Upgrade your sales process. Awaken your sales team.

As the first step of the Ethical Sales Process, reflection begins with a review of your current sales process to discover and celebrate where ethical sales practices already exist. Once your team has identified those areas, reflection becomes a process of discovering where your current process is out of alignment with ethical sales. These pain points become the primary areas for refinement throughout the ESP course.

The second step of ESP is Environment. In learning to prepare the environment surrounding a sales conversation, each team member discovers the importance of holding dualities by becoming aware of their own internal environment, the potential client’s internal environment, and the external environment experienced by both parties. For a sale to be genuinely ethical, the salesperson must be aware of these factors to minimize their negative impact while amplifying their positive effect on the conversation.

The third step, Consent, is the first step toward placing humans over transactions. Many unethical practices throughout the sales industry manifest when a salesperson forgoes consent and uses subtle manipulation, coercion, intimidation, and “influence” to push a potential client toward closing the sale. In learning and practicing Consent, your team takes the first step toward developing the mutual trust and respect required to successfully lead potential clients through the rest of the Ethical Sales Process. This practice of Consent is the primary way to develop lasting positive relationships and a reputation for kindness and respect.

During the fourth step of the Ethical Sales Process, Objections, your team learns to handle potential client objections before they arise. In doing so, your team can transform the idea of “rejection,” which is scientifically proven to damage morale over time. While handling objections, your team is also evaluating the resiliency of each potential customer to ensure they are an ideal match for your company. During this step, your team can solidify those clients who will likely lead to a successful sale, reduce the likelihood of “ghosting,” and determine potential customers who aren’t an ideal match.

In step five, your sales team learns to make confident invitations to ideal potential customers. At this point, all the potential customer’s needs and desires are apparent, their objections addressed, and the beginnings of a new relationship established. So many sales conversations fall apart because the salesperson is afraid to experience rejection after explicitly asking if a potential client is ready to work together— neither the salesperson nor the client benefit from a conversation that ends without a clear choice. In fact, we consider this an unethical practice. By learning to make confident invitations, your team can receive a clear choice without taking the response personally before moving on to celebrate the outcome.