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Trick or Treat
Vendors Can Be Tricksters, and They Wear Many Masks
Doubt means don’t!
—Oprah Winfrey
Consider how you’d react to the following scenario: An office supply vendor has offered you free tickets to a concert and you’re dying to go. All you have to do is throw a little work her way, which you would probably do anyway. No one would ever know; these purchases are “below the radar” of anyone else. Is it okay to accept the tickets?
What you mean to say is that no one else would ever know. But the two of you will know forever after that your business can be bought. And as much as you love to rock, it just isn’t worth the trouble!
You might recall the case of Ann Copland, former aide to Mississippi U.S. Senator Thad Cochran, who was charged in the bribery scandal of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. According to court documents, Copland took gifts from Abramoff and other lobbyists, including thousands of dollars’ worth of event tickets and meals. Prosecutors claimed that the gifts were given in exchange for her help getting favors for Abramoff’s top client—the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Did the boss know his staff person was apparently for sale? Once they learned her price, it almost didn’t matter; the influence store was open, and favors were for sale. The damage was done. This example is a reminder that once you cross the no-gifts-from-vendors line, you are sliding down a slippery slope.
A tight economy or hypercompetitive marketplace increases the likelihood that vendors ...
