Comments on: R2-D2 Whistles Excitedly: Watch Out, Product Manager! That Customer Is Lying! http://christophercummings.com/2009/02/17/r2-d2-whistles-excitedly-watch-out-product-manager-that-customer-is-lying/ ChristopherCummings.com - Product Management Blog Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:58:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Christopher Cummings http://christophercummings.com/2009/02/17/r2-d2-whistles-excitedly-watch-out-product-manager-that-customer-is-lying/comment-page-1/#comment-384 Christopher Cummings Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:41:16 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=872#comment-384 Hi Alan - Thanks for your comments. Are you talking about lies inside a company, between businesses, or between businesses and consumers? The good news is, sites like Consumerist.com, RipoffReport, and Twitter are just some of the methods available for the truth to get out. Hopefully, people understand that the short-term benefits of lying to customers are outweighed by the long-term implications. - Chris Hi Alan -

Thanks for your comments.

Are you talking about lies inside a company, between businesses, or between businesses and consumers?

The good news is, sites like Consumerist.com, RipoffReport, and Twitter are just some of the methods available for the truth to get out. Hopefully, people understand that the short-term benefits of lying to customers are outweighed by the long-term implications.

- Chris

]]> By: Alan http://christophercummings.com/2009/02/17/r2-d2-whistles-excitedly-watch-out-product-manager-that-customer-is-lying/comment-page-1/#comment-383 Alan Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:41:41 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=872#comment-383 I stumbled upon your blog from alltop. I really enjoy the design and your writing. Hopefully there are less lies but I feel a bad economy will only produce more. I stumbled upon your blog from alltop. I really enjoy the design and your writing. Hopefully there are less lies but I feel a bad economy will only produce more.

]]> By: Product Management Strategies For Coping With Customers Who Lie | Product Management Meets Pop Culture http://christophercummings.com/2009/02/17/r2-d2-whistles-excitedly-watch-out-product-manager-that-customer-is-lying/comment-page-1/#comment-382 Product Management Strategies For Coping With Customers Who Lie | Product Management Meets Pop Culture Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:46:34 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=872#comment-382 [...] week, we identified the traits of a liar. But Josh Ledwell raised an interesting question in the comments: What should you actually do once [...] [...] week, we identified the traits of a liar. But Josh Ledwell raised an interesting question in the comments: What should you actually do once [...]

]]> By: Joshua Ledwell http://christophercummings.com/2009/02/17/r2-d2-whistles-excitedly-watch-out-product-manager-that-customer-is-lying/comment-page-1/#comment-381 Joshua Ledwell Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:17:13 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=872#comment-381 Awhile back I "called" a colleague on an obviously disprovable assertion about the target audience for a product. The colleague blustered his way through claiming secret knowledge, and also invoked his team authority to shut me down. I lost respect for the person, but I didn't have the choice to stop working with them. So in that case, I didn't do anything. Except, I guess, to file the incident away for the next time I *did* have a choice about who I worked with! Awhile back I “called” a colleague on an obviously disprovable assertion about the target audience for a product. The colleague blustered his way through claiming secret knowledge, and also invoked his team authority to shut me down.

I lost respect for the person, but I didn’t have the choice to stop working with them. So in that case, I didn’t do anything. Except, I guess, to file the incident away for the next time I *did* have a choice about who I worked with!

]]> By: Christopher Cummings http://christophercummings.com/2009/02/17/r2-d2-whistles-excitedly-watch-out-product-manager-that-customer-is-lying/comment-page-1/#comment-380 Christopher Cummings Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:21:39 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=872#comment-380 Hi Josh - Those are great links, and a very good point--there usually isn't a single "tell" that can provide definitive proof. If you can establish a baseline (eg, how does the client act in a non-excited state?) that should help indicate if they're being untruthful. But you raise an even more interesting point: If you catch a client (or a teammate or stakeholder) in a lie, what do you do? - Chris Hi Josh -

Those are great links, and a very good point–there usually isn’t a single “tell” that can provide definitive proof. If you can establish a baseline (eg, how does the client act in a non-excited state?) that should help indicate if they’re being untruthful.

But you raise an even more interesting point: If you catch a client (or a teammate or stakeholder) in a lie, what do you do?

- Chris

]]> By: Joshua Ledwell http://christophercummings.com/2009/02/17/r2-d2-whistles-excitedly-watch-out-product-manager-that-customer-is-lying/comment-page-1/#comment-379 Joshua Ledwell Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:11:36 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=872#comment-379 As a user experience guy, the title of this post made me uncomfortable. After I read it, I'm wondering what PM's should do if they decide a customer is lying to them. Do you say "I caught you!" What if they're clients you can't fire? Pop-psychology truisms aside, verbal and nonverbal cues are not reliable indicators of truth or lies. Different people react differently to similar events. Anxiety over a confrontation can cause any or all of these reactions, even when a customer is completely truthful. See http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D0CE7DB1531F934A2575AC0A967958260 and http://www.uplink.com.au/lawlibrary/Documents/Docs/Doc64.html. As a user experience guy, the title of this post made me uncomfortable. After I read it, I’m wondering what PM’s should do if they decide a customer is lying to them. Do you say “I caught you!” What if they’re clients you can’t fire?

Pop-psychology truisms aside, verbal and nonverbal cues are not reliable indicators of truth or lies. Different people react differently to similar events. Anxiety over a confrontation can cause any or all of these reactions, even when a customer is completely truthful.

See http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D0CE7DB1531F934A2575AC0A967958260 and http://www.uplink.com.au/lawlibrary/Documents/Docs/Doc64.html.

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