Closing The Deal

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Business ethics for managers

Ethics means an accepted way of doing things within the company or industry. For managers who aim to increase sales, sometimes they have to come up with ways of ensuring that clients can get to buy whatever they are selling. In this case, there is a dilemma as Jean makes use of a method that has a lot of advantages to the company but not to the client. The process can be wrong when considering what the law says about closing a deal but according the company; it is a way that can be used to get more clients into deals. Jean knows that it is some form of deception to use this method to be able to win the clients. It does not give them time to make choices after a lot of considerations. The method makes clients to hurry and make purchases since they believe they will be missing out in a deal of a lifetime. For the company, the deal is good because it helps the company to come up with ways of ensuring deals on lands, which take a lot of time to finalize, take the shortest time possible so that the company can gain more within a short period of time. The situation brings out ethical dilemma. The company has to balance between having the best practices that can bring the company more income and the well-being of the clients. Clients have to remain at the center of focus for any company while the company must also ensure that they can make more income in the process.

Stakeholder analysis

There are different stakeholders who are affected by the dilemma in this case. The first who is directly affected by the dilemma is Jean. In an attempt to raise sales, she ends up making use of methods that are not ethical. Though it is a method that might work in the short run, it is evident that most of the clients might end up not buying land from the company again. If one client realizes that all the calls that were made were aimed at ensuring that they buy the land, they might go ahead and avoid the company in any future deals. The second stakeholder that is affected by the dilemma is the clients. They are not given enough time to go ahead and make choices of the land that they wish to buy. The company fails to give them the ample time that they need to be able to make informed choices. The impact of this is that they end up buying land that they are not really looking for. Prices might also be exaggerated since in most cases, the clients believe that they will miss out on a lot of things if they do not rush to buy the land. They are made to believe that they are in a situation of ‘now or never’. Since they are also made to believe that it is the land they have been looking for, they end up buying it without raising any questions. It is a process that rushes the whole deal without taking into consideration the impact it will have on the clients.

Analysis based on ethical theories

The utilitarian theory of ethics can best be used to analyze the dilemma. Under this theory, actions are taken according to what will benefit all of the parties involved. In this deal, it is clear that some of the considerations were not taken into account. On the side of the Jean, she was looking for a method that would guarantee fast sales and also increase the income that she brings to the company. By doing this, she believes that she is also helping the clients to get the land they need very fast. In real sense, this is a decision that only helped the company to win more clients. It is a method that can best be used for those clients who need to buy land very fast. On the other end, clients might not be sure that they are getting the best quality deal. It is possible that they can end up closing the deal before they are even sure of the quality of land that they are buying. The utilitarian theory aims at giving both the salesperson and the client equal benefits from the deal. It is the best method that any salesperson should for since it ensures that clients come back to the company when they are in need of the services. In this case, both parties might end up not gaining in the long run. When the client realizes that they did not get the best deal they were looking for, they might end up refusing the whole deal before the end of six months. In some cases, both the company and the client might gain when the client is satisfied with what they bought from the company (Solomon, 1984).

Recommendations

Based on law and the ethics of the industry, it is important to take into consideration the value of the deal to the clients. The salesperson must use a method that will benefit both the company and the client. In fact, the client should be central point of focus. Companies also wish to retain clients. This is a method that can be used to ensure the retained clients also refer other clients to the company for the best deals. The method that should be used in such a case should be one that allows the client to view the land first. The process should not be rushed with an aim of convincing the client to close the deal.

References

Solomon, R.C., Morality and the Good Life: An Introduction to Ethics Through Classical Sources, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1984.

John Newton, Ph.D. Complete Conduct Principles for the 21st Century, 2000. ISBN 0-9673705-7-4.

An entire issue of Pacific Island Studies devoted to studying "Constructing Moral Communities" in Pacific islands, 2002, vol. 25: Link