When Is It Okay To Lie To Make A Sale?

A very unusual subject, but a very important one. Here's the rub. Everyone in sales has lied to a potential customer at least once. Now, before you get indignant and send me millions of e-mails, hear me out. Unfortunately for the salesperson, most of the sales persons are just as victimized as the consumer. That's the truth whether you like it or not.

I was a victim for 3 years before I learned I was not an advertising agent but my presentation was a 100% scripted lie sold to me and thousands of young persons around the country every year for literally 50 years! Unwittingly, thousands of these young persons, including myself, were out selling, thinking we were advertising agents. Well unfortunately, that happens to countless of sales persons on a daily basis from unscrupulous owners of companies. In forty years of sales I have seen it all, from car sales, to home improvement sales persons to every, other kind of sale. They are way to numerous to list. The problem is that a large number of salespersons, because of the money, rationalize that their lies are ok since the company is doing it, not them. Somewhere you have to draw a line.

To answer tonight's question, It is never ok to lie to make a sale. Now here is the tricky part. Is splitting hairs not lying? In other words, not saying the whole truth, just leaving certain parts out that would surely cost you the sale. Or just saying what the customer wants to hear while not directly answering their question by distracting them with other verbiage or distracting them by showing them something else to take their mind off their original question?

All of these techniques are an everyday part of the sales industry. Here's the ironic part of this post, regardless of the indignation showed by the consumer do they expect the salesperson to lie to them? Or at least are they expecting the salesperson to shave the truth a little? One thing you should notice is that throughout this entire article I never once used the term sales professional.

When Is It Okay To Lie To Make A Sale? - To learn more about this author, visit Charles Kettner's Website.

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