Prospects lie to us on a dailybasis. Some do it unconsciously, some do it on purpose, and some doit accidentally. Whatever the cause, the result hurts both the salesperson and the prospect. For thesalesperson, the misinformation will limit their ability to proposethe ideal combination of products and services for the prospect.For the prospect, the misinformation will limit the products,services, and overall strategy available to them. If we know thatprospects lie and do not address that reality in our sales process,we are only hurting ourselves. With a few tweaks to our salesapproach, we can dig down to the truth and offer greater value.

The challenge is we like to believe people are honest. Astalented advisors, we don't want to believe anyone would lie to us.As human beings, we approach every conversation expecting to hearthe truth. This combination of factors makes us more casual in ourapproach with prospects, and that hurts the final outcome. Evenwhen we do suspect the prospect is delivering false information, weare uncomfortable with the idea of suggesting the potential clientis not being truthful or is outright lying.

The uncomfortable reality around trust isn't the only factorthat influences our interactions with others, however. In "Talkingto Strangers," Malcolm Gladwell explains how our assumptions andhabits influence our interactions with strangers.