Читать книгу Media Selling - Warner Charles Dudley - Страница 103

Is it legal?When salespeople conduct an ethics check, the first question to ask is: “Is what I am considering doing legal?” The term “legal” should be interpreted broadly to include any civil or criminal laws, any state or Federal regulations, any industry codes of ethics, or any company policy. If salespeople do not know or have any doubts about the legality of what they are doing, they should ask their boss and the company’s legal department.

Is it fair? Is it rational, as opposed to emotional, and balanced, so that there are no big winners and big losers? Is it fair to all: to both sides, to the consumer, to the salesperson, to the advertiser, to the various communities, and to the company? If the company had an open‐book policy, would all of its customers think everyone got a fair shake? Are all customers getting fair rates, placements, rotations, and makegoods? To test for fairness, ask yourself the question, “Suppose everybody did this?”

What does my conscience say? Salespeople should ask themselves, “How would I feel if what I am doing appeared in the Wall Street Journal or The New York Times? How would it make me feel about myself? According to my personal moral standards, is what I am doing OK?”

A company’s and a salesperson’s most valuable assets are their reputations and their relationships with their customers. Reputations and relationships are built by consistently doing ethics checks on the way you do business, by taking a long‐term view, and by not doing anything that would put you or your company in jeopardy, even a hundred years from today.