What's the difference between a little lie and a whopper of a lie? If you say either the intention behind the lie or the ramifications of the lie, you're right in line with what most people believe the difference to be.

　　小鬼话和弥天大谎之间，到底有多大区别?如果你认为区别就在于两者的目的和结果有差异，那么你的想法就代表了大多数人的意志。

　　Here's another question: What do a little lie and a whopper of a lie have in common? Answer: They're both not the truth and if you're in sales and actually want to have long term success, anything short of the truth WILL hurt you.

　　那么问你另一个问题：这两种谎言之间，又有什么共同点呢?答案显而易见：不管大小，他们都是鬼话。如果你在销售中做了一点点缺失诚信的事情，你都决计无法获得长远的成功。

　　Here's how.

　　告诉你为啥。

　　Setting the Groundwork for More Lies

　　一个谎话十个圆

　　Lies are sticky things. Telling just one small lie to a customer or to a prospect probably won't do much harm as long as the lie truly is a harmless, little lie. For example, telling an angry, irate customer that you were working on their issue right when the customer called you when you were actually doing something completely different, is probably a harmless lie. Your intention behind the lie were probably to calm the customer down and give him the impression that your customer's problems are your problems and "there's no time like the present" to get things resolved.

　　说谎这事儿不好做。如果谎话很小只是毛毛雨的话，说给客户或者未来客户听可能不会有什么危害。比方说，一个怒气冲冲的客户打电话来告状，你会告诉他咱正在处理他的问题呢，即使你其实在做别的事。你的目的可能是为了让他平息怒火，并且让人家觉得咱哥俩好你的事就是我的事，解决您的问题是我们的十万火急。

　　Only the issue remains that it was not the truth. If your customer calms right down and appreciates your focus and attention to solving the problem, you're going to get some positive feedback, teaching you that telling lies, no matter how well intended or small, can be a good thing.

　　要命的是不管怎么立牌坊，谎话也不可能成真。如果你的客户情绪平静了下来并且感谢你的专注与对解决他的问题投入的精力，这是你就要给人家一些积极的反馈了，这样你就能发现，说一个谎，不管多小，都要圆谎才可以。

　　This can and most likely will lead to telling more lies. And once you get something rolling downhill, you're going to find that stopping it is a whole lot harder than getting it going.

　　一个谎话可能需要十个谎话来圆。就好比你把小雪球推下雪山，一路的积淀使你发现，根本停不下来!

　　Lies Create Expectations

　　谎话让人期望值太高

　　When you tell a lie to a customer or prospect, you are often creating expectations that you may or may not be able to live up to. Lies are all about over promising and under delivering while you should be focusing on under promising and over delivering.

　　当你向客户或未来客户说谎时，往往使他们有了一种期望，你们公司达不到的期望。谎言一般都是眼馋肚子小的，但其实你要让顾客感受到的正好相反：我们提供的比说的要多，要好。

　　Beyond the obvious problem that telling a lie created for you when you realize that you cannot, in fact, deliver on your promise, another challenge is created. When you can't fulfill the promise of your lie, you are forced to either own up to your dishonesty or, you guessed it, TELL MORE LIES!

　　当你发觉自己自己其实没本事撒那么大的慌时，你就要为其付出代价了。如果你无法履行自己的大话承诺，那么死路有两条：一是为自己的不诚实埋单，二是，你知道的，说更多的谎话来圆谎!

　　Lies are not only sticky things, they are also masters of reproduction and duplication. Lies are seldom lonely creatures: they almost always travel in packs!

　　谎话不仅缠人，而且像细菌病毒一样，善于复刻自己，香火绵延。谎言从不独居，往往成双成对，甚至成群结队!

　　Lies Have Teeth

　　被谎言反咬一口

　　Eventually, many believe that all lies come back and bit the liar in the end. Whether the bite is felt when your customer catches you in the lie, when your sales manager hears about your creativity with the truth or when your web of lies is so twisted that you can't remember what was and what wasn't the truth, lies have teeth and they know how to use them.

　　很多人相信最终谎言会折回来咬说谎者的屁股。不管你是否感受的到——你的顾客可能发现了你在说谎，你的销售经理不小心听说了你说谎方面的创造天赋，亦或是你的谎话多到你被整懵，不知道孰真孰假——谎言都会找个方式会来报答他的小主人的。

　　Perpetuating the Public Image

　　还咋保持公众形象啊

　　Sales professionals have a hard enough time overcoming the general public image that they all lie, are out for their own interests and are simply not an honest lot without you adding more fuel to the fire. Take it from one tenured sales professional: Lying to your customers is NEVER a good thing to do.

　　许多有销售经验的人都经历过圆谎来保持公司形象的艰难过程，虽然不情愿，但为了公司的诚信形象，他们必须继续火上浇油。听听销售骨灰级人物的话：向顾客撒谎什么的最蠢了呢。

　　Even if your lie never comes back to bite you and even if you are certain that you wouldn't have closed a particular deal without having told a lie, your dishonesty has hurt you.

　　即使你的谎言没有报复你，你也确定这不耽误你做业务——不诚实也是坑了你的。

　　1，Lying weakens your sales skills by making it easier for you to close a sale or to advance a prospect to the next steps in the sales cycle.

　　说谎让你的销售技能减弱。说谎多了，你很可能丢掉销售机会或者进一步发展潜在客户的可能。

　　2，Telling lies increases stress because after telling a lie, you need to be on your guard to prevent the truth from getting out.

　　说谎压力大。纸里包不住火，小心烧到自己。

　　3，Lying, whether you recognize it or not, hurts your self esteem, teaching you to believe that you are not good at sales unless you stretch the truth

　　说谎，不管你意识得到不，会伤你自尊，让你感觉如果不说谎就做不好生意。

　　Moral ramifications aside, when you lie to a customer, you are doing much more damage than good. You will be far better off losing a sale honestly than winning a sale using lies.

　　暂且不说道德缺失，向顾客撒谎永远是利大于弊的。诚实地失去一个销售机会比靠谎言做成一单生意好得多。

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（编辑：何莹莹）