In yesterday’s post, I described how a contractor, who has received recognition from his peers for integrity and ethics, concluded that my business had gone over the line (on the wrong side!) of ethical business practices. I can certainly understand his perception. The challenge, as marketers, is where do we draw the line.
We can certainly look, to some extent, to the law for answers. Legislation such as anti-spam or anti-junk-fax legislation often occurs when the community’s moral outrage reaches the point that politicians decide it is time to act. In the U.S. the FTC and in Canada the Competition Branch and provincial laws set out the rules for advertising and sales misrepresentations.
However, these answers are less-than-satisfactory. Within our frame of reference we generally want to see our activities as wise, fair and responsible and it often takes a jarring experience or crisis to take us out of our comfort zone and cause us to re-evaluate our perspectives and practices.
In my case, I almost lost the business as problems escalated and I couldn’t quite nail down the problem of why our business practices were causing so much hostility and anger. Fortunately, I discovered the answer just in time:
If we cannot create enough value for our real clients that they receive a net gain from their use of our services, we have failed to meet our ethical business standards.
Yes, you could run a truck through the loopholes in the “real value” argument. If I look at the number of clients who have actually taken advantage of the supporting services and resources we offer now, I could probably put them on my 10 fingers. Even more ironically, the clients who have called on me for these additional (free) resources generally are ahead of the game in marketing. The businesses which nee the greatest amount of marketing support and guidance simply don’t respond to our offers to assist. And I’m not going to barge down their doors to force wise and rational marketing strategies on them.
Nevertheless, this guideline sets the stage and the rules for my business, and it is reasonable.