Most professionals seem to know that effective selling basically is about asking questions. If that's the case, then why don't sales trainers apply the same principle? It's because somehow they believe they can teach excellence. They see training as "putting in" all the great things they know. But teaching and training isn't something we put into others, rather it's pulling out what's already inside them.

I've seen it many times. Leaps of dramatic improvement in people only comes from one side; the inside! And when from the inside it can be instantaneous, surprising and uncontrolling. It's a paradigm shift - sometimes almost like an explosion.

Quite frankly, most of the sales trainers and managers I've been involved with believe their people need to learn from them. They may say they believe in inside-out, but really they don't, because their behavior implies otherwise. They tend to "tell and preach" as opposed to "ask and draw forth". I call this breed of so-called trainers "trapped experts".

As a result, trapped experts seldom experience staggering and life changing improvements in the people around them. They never quite make the discovery of how people indeed are great in the first place. The mission of a teacher or trainer is to bring out the greatness in others through igniting them with passion. Ironically, trapped experts stay at it, almost as if they're unknowingly caged in "a training prison".

The training prison

Trapped sales experts believe they're on the outside, trying to get in and help those poor sales people break out of prison. What they don't know is that in reality they are themselves imprisoned, unconsciously fighting to keep everybody else behind bars. The key to unlocking the prison is two-fold:

1. Trust and faith in the amazing abilities of every individual
2. Patient and effective interaction through questioning to help individuals discover themselves, grow and come alive

Igniting passion

So how do we bring individuals and teams out of the sales prison, or for that matter, how do we break out of it ourselves?

The main reason for the training defect is of course that trapped experts never broke out of their own prison to begin with. It simply is impossible to lift others beyond our own level or degree of freedom and passion.

I frequently share my own "Golf or Die" example to illustrate how powerful "breaking out of the sales prison" can be:

Personally I don't care much for golf. Many of my friends and contacts, however, love the game. In fact, a lot of them have a deep passion for golf. It's always interesting to see what happens when I, and sometimes on purpose, tell them I don't enjoy the game. It also helps to further emphasize how I feel golf is indeed a complete waste of time.

The response is always immediate and the same: First, energy surges from inside. It swells and grows until they become unstoppable. Then they spill their guts and personal emotions about why they're converted to the most fascinating and enriching experience on the planet. At this stage, there's no need to remind them that they hate selling or any of the sort. Selling "golf" is natural and fulfills a need in itself. Also, any objection from me only fires them up even more. They've transformed - within minutes - into the most brilliant, persuasive, almost charismatic personality and character in the room. Now, change the subject, and they're quickly back to what we ironically call "normal". What a waste!

Tapping into the subconscious mind

Can you imagine what each one of us has on the inside? I believe only few, if any, of us can. There's an amazing power in how passion awakens the subconscious mind. The ratio of the conscious versus the subconscious mind is appx 1 to 70,000,000. Just think about it! Passion actually triggers a change that aspires to being equal to 70 million times your "normal" capacity. It sounds crazy.

We're mostly limited by our own mind. This limitation can be gradually overcome by "reaching out". Asking questions is a way of reaching out, and in reaching out we inspire others. We invite them to come out of their shell. However, at the same time, in the process of asking questions and "seeking for answers" we open ourselves up to reflection. Reflection is equal to "becoming" and venturing on the path of realising and discovering our own potential.

So in summary, the best way to start the process of breaking out of prison is by asking WHY-questions. When we start asking WHY, then we begin to reflect on purpose and meaning. It stretches us and makes us tap into the powers of the subconscious mind. How? Stay tuned for the next post ;-)

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If you ever had the ambition of becoming an expert in sales or any area of persuasive communication you will need to help your team or organization address the most basic questions.

...and most of all, you need to ask these questions yourself.

The questions you need to ask yourself as well as instill in others are WHY, WHAT, WHO and HOW - and in that order. They in turn, give us the structure of the entire subject of sales or selling activity. No more do you need to look for a complete overview of what selling is all about.

We have defined the single most important element of motivating employees and people. I am convinced motivating others is among the most noble tasks in life.

					To motivate another person you need to help him or her discover their own WHY. The very moment someone knows the answer to WHY, that someone will immediately experience pain and dissatisfaction. This pain comes from the gap between where they are today and where they want to be. Without a clear WHY (i.e. reasons or purpose) there will be no pain and no experienced gap, hence no motivation.

Motivated employees

Have you ever experienced someone with no perceived purpose? We all have. In fact, I dare say most people give little thought to purpose at all. In stead they spend their strength asking WHAT, WHO and HOW and thus become obsessed with immediate gratification and pleasure - of having more than being and becoming. Any wonder why we find so many employees and professional individuals today only half-heartedly and/or cynically pushing company interests? They don't really care. If an obstacle bars their way, they simply go around it.

