherein one option is legal and ethical but not benefiting the business, while the other option is unethical and not legally required and is lucrative. Mr. Y is an account executive at WF Co. and possess a client Ms. J who has previously also taken the firm's services. This time in the first meeting, she discusses with Mr. Y the kind of loan that she wants to avail. Her husband was not present in this meeting, and after weeks of preparation, when Mr. Y called her for the second meeting introducing her with the right kind of loan that she could avail, she discloses that this loan will payoff a debt of $35,000 over her credit cards, and her husband is not aware of this debt and this is the reason why he is not present with us in any of the meetings. In this situation, Mr. Y is aware that to avail the loan, the husband should also be a part of the contract and a signing authority, and this is the reason why he will call the husband and let him know the situation and will not allow Ms. J to avail the loan all by herself by doing her husband making him sign the loan documents without revealing the facts to him. Mr. Y could also give Ms. J an option to go legally by telling her husband the truth or to find any other account executive who could accompany her in this duping.

Credibility stand for the generation of trust and believe over an individual or a product which creates fruitful business relationships paving way for a stable working environment. Mr. Y is having an interview with the district sales manager at a particular firm for the sales job that is going to take place after a week. During this time, to develop rapport with the manager and to build credibility with her, Mr. Y should not take any additional step or action that could make him stand out foolishly in front of the manager and the firm where he is going to appear for interview. This is because in selecting candidates, the firm looks at their overall behavior and actions before and after the interview schedule, and make appropriate perception about the candidates which makes or breaks their scope for getting employed by the firm. Thus, to conclude it could be said that to develop rapport and build credibility with the manager, Mr. Y should appear for the interview at designated time and carry all the required documents for the interview and prepare thoroughly so as to make a good impression over the manager interviewing him.

Salespeople sometimes are faced with an ethical dilemma that asks them to choose from options wherein one option is legal and ethical but not profitable for business, while the other option is unethical and not legally required and is lucrative. Mr. Y initiates a sales call with a prospect where the prospect starts asking him about the type of solution other paper mills undertake in resolving a specific problem that paper industry faces. Mr. Y is aware the solution to this problem is quite specific and revealing this information will not be appropriate as this solution is utilized by a specific client of Mr. Y's firm in resolving the same problem that is faced by the prospect. So, Mr. Y starts informing about the possible solutions to the prospects without letting him know the name and company that makes use of this solution in resolving the issue. This action of Mr. Y would not be considered appropriate or okay because the solution to the specific problem was very specific and was related to one of the clients of Mr. Y's firm. Revealing secret information about the client to other clients is not considered professional and ethical, and Mr. Y has not taken a good step when he started providing solution to the prospect client the way one of his clients resolves the specific problem.