Has Lying Become Normal?

Let’s face it: every salesperson creates a little suspicion when they try to sell us something.

But selling itself isn’t the problem. Without salespeople and entrepreneurs, we’d probably still be dragging things around on square wheels because nobody managed to convince their prehistoric neighbour that cutting the corners off might be a good idea.

Even the so-called oldest profession in the world involves someone selling something!

So I have absolutely nothing against salespeople. I am one.

What I do have a problem with is when the very first part of the sales process is a lie. This happened to me last week when a chap — let’s call him “Malcolm” — from an energy company phoned our office asking to speak to me. One of my team then asked:

“Is George expecting your call?”

“Yes,” Malcolm replied. “We’ve been in discussions for a while and he asked me to call him today.”

Naturally, the call was put through to me with the message: “It’s Malcolm from XXXXX Energy. He says you asked him to call.” Now, despite being 61, I was fairly confident that senility hadn’t suddenly kicked in and caused me to completely forget my ongoing discussions with Malcolm. …. There hadn’t been any as I had never spoken to him before.

It was simply a tactic to get past the dreaded gatekeeper. As it happened, I had a spare few minutes, so I took the call just to see where he intended to take the call.

Malcolm immediately launched into what was clearly a well-rehearsed sales pitch. I let him go for a couple of minutes before interrupting him. “Malcolm, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Why did you lie to my staff to get through to me? We’ve never spoken before, and I certainly wasn’t expecting your call.” His answer genuinely surprised me.

“It’s how I was taught to get by the gate-keeper”, he said confidently

Think about that for a moment.

Someone had actually trained this young man that starting a potential business relationship with a lie was an acceptable sales technique. So, I asked him:

“Why would I buy anything from someone whose very first contact with me was based on a lie? Surely you understand that business and especially sales is built on trust?”

He tried to explain that sales were “a numbers game”. And, to an extent, he’s right.

You make calls. You get knock-backs. You make more calls. Eventually, you make sales.

But there is something far more important than numbers. Your reputation.

I ended the call, not because I objected to being cold called. I’ve spent much of my working life in sales, and I know how difficult prospecting can be. I ended it because Malcolm had destroyed the one thing he needed before he could ever hope to sell me anything…Trust.

And perhaps that is the bigger question.

Have we become so accustomed to exaggeration, spin, selective facts and downright dishonesty that lying is increasingly regarded as just another way of getting what you want?

Trust in politicians and sections of the media has become a major public issue. The main culprit in my view is the BBC, as for example, justified public concerns and regulatory scrutiny over perceptions of impartiality (BBC Verify) and the way complaints about accuracy and bias are handled.

But whatever we think about politicians, journalists or large organisations, surely in our own businesses we can set a better standard. Selling isn’t about tricking someone into taking your call. It’s about convincing them that you, your company and your product are worth doing business with. And if the first thing you tell a potential customer is a lie, you shouldn’t be surprised when they don’t believe the second thing you tell them.

As for Malcolm? Perhaps he needs a new sales trainer.

Or, given his apparent comfort with creative answers, maybe a career in politics or working for the BBC, or the wider mainstream media awaits him.