How many times have you felt you’re being lied to by a salesperson? Why do most salespeople feel compelled to lie to make a sale? How far are they willing to stretch the truth?
I find the idea of being lied to in general quite offensive and in a business context it insults my intelligence. I was approached by a company that sells this unique 3D TV advertisement – they were launching this technology in airport locations – they were very polite and courteous – at first I felt that they were very genuine and sincere. I expressed my interest in the technology and my willingness to give it try – that’s when the lying started! Here’s how the conversation went:
“John, I want us to do business together, and that’s why I’m going to do something for you! As I told you before, I had all the spots sold out but one of my so-called loyal customers backed out at the last minute and I have an opportunity of selling you this at a very discounted price with the hope of establishing a foundation for future collaboration. Originally the cost of this ad is $75,000 and there’s also the cost of production, but I’m willing to offer it to you for only $15,000 and I will bear the production cost. The only catch is that I would need your answer by tomorrow morning since the engineers are flying in from Germany, and I pay those guys by the hour – so I would like to get the started as soon as possible”
WOW! You know what – I bought it! Why would I even think that he’s lying. I mean I explicitly expressed my interest in the product and he didn’t have to give me that whole introduction for the $15,000. He could have simply pitched that and I would have gone for it just the same. The fact is, I didn’t realize I was lied to until 5 months later. Another salesperson from the same company rang me up and tried to sell me the same deal for a different location and guess what, he used the same exact selling line! How do you think I felt, stupid! But who do you think lost the deal!
The age of transactional selling is over! You can’t expect to survive in the information age if you intend to follow a hit and run strategy! You might get lucky once, but not twice!
Guess what builds long term relationship? what generates more referrals? more leads? more sales? Consultative selling* is the answer – in laymen terms it’s called Honesty – cause lies don’t sell anymore – Think About It
Being a girl, I can’t tell you how many times I am being lied to by a salesperson…cosmetics, skin care, hair products…you name it (that’s why women products are the biggest market!!)
I couldn’t speak for salespeople, but I want to share my point of view as a customer. I agree that the idea of being lied seems to challenge my intelligence and trust me, I am VERY offended (and angry) everytime I found out those lies…however, when I think about it, can I really blame on that salesperson completely? Do I really have no responsibility of being lied to?
In your case John, I am sure you were fascinated by the technology and as you said, you probably would make the purchase even without the whole $15k introduction. But to be honest, can you deny the influence of the selling line “Originally the cost of this ad is $75000….not only it’s $15000 for you…..I bear the production cost….” when you were making the purchase? I once read an article, saying that most of human are more sensitive to numbers than words. We focus mainly on $75000 now reduced to $15000 and the message of “WOW, THAT’S CHEAP” immediately pop up in our heads….and also, we are suckers for ‘limited edition”. Once we know a product is about to be unavailable or out of stock, we make the purchase decision as quickly as we can, we won’t think twice if we really want the product…
So John, I’m sorry that you made a wrong purchase but i seriously think it’s not completely his fault…and besides if the other person was not stupid enough to use the same selling line, you probably wouldn’t notice you were being lied to….
Realistically, there are too many lies in business world with both good or bad intentions. In my opinion, I wouldn’t blame that I’m being lied to, I would only blame myself for being stupid enough to trust a salesperson. My intelligence wouldnt be challenged unless I let it be.
So probably, the title should be changed to “Stupid lies don’t sell” -> make sure the same line won’t be used twice!! As I mentioned in my blog, one, who is innovative, wins!
Hey John, I loved your blog. This is so damn true. The people got negatively conditioned about salespeople. I couldn’t stop laughing about your experience, and guess what, I face similar situations myself almost every week, especially with some so called NGOs. These people are ruining the image of the good NGOs as well as the few good salespeople. Anyway, hope you are doing great. Ciao