How to Tell if Your Customer Is Lying [View All]

[MrScorpio]

by Tom Reilly
©Copyright 2000

There is no nice way to say this, some customers lie. There, I’ve said it. The plain unvarnished truth—no sugar coating. Not all customers, just some. And these lies cover a broad range of topics: delivery time frames, buying authority, competitive information, and mostly price. Wouldn’t it be great to have a lie-detector on a sales call? Maybe customers would appreciate that too for some salespeople.

Recently, at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, Dr. Alan Hirsch and a research assistant presented a paper on detecting mendacity—spotting a lie, for the rest of us. They identified twenty-seven verbal and nonverbal signs that indicate a speaker is lying. The scientific background for this work includes over sixty journal references and twenty textbook references—solid enough for me.

When I read the news report, I contacted Dr. Hirsch and received a copy of his research report. I also urged him to turn this into a book. I could see the endless possibilities for salespeople.

Dr. Hirsch categorized these signals into two categories: verbal and nonverbal signs.

The verbal signs of lying include:

§ Qualifiers/modifiers: not necessarily, but, however, almost, generally, basically.

"What I am against is quotas. I am against hard quotas, quotas they basically delineate based upon whatever. However they delineate, quotas, I think vulcanize society. So I don't know how that fits into what everybody else is saying, their relative positions, but that's my position.''

George W. Bush -- As quoted by Molly Ivins, the San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 21 (Thanks to Toni L. Gould).

§ Denials of lying: frankly, obviously, to be 100% honest with you, as far as I know.

It's an amazing year, obviously, for our country.
George W. Bush -- Event with the World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks, Dec. 13, 2001

REPORTER: The accounting procedures at Harken and Aloha have been compared to what went on at Enron. Would you agree with that?
DUBYA: No.
REPORTER: Why not, sir?
DUBYA: Well, again, this is -- there was no malfeance involved. This was a honest disagreement about accounting procedures ... There was no malfeance, no attempt to hide anything.
George W. Bush -- White House, July 9, 2002

§ Speech errors: this is the old Freudian slip, changing your thoughts and details mid-stream.

There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again.
George W. Bush -- Sep. 17, 2002

§ Pause-fillers: filling empty spaces with um, er, ah, uh.

http://www.theage.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1051876891792_2003/05/03/bush,0.jpg

Q Mr. President, can you explain why you've approved of and expanded the practice of what's called rendition, of transferring individuals out of U.S. custody to countries where human rights groups and your own State Department say torture is common for people under custody?

THE PRESIDENT: Er, um, the post-9/11 world, um, the United States must make sure we protect our people and our friends from attack. That was the charge we have been given. And one way to do so is to arrest people and send them back to their country of origin with the promise that they won't be tortured. That's the promise we receive. This country does not believe in torture. We do believe in protecting ourselves. We don't believe in torture.

George W. Bush -- In a 16 March 05 Interview

§ Stuttering: a liar gets tongue-tied, runs words together, stammers and slurs his speech.

And so, in my State of the -- my State of the Union -- or state -- my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation -- I asked Americans to give 4,000 years -- 4,000 hours over the next -- the rest of your life -- of service to America. That's what I asked -- 4,000 hours.
-- Bridgeport, Conn., April 9, 2002

I think it was a -- I don't think it was -- I think it was, as I understand it -- and again, the Secretary of Defense will be briefing, the Defense Department will be briefing -- that it was a facilitated rescue.
-- Clarifying the situation around the rescue of foreigners held by the Taliban. Comments made in his Texas ranch home's garage, Nov. 14, 2001

That's a chapter, the last chapter of the 20th, 20th, the 21st century that most of us would rather forget. The last chapter of the 20th century. This is the first chapter of the 21st century.
-- On the Lewinsky scandal. Arlington Heights, Illinois, Oct. 24, 2000

We don't take a bunch of polls and focus groups to tell us what -- to how to, to how to -- to what we ought to do in the world.
-- White House, Mar. 21, 2002

There's a lot of people in the Middle East who are desirous to get into the Mitchell process. And - but first things first. The - these terrorist acts and, you know, the responses have got to end in order for us to get the framework - the groundwork - not framework, the groundwork to discuss a framework for peace, to lay the - all right.
-- Trying to explain the Mitchell process. Crawford, Texas, Aug. 13, 2001

George W. Bush -- Various Quotes

The nonverbal signs of lying include:

§ Less finger pointing,



§ Lip licking,



§ Lip puckering/tightening of lips,



§ Increased drinking and swallowing,



§ Fewer hand gestures,



§ Hand-to-face grooming,



§ Sighs/deep breaths,




§ Hand and shoulder shrugs,




§ Handling objects,



§ Looking away to the side or down,



§ Touching nose,



§ Crossing arms,



§ Closing hands into fists.






The researchers caution against making quick judgments based on one nonverbal sign. Several used by the speaker raises one’s skepticism about the veracity of the speaker’s message.