ey want the prospect to move too quickly, so that they can make a quick sale, pocket the commission – and move on to the next prospect.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of prospects have encountered these lies and these situations before. As a result, they're conditioned to expect a certain experience from the sales process. They assume they know how a salesperson will act, and they base their responses on that assumption.

In many cases, prospects become so good at predicting sales behaviors

Why salespeople lie to their clients

Ask most people to describe a salesperson, and likely as not, you'll find yourself deluged by words like "huckster," "snake oil peddler," "fast talker," "con artist" and, of course, "untrustworthy," "arrogant" and "dishonest." You’re right – it’s not fair, it’s just the way it is.

Funny thing is I hardly ever meet a sales professional who hasn’t at least once used a term like those above to describe another sales professional they had a bad experience with! Sometimes, we even dislike our own kind…..

We wonder exactly what we ever did to earn such an enviable reputation. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is, those of us who sell for a living do so in an environment created by a few highly visible unscrupulous salespeople, who are more interested in making a short-term buck than they are in creating long-term profitable relationships with their clients.

Even the most well meaning salespeople lie on occasion, and when they're caught (as they almost invariably are), this only serves to further poison their relationships with their customers – and the selling environment for all of us.

In general, there are three key reasons why salespeople are dishonest with their clients:

They don’t know their product. Some salespeople lie by accident because they're unsure or uninformed about the products they're selling. In many cases, they lie simply because they're too embarrassed to say, “I don’t know.”

They're too empathetic. Some salespeople lie because they're insecure about themselves, or their relationship with their prospect. The driving factor for these salespeople is: “I just want the customer to like me!” so they stretch the truth to tell the customer what they think they want to hear. Lying then becomes an inappropriate vehicle to build a friend first, and a customer second. They're only focused on the money. Some salespeople see lying as an easy way to make a quick buck. Salespeople who lie for this reason do it because they want the prospect to move too quickly, so that they can make a quick sale, pocket the commission – and move on to the next prospect.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of prospects have encountered these lies and these situations before. As a result, they're conditioned to expect a certain experience from the sales process. They assume they know how a salesperson will act, and they base their responses on that assumption.

In many cases, prospects become so good at predicting sales behaviors t

! Sometimes, we even dislike our own kind…..

We wonder exactly what we ever did to earn such an enviable reputation. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is, those of us who sell for a living do so in an environment created by a few highly visible unscrupulous salespeople, who are more interested in making a short-term buck than they are in creating long-term profitable relationships with their clients.

Even the most well meaning salespeople lie on occasion, and when they're caught (as they almost invariably are), this only serves to further poison their relationships with their customers – and the selling environment for all of us.

In general, there are three key reasons why salespeople are dishonest with their clients:

They don’t know their product. Some salespeople lie by accident because they're unsure or uninformed about the products they're selling. In many cases, they lie simply because they're too embarrassed to say, “I don’t know.”

They're too empathetic. Some salespeople lie because they're insecure about themselves, or their relationship with their prospect. The driving factor for these salespeople is: “I just want the customer to like me!” so they stretch the truth to tell the customer what they think they want to hear. Lying then becomes an inappropriate vehicle to build a friend first, and a customer second. They're only focused on the money. Some salespeople see lying as an easy way to make a quick buck. Salespeople who lie for this reason do it because they want the prospect to move too quickly, so that they can make a quick sale, pocket the commission – and move on to the next prospect.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of prospects have encountered these lies and these situations before. As a result, they're conditioned to expect a certain experience from the sales process. They assume they know how a salesperson will act, and they base their responses on that assumption.

In many cases, prospects become so good at predicting sales behaviors

almost invariably are), this only serves to further poison their relationships with their customers – and the selling environment for all of us.

In general, there are three key reasons why salespeople are dishonest with their clients:

They don’t know their product. Some salespeople lie by accident because they're unsure or uninformed about the products they're selling. In many cases, they lie simply because they're too embarrassed to say, “I don’t know.”

They're too empathetic. Some salespeople lie because they're insecure about themselves, or their relationship with their prospect. The driving factor for these salespeople is: “I just want the customer to like me!” so they stretch the truth to tell the customer what they think they want to hear. Lying then becomes an inappropriate vehicle to build a friend first, and a customer second. They're only focused on the money. Some salespeople see lying as an easy way to make a quick buck. Salespeople who lie for this reason do it because they want the prospect to move too quickly, so that they can make a quick sale, pocket the commission – and move on to the next prospect.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of prospects have encountered these lies and these situations before. As a result, they're conditioned to expect a certain experience from the sales process. They assume they know how a salesperson will act, and they base their responses on that assumption.

In many cases, prospects become so good at predicting sales behaviors

speople lie because they're insecure about themselves, or their relationship with their prospect. The driving factor for these salespeople is: “I just want the customer to like me!” so they stretch the truth to tell the customer what they think they want to hear. Lying then becomes an inappropriate vehicle to build a friend first, and a customer second. They're only focused on the money. Some salespeople see lying as an easy way to make a quick buck. Salespeople who lie for this reason do it because they want the prospect to move too quickly, so that they can make a quick sale, pocket the commission – and move on to the next prospect.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of prospects have encountered these lies and these situations before. As a result, they're conditioned to expect a certain experience from the sales process. They assume they know how a salesperson will act, and they base their responses on that assumption.

In many cases, prospects become so good at predicting sales behaviors

ey want the prospect to move too quickly, so that they can make a quick sale, pocket the commission – and move on to the next prospect.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of prospects have encountered these lies and these situations before. As a result, they're conditioned to expect a certain experience from the sales process. They assume they know how a salesperson will act, and they base their responses on that assumption.

In many cases, prospects become so good at predicting sales behaviors that they become experts at manipulating the sales process to get exactly what they want, often at the expense of the salesperson.

Why clients lie to salespeople

Of course, when it comes to sales, truth telling (or the lack thereof) works both ways. Why do so many prospects have so much trouble telling the truth when dealing with salespeople?

One of the most common reasons is that they have been lied to by a salesperson in the past, and are only trying to "give back" a little of what they have "gotten". They’ll lie to avoid an annoying sales pitch. They’ll lie to protect themselves against overly persistent phone calls and email follow-ups, or to avoid being pressured into making a decision. They’ll lie to protect their reputations, their budgets, their time and their jobs.

Most of all, they’ll lie because they automatically assume all salespeople are liars, and they want to make a pre-emptive strike before they are lied to.

Think about how salespeople are commonly portrayed in popular culture. Movies such as Tin Men, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Tommy Boy and Glengarry Glen Ross don’t exactly paint a flattering portrait of our profession. The result is that we who do want to excel legitimately at our chosen profession have a pretty swift current to row against.

But while it may be difficult, it’s not an impossible challenge. Gaining the trust of your customers and potential clients just takes a little extra effort and forethought – as well as complete dedication to honesty in how you conduct your business.

The secret to sales success

Successful salespeople all use a range of different styles and techniques, but they also all share one key thing in common: they know that honest communication is the single most important secret to increasing sales, and commissions.

By focusing their efforts on creating a positive customer experience based on openness and trust, these top performers can almost always rely on an extraordinary level of repeat sales. N