Convincing someone to take action under false pretenses is unethical.
Persuasion is not. Quite the contrary. Persuasion is defined by
Webster as "to move by argument, entreaty, or expostulation to a
belief, position, or course of action". Manipulate is defined as "to
control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially
to one's own advantage". Proper ethical conduct in business is not
necessarily breeched by persuading someone to see your side. For
example, let's say I manage a professional services firm. A potential
client puts out a request for proposal seeking a new service provider.
It is my job to persuade that client to consider hiring my firm. I
can do this with an honest representation of my services. My
competition will do the same thing. In the end my competitor may win
even though my services are better. Why? Because that competitor did
a better job of communicating the benefits of their service. That
doesn't mean that they lied, it just means that they are better at
promotion and persuasion than my firm was. At some level most sales
depend on a personal relationship. Even on contracts worth millions
somewhere in the sales channel someone from company A communicated
with a person from company B. Some bond of trust is created and the
sales process moves forward. In a very competitive business world,
sales people often have to ask for the sale. They must persuade the
customer to take action. As a potential customer you want that pull.
Say you have a contract and three suppliers. You are going to ask them
to sell their strongest points to help you make a decision.
Completely ethical as long as all parties are truthful in their
representations. To ensure that the accepted guidelines are followed,
many businesses adopt formal ethical polciies. There are a lot of
unethical people out there, but if you want to be around for the long
haul you know you have to do the right thing. |
