Practice Ethics with Cheat Sheets

Calamity is the surest test of integrity. At times that our survival is in doubt, we’re particularly tempted to cheat. Ironic then that ethical behavior generally fosters business longevity.
     To verify this, a team from Miami University, The University of Texas at Arlington, and University of Missouri analyzed 67 studies compromising more than 21,000 respondents. Sure enough, a strong ethical climate among frontline sales employees (FLEs) led to those employees better recognizing shopper needs and thereby proposing the right solutions for those needs.
     A related finding was that an ethical climate reduced employee stress. This in turn led to outcomes which had an indirect effect on business longevity, ranging from more relaxed and empathic interactions with customers to lower job turnover within the ranks of skilled staff. FLEs sell more when they are proud of the business for which they work, and an ethical climate generates pride.
     Slipping away from ethics can happen through falling back into bad habits. In this, as in other areas of business, cheat sheets can be helpful. Not a cheat sheet in the sense of notes which allow you to fake knowledge. Rather a cheat sheet of bullet points to be periodically reviewed to strengthen memories of what is a complex issue—enthusiastically selling without crossing over into fraud. List on the cheat sheet you distribute to your FLEs and others notes they can use to tell the ethical from the unethical.
     The standards you set for FLEs may differ from those you set for others. Maybe it’s fine for a salesperson to tell customers, “I’m 100% sure this product is ideally suited for you,” even if they aren’t 100% sure, but you don’t want your bookkeeper to say, “I’m sure our cashiers were 100% accurate yesterday,” when your bookkeeper really isn’t so sure.
     What you list on the cheat sheet depends on the degree of honesty you want your store to project both to FLEs and their customers. The fact is that some customers prefer to deal with salespeople who are what I call Rascals. The Rascal exploits other people. Especially in individualistic cultures like the U.S., consumers are fascinated with famous rascals. When the retail personality you aim for includes “exciting” and your target markets include people from individualistic cultures, you might decide to have your salespeople project an image of testing the limits and squeezing around authority. Petty cheating is tolerated.

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