Is your competition lying?

About a year ago, I was in the last stages of an interview for a job I barely wanted when I told them I wouldn't lie. I didn't get the offer.

I was just trying to figure out if I could make it as a consultant. As part of the deal I'd made with my husband to put our savings at risk, I agreed to have a few irons in the fire. This opportunity was the I-will-also-have-backup-interviews-going-on part of the deal.

The job itself was so much in my wheelhouse that I'd basically been doing it for the last decade. I'd be selling the same thing to the same clients for another 10 years and I wasn't particularly excited about it.

And without me paying much attention, I kept getting called back for interviews. Like, 8 of them. After the last interview, the founder sent me an email apologizing for the lengthy interview process and I should expect an offer in the next few days.

I got a call late that same evening from one of the executives saying that there was a small sticking point that kept coming up and they wanted to clarify. In one of my interviews, I talked about being candid with a client that a project we were bidding on wasn't something the firm had experience with but we were prepared for the challenge and would do everything in our power to serve them well.

The executive asked if I would be willing to say we HAD done a similar project before and say that the project was well within our core skillset.

He wanted me to say I would lie to a prospective client to win the deal. I had to ask him to repeat himself 3 different ways to make sure I was understanding right. No mistake about it. He wanted me to assert that I would do ‘what it takes’ to win business for the firm.

It might go without saying, but I said I would not lie, and I didn’t get the offer.  

Good riddance.

Today, I’m making it as a consultant. Not limping along, but really doing well. My clients are all really, really good people that I genuinely like and care for. Across the board, my roster of clients are good folks who want to do the right thing for their employees and clients and make the world a better place. 

Many of the clients I work with today are in direct competition with the firm that asked me to lie. And frankly, I take great pleasure in helping tip the scales from the sidelines. By making my clients successful, I can help create the world where liars don’t win. Good people do.

Listen. Most people don’t love sales. At best, it’s usually considered a necessary evil or a default profession. But I love that I give people the skills they need to succeed ethically and create the foundation for their business to grow. It’s a BIG deal to me that nice and honest people don’t finish last.

Sometimes winners cheat. And sometimes cheaters win. But I’ll always be here on the sidelines for the folks who wouldn’t dream of it.