There is No Place for “Buyers Are Liars” in the Sales Profession
Yesterday I received an email from a Sandler franchisee inviting me to attend a live “Buyers Are Liars Workshop.” I’ve seen and heard this statement before, but only now feel compelled to voice my opinion.
I don’t know about you, but that phrase and the combative attitude it represents concerns me. Do buyers lie? Sure, some of them do. Do sellers lie? Same story.
The sales profession has enough to overcome without a sales training industry leader conveying this negative, fatalistic view of selling.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not attacking the Sandler organization or any of their franchisees. ESR covers Sandler and we know they certainly have their share of satisfied, loyal customers in the markets they serve.
But many of us, including Howard Stevens and the University Sales Education Foundation, are working hard to elevate the profession of selling in the U.S. and other parts of the world. With that in mind, it would certainly help this and future generations of sales professionals for us to tone down the rhetoric and spend our creative energies helping salespeople better understand how to establish mutually beneficial, trusting relationships with their customers. If someone doesn’t believe that can be accomplished, they should consider another profession.
Filed under: Sales Training Companies
Couldn’t agree more! I’m actually a Sandler fan, have been through their program, and I think it’s antithetical to their core program.
Doesn’t help to call anyone a liar.
Amen Dave, well said, and good for you for putting it out there.
Buyers occasionally may have to resort to being economical with the truth, as they might not be as accomplished at resisting the blandishments of Salesmen as salesmen are professional at applying them
Jimmy Lynch
Where does that leave Seth Godin’s seminal work “all marketers are liars”?
Thanks, Paul, for the comment.
First, I’ll state that Godin’s a lot smarter than I am. With that said, here’s how I see it: He’s a marketer, and he’s not calling his customers (internal and external) liars. He’s calling his own colleagues (and politicians, but they’re fair game!) liars. That’s not much better, but I can live with his need for that style of self-promotion. If he called me a liar, or one of ESR’s clients, I’d be rallying the troops against him.
Just for the record, I don’t like the cheapness and hype of the title, or name calling in general, whether it’s by a uber-guru like Godin, or a six-grader. But I guess I made that clear in my post.
See ya.
Hello Dave.
I can see how the phrase “Buyers are Liars” when taken at face value, (surface vs. deeper meaning) could be viewed by some as negative and fatalistic.
What I find disturbing is salespeople working from the premise that “Buyers are Liars” (surface meaning) and/or salespeople not understanding the premise that “Buyers are Liars” (deeper meaning).
Cheers,
Jeff
I think as long as the core principals are being taught, such as when a prospect gives you an objection, it may not be the real sales objection, and the program teaches the proper strategy for handling a such objection, that there may be more being made out of the discussion than necessary.
It’s going to come down to the trainer.
Is the ad designed to catch attention and pique interest from their prospects and teach proper techniques? I’m ok with that.
But if the trainer is teaching thirsty for knowledge sales students that “buyers are liars” in a true sense, then that’s highly unfortunate for those in attendance.
Hi Dave,
I agree there is no place for “Buyers Are Liars” on any sales curriculum.
As you know, our recent research has focused on what successful sales organisations do differently when dealing with the rise of professional procurement.
On 3 November 2010 in London, we’re hosting a ‘Winning with Procurement’ 1-day conference where procurement leaders from Axa, TPI, BP, Novartis and Accenture will share how suppliers can improve win rates in the face of a difficult procurement process.
The goal of the event is to help suppliers change from their old-school adversarial approach and identify how to engage effectively with procurement.
Well said Dave. I couldn’t agree more.
Cronan
Dave,
WRT to Seth Godins use of the term in his best selling book you say that you can live with his need for that style of self-promotion.
Why is it ok for him to use this for self promotion and not somebody else?
You also state that “If he (Seth Godin) called me a liar, or one of ESR’s clients, I’d be rallying the troops against him”
I dare say you’d be on to your lawyers pronto.
But the Sandler flyer didn’t call you, your customers or anyone else a liar for that matter either.
As a buyer I have lied to a salesperson, more than once. No doubt I will again. Hands up who hasn’t lied to or misled a salesperson?
