Professional Ethics & Compliance Flashcards
7 cards from real CSM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Professional Ethics & Compliance flashcards as text
A sales rep receives an expensive gift from a supplier during contract negotiations. Best ethical practice is to:
Answer: Decline or report it per the company's gift policy
Accepting gifts during active negotiations creates a conflict of interest; company gift policies typically require declining or reporting such items.
Which of the following best describes a 'conflict of interest' in a sales context?
Answer: A situation where personal interests may improperly influence a business decision
A conflict of interest arises when a personal interest could improperly affect an employee's professional judgment or actions.
The Robinson-Patman Act requires that sales managers who offer promotional allowances to customers must:
Answer: Offer them on proportionally equal terms to competing customers
The Robinson-Patman Act mandates that promotional allowances be made available to competing customers on proportionally equal terms to prevent price discrimination.
When a sales team discovers a compliance violation internally before it causes harm, what is the recommended first step?
Answer: Report it through the appropriate internal compliance channel
Self-reporting through internal compliance channels demonstrates good faith and allows the organization to remediate before the issue escalates.
In ethical negotiation, 'puffery' differs from fraud because puffery involves:
Answer: Exaggerated opinions no reasonable buyer would rely on as facts
Puffery consists of vague, subjective boasts (e.g., 'best product on the market') that courts recognize as opinion, not actionable misrepresentation.
A Certified Sales Manager's duty to maintain confidentiality of client data is most directly governed by:
Answer: Data privacy laws such as CCPA and GDPR plus contractual obligations
Client data confidentiality obligations arise from data privacy regulations like CCPA/GDPR and from contractual non-disclosure agreements with clients.
Which ethical obligation does a sales manager have when aware that a subordinate is misrepresenting product capabilities to customers?
Answer: Intervene, correct the behavior, and report per company policy
Managers are ethically and legally responsible for the conduct of their teams; tolerating known misrepresentation makes them complicit.