Matthew C.

Tejada Professional Salesmanship

IV-BA1 Mrs. Castillo

Midterm Activity
Reaction Paper about Sales Code of Ethics

I believe that ethics is important to those who are in the sales position. The way a sales
representative makes money is a commission-based position is through their sales. Without the
customers purchasing from them, they have no income. Ethics is very important in this position. If I were
to tell the customer that I could do something for them or if I claim that what I’m selling provides
something it doesn’t, when in fact not true, I could lose not only the trust of the customer, but my job as
well. Another thing that I thought about is the fact that sometimes lies can be helpful in certain
situations such as lying when you know the truth will cause harm to others. I think stretching the truth
and lying are very related. If a sales representative were to stretch the truth and potentially lie to a
customer it could cause a ripple effect that continues with lies because the sales representative can’t
uphold the first lie they made. In any situation, it is ethical to be honest. Codes of ethics serve the
purposes of guiding the everyday conduct of sales professionals and other employees who operate
within a particular business or organization.

Furthermore, the everyday conduct of sales representatives becomes important when servicing
consumers and is known to directly impact the community. Because codes of ethic govern one’s
conduct, it is a must for sales representatives to consider the effectiveness of such codes that are
outlines in their profession. Furthermore, I believe that salespeople must be honest in their conduct
even if they know that they can away with it, as stated in the video “wrong is wrong even if everyone is
doing it and right is right even if no one is doing it”. Salespeople must have integrity and be
knowledgeable about what they can and cannot do and about the product that they are selling and
must be able to communicate honestly with the customers because if they’re known to be dishonest
they are not the only ones who will lose credibility but the company that they work to as well, this is
evident in most organizations where even if there are only some few who are dishonest, the whole
organization are sometimes looked upon unfavorably by customers and other people.

The last part of the video where it asks if what Mr. Sutton done is ethical or not ethical, in my opinion,
what he did is unethical because he lied in his resume even though he performed excellently in his job
that doesn’t excuse him from the consequences of lying. Imagine if Mr. Sutton did not perform well, the
company that hired him will lose time and some money as a result of it.
In conclusion, the sales code of ethics is beneficial for all the members of the organization and the
customers because ethical sales practices is good for business, it helps earn the trust and loyalty of
customers and strengthens the reputation of both the salesperson and the company.