The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, except in exceptional cases
Nov, 2009
Organisational research has created a new way to generate repeat business-it involves training staff to "appear" to be telling the truth.
Most people are not good at detecting lies. Research by Melbourne Business School Professor Karen (Etty) Jehn found in 80 percent of cases, customers perceived they were being lied to, when actually they were being told the truth.
She says that this perception of lying matters because it influences repeat business and the satisfaction of the customer and employee.
"It's better for the organisation to actually train their employees on how to appear more genuine and reliable so that when they do tell the truth, customers do not misinterpret it."
There are no clear specific signs that someone is lying but there are some basic clues based on physiological research.
One clue is that people who lie tend to look up to the left or avoid eye contact. Jehn says, "Looking to the left instigates the creative hemisphere of the brain. The right side is typically considered the more rational side. This is a clear indicator that Police use all the time.
"Other physiological signs that might tip you off straight away that someone is being creative with the truth is if they fidget or pause. Taking too long to respond can be an indicator that you are trying to fabricate a lie.'
She advises that if you want to convince someone that you are telling the truth, don't look to the left and look people in the eye. Better yet, just be honest and forthcoming.
Some organisations, airlines for example, think it's best to tell the customer what they think the customer wants to hear. Jehn claims that's not necessarily the truth. If there's a flight delay people want to know that and why.
"If the delay is caused by bad weather, or something mechanical, tell the passengers and they will trust in the credibility of the airline to accommodate or fix the problem.
"Don't tell them the plane is on time when they can clearly see their bags sitting on the tarmac outside. People don't mind hearing bad news. They prefer to be informed."
This is crucial to building respect and repeat business. Once you lose that trust in your customers, it's difficult to retrieve.
Something else to avoid is stone-walling when customers complain. If something goes wrong there are usually a lot of dissatisfied customers, but not a huge number of them actually make a formal complaint. When they do, if the organisation deals with the complaint in an honest and respectful way, Jehn's research shows they generate the most loyal repeat customer, who gets right back onboard.
If the customer perceives they were lied to, she says they will defect immediately.
"People always ask me whether men or women make better liars. This is not something I studied but if I was to speculate based on gender research in other projects, I would suggest that women are more relational beings and naturally more in tune to physical cues.
"This gives them an advantage because they can use that knowledge to manipulate the truth or detect lying."
Honesty however, is not always the best policy. In cases involving, say an impending harmful disaster, some people prefer to be lied to. When Jehn discovered this in her research, she first thought she was asking the wrong sort of question or that she had interpreted the data incorrectly, then she realised it's a personality difference.
Some people prefer not to know if the truth involves something that's hazardous or dangerous. Others want to know.
Jehn added, I would want to know in case I want to dance on the seat or have my last drink. But she admits that in an aeroplane that's about to crash, it would be difficult to evaluate who to tell and who not to tell.
Therefore she advises honesty is generally always the best policy.
