Business Ethics: How Some Businesses Use Networking Events and Violate Business Ethics and Values
Business Ethics: How Some Businesses Use Networking Events and Violate Business Ethics and Values
The other day I was invited to a networking event from someone whom I had just met at another networking event. He said that there would be some time to get to know each other better, some information presented about his company and an opportunity to meet some potential prospects. I asked two very direct questions that I advise all my entrepreneurial and small business clients to ask:
Would those in attendance be in my target market of small business owners of $1 million to $10 million in sales?
Is this a multi-level marketing event?
I was told emphatically Yes and No. So I agreed to come because I believe in power networking: attending as many networking events that are in or potentially in your target market.
After registering for the event at the front door, I then was given a tour of the facility with the emphasis on the people within each office and their accomplishments. My ethics' detector antennae (EAD) began to tingle. Then I was introduced to a variety of associates who began asking me personal questions. Now my EAD is in full vibration. From a sales process, these individuals hadn't established any relationship, but presumed that my relationship with the person who invited me immediately extended to them. There really wasn't any opportunity to meet any potential ideal prospects because each guest was being held in conversation by anywhere from one to three associates nor was there any time to meet with the individual who invited me because he was circling the room meeting all the other guests. Now the words, multi-level marketing and cult began circling in my head.
Given that my time is quite valuable, I asked one of the associates as tactfully as possible if this was informational or a recruitment meeting. Again, I was told it was informational, absolutely not a recruitment meeting and to please keep an open mind because everything would be shortly explained.
Guests were then directed to a small room with stacking chairs (minimum padding) and spent the next almost 2 hours listening to their successful marketing director all the reasons to buy into this multi-level marketing business. Since I was in the back of the room and was not raised to be a rude individual, I stayed. However, I was not a happy camper because I was definitely lied to by the person who invited me because 2 of the 3 points on the last Power Point slide involved recruitment.
What really bothered me was that the majority of people (mostly young people under the age of 30) in the room were actively listening to this sales pitch which was identified numerous times by the marketing director as not a sales pitch. After all, if you joined them part time you could make over $20,000 annually by just working with 4 families in a month. Of course, the marketing director did not say that you need 4 new families each month to sustain that income. As the old adage goes "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
So what does this have to do with ethical values in business – absolutely everything. Ethics first and foremost is about being honest. When I asked the associates what they did, the only response was "We help people." Any further questions were slickly evaded by having a new associate enter the conversation.
Second ethics is a referral mechanism or criteria. Since I network a lot, I also believe in referrals. Ethics is about knowing individuals and what type of values that guide them. As I was intentionally mislead, I can no longer refer him or his organization and when asked will honestly share my perception that this is not a reputable firm no matter what some nationally known business guru said.
In this case, I mislead not only by by the individual who issued the invitation, but the associates I met at the firm as well as the marketing director. Isn’t it funny that a firm can’t even be honest and call their marketing director a sales director? I guess by calling them a sales director would be too honest or ethical and might scare people. NOTE: Upon returning home, I did a Google search of this organization and discovered yes they were a multi-level marketing firm. Yes, I should have done this before accepting the invitation, but I believed that the person was forthcoming in directly answering my 2 questions.
How can you as a small business person who may actually have such a firm in your formal networking group avoid my unethical networking experience? You can follow these 2 simple rules. I used to have only one rule, but now required, due to unethical behavior, to add a second one.
1. Directly ask: "Will my potential client market will be there?"
2. Do a Google, Yahoo, etc. search on the Internet regardless of the response to question #1.
You will learn two things. The first is the ethics of the person involved and the ethics of the organization. Possibly the individual has been conditioned hence why the word cult is used as a descriptor not to think of the organization as MLM.
Small business owners have limited time and need to leverage every moment to build their business. Networking is one such activity. Yet, when other small business owners take advantage of their colleagues through the demonstration of unethical business core values, then everyone loses.
I am sure that this national firm will continue to grow because many individuals want that magic pill for success. However, I believe that by being a lot more ethical, this firm and some of the other similar firms could grow with greater speed and not earn the negative unethical reputation as a cult based multi-level marketing firm.
Business Ethics How Some Businesses Use Networking Events and Violate Business Ethics and Values - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website.
