Quite simply, this can be the hardest aspect of being in sales, or sales leadership.
The pressure to achieve quota, or worrying about being fired, or the temptation that goes with high commissions and bonuses. Can all contribute to a momentary lapse in judgment, or a concerted effort to cheat, lie and show a general lack of integrity.
I intend to update this page on a regular basis so that you have a resource that will:
1 Help you to identify and avoid situations that most commonly lead down the path of unethical behavior.
2 Provide you with advice on getting out of a "bad situation".
3 Teach you how to coach your team to grow their business with integrity.
4 Provide examples of the price paid by those caught being unethical - and, I hope, illustrate that the gains never outweigh the risk.
The two quotes below, say it all.
"I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside me."
Abraham Lincoln
"t's not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; and not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.”
Sir Francis Bacon
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APPROVED ARTICLES
Strategic Influence - Packing an Ethical Persuasive Punch!
Perhaps you are sold on the idea that influence is the way to go. The reality is that we are only one half of the influence transaction and as long as we are not Tom Hanks living on an island with only a Wilson volleyball for company - MORE
Doing Business With Integrity
INTEGRITY. What does it mean? What does it stand for? Why do you need it? Why is it such an important character trait? (For some people at least!) Various dictionaries give the meaning of Integrity as Honesty, Unity or a State of being Entire, Probity. - MORE
Leading With Integrity
Leading in today's fast-paced, sophisticated, global environment presents many challenges. We've seen numerous examples over the past few years of leaders who stumbled in business dealings, lacking the moral courage to do the right thing. - MORE
Character = Integrity
Without character, the puzzle of achieving success falls apart. It is most important of all pieces to life’s puzzle. Without character, you can make money. But it will be worthless to you and to those around you. Look out in the world today: drug dealers and con artists have money—but they lack character. - MORE
Integrity
My own simpler, though less elegant, definition of integrity is doing the right thing when the right thing is hard to do. Sometimes the most challenging integrity to honor is the integrity to which there is no witness – the kind in which the only person you’re accountable to is yourself. - MORE
Little White Lies - Are They Worth The Risk
There are many circumstances in which it would be easy to enlist the aid of 'white lies' in the era we live in today.
'The check is in the mail' when in actuality it won't be mailed until tomorrow. 'She/he is in a meeting - out to lunch - gone for the day' instead of stating that she/he is unavailable and take a message. 'No we didn't get your fax' when it has actually come through hours before but gone unnoticed and unattended by the staff. - MORE
From the company you can trust, to the person you can trust
In today's global economy, specialization among suppliers fosters an ecosystem so fragmented it becomes almost impossible to differentiate one from another - regardless of size and/or reputation. In this brave new world, the integrity and credibility of the individual becomes much more critical than that of the organization. - MORE
How The Sales Function Can Transmit Company Values
I'm wondering how many people out there still believe sales to be a job that is focused on making money? Or only about making money. All of us want to get paid fairly for what we do. The question is: how can we make money and make nice. - MORE
Teach, Coach And Lead With Integrity
There is no one-thing that makes a leader great. But coaching and developing employees is a pretty good place to start.
Tell a rep to go sell and he will sell for a day, teach a rep how to sell and he will sell for life. Ok, so that is not exactly how the quote goes, but you get my point.- MORE
The Foundation of Ethical Decisions
How can someone who is educated and, by all appearances, living the American dream - end up in prison for unethical choices? Were the issues which gave rise to such a dramatic downfall easy to identify? Read how self awareness and integrity can bring about a dramatic turn in ones life. - MORE
Integrity and Prosperity
The word “integrity” is passed around a lot. Many people use it without proper reflection upon what it encompasses. It is bantered about as a much more casual word might be. Why is that? Could it be that it’s far easier to use the word that it is to live by it? A life guided by integrity is certainly not a rare occurrence, but one that when observed, yields a sense of completeness, harmony and prosperity that transcends more than just the monetary. - MORE
7 Ways to Sell and Retain Your Integrity
Based on e-mails I continue to receive daily, the answer is a resounding "yes."
Eliminating traditional sales thinking and tactics does take effort, because the messages of the sales "gurus" you've read over the years can continue to bubble up in your mind, especially when you're in the sales process.
Despite your good-hearted intentions of helping others with your service or product, do these traditional "sales tips" still pop up in your mind? - MORE
Two Important Keys to a Successful Business-Integrity and Reputation
As a business owner and coach, I come across the issue of building integrity and reputation on a daily basis. It is something I feel strongly about, as who can build a business without integrity and a good reputation. As business owners, we know that if we want repeat business and referrals (both of which are the foundation of growing our business) then we need to include integrity and reputation in everything we do. - MORE
Become A Smashing Success Instantly With Integrity Using This One Secret
What is Success? Ask that to 10 people and you'll probably get 10 different answers. Everyone's opinion of success seems to differ.
We must define it because in order to reach success you must first have an understanding of what it is. You'll never get somewhere you don't first see in your mind. - MORE
How to be a man or women of integrity?
There are times in the life of every man who takes his stand on high moral principles when his faith in, and knowledge of, those principles is tested to the uttermost, and the way in which he comes out of the fiery trial decides as to whether he has sufficient strength to live as a man of Truth, and join the company of the free, or shall still remain a slave and a hireling to the cruel taskmaster, Self. - MORE
