This commandment applies to more than your local burglar. It actually guards and protects our legitimate need TO ACQUIRE. Mankind has a built-in need to acquire things. If owning things were a sin, that would make God the biggest of all sinners, seeing as how He owns it all anyway. He made us in His image and gave us His likeness. Sure, we all fell through Adam’s sin, but He has made us a new creature and has given us the mind of Christ.
Theft cuts to the core of our legitimate need to acquire.
It steals away from us that which is protected by God’s law. People in sales steal anytime they extract more from the customer than is agreed to. Anytime they pad the order with a few extra expenses, without the customer’s knowledge, they steal. When customers sense their, “need to acquire” is threatened, you lose the right to have their business, not to mention to look yourself in the mirror and feel good about what you see.
Knowing that God wired man with a need and a will to acquire, how can we through our business dealings, legitimately tap into this need to help more folks obtain the product or service we offer, while simultaneously helping them have their need met?
My father had a long and illustrious career in sales.
The work he loved was fueled by integrity and crowned with success. Around the time of his 80th birthday, I asked him what understanding helped him more than anything else to succeed in sales. Honesty and integrity were a given, so he simply told me that if he could ever show the customer how he could either save them money or make them money with his product, he would usually make the sale.
When he sold fire extinguishers during the depression, he showed them how it would lower their insurance premiums. When he sold bowling alley equipment in the sixties, he showed them how they could make money with their investment.
In your line of work…
Ask yourself, how does what you have to offer generate a positive economic impact? If your product is more expensive, there are probably good reasons for it and those reasons have economic consequences over time, such as longer life, fewer breakdowns or greater convenience. Help your customer see the favorable economic consequences and you will significantly increase your chances of success.
Until next time, be fruitful and multiply!