Sales & Ethics

Cash Memo

• A cash memo is a record expressing cash received for products sold.
• It serves as a token of bill for cash sales.
• Contents include:
  • Date
  • Serial Number
  • Name and address of provider
  • Name and address of purchaser
  • Unit cost of merchandise
  • Amount
  • Serial number, date of travel, method of accommodation, motivation behind visit.
  • Discount (if any, for exchange and cash rebate)
  • Assessment (GST or other)
  • Aggregate amount received
  • Signature of the cashier

Tour Diary

• A tour diary is maintained by sales representatives.
• It contains the details of sales visits made during a given period.
• It helps the sales associate report on their efforts.
• It may contain the following information:
  • Names of places visited (cities/states/country)
  • Dates on which visit is made
  • Mode of transport utilized
  • Expenses incurred on movement
  • Names and details of prospective customers
  • Result of visits in terms of order, any kind of feedback, etc.

Sales Report

• Sales report is the document in which sales activities within a specific time frame are recorded; also called a sales document.

Most Profitable Consumers

• These are the customers from whom the business gets maximum revenue; they are the loyal customers of a business.

Progress or Call Report

• This report is the record of calls made by a sales executive for generating leads each day, week, or month.
• The representative notes each person contacted on the company’s behalf in the sales document.

Sales Work Plan Report

• This report involves basic planning and outlining future programs.

Expense Report

• This report contains all the information related to the expenses incurred by the sales representative during sales work.

New Business Report

• The new prospects identified are listed in such a report.
• It consists of all the new businesses initiated during a certain time period.

Loss Sales Report

• This document contains all the required details of orders and customers lost during a given period.

Complaints and Adjustments Report

• It records all the important complaints and the modifications done in the policies related to products and services of the organization.

Order Book

• An order book is an electronic register of purchase and sell orders for all the product levels.

Ethics

• Ethics guides individuals in deciding what is good or bad, right or wrong, fair or unfair.
• It's a set of principles based on morality about human conduct or behavior across different situations.
• Derived from the Greek word ‘ethos’ meaning character, ideals, or standards.
• Applies to personal, professional, and organizational lives.
• According to Dale S. Beach, ethics refers to a set of moral Principles which should play a very significant role in guiding the conduct of managers and employees in the operation of any enterprise.
• Addresses issues at the group or societal level as well as the personal front of an individual.

Ethical Selling

• Deals with moral issues related to a company’s efforts to persuade customers to buy their products.
• Ensures every lead, prospect, and customer is treated with respect, fairness, honesty, and integrity.
• Involves trustworthy sales practices, honest techniques, accurate information sharing, and concern for customer needs.
• Represents a company philosophy of value-oriented, clean, and transparent sales practices.
• Persuades salespeople to maintain professional integrity in all interactions.
• Clarity in defining and communicating a code of sales ethics helps meet ethical obligations.
• Ethical sales practices help earn customer faith, trust, loyalty, and strengthen goodwill.
• Ethical selling promises customers they won't be overcharged or exploited.
• Salesperson must try selling what customers want instead of selling by any means necessary.
  *For example, a salesperson can be ethical by being truthful about the features, usage and technical aspects of a product or service.

Nature and Characteristics of Ethical Selling

1. Encompasses all activities related to the sale of products.
2. Imposes self-discipline on salesmen or sales representatives.
3. It Keeps customers at the core and respects them through value-oriented selling and business practices.
4. A mark of good corporate citizenship.
5. Closely related to Business Ethics.
6. Purpose is to be honest and transparent in dealing with customers at all stages of an exchange transaction.
7. Implemented in different ways varying from business to business.
8. Reflects the core philosophy, vision, and attitude of the organization.

Importance of Ethics in Selling

• Business and its existence are dependent upon the support of customers and the society at large.
• Ethical selling makes sure that the business adopts right selling practices and gains customer support in the long run.

Benefits to the Company or Manufacturer

1. Ethical dealings build goodwill that helps the business in the long run. Can enjoy good public image if it adopts ethical selling ways and techniques and thereby keep the customers assured of right business.
2. Helps a business earn public/societal support. The societal members are assured of justified conduct on part of the company through ethical selling.
3. Ethical conduct is helpful in enjoying a competitive edge over other rivals in the market. An ethical business enjoys public support and goodwill which, in turn, helps it gain an edge over its competitors and pulls more customers towards it.
4. Way to enjoy long-term business revenue and profits. This may become the reason for a business’ long term survival in the industry as it fosters repeat business.
5. A reflection of value oriented business philosophy and is a mark of good corporate citizenship. This further helps the business gain society’s acceptance and Government’s support too.

