What advice can I give my salespeople to avoid breaching the competition provisions in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)?

• Avoid consistently pricing below cost or trying to block all the key sources of supply as this may be considered a misuse of market power.
• Do not offer to sell goods or services on the condition that the customer also purchases goods and services from another business as this may be third line forcing.
• If you get together with a competitor to put pressure on another business to do what you want you will be engaging in collective boycotting.
• You can avoid anti-competitive conduct by refusing to make agreements with your competitors about prices or sharing the market in a particular way.
• It is also worth mentioning that salespeople should not mislead or misrepresent the business’s product or services through sales pitches or marketing campaigns. Conduct that is misleading and deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive is prohibited under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).
• You could use our Fixed Fee Quote service to call for tenders from lawyers to help you draft guidelines for your salespeople.