Setting marketing standards for your organization means more than filling quotas and generating leads. Effective sales and advertising standards should also incorporate ethical principles to help set the tone for all your marketing transactions. These standards can unify your team so that each player is focused on conducting business in an honest and socially responsible manner, which can also prevent misconduct. By the same token, adhering to international marketing standards can ease entry into international markets because your approach will meet foreign expectations.

Sales standardization and marketing standardization can also result in greater customer confidence. When you include high expectations for ethical behavior in sales and ethical behavior in marketing among your standards, you send a clear message to everyone both inside and outside of the organization: Your company is the kind of business that customers, employees and suppliers alike can trust to keep their best interests in mind. When implementing new sales standards within your organization, try the following:

1. Assess how well your organization measures up in the context of current marketing ethics standards.

2. Consult experts in the field, and consider joining an ethics-based association.

3. Get everyone in your organization on board by clearly communicating and reinforcing your standards.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Educate everyone involved on ethical behavior in sales and ethical behavior in marketing

Because ethical compliance in sales and marketing is self-regulated, ensuring that your organization is in compliance and meeting current standards is key. Training everyone from the top down also helps ensure a higher level of commitment at all levels.

I recommend: Use a specialized ethics training firm that is well-versed and current on today's standards. Kaplan EduNeering has several training courses, from antitrust compliance to privacy standards, which will allow you to customize training and choose from a couple of delivery methods. The Walsh Agency can provide training geared more specifically to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's ethics training compliance.

Team up with an association to help you set and maintain ethical behavior in marketing

Join associations and organizations to show that you are committed to a certain set of standards for sales. Membership in an association committed to ethical business practices lends your organization credibility and should also give you plenty of networking opportunities. Several associations are also committed to ethics research, keeping you and your staff well-informed.

I recommend: The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics offers conferences on compliance and ethics geared toward training and networking, along with access to various resources designed to help with implementation, including multimedia presentations and supporting literature. Promoting an established set of ethical values, members of the American Marketing Association can attend annual conferences, access their resource library and participate in educational webcasts. To help you meet the National Advertising Review Council's standards for advertising, the Better Business Bureau also offers advertising review services.

Communicate and reinforce your sales and marketing standards

Create a comprehensive plan that spells out your standards for marketing, and communicate these standards to everyone involved. A strong set of standards should express your company's ethical values, such as honesty in marketing and fair trade. Put into words how these values translate into each type of customer interaction, from advertising to customer service. Reinforce these standards periodically for effective implementation.

I recommend: Let the experts guide you. The Center for Ethical Business Cultures offers several services that can help you develop, maintain and assess an atmosphere of ethical and social responsibility. Distributing literature on business ethics to employees can also send a strong message. The International Business Ethics Institute regularly publishes articles of interest that you can share with others involved.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Your sales and marketing team may resist a new set of sales standards. Developing consensus as a team and tying rewards, rather than strictly penalties, to those who comply can help curb resistance and foster a higher level of commitment and enthusiasm.