---
title: Liars Leading with Lies | The Sales Blog
description: Twice in as many weeks, I’ve had a salesperson reach out to me and begin the sales conversation with a lie. In the first case, the salesperson suggested that they were already doing business with one of my companies and recognized we needed an account manager. I didn’t believe we had a contract with this […]
image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_561686827.jpg
---

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# Liars Leading with Lies

![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg)

Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino)   
 October 2, 2018

Twice in as many weeks, I’ve had a salesperson reach out to me and begin the sales conversation with a lie.

In the first case, the salesperson suggested that they were already doing business with one of my companies and recognized we needed an account manager. I didn’t believe we had a contract with this company, and I asked the salesperson who signed our contract. He replied that someone in our Human Resources department or the CFO signed the contract. Unfortunately, the company he was referring to doesn’t have a Human Resources department or a Chief Financial Officer, proof that he was indeed lying. It was all downhill from there.

Fast forward one week and I get a call from a Google Certified Search consulting organization based out of London, England. They called to let me know they only represent one speaker per state in the US, and to share with me that the speaker in Ohio had just decided to move to Canada. This opened a space for me to work with them exclusively.

They also suggested the speaker was obtaining four to five engagements per month because of their work. When I asked them the name of the speaker, they refused to share the name. There was no name because there was no speaker. Were there a speaker, they would have leveraged her name to gain credibility. The search consultant hung up on me.

## No Lies and No Liars

For most people and be to be sales, there is little willingness or desire to begin a relationship with the prospect by [lying](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/lying-isnt-a-strategy). There are very few who would be willing to trade the their integrity and the relationship for the opportunity to explore change. In fact, most B2B sales people would prefer to protect their [integrity](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/there-is-no-deal-that-is-worth-your-honesty-or-integrity) and try again rather than do anything that would damage the possibility of a future relationship.

[Opportunities](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/if-you-only-had-8-hours-to-create-an-opportunity) are too rare. [Relationships](http://thesalesblog.com/2017/11/01/relationships-create-an-unfair-advantage-in-sales/) are too valuable. Your long-term success in sales is dependent upon you being someone worth doing business with, and starting with a lie is an indication that you are [self-oriented](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/7-ways-you-prove-that-you-are-self-oriented), smarmy, manipulative, deceitful, dishonest, and lack integrity. Not someone anyone wants as their partner in anything.

> It’s better to lose by being truthful than to win by lying.

If you are salesperson and are being told to lie to your prospective clients as a way to create and win opportunities, you should immediately resign from that position and go to work for a company with better leaders. If you lie to your prospects because you think it makes selling easier, you should immediately find your way out of the profession.

###### Tags:

[Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/sales) [2018](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2018)

Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino)  on October 2, 2018

 Written and edited by human brains and human hands.

![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg)

Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success.

Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars.

Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. You can email Anthony at [iannarino@gmail.com](mailto:iannarino@gmail.com)

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