Question

Do businesses and their employees have an obligation to treat their consumers ethically? More specifically, do salespeople have an ethical obligation to provide their customers with the information they need to make mutually beneficial purchases? (500 words)

Answer 1

Businesses should always be ethical. Mahatma Gandhi said that “a customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him”. Every business has a purpose. And the purpose is to satisfy the customer. We can say that the purpose of a business is to generate profit. But you can never generate profit without the customers. The idea of running a business has changed over the time. We know how production concept changed into product concept and it further underwent multiple changes and now we look business in a holistic view. Customer service is a branch of business which deals specifically with the firm’s customers and their behavior.

The first part of the question deals with the ethical treatment of consumers. The answer is always yes. Now what is this ethical treatment of consumers. The answer is simple. Treat them with at most respect and care. The consumer is your source of revenue. But you should not treat them ethically only because of this reason. The idea of customer service revolves around this. You treat your customer ethically because you need their trust. Only through developing the trust, you as a firm can generate loyal customers and trust doesn’t comes with only selling the products. It’s the entire experience. The minute from which a consumer interacts with you with the intention to purchase, every action you as an employee of the organization takes can push them towards the purchase or vice versa. So, by treating ethically means the business must provide the consumer with product which are of the quality they promote it to be, and the process itself is not limited to sales but also to the pre purchase and post purchase services. That’s why most businesses have policies regarding how to treat their consumers. Ethical as a word has multiple dimensions and businesses should try to be true to their consumers on these multiple dimensions.

Now for the second part. What is mutually beneficial purchase. It is a purchase that benefits both the parties involved. In this case the business and the consumer. Salespeople are the employees of the business who are directly in contact with the consumer. So, it is important for the business that they should be highly appealing for the consumers. And one requirement to be such dependable personals is the ability to communicate with the consumer easily. And for this it is essential for the seals force to know everything bout the product or service they are trying to sell. Moreover, it their responsibility to clarify any and all queries of the consumer. The word responsibility itself clarifies the phrase ethical obligation. Your consumer is your hard work, and no one would like to see their hard work wasted. It is the salespersons obligation to provide the consumer with all the information they expect not only to make a purchase but also to create a relationship between the business and the consumer. This relationship can in turn bring more benefits to the business in terms of more customers, word of mouth promotion, loyal customers etc. So, it is evident that any sale buys any business should be mutually beneficial for both the customers and to the business as well.