Ethics in Wireless Sales

Ethics in Wireless Sales……

THE SITUATION

Abigail is a retail sales representative at a wireless company corporate store. The wireless company boasts that they have the largest, fastest network and most qualified, competent staff as a competitive advantage over their wireless rivals. She works in a store that is located in a growing, upper class neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a dedicated and enthusiastic worker, and prides herself on providing excellent customer service while supporting the other associates in the store as much as possible. She continually makes a connection with her customers and often sees friend referrals based on the time and service that she provided to her previous customers. She went through an initial training period of three weeks prior to selling on the sales floor. During the three weeks, Abigail learned what her goals would be each month and that meeting her quotas would ensure that she would keep her job. Her quota included but was not limited to: selling 150 new lines of service each month, selling a data (text/picture/internet services) package with each line, adding family share lines to accounts, selling at least 3 accessories per phone, and encouraging customers to try out internet services via an aircard. She knows that meeting her quota each day may mean that some customer service steps are left out. This worries Abigail, though she assures herself that she will be able to accommodate all of her customer’s needs.

Abigail has now worked at the wireless company for over a year now. She struggles to find a balance between meeting her quota and exceeding customer expectations in regards to customer service. She routinely sees her coworker Chuck receive accolades for his continued sales success. Abigail is frustrated with Chuck because he steps in front of Abigail to “steal” sales and he refuses to help customers who come into the store with questions. Time after time Abigail “comes to the rescue” and aids the customers as well as fixes any problems that they have. By doing this, Abigail has missed her quota and has been placed on probation. She knows if she does not meet her quota next month that she will be fired.

Abigail records what she observes Chuck doing for one week. During the week Abigail