While training people I always feel sorry for whoever is superficially motivated by WHAT, WHO and HOW. It's so very obvious. Without exploring the deeper WHY there isn't much mission or "life" left. Without WHY we're not really living, but are being lived - not really working, but rather being worked up. Also, without a deep desire and drive the ability to enjoy is as it were non-existent, too. Without ***WHY*** WHAT, WHO and HOW are only a shallow exercise to satisfy short term needs and wants.

Employees need "a WHY perspective" to a bright and clearly defined future. If they haven't got the mental picture you may need to help them paint it.

Mission of a manager

Your own WHY cannot be projected on to others. Each individual needs to discover it for him or herself. Our task becomes one of facilitation helping one person at a time to identify this WHY. When we do, something magical takes place.

As you can see, the essence of motivation is in fact selling. When you motivate someone, really what you're doing is selling. I cannot imagine a more noble task than inspiring and motivating other people. Selling is helping people discover their purpose - waking them up - giving them a life. Can you see why the art of selling (or motivation) is so paramount to any other subject or talent, especially in a manager?!

A manager that doesn't know how to sell should never be left in charge of human resources!

It's ironic! High performing sales people are just like profitable customers: They are driven by a mission and purpose (i.e. WHY). Their burning desire leads them to what we call "desperate dissatisfaction" (i.e. WHAT, WHO and HOW).

	The WHY keeps the flame burning to answer WHAT, WHO and HOW.							What is it that perpetuates a burning flame in sales personel, or to make a comparison, in our most profitable customers? Profitable customers know WHY they're in business and they join forces with vendors WHO help them with HOW they can accomplish WHAT they want. Unless you're into coaching and consulting, the short version of business is "WHAT, WHO and HOW", the three dissatisfactions. If you can't help the best companies find the best answers to WHAT, WHO and HOW you're losing business to competitors that do. WHAT, WHO and HOW each represent a specific type of dissatisfaction: Distrust Disability Discouragement

(WHAT) From distrusted to entrusted

The most fundamental part of any success is trust. Trust begins with WHAT. It's down to such things as your track record, what you've done in the past and what you stand for. If what you have to offer based on your history fulfills their purpose (WHY), then this overlap becomes the driver of continued value innovation. One of the initial dialogs with a customer should always be aimed at answering:

• What are you seeking to accomplish?

(WHO) From disabled to enabled

People without people are disabled. The great enabler is WHO. Some say: "It's not what you know, but who you know". The saying is almost true, but in the long run, the correct rendition of reality is "it's what you know and who you know". To build any successful win-win the starting question always is:

• To whom is this important?

(HOW) From discouraged to encouraged

Not knowing how causes feelings of despair and discouragement. The way to encourage performance is helping others discover HOW. Rather than projecting our own solutions on to others, we should pose queries centering around:

• How do you want to do it?

Just like customers, sales people first need to know why. Either help your sales people find out WHY or don't hire them at all. They will never burn like you want them to if they don't know why - from their perspective.

So you're a manager and some team members are not performing equal to their potential. What do you do?

I will tell you right up front. The root cause of poor performance is the unanswered WHY. Every individual who is not running at "max speed" is somehow struggling with the WHY. We see this everywhere! Here's an example to illustrate:

In one of the world's largest and most successful companies I was recently asked to turn around a sales team of 26 Account Managers from poor to peak performance. One young man clearly stood out. In spite of his being inexperienced and new on the job his performance was out of the ordinary.

During our coaching session I asked him: "Why are you here"? It was as I expected. Unlike any of the others, as soon as we tapped into WHY, he could hardly stop talking. He knew! He told me about his desire to learn how to sell, about his failures in the past, about his feeling frustrated about his life and about how he wanted to make a serious change. Most of all, he wanted to be reunited with his family.

The sum of all these WHY's gave him the reasons he needed to perform on the job. They drove him to performance. Nobody had to push him. He was pulling himself.

When we know WHY our entire being shifts from "content" to what I like to call "desperate dissatisfaction". Reflecting on WHY helps us realise a number of important dissatisfactions, all of which can be grouped into three areas:

1. Distrusted - WHAT
2. Disabled - WHO
3. Discouraged - HOW

Next time I'll comment on each of the above dissatisfactions.

Yes, motivation may be a challenging task, but no more do you need to wonder about where to start: Go one-on-one and begin the process of exploring WHY.

Take a 30 second time-out. Ask yourself this question: Why am I working so hard?

