4 Ways I Learned to Stop Clients from Lying to Me

What goes around comes around

Ever been on a day tour?

How was your experience?

I got onto one recently. It got me saying never ever again.

It began with a simple call and sign-up. The day tour promised 2 ancient monasteries and 1 Old Town visit for dinner. 4 hours was the deal.

The bus would fetch us at 130 in the afternoon.

Except that it didn’t.

The coordinator texted me early that morning that the bus would arrive at 1130 a.m. I asked why. I was told there was only one group from my resort and 3 groups from the other.

They had to fetch me first.

I sucked my gas in.

There was no bus when I arrived at the resort lobby. I was on time.

I fired a salvo of frustrated texts. No sound. The bus came at 1154 a.m., almost 25 minutes late.

There was no apology.

And then, I found out that there were 3 groups from my hotel and 1 from the other. I was silently fuming inside.

The entire trip lasted longer than 4 hours. In fact, we commuted east to west, north to south, for 6 back-breaking hours. We visited 3 more locations over and above what I signed up for.

What. The. F.

Trust me. I almost killed the monkey at the Wildlife Nature Reserve when it tried to steal my banana. I must have had a killer aura. The monkey ran for its dear life when its eyes matched mine.

Dad was proud. But he told me to be kind to animals.

No, not when I was losing food on my plate.

I was brought to a cashew nut factory and a souvenir shop in the late afternoon. The tour guide tried his absolute best to get me to buy a packet of nuts. I said no money and went back to the bus to nap.

The final straw came when I was told we only had 30 minutes for dinner in the Old Town. I almost lost my marbles.

Sensing that I could never leave the country of visit, Dad grabbed me by my shoulders, escorted me to the nearby café, and got me an iced Matcha Latte.

He got me 2 large ones. I finished them in 5 gulps. The fire in me needed big blocks of ice.

I was glad to see my resort lobby after 6 hours.

The tour guide smiled and asked us to sign up for an extended tour tomorrow. I returned a Joker’s grin and said SURE THING!

He asked for my endorsement on Facebook. I agreed with a smile too.

He asked me for a tip. I laughed and said I have no money.

I headed straight to my room and stayed in the hot tub for an hour.

What Have Day Tours Got to Do with Lying Clients?

There is a corollary.

I was the customer on the day tour. And I lied for 6 hours.

I said,

• I had no money to buy nuts,
• I may sign up for an extensive tour,
• I would give an endorsement on Facebook,
• I had no money to tip the tour guide, although I tipped the driver.

Yes, I’m that lying customer.

I admit. I lie out of frustration.

And that brings me to the next point.

Clients lie. Like me, they lie more than they think they do.

So, what can we do to prevent them from lying to us?

It depends on the lies.

1. “I Have No Money.”

Oh, come on. Yes, you do.

If not, I would not be in front of you otherwise. Your wallet told me so.

What the client is saying is… I don’t see the need to buy your stuff.

Or I am not buying from you.

We must ascertain whether the former or latter applies. In my day tour example, it was the latter. There is no way I will make any further purchases from that tour guide or agency.

If you are that “tour guide” in your circumstance, do yourself a favor.

Walk away. You will get nothing from the person in front of you.

2. “I Will Do (Insert Any Word You Can Think of).”

Look.

If they wanted to do something for you, they would have.

Ask, and you will receive… works on the spot. I have had clients give me LinkedIn Recommendations when I ask. 40% of them wrote one immediately after.

10% of them honored their word and gave me one after a matter of hours.

No prizes for guessing correctly where the remaining 50% went.

This is my point.

Give a couple of hours for the client to do what they promised you to. People are busy. People are fickle. People are tired after a long day.

How do we prevent them from lying and have them do what they promised?

Easy. Stop clients from making such promises.

“Are you sure you will do so? Because I will be waiting for you.”

Give your commitment in advance.

Let them know you are serious about it.

This should weed out 90% of the liars.

“Oh, no, it is okay. Please don’t wait for me.”

Okay, this is a good answer. You incur no time losses.

Remember to say thank you.

3. “Let Me Get Back.”

Blatant lie.

Just destroy it upfront.

“Mr. So-So, I have been in sales for 10 years. Clients say this because they do not know how to reject me. Tell me, what does it take for us to move forward or revisit this topic?”

Trust me. Clients will be stumped.

And they will give you an honest answer after.

4. “I Buy If You Give Me More…”

This is a mouse trap.

Don’t fall for it.

Instead, play what-if.

“Okay, let’s say I can give you what you want now. Can you give me a purchase order now?”

Force their hand. Test the integrity behind their words.

It will bring you very quickly to a yes or no answer.

The Close

Clients lie. I know because I do when I am a customer.

So, why do we lie?

• I have my speculations.
• I don’t want the seller to feel bad.
• I don’t want to outright reject the person because it makes me feel bad.
• I lied because I was pissed and wanted to tease the annoying salesperson, just like my day tour story.

But I argue this is not the point.

The point is to stop clients from lying to us.

And sometimes, it could be as simple as calling their bluff.

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