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The Fundamental Consumer Laws and Statutes for Sales Functions: Deceptive Advertising

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Added on  2019-09-30

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Task 1: Report on Managing Responsible Selling The Legal, Regulatory and Social Requirements Pertaining sales Functions (A) The fundamental consumer laws that affect sales and marketing of our organization are essentially based on broad prohibition of unfair or deceptive practices. The important elements of sales code of practice that is used for the organizations are: Resolving Ethics Duty of Care Contracts Fees Payment Intellectual Property and Moral Rights Quality Assurance Professional Conduct Management Equality and Discrimination (B) The law of contract refers to a set of rules that are imperative

The Fundamental Consumer Laws and Statutes for Sales Functions: Deceptive Advertising

   Added on 2019-09-30

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Task 1: Report on Managing Responsible Selling1.The Legal, Regulatory and Social Requirements Pertaining sales Functions(A) The fundamental consumer laws that affect sales and marketing of our organization areessentially based on broad prohibition of unfair or deceptive practices. So, in light of these laws,our organization follows the appropriate business practices. These laws and statutes are asfollows:a)Deceptive Advertising: according to the federal and state law, any such advertisement isconsidered to be unlawful if it misleads the consumers. The companies could get into a legaltrouble if the overall impression created by their advertisement deceives the consumers. So,under state protection laws, consumers have right to sue for false and deceptive Ads (Meyerson,n.d.).Deceptive Pricing: it refers to the incorrect price comparisons with other businesses. Italso includes price reductions and less than free offers.Punitive Damages: as per the consumer protection laws, there is a potent statute that isvery helpful for the consumers – punitive damages.The code of practices are helpful for the businesses to meet the ethical selling obligations. Theyhelp earn the trust and loyalty of the customers. The important elements of sales code of practicethat is used for the organizations are:i.Confidentialityi.Ethicsii.Duty of Careiii.Conflict of Interestiv.Contractsv.Feesvi.Paymentvii.Intellectual Property and Moral Rightsviii.Quality Assuranceix.Professional Conductx.Equality and Discrimination
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(B) The law of contract refers to a set of rules that are imperative in governing the relationship,content and validity of an agreement established between two or more parties. This agreementbetween the parties is made on account of sale of goods, providing services or exchange ofinterests or ownership. The important elements of a contract are: 1) an agreement, 2) an intentionto create legal relations, 3) consideration.A contract comes into being when an offer is made and there is an acceptance made in responseto that. In case of conditional offer, contract starts after condition is met. The acceptance occurswhen words or conduct makes a party accept the offer. So, an enforceable contract needscertainty of terms, that is, it should be apparent that the terms of the contract are clear. It wouldbecome unenforceable if the terms require further agreement. Now if a sales person of an organization, gets involved in vague agreements then it couldbecome counter-productive for the organization (Elliott & Quinn, 2007). He/she is the onlyperson who represents the company that is going to sell its products or services to the customers.So, it is imperative on the part of the sales persons to fully understand the basic principles ofContract Law because in absence of the knowledge of these laws, he/she might end up making adubious deal and the organization could get into legal trouble.(C) A misrepresentation refers to a false or untrue statement made for the purpose of inducing arepresentee to enter into a contract or for a purpose of making consumers buy the products orservices of the company. If the representee, then, relies on that statement and decides to go aheadwith the purchase or signing the contract, which in the end turns out to be wrong, then he canclaim the compensation (Bohlen, 1929). A promise cannot be qualified as a misrepresentationdue to the fact that it is made about the future and cannot be declared true or false at the momentit is made. There are three types of misrepresentations: Innocent, Negligent and Fraudulent. If asalesperson within the business is found guilty of misrepresentation, then he will be consideredto have violated the Misrepresentation Act 1967. This Act protects consumers from false andfraudulent claims made by the sales representative in order to induce the consumer into buyingsomething. It allows the consumers to claim the damages as well.(D) The sales people of any organization work on the pledge of high standards in servingcompany, customers and free enterprise. It is the sales representatives, who are genuinerepresentators of the organization because the customers generally come to know about theproducts or services of the company through them. However, if the sales people do notunderstand and abide by the social and ethical principles then they could bring a tremendousharm to their organization (Nolen & Putten, 2007). It is very likely that the sales people couldproduce false information just for the sake of selling a much products as possible. In this event,clearly, at a later stage the customers would definitely come to know about the reality that theywere kept in dark. So, it is quite possible that these customers would not buy the products orservices of that organization and its reputations will be badly hampered.
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(E) The ethical and social aspects of business is basically knowing what is right or wrong in aworkplace and then doing the right thing. These aspects are in regards to the effects of productsproducts or services as well as regarding the stakeholders. Therefore, it is very important to putin place the policies and processes in the organization for the purpose of meeting ethical andsocial requirements. It is very pertinent for the management to understand and follow thefollowing important elements:•Developing codes of ethics•Developing codes of conduct•Making ethical decisions•cultivating ethical culture•Resolving ethical dilemmas•Providing training of ethics•Management of ethical programs in the workplace2. (A) As we know it is crucial for the sales people of an organization to follow ethical standardsat least to avoid the sanctions from the regulatory bodies as well as reduction of reputationamong the customers. Therefore, the sales employees need to follow certain parameters in termsof legal, regulatory, ethical and social policies and procedures, which are:•Professional Conduct: A sales person should use professional approach towardscustomers, competitors, professionals of regulatory agencies as well as company colleagues.While making respectful interaction, they should behave honestly and present situations andproducts accurately (Becker, 1998).•Healthy Competition: It helps in delivering value to customers and allowing othercompanies to compete at the same time. So, ethical behavior supports fair competition.•Telling Correct Prices: by following ethical guidelines, the prices being told to thecustomers should be crystal clear without any hidden charges. The first thing customer needs toknow is how much customer needs to pay for the purchase.•Relevant Products: the ethical guidelines say that only safe products are suitable inselling for their intended use. Along with the products, the instructions should also be supplied sothat the products would work as intended.•Promotion of Products: the sales employees should promote products and services tothe potential customers. So, the ethical promotion is something that portrays offers accuratelyand honestly.
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