A person once came to the renowned sage named Hillel to convert to Judaism. But he had one condition. That he be taught the entire Torah while standing on one foot.
Hillel, with his great wisdom, saw that the person was sincere and seeking the truth he felt he would find in Judaism and the Torah. He accepted the student.
What did Hillel teach him? He said, “Whatever you would not want done to you — do not do to another. That is the “entire Torah”. The rest is “commentary” (i.e. the details of living an ethical, moral and meaningful life.) Go and learn.”
Hillel placed supreme emphasis on the message of the Torah to “Love your fellow person as yourself.” He was teaching the “mission statement” of the Torah, so to speak. Sensitivity for others, loving your friends and neighbors is what the entire Torah is all about.
This message can surely be applied to your specific case of the ethics of “sales and persuasion”. The best “Jewish advice” I can offer is to follow this rule. Do not treat a customer in a way that you personally would not want a salesperson to treat you. If you feel you can be helpful and that the person needs your positive and helpful advice, encouraging the person to buy it for his benefit is “kosher” and even appreciated by the buyer.
Besides the issue of “love you neighbor” I think there is at least one other basic reason to not misrepresent the product or be too “pushy” in the sales. If you feel the product is not suited to the needs of the buyer but try to sell it to him anyway, this may be akin to “theft”. Or at least a type of theft commonly referred to as “stealing the person’s mind or decision-making process” — “geneivat da’at” in Hebrew. Of course, selling should not be “stealing” in any manner.
I wish you much success in your new job and please feel free to write again anytime about this or any other topic of Judaism.
