“Smoke and Mirrors” – When Sales Professionals Lie
Beg forgiveness or ask permission???
So, this comes up a lot in life and in business. With my wife, I tend to do both really, very selectively picking my battles. In my profession, I will also do both. Pushing the envelope – so to speak.
How many of us do this? Recently I came across a professional, who in my opinion, pushed a little too far, at the cost of ethics.
My question is then, when we knowingly push the boundaries, knowing that what we have said is not true, knowing that we will just come up with a wordy apologetic email, call, or post… does this, in your mind, seem to be lying or do you believe you are simply pushing boundaries?
Personally —
Personally, I think it’s a lie. If I knowingly tell, post, or put in writing something that is not true? I would be lying. I cannot, in good conscience, lie to a potential client or current customer. In my experience, and I’ve been doing this a while, it always comes back to bite you in the ass. So then, why do sales people feel the need to do this? Over and over and over again. What do they gain? Some may say they gain a conversation with a potential client where they may have an opportunity to clear up the “misunderstanding” through dialogue, “that’s not what I really mean” type of statements. I say, “Smoke and Mirrors.”
I Belong at Dovetail Software
Fortunately for me, I work for a company that holds high ethics, in the same light I do. In the bright light of day — no smoke and mirrors.
We don’t lie, we don’t stretch the truth.
If we are certified – we say it, if not, we will also tell you that. We happen to be a Certified Solution Partner with Workday: Workday Certified Partners. Becoming a Certified Workday Partner is a pretty big deal, as it takes over 2 years to achieve certification. We would never say we are something we are not.
So the question I have…
Why would you choose to buy or continue to buy from those who lie and stretch the truth. Would this lead you to believe they will lie during the implementation or about their product capabilities? Most likely, yes.
I’ve spent my career building relationships with partners, clients, and customers. Those relationships are important to me – my integrity is important to me. I have a feeling it might be important to you, too.
“One lie is enough to question all truths” – Unattributed
Trust is everything.
