Ethical selling: making sales claims without misrepresentation (US and UK)
For account executives, sales development reps, account managers and their managers who write proposals, follow-up emails and sales collateral or talk prices and performance with customers. Complete 'Ethical selling under pressure' first; it covers false urgency, gifts and conflicts. This course goes into how regulators judge what you say: the express and implied claims a customer takes away, having evidence before you make a claim, omissions and small print, price, 'free' and deadline wording, and correcting a misstatement. It covers the US (Federal Trade Commission deception and substantiation policy) and the UK (the CAP Code enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority, and the Competition and Markets Authority's guidance on unfair commercial practices). It isn't legal advice and doesn't make you a compliance specialist; your company's legal or compliance team and its approved claims wording come first.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 92 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Identify the express and implied claims in a sales pitch, proposal or email from the overall impression it gives
- Check that every objective claim has evidence on file before you make it
- Spot misleading omissions and qualifications that contradict or bury the main claim
- Choose fair wording for comparisons, prices, 'free' offers and deadlines
- Correct a misstatement promptly and escalate pressure to mislead
Course outline
- 1.Identifying express and implied claims from the overall impressionLesson · 17 min
- 2.Checking that every objective claim has evidence on file before you make itLesson · 18 min
- 3.Spotting misleading omissions and qualifications that contradict or bury the main claimLesson · 18 min
- 4.Choosing fair wording for comparisons, prices, 'free' offers and deadlinesLesson · 17 min
- 5.Correcting a misstatement promptly and escalating pressure to misleadLesson · 14 min
- 6.Ethical selling: making sales claims without misrepresentation (US and UK): knowledge checkKnowledge check · 13 questions
- 7.Ethical selling: making sales claims without misrepresentation (US and UK): practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- US Federal Trade Commission: FTC Policy Statement on Deception (1983, appended to Cliffdale Associates)
- US Federal Trade Commission: Advertising FAQ's: A Guide for Small Business
- US Federal Trade Commission: FTC Policy Statement Regarding Advertising Substantiation
- ASA / CAP: UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code), Section 03 Misleading advertising
- ASA / CAP: CAP Code, Scope of the Code
- UK Competition and Markets Authority: Unfair commercial practices guidance (CMA207), GOV.UK
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