Vicky is a relatively new marketing consultant in the software industry and has been slowly building a solid practice over the past year or so.
She spends a good deal of time working on-site with her customers and their prospective customers. In the process of doing her work, opportunities often come up to work for them as well, but sometimes getting there is tricky.
In the past, Vicky has been very reluctant to pursue these opportunities fearing that she would alienate her clients.
Bob was a VP at a software company she had been doing business with for the last 6 months. Bob’s company had a very conservative culture, and Vicky was asked to sign a detailed confidentiality agreement prior to starting the project. Although it had never been officially stated, she got the impression that dealing directly with their prospective customers was not going to fly.
A couple of weeks ago Vicky finally landed a meeting with Bob, and Jack, the top gun for a prospect they had been pursuing for some time. Jack listened intently to their presentation, and said:
"Bob, you provide a great solution, and think it could be very good for us down the road; but we’re not there yet. Before we can invest in something like this, we’ve got a long way to go in terms of convincing our own customers to change the way they’re managing their data. With our current priorities and staffing, I just don’t see it happening…"
It was obvious to Vicky that there was a real business issue there that she was very qualified to help them with, but she hesitated to say anything fearing that it was inappropriate.
She felt conflicted, because she felt certain she could solve an important problem for Jack, but didn’t want to risk losing Bob in the hopes of picking up new business.
We talked about her relationship with Bob, his company and the history of their relationship with this prospect. As she related the story to me, Vicky realized that there was a way to solve it.
She caught Bob just as he was leaving for a meeting. She briefly explained to him that the business problem that was preventing them from using their software was something that she could help them to solve, but that she didn’t feel it was right to offer it since she was his consultant.
Bob was quiet for a few moments. Then he sighed, and said: I’m sure my CEO would not like this, but since you were so up front with me about it, and there is a good chance that if you’re successful we will be too, I’m going to give Jack a call and suggest that he speak with you.
Bob’s call helped Vicky cement the deal.
All you consultants out there, what ethical dilemmas come up in your practices?
-Susan Martin, NYC Business Coach
