Bullshit baffles brains?

I recently did some work with a gentleman who was looking to promote a branded social marketing solution to Tier-1 companies and agencies.

Working in close quarters, I often listened in on his cold calling. Conveniently, he claimed to have worked extensively in the category of everyone he called hoping to gain some credibility. I'm confident that he has not worked extensively, if at all, in most of the categories he claimed to.

He believed that this "strategy" would lead prospects to believe that he was knowledgeable in their category and would therefore been seen as a strategic partner rather than just another sales pitch. When I asked him about this, his response was "bullshit baffles brains".

I found this to be pretty ironic given that one of the fundamental principles for companies playing in the social space is to engage in OPEN and HONEST dialog with consumers.

Why, I asked myself, would someone lie in an attempt to sell an honest form of communication?

I truly believe that honesty is the best policy when it comes to sales and business in general. Bullshit may baffle brains at some point, but people are seldom fooled more than once and the marketing world is pretty small and it doesn't take much to tarnish your name. Lying to get a sale may work once, but it seldom works as a long-term strategy.

I've since parted ways with this person due to conflicting personalities but I am interested to see if he gets anywhere with his program...