Chapter Two—Building Trust and Sales
Ethics
Learning Outcomes
After completing this chapter, you should be able to explain and understand:
1. what trust is.
2. why trust is important.
3. how to earn trust.
4. knowledge bases help build trust and relationships.
5. sales ethics.
Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
II. What is Trust?
III. Why is Trust Important?
IV. How to Earn Trust
A. Expertise
B. Dependability
C. Candor
D. Customer Orientation
E. Compatibility/Likability
V. Knowledge Bases Help Build Trust and Relationships
A. Industry and Company Knowledge
B. Product Knowledge
C. Service
D. Promotion and Price
E. Market and Customer Knowledge
F. Competitor Knowledge
G. Technology Knowledge
VI. Sales Ethics
A. Image of Salespeople and Sales Executives
B. Deceptive Practices
C. Illegal Activities
D. Non-Customer-Oriented Behavior
E. How Are Companies Dealing with Sales Ethics?
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Exercises
Developing Professional Selling Knowledge
1. What is the essence of trust for a salesperson?
Students’ answers will vary. The answers should include some description of the buyer
2. If trust means different things to different buyers, how is a salesperson to determine what
trust means for each buyer?
The salesperson must determine what trust means for each buyer by asking questions,
3. Why is trust important to a salesperson?
Today’s customers are more sophisticated, more informed (or, at least, have access to more
information), and are more aware of traditional manipulative “sales tactics.” In addition,
4. How might a salesperson go about earning trust?
Students’ answers will vary, but they should include a discussion of the basic building
5. What does it mean for a salesperson to have a customer orientation?
Customer orientation means that the salesperson is as concerned about his or her
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6. How would you rank the five trust builders in order of importance?
7. Explain why expertise is such an important relationship builder.
Expertise is such an important relationship builder because it gives the salesperson
8. How do knowledge bases help build trust and relationships?
Knowledge bases help build trust and relationships because they empower the salesperson
9. Do you think certain knowledge bases are more important than others? Why?
Students’ answers will vary, but they should include an appropriate rationale based on the
10. What are the three areas of unethical behavior? Discuss each.
The three areas of unethical behavior are deceptive practices, illegal activities, and non-
customer-oriented behavior. Deceptive practices refer to any attempt by the salesperson to
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by salespeople and companies that concentrate on short-term goals. They allow the practice
of outmoded sales tactics.
Group Activity
Ask students to think about their experiences with salespeople. Have them write down a short list
of things salespeople have done that built trust and a short list of things salespeople have done
that have damaged trust. Next, divide the class into small groups and have them discuss and
combine their lists. Ask each group to present its list.
The purpose of this exercise is to help students better understand trust-building and trust-
damaging behaviors through shared experiences. Try to get students to share stories and identify
how the behaviors described in those stories match one or more of the five components of trust.
Experiential Exercises
Building Relationships after the Sale
Objective: Your students will discover the importance of follow-up activities in building
relationships.
Time Required: 10 to 15 minutes, or longer if working in groups.
Teaching Tip: Have students work in small groups to develop answers to the questions. Then let
each group present its answers to the rest of the class.
Not many years ago, salespeople often thought that their jobs were complete once the order was
signed. Today, for a business to survive, repeat business is critical. A greater emphasis has been
placed on the follow-up stage of the selling process. Continued building of the relationship
should be your goal well after the sale.
1. Show appreciation after the sale. How might you accomplish this?
Some suggestions include the following: a thank you card/letter/email, a follow-up phone
2. Monitor delivery and installation. Why is this important?
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Answers should include some discussion of the following. First, monitoring delivery and
3. Learn the names of the switchboard operator, receptionists, office manager, users of the
product, etc. How might you accomplish this and why is it important?
A salesperson can learn the names of people in the customer’s organization by asking for
Chapter 2 Case
Kelly Meyers’ Dilemma
Background
Kelly Myers has spent the past three months trying to gather all the information she needs to
submit a bid on an order that is very important to her company. Bids are due tomorrow and the
decision will be made within a week. She has made a great impression on the purchasing agent,
Janet Williams, and she has just ended a conversation with her sales manager who believes Kelly
needs to make one more call on Williams to see if she can find out any additional information
that might help her prepare the bid. Kelly’s boss specifically wants to know who the other
bidders are.
