Here is Why Lying Never Works

A couple weeks ago a customer called our office and told our billing department that he was switching to another telecom provider because "my partners mother works there and she can get us a great deal." Knowing my industry and my competition the way I do, I recognized this to be a less than accurate statement. I called the customer and told him the numerous reasons why the other providers solutions would not be less money and would in fact be more money. The customer told me he would fax me a copy of the proposal so we could compare them. BIG SURPRISE he never sent me their proposal and the order went through. EVEN BIGGER SURPRISE the new service was not connected properly and the customer called us to switch back. Since his fax machine was disabled I drove to his shop to have him sign the new paperwork. Upon arrival, we shook hands, he thanked me for helping so quickly and he signed the new paperwork. Then the most amazing thing happened, the customer finally told me the truth. About a month ago he experienced a problem with his fax line. When he called our service team to report the problem, the person dismissed him said there was no problem and in his words "pissed him off." First, to be clear, If I ever find out which tech he spoke to I will personally read them the riot act for treating one of my customers that way. My personal philosophy is that, any customer issue, not matter how small. should be addressed quickly and concisely. That being aside, the customer felt it was in his best interest to lie about his reasons for canceling rather than try to have us fix the problem, which, by the was is our responsibility. The sad part of this entire episode is that the customer issue really was a simple fix and had we known that was his issue, our techs could have fixed the problem remotely, in under 5 minutes.
The topic of honesty in sales is a BIG one. For some reason, a great many potential clients feel it somehow benefits them to withhold information and not be completely honest with their sales person. Or worse they will flat out lie to the person. The real kick in the pants here is that sales people historically are known for lying to customers so this culture of dishonesty has now grown in the potential client world.

So here are some thoughts about this. The best way to reduce and even eliminate the lying factor is to build a relationship before the sale is committed. I say this to both sales people and clients. You are best off to know the people you will do business with BEFORE you do business with them. So the next time a random sales person calls to meet with you about what they do, hear what they have to say. You don't have to meet with every person that calls you, but build a database of key strategic people that can help you get your job done. Here is another important factor, if you are not the right person, tell the salesperson that and direct them to correct person.

Now, for you sales people out there. Stop trying to sell your product over the phone or via e-mail. Simply convey to the prospective client that you want to meet for future opportunities. Keep the first meeting to 30 minutes or less. If you can,  research the company first to understand what their potential needs can be now and for the future. Also, look to see if you have any connection to this company, perhaps a friend or family member that can make an introduction for you. If the client tells you that now is not a good time. Ask when would be appropriate to follow up and then mark that down on your calendar. If  they give you the line "don't call us we will call you." then MOVE ON! There are plenty of opportunities out there and if someone has no interest in doing business with you then find another one. Sometime in the next 12 months that same client who blew you off will have a change, a pending event or some other need arise and that will be your opportunity.

So in summary, Both sides need to be honest up front. Clients, build a strategic list of vendors to work with. Sales people get the opportunity to meet, don't sell over the phone by email on the first try.

If you build relationships, the business will follow

Thanks for reading today

Mike S.

BTW follow me on Twitter @mistertelecom