Fundamentals of Selling 13th Edition by Charles Futrell

Exercise 8

You have been seated in the president's office of a large bank in your town for an appointment you had worked six months to obtain. The president begins your meeting by saying that he is in the market for more insurance and that he had spoken with one of your competitors earlier in the day.
After your presentation and proposal, you begin to close, and he tells you that he is convinced and you get the sale. But, there is one condition. He will only accept a policy with preferred nonsmoker rates. A dirty ashtray is on his desk, and he is obviously at least 25 pounds overweight. You know it is impossible to obtain preferred nonsmoker rates for him if you complete the application truthfully. You also know your company relies on your information when it underwrites the policy.
Purposely submitting false information on an application is grounds for agent termination. If the client dies during the policy's two-year contestable period, death benefits are reduced to the amount of premiums paid if the application had been submitted falsely.
However, if he dies you can say that he told you he did not smoke. He also has to take a physical, so you can blame it on the doctor. This is a big sale, with high commissions. You know he will buy and that you can get away with falsifying the application. If you do not do it, someone else will.
What would be the most ethical action to take
Tell the customer that you will fill out the preferred nonsmoker application if he agrees to try to quit smoking. However, let him know that if the doctor disagrees with your application type, you will have to go with the doctor's recommendation.