Recently, I posed the question, “Is your customer lying to you because you’re lying?”
I want to explore further about whether customers are intentionally lying.
When a salesperson asks me if I think customers have a tendency to lie or want to lie, I always reply with, “Have you given the customer any reason to lie to you?”
I feel salespeople sometimes do give the customer a reason to lie.
First of all, we have to realize that like attracts like. In other words, if you are a shady salesperson, you are likely attracting shady customers and vice-verse.
I know some customers and some salespeople who are as shady as they come. They’re people I wouldn’t do business with if my life depended on it. If shady salespeople are attracting shady customers, they deserve each other.
So, always keep in mind that you will likely attract people who are like you. When you look at it that way, you can’t help but examine yourself closely. (This is a good thing!)
It comes down to your level of integrity and confidence. When a salesperson comes up with what the customer knows is a lame excuse for something, what signal does that send?
On the other hand, when you really take the time through your questioning and listening to understand the customer’s needs and desired benefits, then you are less compelled to say something that is not accurate or not truthful.
You want the sale, but the more you genuinely get to know the customer, the less likely you are to compromise your integrity to get the sale.
Why? Because you have begun to build trust with this person and that trust is what will more likely secure the sale, not some lie or half-truth promise that sounds good at the time but ultimately is going to alienate the customer.
If the customer views you as someone with integrity, they are less likely to lie to you. They see that you have their best interests in mind, so why would they want to compromise the trust by lying to you?
Sure, there are exceptions, but for the great majority of the time, when you hold fast to integrity, it will reduce the chances of a customer lying to you.
As for the salesperson who doesn’t have integrity, I encourage them to go find all the customers who don’t have integrity. Between the two sides, they’ll come up creative lies, bold lies and just plain stupid deceit — and that’s what both sides deserve.
Choose this day which side of integrity you’re going to fall on.
Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
