Over my career I have worked with many folks who if prompted on the likelihood of working with an ethical sales person, would likely rate it in the same class as "red 13" on the roulette wheel (ie. doesn't exist). Given that I have chosen this profession it is no surprise I would vehemently disagree, but I understand the sentiment. The challenge with ethics in a sales context is that things aren't black and white. The assumption is that full disclosure ultimately is the sales persons responsibility so that the prospect can fairly evaluate the business proposition and determine if it is going to make sense.  In a perfect world I would agree. Yet buyers are no more ethical than salespeople. Manipulating and withholding information is considered perfectly acceptable. Presumably in a capitalistic society it is ok for the holder of resources to act unethically to preserve their resources from those who would seek to take them. Herein lies the rub. Prospects expect full disclosure through the sales process (in fact have no problem disparaging sales people if they don't get it) yet have a clear conscience when bold face lying to the sales person about many elements of the economic transaction (ex. budget, key reasons for looking, which competitors, etc) or not following through on commitments made through the sales process.

A more sophisticated test is required than simple honesty to determine if your sales person is ethical. In my humble opinion there is much that occurs through the sales process that brutal honesty is not helpful for (on both sides of the table). What is critical is that both parties are forthright in answering relevant questions factually.  It is not helpful to ask something like "Is this the best price possible". First off your likelihood of hearing an answer that is honest is probably quite low, about the same probability as, you the customer ,answering the question honestly " Would you pay more for this than I quoted you?". Secondly its not relevant. What is relevant is whether you as a customer are getting the necessary value out of the economic transaction to justify the price.

Ethicality is a strange bird. Most folks identify it with full disclosure and brutal honesty. I think it is more accurately described as not withholding information that would prejudice the customer's ability to fairly evaluate the product or service. If I may be so bold I would also assert that the only prospects deserving of an ethical salesperson are those who act ethically through the sales process, ie do not withhold information from the sales person that would prevent the salesperson from fairly quoting his/her price.  When both parties enter into the sales engagement with this philosophy in mind a partnership is formed that will inevitably result in both parties succeeding to a far greater extent than would be possible advarsarially.

Moment of Zen
"The only real failure in life, is to not be true to the best one knows."-Buddha

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