I totally agree with the concept of treating the vulnerable differently (or fair
ID: 354325 • Letter: I
Question
I totally agree with the concept of treating the vulnerable differently (or fairly) than other customers because it is not morally right to take advantages of their situations or conditions. We know that "salesperson is supposed to act toward achieving a particular goal: getting people to purchase a product" (264 Holley) but should make sure that they "are not treated unfairly, and thus possibly harmed." (276 Brenkert).
My school nurse told me a story which is related to how to treat the vulnerable. There was a lady who got depressed because of difficulties adapting to the neighborhood that she lived in. Neighbors were bullying her by putting trash bags in front of her house, throwing eggs, taking her belongings, and more. She was married, but the relationship between her and her husband was not great. Her daughter lived far away, and her son just started working but wasn't doing well. So she was in her house without anyone who could take care of her most of the time. One day, a salesman came to her house to sell a crystal ball which he said would give her a strong power and make everything good. She was listening to him carefully and believed everything. Do you want to guess how much it was? A crystal ball which has a special power (according to the salesman), was almost $800. Eventually she bought it. I do not know if the crystal ball itself was worth $800 or it wasn't such a valuable crystal but he just put the "extra value" on it, but I am sure that he knew the lady was not as conscience as when she is in normal condition. He knew that buying the crystal ball would not help her, but he just wanted her to purchase it to make profits.
As marketing, it is smart and natural to think who will buy this product and which generation the company should aim at. This is a important strategy for companies to use labor efficiently and sell as many products as possible. However, it does not mean that they can do whatever they want.
What do you think about the case above? What could he have done if he knew that she was not thinking rationally?
RESPONSE TO THE WRITING AND QUESTION. 2 TO 3 PARAGRAPHS
Explanation / Answer
Answer:
I would also agree to the statement that the vulnurable customers should not be treated differently and it is not morally right or ethical way of handling customers.Marketing of products can be done only to create awareness about your products.It should not be done immorally to get personal profits.Customers should be provided with genuine products and it should offer value to customers.Salesperson's job is to achieve the targets but he should achieve in a ethical way rather than dealing the customers in an unfair manner or cheating them to achieve their personal targets.Achieving the targets in s ethical way shows the skills of an salesperson
The salesperson in the above case has cheated the lady in buying the crystal.Eventhough he knows that the crystal has no power,inorder to achieve his targets he has used the situation of that lady and misued it in an unethical way to get personal profits.He should use his marketing skills only to create awareness rather than cheating the customers.He should not have told that the crystal has extra power to solve the lady's problems.Instead he should have just sold the crystal at its actual price by stating that the crystal can be used as a fancy product.He should have acted ethically on knowing the lady's situation rather than cheating her.He should think other means to sell the crystal and achieve his targets