17 replies
Hey there,

I heard this motto several times but none of the places I worked at had an answer to this. Usually it's just "Move on to the next one."

What are your tricks to root out the lies?
#buyers #liars
  • Profile picture of the author Rearden
    Take-aways and Devil's Advocate moves.

    A Devil's Advocate move is what I use to challenge the prospect when they claim they have interest in my product, but I sense no urgency, need, or heart-felt desire to have it.

    For example, when I meet with a prospect to discuss life insurance to fund a burial, I always ask how much coverage and with whom they have it.

    If a prospect says they have $30,000 in coverage, but are "curious" to "see what's out there," I question what they'd need it for.

    If I get a ho-hum response, I say:

    "Gee Mr. Prospect, I have to say you're one of the few people that has a good bit of coverage on them at your age; most people don't! I mean, it's obvious you have enough to cover the cost of a burial, plus enough to leave money behind, right?

    "And what I'm hearing from you, almost sounds like you have that accomplished to some degree, right? So tell me, Mr. Prospect, given your situation and how well you've planned, what real reason would you have to own any more life insurance coverage?"

    I am willing to risk blowing the appointment by asking this because the prospect will feed me ammo to sell them. IF they are sellable, they will work on selling me on why I should sell them when I ask the above question.

    If they can't explain why they need more? Then, regardless of price (to a point), they will not buy. Then, beyond a few questions to make sure the policy cannot be replaced to increase coverage or decrease price, I pack my stuff and jet.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Bad salespeople have conditioned people into lying.

    If I tell you how bad my problem is ("We have a HUGE termite problem!")...what could happen to the price? ("OOO He really needs our help! Let's GET HIM!")

    If I tell you how much money I've got / what my true budget is...what could happen to the price?

    So it's no surprise that prospects conceal these things. Don't get mad about it; expect them to be this way--at least until you have differentiated yourself by how you sell.

    This is why Monetizing The Problem is such a powerful technique: it gets them to give you the numbers, and takes the pressure off the question of, "I wonder if he's trying to rip me off?" and puts it onto where it should be: the actual problem.

    If someone continues to lie to you, then qualify them Out. There's a personality fit problem. But expect it at the start; it's no big deal and not personal.
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      It happened yesterday when a price quote request came in.

      I asked how many they go through.

      He came back with a number.

      Rather than say he was lying to get a lower price,
      I challenged him that a client has 13 locations and only
      goes through a quater the quantity of
      paper receipt rolls.

      I asked how many locations he had.

      Then he came back with an amended quantity.

      I don't trust the guy now
      and am weary of doing business with him
      after that little lying session.

      Best,
      Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
    Originally Posted by socialentry View Post

    Hey there,

    I heard this motto several times but none of the places I worked at had an answer to this. Usually it's just "Move on to the next one."

    What are your tricks to root out the lies?
    First, we all lie. Buyers are simply the people we are talking to at the moment. But everyone does it.
    So.....why do they do it? They don't see us as people, but adversaries. So we have to get them comfortable....

    And you do that by asking them questions where they can either complain or brag. Lies tend to be very short. They lie about a figure or money. but they won't make up a 3 minute story. It's just too complicated.

    After you have listened to them, and asked their opinion on something, they are feeling pretty good about taking to you. Now, don't ask sensitive questions that can be answered in 5 seconds.

    And, use the fact that they will lie (because they are human), to our advantage. I ask questions I know the answer to. And the direction of their lie tells me if they are interested in buying my product. They aren't even aware of this.
    For example, I see a copier that I know is 4 years old (I sell copiers). I ask "How long have you had this copier? Did you buy it new?"

    And they say, "yeah, we bought it new about a year ago, and it works great!"
    Depending on when they tell you that, it may be a way of saying that they aren't interested in a new copier (because they are trying to make their copier newer than it is), or that it's too early for them to be comfortable enough to just tell the truth.

    If they say "We bought the copier new, but it's almost 10 years old, and hasn't worked right for the last 3 years"...they are saying "I think I may want a new copier. Don't screw up this sale".

    Lying is a defense mechanism.


    I've had customers tell me, in their home, that their vacuum cleaner was new, and worked perfectly...and an hour later they were telling me it was 15 years old, and hasn't worked well since they bought it. All lies, but if you know the truth, you can use their lies to tell you where you are in the presentation...and if they want to buy or not.

    I love lies where they tell me that they threw out (bodily) the last salesman they talked to. We're a funny species.