Benefits to Salespersons

1. Helps build a rapport with customers, making it easier to close deals.
2. They can win customers' faith and have a strong and loyal customer base.
3. May help the sales representatives in successful relationships with customers that may last till long.
4. It ensures repeat business from the customers.
5. Ethical conduct spreads a positive word of mouth.

Benefits to Customers

1. Makes future purchases easier and more convenient.
2. Instills confidence due to the ethical conduct of business.
3. Customers' interests are protected, and they enjoy a pleasant experience.
4. It creates a win-win situation for both the seller and buyer.

Benefits for brands that engage in ethical behaviour found by The Journal of Business Ethics

*Commitment toward the brand: Customers are more emotionally attached and committed to brands they see as ethical, as well as less sensitive to price
differences compared to competitors.
*Customer-perceived quality: Customers perceive the brand's service excellence as superior compared to its competitors when they see the companyas ethical.
*Empathy and satisfaction: Empathic employees are better at understanding
customer needs, which also elicits greater positive emotions from customers
and higher customer satisfaction.
*Customer loyalty: Ethical brands benefit from higher customer loyalty, repeat
purchases and higher customer retention.
*Positive word-of-mouth: Ethical companies boost positive conversations about
the brand.

Types of Ethical Behaviors in Selling

1. Build trust and reliability with customers: every salesman must try through his actions and words to create an atmosphere of trust, faith and credibility in the selling transaction.
2. Be Accountable: accept his mistakes due to which the customers faced problems.
3. Give Clear and true information;
4. Be honest in giving competitors’ information
5. Have a solution-oriented attitude.
6. Fulfill the promises made to the customers: Ethical selling behaviour must be based on trust and faith. The trust is always sustained when the promises made are fulfilled and the results are delivered.
7. Dealing with customer objections patiently: Ethics not only relate to being right and justified always.

Ethical and Legal Aspects

• Ethical issues are based on human values, while legal issues are based on legal standards.

Common Ethical and Legal Issues

1. Misrepresentation or Hiding Facts
2. Price Discrimination
3. Bribes: Salesperson may offer undue favors in form of bribes or gifts to customers at the expense of company to close a big deal to his
   advantage.
   Bribes fall under Contract Act, 1872 and Sale of Goods Act,1930 as a legal issue related to sales of goods.
4. Tie-in Sales
5. False Promising or Over Promising/Exaggeration
6. Selling hazardous and spurious products
7. Delayed Deliveries
8. Creating Artificial Scarcity of Commodities
9. Online Selling Frauds
10. Compromised Quality or Quantity
11. Invasion of Privacy

Compliance Techniques to Ensure Ethical Selling

• Compliance refers to conformity or adherence to laws and regulations. It is a means by which companies seek to ensure that it does not adopt any shady practices which may tarnish its long term reputation.

Ways to Ensure Ethical Selling

1. Hire Right Salespeople.
2. Establish a Code of Conduct.
3. Encourage Open Communication.
4. Prepare Cold Calling Scripts and Email Templates.
5. Train People in Ethical Selling.
6. Avoid Exaggerations and Unverified Claims.
7. Create an Overall Culture of Ethics.

Common compliance strategies or techniques

1. Foot-in-the-Door Technique
   *The foot-in-the-door (FITD) technique is a compliance strategy that entails
   persuading someone to agree to a major request by first persuading them to
   agree to a small or moderate request.
2. Door-in-the-Face Technique:

• It entails making an irrational request that the respondent is almost certain to reject
  outright in the beginning. Following that, the intended request is made witha better deal or offer. This persuasion technique
  is occasionally employed in sales discussions.

1. Low-Balling Technique:

• The low-ball technique involves making an invitation and gaining agreement from an individual , then changing the terms of the deal at the eleventh hour .

1. Norm of Reciprocity
2. Ingratiation
3. That’s Not All

Developing Ethical Code of Ethics for Selling

• Helps build a culture of ethical selling.
• Reflects business functions, decisions, and treatment of stakeholders.
• Monitor the working of salespeople.

