939. Why Do Customers Lie?

Ever had a customer lie to your face?

Yeah—me too.
 But what if they’re not actually lying to you...
What if they’re just trying to protect themselves?

In today’s episode, I break down a conversation I had with one of my salespeople—he asked how I keep working with a customer after I know they’re not being honest with me.

This episode will help you reframe what you’re seeing, take the emotion out of it, and stay in the pocket long enough to help your customers find the truth—on their terms.

If you work in sales, lead a team, or want to build better relationships in business and life, this one’s for you.

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Keep it simple.
 Keep it moving.
 Never settle.
 Stay tough.

Transcript

0:00

So I had a salesperson yesterday ask me, marsh, how do you stay with a customer after you know that they've been lying to you? He's like, I just, I get pissed off. And I have trouble staying with that customer. And I said, first off, your customers aren't lying to you. They're simply protecting themselves because they're afraid of making a mistake. They're afraid of overpaying. And they're afraid of getting taken advantage of so they don't outright lie. They simply misrepresent the truth. They enhance it, they leave parts out, they test the waters. It is just self preservation and it's a way that they protect themselves. We all do this. You do it. I do it because we're not salespeople 24 hours a day. There are times that we too, are customers and we do the same thing. We enhance the truth, we misrepresent, we leave parts out. We're testing the waters. So your job as a salesperson is to not call 'em out. And it's not to force out the truth is to help reveal it, and there's a big difference between the two. Think about it like this. If you were in a courtroom, an attorney would not walk up to you and say, you lying. No. What do they do? They ask questions one after the other until the witness runs outta places to hide, until they get to a point where the witness says, okay, okay, okay, okay. Here's the truth. That's your job as a salesperson. Your job as a salesperson is to get them to the, okay, okay, okay. To that moment. But you're never gonna get there. If you treat your customers as liars, you're gonna get cynical. You're gonna come across as rude, you're gonna destroy any sort of semblance of a relationship, and you're damn sure not gonna make a deal. So here's the thought process that you gotta have. Address the behavior. Not the character. See, your customers, by and large are good people just like you. They're just acting out fear, and their misrepresentation is simply just the way of them protecting themselves. But if you will stay curious, if you'll ask yourself what's being said, what's not being said, what's being implied? You're gonna help them organically reveal the truth, but that requires that you have to listen. And I mean, really, really listen instead of waiting for your chance to speak, waiting to cut 'em off.'cause I got you. You're never gonna make any kind of sales. You're gonna win the argument, but you're never gonna make a customer. So, which one do you want? Help your customers find the truth on their own terms. That way you both win. You gain them as a customer and they gain you as a well-qualified professional salesperson. That's where the trust lives. That's where decisions get made, and that's when you stop chasing the sale. Aren't you tired of doing that chasing? Now you can start building relationships. Look. Here's the thing. You're not for everybody, but you are for somebody. And through discovering the truth, you'll empower your customers to make a decision that they say yes or no, and no is okay. I'm not for everybody, but I am for somebody. Are you that somebody through finesse, through practice, through emotional maturity. You will help discover that thing. Help your customers discover the truth early on. They are gonna protect themselves. Customers early on are going to misrepresent things to you. They don't know you, and so they're protecting themselves. They don't want to make a bad decision. They don't know if they're getting a good deal. They don't know if you're the right one to go with. It's not a no, it is not a no, it's A-K-N-O-W. So they're trying to get a baseline. They're trying to discover just like you're trying to discover. So focus on building the relationship, not making it a transaction. If you make it a transaction, they're gonna always protect themselves. But if you build a relationship, you'll help your customers discover the truth and they trust you, so they won't have to hide it, and you won't have to drag it out. It's simple. It's not easy. But it is simple. Your customers aren't liars. They're just enhancing or misrepresenting the truth. They're doing what they're supposed to do. Now you do what you're supposed to do. All right? Keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Stay tough. Peace.