    If hearing lies frustrates you, you are just asking the wrong questions. I just ask questions where I don't care if they are lying.

    One of the reasons I make my own appointments is that the prospect can't lie to me about what I promised or said.

    But, truth be told, customers don't lie to us anymore than most people do...or we do. Haven't you ever lied to a salesman? What triggered that?



    "Buyers are liars" is usually something a salesman says because they killed the sale themselves, and the prospect just wanted to run out of the room. Top salespeople rarely blame the prospect.
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    • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
      Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

      "Buyers are liars" is usually something a salesman says because they killed the sale themselves, and the prospect just wanted to run out of the room. Top salespeople rarely blame the prospect.
      You beat me to it. "Buyers are liars" is how bad sales people justify losing the sale and/or lying to the customer. It's an excuse for their bad behavior.

      Sadly there are sales managers out there that say this kind of BS. Due to that, and the fact experienced sales people say it, you often have young inexperienced sales people who come to believe it.

      Some buyers do lie but for the most part IMO the vast majority are honest but reserved. They may hold back info but they don't outright lie and once they trust you even most of that holding back drops away.

      Don't give them a reason to lie to you and most will not do it. If you are honest they will be honest.
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Lessard
    This brings me back to my days of more traditional sales and I don't miss it.
    It is one of the reasons I love the long sales funnel you can use on the internet.
    Prospect searches or sees one of my posts, watches a video or reads something I wrote up and by the time they get to me the need for most of the lies is gone.
    Ah, what a wonderful world we live in :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeffery Moss
    Buyers will always try to get a bargain price. And, if you keep discounting, you will only cheapen the product/service you are offering. Then the buyer won't need to respect you anymore as they will see your product is not worth having. Just be confident in your service/product and stick to your price. If needed, restate the benefits you can offer your customer when they buy, rather than falling victim to ploys or requests for a discount.
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    • Profile picture of the author Leadzguy
      I'm a former car dealer and we always had an expression:
      The only time they are lying is when their lips are moving....

      On the other hand I live in the nicest area of my city and the first question when you look for repair of any kind is where you live and instantly price is doubled, so we tell them Charlotte and that's if. If they won't give us a quote, we tell them see ya.
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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        Originally Posted by Leadzguy View Post

        I'm a former car dealer and we always had an expression:
        The only time they are lying is when their lips are moving....

        On the other hand I live in the nicest area of my city and the first question when you look for repair of any kind is where you live and instantly price is doubled, so we tell them Charlotte and that's if. If they won't give us a quote, we tell them see ya.
        I wonder why car dealers have such a bad reputation? If only someone would give me a clue.
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        • Profile picture of the author Leadzguy
          Claude just like any other business there are good and bad. Most actual dealers are not "hands on" they leave it up to various levels of management and in many cases don't know how consumers are being treated. Retail car business from standpoint of employees of the dealership in many but not all cases is not an environment you might want your son or daughter involved in. There is not much loyalty from management to employees so over the years the employees have figured it out and feel the same way towards management.
          This is an environment that within a single 30 day period, you can go from #1 to the unemployment line. Every single thing is judged on what did you do for me today?
          Again in many but not all cases this is then transferred to the interaction between sales people and buyers. Many of the "managers" won't get off their ass and actually get involved with the customer. Training is minimal for sales people so often times there are things said to simply get the person to say yes. When the customer shows up 2 weeks after the sale often times sales person is no longer there. They have nothing in writing about any promises so the managers simply tell them sorry, it's not in writing so obviously we didn't agree to this.
          Another thing is buyer's remorse. There's a lot of excitement going on in the midst of buying a car. Majority of people over extend themselves then expect the dealer to do something about it. When the first payment comes due reality sets in. Consumers also have to understand that vehicles don't run forever and require maintenance. Over the 17 years I owned 6 franchises and there were hundreds of times when people would come back with an engine gone, transmission out amongst many other things. When service manager is looking for evidence of routine maintenance it's never been done. People often blame the dealer, last time I checked there's never been a dealer that actually manufactured a car.
          There's always two sides to a story and most often you only hear the consumer's side of it. Here's an example that has a major impact actually across the economy. If you think about this there are 2 industries and all the related or allied services that exist only because of them and that is homes and cars.
          More than 50% actually it's 62.3% of the buying age public can't walk into a local bank or credit union and finance a car. The lenders that provide this service can't be found by a consumer. The reason is they work only through dealers. The dealers can get them financing via one of these high risk or subprime finance companies but it comes at a cost which is a higher than normal interest rates. This works very much like auto insurance in that if you've had accidents, speeding tickets etc you are going to pay a higher rate of insurance because the risk is higher. No different with the loan companies. So dealers take it on the chin because of the higher rates but what the disgruntled consumers fail to mention is they don't pay their bills. Where would this still fragile economy be if there were even 50% less cars being sold this year??
          No question there are bad dealers that mistreat consumers but there are also very good dealers who in many cases help people who couldn't get the help anywhere else.


          Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

          I wonder why car dealers have such a bad reputation? If only someone would give me a clue.
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        • Profile picture of the author misterme
          Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

          Lies tend to be very short. They lie about a figure or money. but they won't make up a 3 minute story. It's just too complicated.
          What I've discovered is that they do usually give you a long story if they're lying. That's because they're trying to make their excuse sound legit so they're backing it up with (made up) details in an attempt to convince.

          The "buyers are liars" adage comes about because people are concerned that if they tell the sales person the truth, such as about how much they're willing to spend or how badly they want something, they'll be taken advantage of.

          The other reasons they fib are because the truth would embarrass them (such as they really can't afford it but don't want you to think they can't) or they don't want to hurt your feelings (such as you have bad breath and they want to get away from you).

          Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

          I wonder why car dealers have such a bad reputation? If only someone would give me a clue.
          Why don't we go to my desk and I'll tell you why. Do you want a hot or cold beverage?

          You see, when I worked for a major dealer, the attitude was get the sale no matter what. Bring them in on newspaper ads extolling low, low price on vehicles, but then when they come to the lot, point out the teeny tiny jammed in fine print everyone glosses over because you need one of those huge magnifiers scientists use to closely examine sub-atomic sized particles to read it, to point out the price is only valid on this specific one vehicle out on the lot. C'mon I'll show it to you. We got special pricing on it today only if your credit is triple rated 750 or better and you were born on a Tuesday, because the color's mud brown, it's the basic model, doesn't have any of the popular options a normal human being wants in a new car but hey over here is pretty close to what you said you'd like, except for the color but are you making your choice based on the color of the car? Of course not! You're going to be sitting inside it, yer never gonna see the color of the car except for two seconds every day when you walk up to it to get in it! Seriously now, get behind the wheel and let's test drive her. The price? Let's see if you like the car first. Doesn't make sense to talk about price if you hate how she handles, right? The price? Hey, we wouldn't be in business for thirty years if we didn't have the best deals doncha worry about it. The price? I promise ya I'm gonna work real hard for you to earn yer bizness and get you the best price, which reminds me, ya got kids? I got kids too! Where do they go to school? What, the price? Well, that's a good question. Why don't we find out? C'mon back to my desk. And do you want a hot or cold beverage?
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          • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
            Originally Posted by misterme View Post

            What I've discovered is that they do usually give you a long story if they're lying. That's because they're trying to make their excuse sound legit so they're backing it up with (made up) details in an attempt to convince.

            The "buyers are liars" adage comes about because people are concerned that if they tell the sales person the truth, such as about how much they're willing to spend or how badly they want something, they'll be taken advantage of.

            The other reasons they fib are because the truth would embarrass them (such as they really can't afford it but don't want you to think they can't) or they don't want to hurt your feelings (such as you have bad breath and they want to get away from you).
            Misterme; First, never offer an explanation that is contrary to something I say. Thinking makes me head hurt. The "embarrassing part? Yeah, I get that.


            Originally Posted by misterme View Post

            Why don't we go to my desk and I'll tell you why. Do you want a hot or cold beverage?

            You see, when I worked for a major dealer, the attitude was get the sale no matter what. Bring them in on newspaper ads extolling low, low price on vehicles, but then when they come to the lot, point out the teeny tiny jammed in fine print everyone glosses over because you need one of those huge magnifiers scientists use to closely examine sub-atomic sized particles to read it, to point out the price is only valid on this specific one vehicle out on the lot. C'mon I'll show it to you. We got special pricing on it today only if your credit is triple rated 750 or better and you were born on a Tuesday, because the color's mud brown, it's the basic model, doesn't have any of the popular options a normal human being wants in a new car but hey over here is pretty close to what you said you'd like, except for the color but are you making your choice based on the color of the car? Of course not! You're going to be sitting inside it, yer never gonna see the color of the car except for two seconds every day when you walk up to it to get in it! Seriously now, get behind the wheel and let's test drive her. The price? Let's see if you like the car first. Doesn't make sense to talk about price if you hate how she handles, right? The price? Hey, we wouldn't be in business for thirty years if we didn't have the best deals doncha worry about it. The price? I promise ya I'm gonna work real hard for you to earn yer bizness and get you the best price, which reminds me, ya got kids? I got kids too! Where do they go to school? What, the price? Well, that's a good question. Why don't we find out? C'mon back to my desk. And do you want a hot or cold beverage?

