Is giving away free stuff to the DM (built into your cost) ethical?

Well... I kinda do it all the time... I guess you can consider toner, supplies and maintenance as a freebie also. I've been known to include a pc, monitors, small fax, small copier or at least something that adds value to the sale and the customer may be able to make use of it.

I've never included a trip, a car, however I'vebeen known to include a cash rebate every now and then.

I knew a dealer and still know him that they actually send a mailer with wide format tv promo's and I mean the REALLY BIG Ones.

Unethical? naw just creative selling, it would be unethical if the gift or reward was not going to the owner of the company, or in the case of a public company and with any provincial, state of local government.

Over the years I beleive buyers are more in tune with pricing, the little stuff like the camera not a biggie, however when you get into the big items it's gotta raise some eyebrows right??

How about others could be a pretty interesting topic for all!

I agree with Art for the most part. If the person you are giving he items to is the person "paying the bills" then there is no issue no matter what the item is.

If you are giving small ($200) items like cameras and such, still not an issue.

When you start talking about giving a person large items ($1,000+) unbeknownst to the owner (or shareholders) and including them into the copier, that is 100% unethical, no question.

The $15k trailer buyer got fired when the Corp he worked for eventually found out.

The salesperson who got the lease signed and his copier company were permanetly barred from entering the company's doorway again. This Corp had quite a few Sharp copiers that were eventually flipped to a different brand.

I find freebies do not work for Gov't accounts but in SMB accounts this can make a differnce in the buyer's mind.

Offering free copy blocks, paper, etc is a fairly common sales tactic. One of my competitors gives away free web site design.

So is giving away a $1000.00+ copy block unethical?

I suppose not. The company and not an individual is benefiting from that. Hard to take a Copy Block home.

I think copy blocks are ok also

I'm going to be giving away payments within he next few days if this dam economy does not start moving. I caught a little bit of MSNBC last night and so they and another were blaming the economy of the tax code from 3 years ago! Well, they may have a point, however you've had three years to fix it or change it, GTFO and do something!

quote:

Originally posted by SalesServiceGuy:
So is giving away a $1000.00+ copy block unethical?

Of course it isn't.

The distinction that makes it unethical is whether the thing you "give away" is given to the buyer or the company.

If you "give" someone a trip to the Bahamas to buy a copier and they use it for personal use, without the company's informed consent, that is (of course) unethical. You and the buyer defrauded the company that is paying the bills.

If you "give" that same trip to the company and they use it for company purposes (A conference, an incentive trip, whatever) then it isn't unethical.

The reason I always said "give" is because everyone knows you aren't "giving" them the trip, you have included the cost of that trip into the price of your copier. The company is paying for it, they just don't have a line item on the invoice for it. If they are aware that they are paying for it, no problem. If they are unaware they are paying to send someone to the Bahamas... big problem.'

I made a distinction earlier about "small items". I believe everyone already knows our price includes small items such as Travel Mugs, Jump Drives, Lunches, $200 Cameras (that we got from the manufacturer either free or for $50). These small items are things that most everyone gives away, so they are not enough to make a buyer make a bad decision just to get the freebie.