The truth is that buyers do lie. Rather than react to a headline, it might be more interesting to know why buyers lie
Consider what would happen in a selling situation where a salesrep had put in a considerable about of effort, was under quota and was near the end of the quarter.
The buyer says “thanks for all your efforts but we’ve been doing business with XYZ Inc for several years and out of professional courtesy I need to give them a shot and if they can meet your price I will give them the business”
As sales manager – what would you expect the sales rep to do?
1) send your competitor a bunch of flowers and a congratulations card?
2) get back in there and offer them A, B, C. and do whatever it took to close this one?
Is it not our behaviour and that of numbers driven managers that cause buyers to lie?
They lie because they don’t want to be dragged back into a sales call that they’ve already had perhaps.
As long as managers push salespeople for numbers they will encourage behaviour that results in mistrust and lying.
It’s not all the sales reps fault though
Buyers often use competing proposals to extract maximum concessions from the company they really intend doing business with. How do they get companies that they have no intention of doing business with to invest a ton of time in preparing proposals that are often not even read?
By misleading the salesperson. Sometimes by downright lying. Anyone who has spent a wet week in selling has experienced this.
They say that ‘they’ll think about it’ when they really mean ‘no’
I don’t blame them. My wife does this with my daughter all the time. My daughter says “mommy can I have a biscuit?’
The answer is usually “we’ll see”
I know that that means “no!” (because I’ve heard it myself!)
My daughter goes away happy because she hasn’t heard a ‘no’ and my wife is happy because she doesn’t have to deal with a tantrum.
But no one gets the biscuit!
Lying is part and parcel of all dysfunctional relationships. Rather than hit someone over the head for speaking the truth (as raw and unpalatable as that truth is) and discuss how to establish productive relationships where buyers don’t feel the need to lie?
Hi Paul,
I don’t dispute anything you’ve written about how some buyers buy. Their intent and tactics are destructive and demeaning. I agree that salespeople have to learn how to effectively deal with buyers in those situations.
What I object to is the phrase “buyers are liars.” To me it’s nothing more than the start of a battle. It’s name-calling leading nowhere but to a contentious relationship between the buyer and seller. It also suggests that significantly rewarding buyer/seller relationships rooted in mutual trust and respect don’t exist out there in the business world. They certainly do. In fact, we find that quite often.
How do we prepare salespeople for the difficult job of selling? Certainly not by making the customer the enemy. Let’s provide salespeople with the tools, strategies, and tactics to overcome the significant challenges they face without name-calling. If a customer is lying, and the salesperson has been properly trained, he or she will be able to manage the situation dispassionately and effectively.
Great topic.
First off, I’m with you, Dave, for the reasons stated. I was going to make one big caveat to that agreement, but Paul Lanigan served up an object example to prove the point.
Paul’s examples of buyer-lying are certainly valid. But they most certainly do not exhaust the field. IMHO, the much more common form of ‘lying’ is not in reaction to high pressure sales tactics, or to extract a competitive edge. It is a lot deeper, and more unconscious, than that.
I think many buyers “lie” when they say, “Tell us about your firm; we’d like to hear why we should go with you.” The ‘lie’ is that they’re interested in hearing the answers.
They’re not.
It’s just that they haven’t been to buying school, and are a little intimidated about having to engage in a practice (selling) in which most likely they have less experience than the salespeople they are dealing with.
They are afraid: of being hustled, conned, made to look ignorant, sold at a higher price, buying the wrong product or service, or in any of a thousand ways, being taken advantage of.
So they lie. They say they want to hear you describe yourself, hoping that in that seemingly safe request they’ll stumble across some great reason to either like you or not like you.
The ‘truth’ is–buyers would far rather hear you talk about them than hear you talk about yourself. That, in my view, is the biggest ‘lie’ that buyers tell.
But I’m with Dave; I’m putting quotes around “liar” here because I agree with Dave that it’s just too judgmental. If I disagree with Lanigan about what he means by lying, then that whole discussion amounts to ‘well we agree they’re all liars, we’re just counting the number of ways they lie.’ At that point, the “lie” word is just about as helpful as the “N” word.
We cause way more trouble trying to explain its supposed helpful use than is worth it; we’re all better off coming up with some other language to describe what Lanigan is talking about and what I’m talking about, and what someone else might be talking about.
