---
title: Un-Asked Questions Kill
description: Self-Limiting Beliefs
---

# [SELLING IN THE 21ST CENTURY](https://www.rickroberge.com/)

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# [Science for Sales Rock Stars](https://www.rickroberge.com/)

## [Un-Asked Questions Kill](https://www.rickroberge.com/un-asked-questions-kill)

![](https://www.rickroberge.com/hs-fs/hubfs/RR.jpg?width=35&height=35&name=RR.jpg)

 By [Rick Roberge](https://www.rickroberge.com/author/rick-roberge)   Dec 16, 2017 1:36:46 PM

I posted an update on LinkedIn yesterday that was a screenshot of someone that didn't want to be identified.

They had gone to my website looking for a list of my 100 best sales questions like thousands of visitors before him/her. **[This is a link to the post on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6347045467670532096)**.

About an hour ago, one of my new clients asked me, "Sometimes I find your posts are a bit obscure and, before I was one of your students, that made me less inclined to want to be coached by you because I was afraid that I just wouldn't understand what you were teaching... and would be too scared of offending you to ask :O"

So, for example, the post this morning on LinkedIn. What are you trying to get us to do/say with that image of the contact form submission and this status update? What is it that I am missing here?"

 

So, here's the deal. A lot of failure is in our head. My daughter-in-law used to say, "Be the change you want to see." I wrote, **[Hypocrisy in Sales and Business](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140318202139-197161-hypocrisy-in-sales-and-business/)** a while ago. We want people to play by the rules, but we don't feel that it's necessary for us to follow the same set of rules. For instance, do you send direct mail, but object to the amount of junk mail in your mailbox? Do you send 'well crafted introductory' emails that are unsolicited, but hate the amount of spam that you receive? How about cold calls? Do you call people to tell them what you do, but are annoyed when a salesperson cold calls you?

 

Do you dislike feeling pressure when a salesperson tries to get you to make a decision, but think it's OK for you to ask your prospect, "What is there to think about?" Do you lead with, "How much does it cost?", but are annoyed when your prospect won't answer your 'qualifying questions' before you give them the price? Does it bug you when prospects don't return your call or make the decision on the day that they said, but....get the point?

 

So, when somebody puts bogus information in one of my forms, I feel really bad for them. They're probably on my website because they're trying to grow sales and they're probably hoping that **[My 100 best sales questions](https://www.rickroberge.com/Blog/bid/332796/My-Best-Sales-Questions)** or **[How to get referrals](https://www.rickroberge.com/how-to-get-referrals)** will be the magic wand that they need, while in reality their aversion to open engagement is killing them. Prospects are transparent when we're transparent. Prospects trust when we trust. We need to set the example.

 

One more thing. Did you relate to my client saying, "Sometimes I find your posts are a bit obscure and, before I was one of your students, that made me less inclined to want to be coached by you because I was afraid that I just wouldn't understand what you were teaching... and would be too scared of offending you to ask :O" How many times have you NOT asked for an explanation and therefore missed the lesson? How many of those missed lessons are killing you?

 

**[Want to ask me a question?](https://www.rickroberge.com/contact-me)**

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<https://plus.google.com/116082120720832878924/posts?rel=author>BTW, do you have an idea or question that would make a good article? Would you like to write or co-author it? Either way, **[ send me an email](mailto:therainmakermaker@gmail.com?Subject=Blog%20article/author%20idea)**.

**[Rick Roberge](https://plus.google.com/116082120720832878924/posts?rel=author)**

## About this blog

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