profile

Josh Braun

telling vs. asking

Published over 1 year ago • 1 min read

Pop Quiz.

Who are you most likely to disagree with? Matt or Mandy?

Here's Matt: "Butter Pecan is the best ice cream flavor."

Here's Mandy: "What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

You're more likely to disagree with Matt. Why? Matt is telling. When you're telling, it's easy for people to disagree with you.

Matt: "Butter Pecan is the best."

Prospect: "No it's not. Moose Tracks is."

On the other hand, Mandy is asking a question. Questions are harder to disagree with.

Mandy: "What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

Prospect: "I love Rocky Road."

Why am I talking about this?

Cold objections happen because you're telling, not asking.

When you're telling, it's easy for prospects to say, "I'm not interested."

The way out?

Stop telling. Start asking.

Telling: "We help you streamline prescribing with a preauthorization process that increases efficiency."

Asking: "When dealing with prior authorizations, are you using a specialty pharmacy or handling it yourself?"

Telling: "We help source and get private equity deals done."

Asking: "Are you using an internal model or third parties to source equity deals today?"

Telling: "We streamline commission payouts."

Asking: "Does determining commission payouts involve spreadsheets, or is it automated?"

Telling: "We're a done-for-you revenue recovery service that recovers failed payments and your peace of mind."

Asking: "How are you recovering failed credit card payments today?"

Asking > Telling

Josh Braun

Read more from Josh Braun

You lose a sale. You miss quota. Let yourself feel disappointed. Remind yourself to focus on what you control and tune out what you don’t. Keep learning.Keep growing.That’s all you can do. There’s power in that.There's confidence in that. You become yourself again.You feel happy again because of how far you've come. Don't judge the journey. Sales and no sales are part of the same experience.Rainbows follow rain.Night follows day. And if that doesn’t bring you peace, I don’t know what will :-)

about 7 hours ago • 1 min read

Eleven thoughts: The best way to criticize is to suggest how to make it better. Saying, “I don’t know,” makes you more relatable and likable. Don’t hesitate to invest in yourself. A course, class, a new skill. These tiny expenses pay big dividends. The best way to win an argument is not to argue. You can understand someone without agreeing with them. If you want to be better at sales, ask customers why they bought. Learning how to make people feel understood is a superpower for forging strong...

2 days ago • 1 min read

Jenna and I are hiking in the Grand Canyon. We’re on a trail called South Kaibab. It’s akin to hiking a mountain in reverse. You breeze down into the Canyon,then regain the elevation you lose going up. “Going down is optional. Going up is mandatory.” At Ooh Aah Point, 1.8 miles down, Jenna wants to turn around. I want to go to Cedar Ridge, which is 3.1 miles down. Convincing doesn’t work:“It’s only another mile.”“The views at Cedar Ridge are spectacular.” Nobody wants a TED Talk on Cedar...

6 days ago • 1 min read
Share this post