The recent economic challenges are a constant reminder of the need for new business. Sometimes you just have to reach out and grab it.

You are on an airplane, and you strike up a con­versation with the person next to you. She is the decision maker for a company that buys your com­petitor’s products and services. You have such a great exchange during the flight that she asks you for your card and gives you the opportunity to bid for their business. You do, and you win the account. Is this an ethical or unethical way to liberate business from your competition? It is likely that every single one of you said “very ethical,” but it is not.

Here is another situation. You have been unsuccessful for quite some time now at getting in to see a large prospective client. You read in the paper that they are having a meeting at a local hotel sponsored by your competition. You know that most meetings have a morn­ing and afternoon coffee break and that the morning break usually occurs at around 10:30-11. Sure enough, as you enter the meet­ing area of this hotel, you see that people from your potential client are milling around, talking to one another over coffee.

You don’t know who has deci­sion-making capabilities, so you walk up to the nearest person with a nametag and ask him to pardon the interruption. You inquire about who is in charge, and he points to another gentleman and says, “Da­vid Hart over there is the VP of Operations. He’s the main man.” You approach Mr. Hart and wait for a break in his conversation, then say while handing him your card, “Mr. Hart, my name is John May. I know that this is neither the time nor place for this conversation, but I would like to speak with you about doing business with my firm. Can we set something up for later this week after this meeting has concluded?” Is this example ethical or not? Very ethical!

Here’s why. You are one of the top dogs in your company, and you are the one who is supposed to make it rain. Your employees are counting on you to provide for them. If every employee averages 1.75 family members, that means each employee counting on you is closer to representing three people. Add in all your vendor partners and their families who are relying on you to be their client. Don’t for­get mortgage payments, rent, car loans, college educations and trips to visit grandparents; sometimes your employees and their families simply need you to help them pro­vide enough to eat.

They are not looking to be so­cial cases; they just want you to be the leader of a company that gives them a fighting chance to succeed. If you drive the revenues and give them the tools and direction they hunger for, then off they will go, fighting the good fight to deliver on your reputation. If you don’t feel hurt when you have to lay them off, cut their pay or reduce their hours, then I would strongly urge you to think back to those days when you lived paycheck to paycheck like so many of your employees do.

Ethical vs. Unethical

What is right and wrong when it comes to stealing business? Sim­ply put, nobody is a good enough salesperson to come in and take a client of yours if the client is loyal to you and your company, period. If they are able to take your busi­ness, then you did not deserve it anyway. The same goes with your good employees who leave you to go to your competition.

So what is ethical? It is easier to define “unethical,” which is not doing all you can within the lim­its of the law to provide for your employees. End of story. So think for a moment or two about how many times you did not pull out all the stops to acquire an account. In doing so, how many people did you let down?

What do you need in order to steal business? First off, courage and commitment are necessary to provide for you, your family and your fellow employees. Next, you need to know what companies use your competition (since that’s re­ally what you are stealing). Then you need to make loyalty-driving sales calls to those potential ac­counts. You are not guessing if they have potential for you; they already buy what you have to offer. These are the best leads by far to be fol­lowing up on, as opposed to call­ing on people who may not even be potential business. Lastly, your em­ployees need to know what you did for them and how they too must do their part to earn loyalty every day with these clients.

Remember the hypothetical airplane story that began this ar­ticle? It shows an unethical way of stealing business because if you had called on that client a year ago, they probably would have started using you then. You did not take quick enough action to better pro­vide for your employees sooner.