Establishing an Ethical Business

• Treat your employees with respect and fairness.
• Make certain that your ethics policy starts at the top level so that company management sets an important example for all employees.
• Effectively communicate ethics policies to all employees.
• Make sure that your company conveys a clear, professional message, to external and internal publics, concerning the ethics of your organization and expectations you hold for your employees.
• Establish a customer service program and train your employees accordingly. Make sure the program covers basic expectations on everything from telephone courtesy to handling dissatisfied customers.
• Recognize that customer complaints are an opportunity! They can provide your company with the chance to clear up a misunderstanding with a valued customer or identify a very real problem within your organization.
• Seek to treat each customer fairly, demonstrate sound business practices, and resolve disputes in a fair and expeditious manner.
• Make sure your advertising says what it means and means what it says. Deceptive and misleading advertising will only hurt your business and your industry.
• Don't undervalue or overvalue your products or services; doing either could lead to unrealistic customer expectations.
• In order to help a potential customer make a more informed buying decision, be forthcoming with detailed information about your business, its product or service, and anything else deemed pertinent to the situation. A legitimate business should have nothing to hide, and if a customer thinks you are withholding information they need, they may go elsewhere.

This article was reprinted from the Better Business Bureau Web site, http://www.bbb.com.