Current Situation
Later that day, Kelly visited with Janet Williams. During the course of the conversation with
Williams, Kelly asked who the other bidders were. Williams beat around the bush for a while,
but she did not reveal the other bidders. She did mention the other bids were in and pulled the
folder out of the filing cabinet where they were kept. Janet opened the file and looked over the
bids in front of Kelly.
There was a knock on the door and Janet’s boss asked if he could see her for a minute and she
walked down the hall with her boss. Kelly realized all the bids were left out in front of her. There
was a summary sheet of all of the bids on top and she could easily see all the bids. When
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Williams returned she returned the folder to the file and the two made some small talk and ended
their conversation.
Kelly returned to her office and completed her bid and turned it in to Janet Williams the next
morning. Kelly knew her bid would be the lowest by $500.00. One week later Kelly learned she
won the bid.
Questions
1. What are the ethical issues involved in this situation?
2. If you were Kelly Myers, do you think Janet Williams intended for you to see the
competitive bids? What would you have done given this situation? Why?
Janet Williams pulled the folder out of the filing cabinet that contained the bids with an
Chapter 2 Role Play
Brisbane Uniform Company
Case Background
Brisbane Uniform Company (BUC) specializes in providing uniforms to hotels and restaurants.
BUC is a new company from Australia trying to break into the U.S. market. They have had
trouble breaking into larger accounts (Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton) because as a new company,
they don’t have the name recognition in the United States.
As the account exec in the area, you have been working on a new Hilton hotel with over 5,000
rooms and 500 employees. Recently you submitted a proposal and the buyer, Mark Dunn, has
told you he is leaning your way with the order. He also told you that this order must come off
without a hitch as his hide is on the line if things go wrong. You know there could be a problem
down the road as one of your unions has been negotiating a contract that is about to expire. The
last time this contract came up, there was a strike and orders were backlogged for weeks. The
hotel has many customized uniforms and has to have these for their grand opening in three
months. What is your obligation to the hotel having this information? This order will make your
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year and probably send you on a trip to Rome for exceeding quota.
Role Play Activity
Location: Mark Dunn’s Office
Action: Role play a sales call with Mark Dunn addressing the issues in the case.
Chapter 2 Continuing Case
Building Trust
Because the National Copier Company (NCC) has only been in business for five years, Brenda
Smith is concerned that most of her competitors are older than she is. The prospective customers
she has been calling on state that they know they can count on her competitors because they have
a long track record. As NCC expands into new markets some of her prospects are not familiar
with her company. One prospective customer, who works for one of the most prestigious and
largest medical offices (30 doctors) in the area, told her he has been buying copiers from the
same company for over twenty-five years. He also told her that his sales representative for the
company has been calling on him for over seven years, and he knows when he calls on his copier
supplier for advice he can count on him for a solid recommendation. Brenda realizes these are
going to be tough accounts to crack.
Brenda does have an advantage due to the high quality of NCC products. In a recent trade
publication, NCC’s copiers tied for first in the industry on ratings of copier quality and
dependability. NCC was also given a high rating for service. Brenda has had this information for
two weeks now and has brought it up in conversations with her prospective customers without
much success. To make matters worse, one of her competitors must have started rumors about
NCC. In the past month, she has heard the following rumors:
“NCC is going out of business because of financial troubles.”
“NCC has missed several delivery deadlines with customers.”
“NCC’s copiers have a software glitch that cannot be corrected.”
“NCC has cut its service staff.”
Brenda knows these rumors are not true, but prospects might believe the rumors. At a recent
sales meeting, Brenda’s manager suggested that their competitors must be getting nervous about
NCC’s success, causing them to start such vicious rumors.
Brenda is sitting at her desk trying to figure out what to do next and she is not exactly sure how
to proceed.
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Questions
1. What would you recommend Brenda do to handle the challenges she faces?
Students’ answers will vary, but they should focus on trust-building activities. In particular,
2. Brenda appears to have an advantage with her products and services. Develop a plan for
Brenda to build trust in NCC with prospective customers.
Students’ answers will vary. However, the plans students develop should include a heavy
3. What do you recommend Brenda do to compete effectively against competitors that have a
long and successful track record?
First, Brenda needs to engage in activities designed to develop a sense of compatibility
4. How should Brenda go about handling the rumor mill?
Because the text contains no specific recommendations or guidelines for this sort of