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Once again, I experienced why ethics is so critical for today’s small business owners and why many small business owners just don't get it.
The other day I was invited to a networking event from someone whom I had just met at another networking event. He said that there would be some time to get to know each other better, some information presented about his company and an opportunity to meet some potential prospects. I asked two very direct questions that I advise all my entrepreneurial and small business clients to ask:
Would those in attendance be in my target market of small business owners of $1 million to $10 million in sales?
Is this a multi-level marketing event?
I was told emphatically Yes and No. So I agreed to come because I believe in power networking: attending as many networking events that are in or potentially in your target market.
After registering for the event at the front door, I then was given a tour of the facility with the emphasis on the people within each office and their accomplishments. My ethics' detector antennae (EAD) began to tingle. Then I was introduced to a variety of associates who began asking me personal questions. Now my EAD is in full vibration. From a sales process, these individuals hadn't established any relationship, but presumed that my relationship with the person who invited me immediately extended to them. There really wasn't any opportunity to meet any potential ideal prospects because each guest was being held in conversation by anywhere from one to three associates nor was there any time to meet with the individual who invited me because he was circling the room meeting all the other guests. Now the words, multi-level marketing and cult began circling in my head.
Given that my time is quite valuable, I asked one of the associates as tactfully as possible if this was informational or a recruitment meeting. Again, I was told it was informational, absolutely not a recruitment meeting and to please keep an open mind because everything would be shortly explained.
Guests were then directed to a small room with stacking chairs (minimum padding) and spent the next almost 2 hours listening to their successful marketing director all the reasons to buy into this multi-level marketing business. Since I was in the back of the room and was not raised to be a rude individual, I stayed. However, I was not a happy camper because I was definitely lied to by the person who invited me because 2 of the 3 points on the last Power Point slide involved recruitment.
What really bothered me was that the majority of people (mostly young people under the age of 30) in the room were actively listening to this sales pitch which was identified numerous times by the marketing director as not a sales pitch. After all, if you joined them part time you could make over $20,000 annually by just working with 4 families in a month. Of course, the marketing director did not say that you need 4 new families each month to sustain that income. As the old adage goes "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
So what does this have to do with ethical values in business – absolutely everything. Ethics first and foremost is about being honest. When I asked the associates what they did, the only response was "We help people." Any further questions were slickly evaded by having a new associate enter the conversation.
Second ethics is a referral mechanism or criteria. Since I network a lot, I also believe in referrals. Ethics is about knowing individuals and what type of values that guide them. As I was intentionally mislead, I can no longer refer him or his organization and when asked will honestly share my perception that this is not a reputable firm no matter what some nationally known business guru said.
In this case, I mislead not only by by the individual who issued the invitation, but the associates I met at the firm as well as the marketing director. Isn’t it funny that a firm can’t even be honest and call their marketing director a sales director? I guess by calling them a sales director would be too honest or ethical and might scare people. NOTE: Upon returning home, I did a Google search of this organization and discovered yes they were a multi-level marketing firm. Yes, I should have done this before accepting the invitation, but I believed that the person was forthcoming in directly answering my 2 questions.
How can you as a small business person who may actually have such a firm in your formal networking group avoid my unethical networking experience? You can follow these 2 simple rules. I used to have only one rule, but now required, due to unethical behavior, to add a second one.
1. Directly ask: "Will my potential client market will be there?"
2. Do a Google, Yahoo, etc. search on the Internet regardless of the response to question #1.
You will learn two things. The first is the ethics of the person involved and the ethics of the organization. Possibly the individual has been conditioned hence why the word cult is used as a descriptor not to think of the organization as MLM.
Small business owners have limited time and need to leverage every moment to build their business. Networking is one such activity. Yet, when other small business owners take advantage of their colleagues through the demonstration of unethical business core values, then everyone loses.
I am sure that this national firm will continue to grow because many individuals want that magic pill for success. However, I believe that by being a lot more ethical, this firm and some of the other similar firms could grow with greater speed and not earn the negative unethical reputation as a cult based multi-level marketing firm.
Business Ethics How Some Businesses Use Networking Events and Violate Business Ethics and Values - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website.
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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