📄 Ethical selling? Just bring your integrity

"So Martin, what do you do for a living?"

Me: “I teach people ethical selling”.

“Huh”, they said. “That’s odd, because selling and ethics are diametrically opposed”.

Are they though?

If a baker sells you a loaf of bread, is he being unethical?

He’s got something you want, and you’re both happy to exchange things of value.

Selling – or, trading value – is natural. It's older than language, it belongs to being human.

Lack of ethics only comes in when a seller sells something that the other person doesn’t need, or won’t benefit from, or when the buyer is being manipulated into buying.

But as long as you, the seller, want the buyer to make the best possible decision for themselves – be it to buy or not to buy – there’s no ethical conflict.

In fact, when you’re happy to take a no if that’s best for the buyer, you’re in full alignment with ethics.

After all, isn't selling about helping someone get the best outcome?

Then all you need to do is detach yourself from the outcome, and serve your buyer in choosing, either yes or no.

It's the buyer who should be attached to the outcome, not you.

And if they're not, then they probably shouldn't buy your work - and if you have the guts to tell them that, you're operating with full integrity - no ethical conflict to be seen.