Now that you have read this chapter, you should be able to understand ethical behavior in selling as well as how to determine what the ethical decision is in a given situation.
Now it’s time to put what you’ve learned into practice. Following are two roles that are involved in the same selling situation—one role is the customer, and the other is the salesperson. This will give you the opportunity to think about this ethical dilemma from the point of view of both the customer and the salesperson.
Read each role carefully along with the discussion questions. Then, be prepared to play either of the roles in class using the concepts covered in this chapter. You may be asked to discuss the roles and do a role play in groups or individually.
Ethics that Work
Role: Sales rep for Rold Gold, a fine jewelry wholesaler
You are a sales rep for Rold Gold, a jewelry wholesaler that specializes in high-end gold jewelry. The holidays are coming, and one of your best customers, the owner of an independent jewelry store, has sent you an expensive gift in appreciation for all that you have done to help her increase her business over the past year. Your employee handbook makes it clear that you could be fired for accepting it, but you didn’t actually accept it; it just turned up at your home, neatly wrapped, with a card attached. What will you do?
Role: Owner, Jewels to the World jewelry store
You are the owner of a popular jewelry store. It has been a challenging year given the state of the economy. One of your sales reps has really gone above and beyond the call of duty to help you increase your business throughout the year with extra training, cost reductions, and promotional ideas. You want to let him know that you appreciate all he does to support your business, so you send him a very generous gift. You are not aware of any reason he wouldn’t accept it. Nonetheless, you have it sent directly to his home to avoid any appearance of impropriety. You would be extremely disappointed if he didn’t accept your gift.