Do Your Ethics Guide Your Business Decisions?

Recently I had an interesting experience with a company that signed up for our free 30-day trial.  When a company signs up for our service we have a detailed standard operating procedure that we follow.  So according to our SOP, I began scheduling the necessary resources to ensure that the company received the necessary service and support that they need during their trial period.  Part of that SOP requires me to do some preliminary research on the company.  I was a little surprised to see that this particular company happened to be a competitor.  Although I know that our competition is watching us, (some have even signed up for our newsletter) I didn’t think that they would go so far as to sign up for our service.  Call me a little naive, but my ethics prevent me from doing the same.  Somehow it feels a little like cheating.

Anyhow, just out of curiosity (and to be a little pain in the rear end) I decided to contact the person who signed up.  After saying hello and politely introducing myself, I plainly asked her “Are we competitors?”.  She nervously stumbled over her words for a few moments, but finally collected herself enough to give a pretty non-sensical answer.  At some point she asked “Well I’m sure you sign up for your competitors’ services to try them out don’t you?” to which I responded “No we don’t”.  I politely said thank you and ended the call.

That conversation started me thinking about ethics and how ethics manifest in business.  How do your ethics reflect in the way that you  conduct yourself within the business community and the general community?  My ethics and moral code prevent me from acting in ways that I consider inappropriate when dealing with our customers or our competition.  Although I do believe in doing thorough market research, I don’t believe that I should ever do anything that would directly cause my competitors to waste their time or resources.   So I don’t click on their banner ads, I don’t call their salespeople, and I sure don’t try to use their products for free.  Again, to me it feels like cheating.

Quite obviously the person that I spoke with at our competitor, based on the anxiety in her voice, must have felt that she was doing something wrong.  So here are a few ways to conduct research on your competition without feeling like you are committing industrial espionage.

Google Alerts

If you aren’t using Google Alerts, you are missing out on one of the cheapest and easiest ways to stay abreast of what your competitors are doing.

Social Media

With the growth and acceptance of social media your competitors are probably using Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn more than ever. By monitoring these platforms you are very likely to learn some very interesting information about the competition.

Ex-employees

I have always found that hiring or even just talking with the ex-employees of your competition usually yields a treasure trove of information.  In many instances you can find out what big projects they are working on and more importantly you may be able to discern any dissatisfaction customers have with their services or products.

Customers

The most valuable market research that I get comes from the customers and prospective customers I talk with weekly.  They are both usually very willing to share details about their interactions with the competition.

Ethics For Business Executives

Good market research without a doubt will help your company be more competitive, but it should be tempered by some set of core ethics.  An article that I read from the Josephson Institute does a great job of defining what acting ethically in business is.  In short, acting ethically in business requires:

  1. Honesty
  2. Integrity
  3. Promise-Keeping
  4. Loyalty
  5. Fairness
  6. Caring
  7. Respect For Others
  8. Law Abiding
  9. Committment To Excellence
  10. Leadership
  11. Reputation and Morale
  12. Accountability

I invite you to read the article in its entirety and leave your thoughts about my story or the article below.  We would love to hear from you.

 

 

By Courtney Sparkman

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