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3 Ethics: The Foundation for Partnering Relationships That Create Value

A photo shows Edith Botello with a salesperson in a store. — Source: Michael Ahearne

Learning Objectives

When you finish reading this chapter, you should be able to

3.1 Explain the importance of developing a relationship strategy
3.2 Describe issues that challenge the ethical decision making of salespeople
3.3 Describe the factors that influence the ethical conduct of sales personnel
3.4 Describe how ethical decisions influence the building of partnering relationships in selling
3.5 Discuss guidelines for developing a personal code of ethics that creates value

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Reality Selling Video—Edith Botello/Mattress Firm Edith

Edith Botello (pictured above) started her career as a salesperson with Mattress Firm (www.mattressfirm.com), one of the world’s largest and most successful retailers in the specialty bedding market. Edith, a recent university graduate, is currently the assistant manager of one of the company’s 560 nationwide stores. She is responsible for the sales productivity, maintenance, and merchandising of the store. Within her district, she is also an in-market trainer, recruiter, and intern coordinator.

Edith believes that qualifying (the term Mattress Firm uses to describe needing identification) and listening are the most important skills to be a successful salesperson in her industry. Therefore, she really tries to understand why customers come to visit her and what will make them get a great night’s sleep. People come into her store with a wide variety of different needs: Their bed is 20 years old; they are upgrading to a different size; they are buying a college bed; they need a bed for a guest bedroom; their current bed has dips and sags; they are going in for surgery next week and would like to recover on a supportive mattress, and so forth. Accordingly, Edith’s goal is to ask the right questions so that she can sell them a solution based on their individual needs. Mattress Firm has taught Edith techniques on how to sell to different types of people. Edith believes that the main reason why many salespeople are successful is that they get their customer to believe in them by educating them and making them feel great about their purchase. Edith feels very fortunate to work for a company that values training and customer service.

Building relationships with customers is very important for Edith because people typically buy from salespeople they like and trust. One way she builds relationships is by getting to know her customers and talking to them about things that interest them. As Edith puts it, you cannot expect your customers to open up to you unless you kick things off by asking questions. Edith also makes use of testimonials to demonstrate how previous customers have resolved their needs with particular sleep products. Customers like to hear that their salesperson has experience dealing with, and finding solutions to, problems they are encountering.

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Table of Contents for 3 Ethics: The Foundation for Partnering Relationships That Create Value

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Table of Contents for
3 Ethics: The Foundation for Partnering Relationships That Create Value