Importance of Ethics in Internet marketing & Direct Sales companies

Posted on | January 14, 2010 | 8 Comments

Finding an Ethical Direct Sales company to work for

Ethics in your Internet or Direct sales business (pic by S.Vuono)

There are squillions of internet work from home companies and Direct sales companies out there and to find one that delivers on its promises, with leaders who are people of integrity and who follow through on their initial advert that got you signed up with them in the first place, is no mean feat.

I have been fortunate that in the last couple of years I have worked for a certain direct sales company that had just such leaders.  They did not have the best administration (only two support staff), and I never got a weekly pep talk that some salesmen (and sales managers) seem to regard as vital in order for their business to function:on the contrary, I had to motivate myself and find my own prospects (no lead base!) in my job that involves Commission-only sales.

There was and is a reason-I live in Australasia quite some distance from head office.  So communication is mainly by phone.  But the bosses have looked after me and the other sales people, paid on time, gave us generous vacation rewards and bought a company vehicle for us and a few other perks just as the local economy started tipping into recession.  What they agreed to in terms of salary and commission-they honored.  If I had hassles with customers or a certain department that was an interface with our customers, they intervened on my behalf  if they were able to do so.  A rare attitude in managers!

Lack of honor and ethics in Direct Sales and other businesses

My salesman friend, who also has been working in a direct sales company-in the field of life insurance- did not have such a happy story.  He got paid more than me admittedly, but there was a difference.  He would never be in a position where he could trust he was receiving 100% of his earnings.  Why?  One simple reason-his boss in the branch office was busy siphoning off my friend (whom we shall call Bob)’s commissions.  Bob is very good with numbers and was able to discern where the missing commissions were going to.  He would have qualified for an overseas convention with this particular company had not the manager secretly used the points Bob had acquired towards the convention for his wife to go to the convention  instead!  Unfortunately this was not the first experience Bob had had with an unethical business manager.  Rather than complain, he will be moving on to another position and that company will lose an outstanding sales person.  Apparently he will be the seventh salesman to resign!

In contrast, in the Direct Sales company I work for, there is honor and mutual respect between my managers and myself (who are incidentally Christians) I was able to talk to them openly some time ago of my plans to change direction in my career, which would mean leaving their company.  The managers-whom I count as friends-were obviously upset to be losing me as I generated substantial sales for them, but I think they appreciated the fact that I was honest enough to make them aware of my plans, giving them time to plan for a replacement.  Such transparency and open communication would have been impossible if there did not exist three things:

1) mutual trust

2) responsible leadership from them and equally responsible service from me

3) an ethical basis to the company proceeding from an ethical lifestyle and morals demonstrated by the leaders and staff.

Today companies and businesses lack honour.  My friend in America who is in sales told me that even after giving years of service in a senior Sales position he could still be given notice to quit within a very short time frame, should the powers that be decree it.  Equally, he could leave, giving very little notice.  Easy come, easy go.  Within my own field of sales I have run into unethical agents who regularly lie to customers whom they cold-call, and who have even gone in to one of our customer’s homes and removed some of our products that we sell, on a pretext, in order that they could replace it with theirs!  At this stage in our industry we do not have an official Ombudsman-but that will come!

In most companies, direct sales or otherwise, you would be very lucky to ever get an invitation to stay in the manager’s house.  We frequently do!  Perhaps this has something to do with the rather more laid-back antipodean attitude but I struggle to visualize any of my managers -bar one -in the U.K inviting me anywhere,let alone their home turf!

Finding an Ethical Internet Marketing Affiliate Program

The same with internet marketing.  I decided to get some training in an Internet marketing affiliate program from somebody who ‘knows his onions” and one of whose main platforms for promoting his internet program was to make it more accessible to newbies by showing step-by-step how to duplicate what he was doing-which was substantial. He is Kiwi internet marketer, Mark Ling.

I knew very little about I.M, but I knew I needed to supplement my income and I saw the potential of the internet -the problem was-I did not know which program was good .  What he offered was an 100% money-back guarantee-so there was no real risk to joining, and he had a good support team who help me to this day, even after I have stopped paying any course fees-another rarity!

KNOWLEDGE is one of the key ingredients to success in Internet marketing and what you want is an easy-to-follow, systematic, jargon-free program-which AFFILOBLUEPRINT is. If you are new to internet marketing the best way to fast track your success is to have a solid internet marketing education through enrollment in an internet marketing affiliate program that can teach you relevant and up to date online marketing strategies. There is a lot to learn! You can put into practice what you have learned on your own site.  In my next post you can learn more.

Visit an Ethical and Really Useful I.M Training Company:Let Them Take you By the Hand

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Comments

8 Responses to “Importance of Ethics in Internet marketing & Direct Sales companies”

1. Frazer Goodman
   January 18th, 2010 @ 1:04 pm

   I agree honour what is that worth today and sean affliate program is pretty solid where I started first.Thanks for your thoughts all the best to your future

2. JR
   January 18th, 2010 @ 7:18 pm

   Thanks for your thought, and for visiting, Frazer

3. Gee
   January 19th, 2010 @ 11:37 am

   I agree 100% John

   I have no regrets at all on joining Sean’s program. In fact the exact opposite. Sean’s integrity is second to none. A quality sadly lacking on the internet.

4. JR
   January 19th, 2010 @ 3:21 pm

   yip,this internet marketing program is da best i’ve seen so far

5. Lina Nguyen
   January 22nd, 2010 @ 12:13 am

   Feels good, doesn’t it? To find a program that works and delivers more than what it promises. Great work on the blog John! Keep it up! Lina

6. BelindaO
   March 3rd, 2010 @ 4:13 pm

   Cade and i have had a few unpleasant dealings with Internet Marketing Companies, so its feels great to be involved with a program full of trustworthy, ethical people. So if you are on a good thing, stick to it……

7. JR
   March 4th, 2010 @ 10:14 pm

   “The proof of the pudding” is whether they deliver. Money needs to change hands both ways, whether it’s an I.M company or an affiliate you are trying to sell products for. I’m still learning to weed out the sheep from the goats!

8. Anna Baker
   April 9th, 2010 @ 9:38 pm

   I am working on my essay on online ethics. This essay writing process is challenging indeed, and such articles like this one help to overcome some difficulties in a short period of time. Thank you for this hard work and for information presented. It is great!

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