            I see what you did there. Clever, and pretty funny.
            My experience with car salespeople is different than my experience with every other kind of selling.
            And I watch car selling videos. The trainers look like they are in the Mafia, and talk like it too.

            I know there are good salespeople, and good dealers...but they are rare. That's just my experience.

            I don't know many dealers that would charge double because you look well off, it's that their sales methods are soooo irritating. People are there to buy...and the salesman makes them run though a mile of broken glass.
            When I sold in home, and hired salespeople, the ones that used to sell cars were the hardest to train. They had so much garbage in their brain that had to be flushed out, before they could learn how to sell.

            We had a wealthy car dealer join a Mastermind group I was a member of. For several hours, this guy got it from all sides. Every time he told us something he would say to a prospect, he would hear 5 reasons that his answer was killing the sale, and 3 or 4 things to say in place of it.

            To his credit, he survived, and showed up the next month. Nobody expected that. At least he had tough skin. But I can picture him back on the lot, smoking a cigar, wearing a pink suit and white shoes. Combing his hair with buttered toast.

            Aaron; I'm sorry my, friend, None of this is directed at you. I even hesitated posting this, because you're in that business. We all have our prejudices..and mine is bad car salespeople.
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            • Profile picture of the author unglued
              Threads like this one are why I love the WF. I learn SO much from Jason Kanigan, Misterme, Dan, Ewen, etc, but I sometimes laugh till I hurt at your antics, Claude. Learning from all the hijinx on here is gravy. Thanks to all you contributing badasses. Because of the integrity and in spite of the humility most of you clearly demonstrate, you know who you are. Maybe we aren't such a bad species after all...

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  • Profile picture of the author Samuel Adams
    An objection is a sign of interest in your product. Don't give up the sale so easily. Probe deeper to find out the root of the real problem so you can show how your product will meet the client's needs. If the customer still keeps bringing up objections, try to find ways to solve the issue. If you have qualified the prospect properly and know they are the right market and in real need, then you will be able to come away with a sale. Otherwise, you are talking to the wrong person.
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  • Profile picture of the author helisell
    Customers telling lies is just a fact of the evolution of the consumer market from when manufactured goods first started to become available.

    e.g

    When vacuum cleaners were first created and there was just one make/model to choose from it was simple and there was no need to lie. You saw it you bought it (there was no other choice). As the market saturated the manufacturers had to bring in improvements which, for all sorts of reasons (clearing out old stock for example) prices became more flexible.

    Imagine you were a buyer around that time. You buy your vacuum cleaner and are in the act of carrying it home when you pass another store and OMG LOOK....the same one I just bought but it is a lot cheaper (thinks....I won't get stung like that again).

    Next time he is in the market for a vacuum cleaner he is going to react to the price by saying (falsely) no no no I've seen them cheaper than that elsewhere. The seller is under pressure to move stock and decides to move on price, reinforcing in the buyers mind 'hey prices are flexible' buyer says...I'll think about it to the lower price but leaves and uses this new price as a negotiating tool with the next seller.

    The process repeats itself, the buyer knows that prices are flexible and uses this as leverage...by making flasehoods about what they can get elsewhere and hey presto.....we have evolved a process of being guarded and using falsehoods to avoid making buying miistakes.

    As sellers we accept the situation and use some of the techinques already suggested earlier in the thread. Gulps for air..
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  • Profile picture of the author Rory Singh
    Good thread.

    It doesn't matter if they are lying or not. What matters is if they will buy from you or not.

    You can't say the wrong thing to the right person.

    I would just be more careful who you give your time to. Learn how to sort through the people who are ready to buy and the people who clearly aren't while giving great service to all.
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  • Profile picture of the author JustinSinclair
    I agree with Rory, as long as they are buying is all that matters. I own some membership sites online with a cost to join and customers sometimes say things like they never got their password, etc but we actually log all their logins times, etc and most of the time they've used our site a lot and simply forgot their password.

    It's odd they would lie about such a basic thing since they can have their password resent to them automatically or our support staff is happy to send it as well but they do. I guess it's just human nature for some people to lie instead of admit they lost or forgot something.
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