I suggest: for Lanigan’s situations, “suborning perjury” is the concept; our behavior makes them squirm to get out of the unpleasant cases we cause. For my situations, “fear-driven” is the concept; buyers behaving badly by acting in fear.
In any case: I’m going to get rid of “buyers are liars” henceforth in all my work. Thanks for the public reminder.
Thanks, Charlie.
Yours is a viewpoint that must be considered in this debate.
(When it comes to trust and relationships between buyers and sellers I always take time to listen to Charlie Green.)
Very interesting topic. I agree with Jeff Blackwell’s comment. It’s a moot point but I seem to remember that Sandler proposes that all customers are liars to a degree and you have to find out what they are lying about. This could be translated ” not telling you.” As sales professionals we have the responsibility to ask the right questions and cogitate/explore what prospects are not telling us and ensure we find out ASAP.
These sales pro’s will always have the edge in my opinion. The old chestnut: “the only objection that I fear is the one that I don’t hear” and you may not hear if you don’t ask.
For example, most prospects don’t fully explain their decision making process unless you qualify/ask correctly at the beginning of a discovery call or meeting and make sure that you are talking to or will be talking to the decision maker at the next stage.
Thanks for your comment, John.
Let me (re)state the question: Is it okay for a leading sales training company to apply the term “liar” to the set of people who buy our products and services?
I shudder every time I hear sales people use this phrase and it disturbs me even more that a reputable company like Sandler would use it when working with sales people.
While I understand the importance of developing a catchy title for a workshop or program, I believe this title undermines Sandler’s credibility and that of the sales training profession.
Thanks Dave for this post. Bottom line: Sandler needs a serious upgrade in many regards. I’m not afraid to say it.
Dave,
I don’t want to get involved in a blog where sales trainers are having a pop at each other but you are taking the word ” liars” meaning too literally. As Jeff Blackwell very eloquently ( I must read some of his books) says:
“Buyers are Liars” when taken at face value, (surface vs. deeper meaning) could be viewed by some as negative and fatalistic.
What I find disturbing is salespeople working from the premise that “Buyers are Liars” (surface meaning) and/or salespeople not understanding the premise.
I agree Sandler should have said something along the lines of don’t assume that the customer is telling you everything or the right information which would not probably have got people to sign up for a workshop. Sandler are trying to alert sales people not to take everything they are told at face value and to explore further which speeds up the sales process.
I agree that the Sandler “Buyers are liars” workshop idea is crude but will get attention which it is designed to do!
Thanks, John.
I’m not interested in providing a platform for trainer versus trainer sniping. I’ve got no complaint against Sandler. Nor the franchisee. Just the term. It prevents, rather than supports, striving toward mutualism between seller and buyer.
Dave,
Well said. Whether you take the word “liars” literally or not, it connotes negativity. Your suggetion to “tone down the rhetoric and spend our creative energies helping salespeople better understand how to establish mutually beneficial, trusting relationships with their customers” is great advice for all disciplines in the business community, not just sales.
Best,
Pat
This issue usually becomes apparent when sales reps do a poor job of qualifying and subject themselves to an open invitation to be “played”. My experience indicates that many times bad information is passed along unintentionally. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own set of facts.
You need the facts to offer the correct solution and those facts can only be vetted through strategically targeted questions. Due diligence on the part of salespeople will limit the opportunity to be played. You need to understand the clients industry, his market, and the area in which he is measured. Focus on the client and a better understanding of his environment will engender trust and respect.
So many times these buyers are subjected to unprofessional salesmanship, they become desensitized to the whole process. After a while, who could blame them for being “less than honest” with reps who are probably wasting the buyers time anyway. I would probably punt some uninformed, unprepared, and undisciplined rep as well.
Building trust is hard work. Building client relationships is hard work. Developing your skill set and business acumen is hard work. I believe preparation and study, not wasting the client’s time, and questioning with the intent to understand the customers needs, prevent, or at least lessen, the incident of receiving less than truthful information.
Trying to educate sales reps on the concept of “Buyers are Liars” is quite frankly, a waste of time. How would you feel if you showed up for this seminar, looked around the room, and saw five of your hottest prospects attending the same seminar?