Tips for Ethical Selling
by Christine Toson Hentges and Cindy Thompson, CCFE
You need to do more than simply give your sales staff quotas. To help them with ethical selling, consider these tips:
Of course we all need to tell our sales staff what their quotas are, how many appointments they're supposed to have every week and how many sales they're supposed to make every week, but we also need to show them how to make those numbers, and I think that's sometimes forgotten. You need to train people in the small steps they need to take to reach these goals.
Talk to your salespeople about becoming "other focused." Salespeople tend to have healthy egos, and this can be a problem. They need to be reminded to put their egos aside and focus on the other person at all times.
Remind your sales staff that when they make a sale, one customer is created. But when the sale includes trust, that one customer will multiply-they will get referrals without even having to ask for them. And referrals are so important to your company. If you can get them without asking for them, you'll know you're really working for a good company.
Tell your salespeople they should never criticize the competition. Even if the prospect brings up the competition, your staff should steer the conversation away from the topic. You don't want to be defending yourself ("Don't worry; we don't do it that way"). You want to talk about the positives, the benefits of what you're offering, not defend yourself against negatives. If you are running down others, it can make a prospect shy away from doing business with you.
We've all heard this one: If you do not believe in the product, do not try to sell it! That does not mean that all of your salespeople must have their own prearrangement done, or must have made an elaborate plan. You don't want them trying to sell what they want for themselves. But they must believe in the prearrangement process. If they don't, that will be a problem in the field, and their sales numbers will reflect it.
Don't brag about being ethical. Think about your reaction when people say, "To tell you the truth ... ." Does that mean that up until then they haven't been telling you the truth? When you hear someone advertising their character it should cause a red flag to go up.
Copyright ICFA 2004
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