Wells Fargo Ethics Case Study

Wells Fargo Ethics Case

• Wells Fargo employees created fake accounts to meet sales goals, incentivized by the company.
• The CEO was penalized and banned from the industry.
• Over 5,300 employees were fired.
• This case highlights extremely unethical practices in the sales sector.

Ethical Decision Making

• Ethics involve consciously making and justifying decisions.
• Four key drivers influence decisions:
  • Unconscious thoughts (heuristics, biases, egocentricity).
  • Unthinking customs and practices (societal norms, family beliefs).
  • Personal ethical decision-making profile (values, priorities, default settings).
  • Reflective practice (considering context, purpose, principles).
• Ethics are shaped by environment, culture, and personal background.

Sales Call Rejection Therapy

• Jim Jiang's 100-day rejection experiment: understanding rejection as a learning opportunity.
• Embracing rejection as a crucial step in success.
• Rejection therapy takeaways:
  • Rejection is repetitive.
  • Rejection isn't personal.
  • Understand the reasons behind "no" answers.
  • Successful individuals have faced significant rejection (e.g., Martin Luther King Jr.).
• Dealing with rejection involves:
  • Understanding sales close rates.
  • Managing high and low sales periods.
  • Evaluating the solution-fit with the customer.
  • Learning from every loss.

What is Selling?

• Selling is a mutually beneficial exchange of goods/services for value.
• Selling is a holistic business system that encompasses developing, managing, enabling, and executing mutually beneficial transactions.
• Salespeople:
  • Represent their company.
  • Generate company revenue.
  • Solve customer problems/leverage opportunities.
• Sales interactions cater to existing customers ("cross-selling", "upselling") or new ones ("new logos").
• Salespeople must align with customer agendas (personal, departmental, company).
• Post-sale support and intelligence sharing are crucial aspects of sales.

Sales Representative Types

• Retail sales reps: sell products to consumers (B2C) in retail settings. Example: clothing store sales associate.
• Wholesaler sales reps: sell products to retailers (B2B); manage supply chain efficiency. Example: food distributor supplying grocery stores.
• Manufacturer sales reps: sell products to wholesalers, retailers, or end users (B2B), often providing technical assistance. Example: an electronic components manufacturer supplying parts to computer assemblers.

Sales vs. Marketing

• Marketing fosters awareness (one-to-many, indirect, creates product awareness, often includes advertising). Primarily focused on B2C.
• Sales fosters direct contact/transactions (one-to-one, direct, focused on go-to-market planning). Primarily focused on B2B.

Sales Roles (Oracle & Reebok examples)

• Inside sales (Oracle): direct seller, prospecting/reaching out to IT professionals.
• Reseller (Reebok): account management, focused on building trust.
• Commonalities both roles share include selling to current customers, teamwork, and supporting executives.

Ethical Behavior Drivers

• Individual roles:
  • Moral values, integrity, employee influence, leadership's ethical standards.
• Organizational roles:
  • Organizational values, ethical culture, promotion of integrity, avoidance of "preconventional/conventional" environments.

Sales Terminology

• Cold calling: contacting potential customers without prior relationship.
• Inside sales: Conducted from a company office.
• Outside sales: Conducted from outside the company office.

Trust Pyramid

• Trust is the ultimate goal in customer relationships.
• Intimacy is achieved via focus on customer needs.
• Trust is built on reliability, competence, authenticity, and grit.