Ouch! This hurts to say but I firmly believe customers lie because they think the salesperson they’re talking to is lying to them!

What hurts even more is many times this is true.

Nothing destroys the sales relationship faster than the perception that one or more of the parties involved is lying to the other person.

Think back over the many times you’ve dealt with a salesperson, and I’m sure you can remember at least one situation where you either felt or knew the salesperson you were talking to was lying.

Challenge I have in writing this is the salespeople who are most likely to be the ones reading this are the ones who do not lie and have never even had it cross their mind as something they would do.   Even if you don’t lie, you unfortunately can still be lumped into the bucket of salespeople who do.

Unfortunately, this only makes our job that much more difficult.

This is why I encourage salespeople to allow their personality and, where appropriate, comments about their personal life to enter into the discussion with the customer.

When customers have the opportunity to see you, the salesperson, as a human being similar to them, they are more likely to connect and share openly.

Trying to complete a transaction when the other party is lying or there is the perception of lying is difficult to say the least.  If the sale can be closed, it will rarely be closed at the size or level of profit that would be possible if both sides were being truthful with each other.

Over the years, I’ve found the best way to deal with a customer who I know is lying to me is to not try to lie back to them as a way to close the sale.  No, my strategy is to simply walk away and conclude this is a sale not worthy of my time or dignity.

The customer who does wind up lying to you during the sales process will likely lie to you and others in your company during the entire relationship.  This is business you simply do not want to have.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.