You’ve cut your price down to almost nothing. You’ve agreed to an impossible timeline. You’ve even decided to cut corners with your product or service.

But what about your soul?

Are you willing to sacrifice that?

Enough with the melodrama, Ben! Ok, fair enough, here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Are you willing to do something you consider unethical to close a deal?
• Are you willing to do something that’s morally questionable to close a deal?
• Are you willing to work with companies that have questionable corporate practices?

These are bigger questions than whether or not you’ll sacrifice your price, time or service. We’re talking battles between good and evil here.

It’s easy to sit high and mighty and say, “no” to all of the questions I’ve posed, but more than likely, through the course of your business’s history you’ll sacrifice a smidge of your soul for a deal. And that’s OK (we do have to pay the bills after all.) But…

I think there’s immense value in having some kind of long-term vision for your company. It’s important to understand what type of company you want and who you want to work for and with. This doesn’t mean you need to take up every cause under the sun, or even care about saving whales, seals or building low-cost housing in the poor districts of your city. I’m not saying you should care about any particular cause at all; but a company with a higher purpose, meaning or value than “paying the bills” (or “making tons of money”) is a company more able to steer the ship through tough times, including tough ethical and moral questions.

So, what’s your soul worth? Is it worth sacrificing just a teeny tiny bit to close a deal? Come on…be honest!

This concludes my series on “What Will You Sacrifice to Close the Deal?” I hope you’ve enjoyed it!