Codes of conduct are designed to:

*describe desirable and undesirable selling behaviours.
*promote high standards of practice.
*reduce the risk of fair trading breaches
*help staff make ethical decisions.
*discuss before drafted and It is important to involve the employees while laying down the code statements so
*People follow it religiously and also show accountable behaviour towards it.
*Reasonably good code of conduct can include the following information: overview
*statement of business values - including the code of ethics.
*ethical conduct sections
*procedures for identifying and responding to code of conduct breaches additional information .

Why Choose a Sales Career?

• A career in sales is worth exploring for individuals who look for a flexible, competitive and challenging work environment, high earning potential, an opportunity to continuously develop and adapt oneself in skills according to the changing environment and grow their professional capabilities.

1. Earning Potential: The more you sell, the more incentive you receive.
2. Flexibility: Sales field is one of those fewest fields which provide highest level of flexibility in work schedule.
3. Job Security: Effective salespeople with an ability of bringing in business and building relationships have huge market value.
4. Psychological Satisfaction: For a salesperson, closing a deal is a moment of delight if it brings substantial incentives.
5. Career Stepping Stone: Sales job provides a stepping stone for many other careers.
6. Mastering In-Demand Skills: There is a great importance of soft skills in a sales job.
   Creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, time management, conflict management, stress
   management, customer service, emotional intelligence and storytelling are some of the most
   important soft skills that a person in sales career can acquire very well.
7. Challenging Job: The rewards associated with each target keep the job more challenging.

What Does a Professional Salesperson Do?

• The salesperson’s tasks and assignments can vary from job to job and organization to organization, depending on various factors like the nature of the product and service that he is selling.

1. Create new customers.
2. Sell more to the present customer.
3. Build long term relationship with customers
4. Provide solutions to customers’ problems
5. Provide service to customers.
6. Helps customers resell products to their customers.
7. Help customers to use products after purchase
8. Build goodwill with customers.
9. Provide company with market information.

Types of sales jobs based on industries

1. IT Industry Sales Careers
   *enjoy two major benefits - a high income potential and job security.
2. Real Estate Agent
   *help their customers in buying, selling, and renting a house, shop, land or other properties.
3. Health Care Industry Sales Careers
   *Health care industry provides much security as it is one of the growing industries of all
4. Food Service Sales
   *The sales people in food industry are responsible for selling food and food-related items to establishments
5. Pharmaceutical Sales
   *The pharmaceutical industry is poised for rapid growth, with an aging population in need of medication
6. Insurances Sales Agents
   *The sales people in insurance companies help their employers enlarge their customer base by searching for
   potential customers and selling them one or more types of insurance and related services.
7. Loan Officer
   Although it may not be a traditional sales job, loan officers are generally in the business of selling loan
   products services to the clients.
8. Sales Engineers
   *Sales engineers are those sales persons who sell complex scientific and technological products or services
   to businesses
9. Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agent
   *These salespeople are responsible for selling a variety of financial services, like advising on or selling
   mutual funds, various types of insurances, retirement plans, investments or tax saving.

Changing role of salespeople

• The salesperson’s role is evolving to be that of a consultant.
• wireless technology, sales people can provide prospects and customers with increased service.
• Sales people will travel less and use online audio and video conferencing more.
• the technological advances helped to make the sales force more productive.

Criteria for success in personnel selling

1. Love of selling: One of the most important conditions to become a successful salesperson is the love of selling
2. Willingness to work hard, work smart, then work some more: A pre- requisite to enter a
   sales career is the willingness to work hard and smart. A positive attitude towards work is really
   needed
3. Have an optimistic outlook: A positive outlook towards work, organisation, customers and in
   general, towards life, provides the strength to survive and excel in tough times.
4. Be knowledgeable focuses on having thorough knowledge in all aspects of their business increases confidents and helps in building a professional image
5. Be ruthless about time:
6. Ask questions and then listen to uncover customer needs
7. Serve your customer
8. Be physically and mentally prepared

Measures for making personnel selling an attractive career

Suggestive Measures to be taken by Academicians:

• Classroom/training exercises
• enlightening the students about sales career
• Developing the skill set

Suggestive Measures to be Taken by Employers:

• Training
• Adequate perquisites
• Guidance to Universities