working one of his prospects to gain agreement on some point.

“LISTEN,” he says. “I’LL BE HONEST WITH YOU…”

(You’re wondering about the derivation of the acronym LOUSE?  Loud obnoxious unaware sales executive. LOUSE… this one with an ear-slashing voice one  could hear three jet ways away.

” THAT’S RIGHT…..,” he continued. “AND, I’LL BE PERFECTLY FRANK WITH YOU… ” And on he went.

All of us attempted to avert our eyes and ears. To pretend that this guy wasn’t there, that we weren’t there, that he wasn’t having this conversation, and that we weren’t hearing it.

“TRUST ME ON THIS ONE,” he exhorted.,,,,

Leading me to wonder, what must his prospect or customer be thinking?  I’m wondering whether I would believe anything this guy said BEFORE he said “trust me on this one” or whether I could believe anything he said AFTER he said it.

“AND, BELIEVE ME,” the louse continued….

We would never say these words, right?  Certainly not in the space of a seven minute jet way conversation?  Yet, I’ve been amazed while eves dropping on all sorts of conversations, how frequently otherwise normal looking fellow citizens use these words.

I’ll be honest with you:  I’m disinclined to believe anyone who prefaces remarks with, “I’ll be honest with you.” Or, “believe me.”   The words are distracters that undermine our credibility. They are vestiges of a hustle-based sales culture that was not honest, not respected, and not based on value or solving client problems. Far better to say, “In my opinion…” or “the data suggests…” or “it’s been my experience that…” rather than “trust me on this one.”  Believe me.