You will be able to apply a simple ethics test before any recommendation.
It is the last week of the month and you are short of your target. A buyer in front of you could reasonably choose between two options. One fits them slightly better. The other pays you noticeably more. Nobody would ever know which one you steered them towards, and you could explain either choice convincingly. Most people who sell have stood in this spot at least once.
This lesson gives you a simple test to run in that moment, before any recommendation, and explains why passing it is good for the buyer and, over time, good for you too.
Here is the test. Before you recommend anything, ask yourself: would I recommend the same thing if I were paid exactly the same for every option?
If the answer is yes, go ahead. If the answer is no, or you notice yourself hesitating, stop and look at what is pulling you. It is usually commission, a target, a bonus, a sales contest, or a product your manager has asked the team to push this quarter. None of those are the buyer's problem, and none of them should decide what you recommend.
The test works because it removes the one factor the buyer cannot see. It also makes you name your reasons. If you would still recommend the higher-paying option under equal pay, you should be able to explain why in terms of the buyer's situation, using the money, time, risk and status currencies from lesson 4.2, Value in the buyer's terms: money, time, risk and status. If you cannot, that tells you something.
Picture Jun Hao, a car salesman in Ubi. A young couple wants a family car. A larger model pays him a better bonus this month, but they told him they mostly drive short trips in town and worry about parking at their HDB block. Under the equal-pay test, he would recommend the smaller car. So he does, and he tells them why.
The second part of selling ethically is being open about how you are paid, when the buyer would reasonably want to know. A useful rule of thumb: if learning about your pay later would make the buyer feel misled, tell them now.
For most sellers, this does not mean listing your commission rate in every conversation. It means not hiding it when it matters. If the buyer asks, answer plainly. If you are recommending one option over a cheaper one and you earn more on it, say so and explain why you still think it fits. Saying "I do earn more on this one, so let me show you why I still think it suits you better" builds more trust than hoping the question never comes up.
In some fields, disclosure is not your choice. Financial advisers, insurance agents, property agents and other regulated sellers in Singapore work under rules that require certain information to be given to clients, which can include how the seller is paid and any conflicts of interest. The details depend on the field and change over time, so check the current requirements with your regulator or your firm's compliance team. Where the rules require disclosure, always make it, in full and in the form the rules ask for.
A pressure sale can look like a win on the day. The buyer signs, the number goes up, the month is saved. The costs arrive later and are harder to see.
The first cost is referrals. A buyer who later realises they were pushed into the wrong product will not recommend you to friends, and may warn them off. The second is reviews. Online reviews and WhatsApp groups travel fast, and one detailed complaint can stay visible long after the sale is forgotten. The third, in regulated fields, is your licence. A product sold to someone it clearly did not suit can lead to complaints, investigations and penalties, and in serious cases to losing the right to work in the field at all.
Add those up and pressure selling is a poor trade even if you set ethics aside. One commission now can cost you every sale that a satisfied buyer would have sent your way.
Sometimes the honest conclusion is that you should not sell anything to this buyer. Your product does not fit, or it fits worse than something you do not sell, or the buyer is not in a position to take it on right now.
Walking away from a bad-fit sale feels like losing, especially when you are short of target. Treat it as a skill to practise instead. Say it clearly and kindly: "Based on what you've told me, I don't think this is the right fit for you. Here's what I'd look at instead." If you know a better option elsewhere, point them to it.
Buyers remember this. The person you turned away often comes back when their situation changes, and they tell others about the seller who told them not to buy. That reputation is slow to build, and it brings in buyers who already trust you before the first meeting. Lesson 2.3, Credibility without bragging, covered how hard trust is to claim directly. This is one of the few ways to earn it without saying a word about yourself.
Before the activity, look honestly at your pipeline for this month. Somewhere in it there is probably a sale you could close that would not quite be right for the buyer.
Write down a sale you could make this month that would not be right for the buyer and how you would explain that to them.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).