Don't hesitate! Listen to yourself. The first thought that comes to mind may surprise you. It sometimes is honest and the real reason.

In my experience, though, most people find it difficult to be honest, even with themselves. We hide deeply inside what really drives us and matters most. If you give it a second thought, I can almost guarantee you'll find two answers: You're not really giving it your all ...because there's something else you want more, really! Someone ought to give you a kick, and that someone is you. Level with yourself, be honest. Answer the WHY!

What is it really that we're doing? (Pause and think!)

It's a question that has moved almost every successful business to where it is today. Although "what" seems to be the ultimate beginning, there is in fact a question that precedes it. The question that drives anyone to asking "what" is "why". And "why" is by far the most powerful motivation. Why? Because "why" is about purpose.

The reason I love being involved with sales people is because they are nearly always measured on performance. Other departments and teams often miss out on clear guidelines for when they are successful.

Measuring performance does something to people - and when done correctly it's powerful and good. Quite frequently I deal with companies that are poor on measuring performance, but the sales department mostly has an underlying culture of accountability and reporting. Let's state it as clearly as possible: You'll never get peak performance without accountability and regular reporting:

Reporting deals with "what". It focuses on numbers and statistics of something we've chosen to measure. Reporting is but a tool. Accountability is the real issue. It's the fundamental feeling of being responsible. Guess what accountability deals with? You're right, it deals with "why". Here's the key to peak performance:

In my experience, the majority of sales people know perfectly WHAT to do, they know WHO to contact and they even know skillfully HOW to do it, but they perform only half heartedly. In fact, even the best sales people are only moving "half the speed of their full potential". What's missing is the WHY. When WHY falls into place, suddenly there's an instant and visible shift in tempo. Maybe you have to see it to believe it..? It's striking and scary all at once!

If you find yourself somehow being in charge of motivating people, you've got to be an expert on the WHY. How do we go about helping team members find individual and collective answers to WHY? If you want to know more about this critical subject, stay tuned for my next blog post ;-)

In many ways, we're almost like a battery. What happens to a battery that is put to active use?

Active use means regular charging and constant employ. This helps retain the capacity of the battery. Strangely enough, "saving" a battery by only sporadically charging and discharging it is equal to poor maintenance. We're the same way. If we want to be high-energy peak performers, we don't need to "always be working hard", but we do need to be mindful of how we invest our strength. This will determine whether we are renewing ourselves or shutting down / unplugging completely. Too often, relaxation slows down momentum and becomes counterproductive. We think we get more energy, but in reality it only adds to our exhaustion.

No matter what we do, every single activity will either boost our energy or drain us. I once listed some examples of activities that either increase or decrease our energy levels. Here are the examples I listed - and I emphasize - they're only examples that are generally true:

Remember, it's not about rest or recreation per se. The key is to steer away from activities that have the appearance of "rest", but that produce results contrary to what we want: More energy, motivation and stamina!

This is the short version of successful selling. People who easily gain followers are all alike in this respect.

Successful selling always has three basic ingredients: Generate energy (internal) Share energy (collaborative) Receive energy (external) ...and in that order. In short, success is a growing conviction "first inside, then between us and ultimately coming from the outside".

A lot of sales people misunderstand "energy" and have a mental image of pure enthusiasm and an overly excited person. This is a poor stereotype. There are many ways to communicate and share "energy", but the energy is a must. It cannot be faked, especially not in the long run. Individual energy is the power behind every successful effort. When you separate successful from less successful this energy is the core difference.

It all starts with the first step; if (1) inner conviction fails, then (2) shared conviction and (3) discovered conviction fail accordingly. Now you know it. If you fail, this is why, but make these your primary focus and you've come a long way in replacing failure with success.

Albert Mehrabian's well-known research (1971) gave an indication of the relative importance of verbal, vocal and visual messages. What other factors are at play when seeking to influence the final outcome of an important decision?

Verbal, vocal and visual messages are all part of the Optimal Dialog. This dialog represents the peak and crowning frontline of communication.   However, underneath this top layer we find two equally important areas of influence. These two layers precede the Optimal Dialog in order. How?

Red

The bottom layer in red represents the Operational Dialog. It deals with strategy and position. For instance, a clear purpose and strong position affects your attitude and perception of the world around you.

Blue

In turn, position gives relationships meaning and power, which is the second and blue layer. The Opinional Dialog is where feelings can be shared without risk and restrictions.

Green

Likewise, only when position and relationships are in place will the technicalities of the top layer - the Optimal Dialog - really have the desired effect.

To get results

Most sales training aims at the top level of the influence pyramid. In other words, people receive their training without even a basic understanding of the power behind the two preceding layers. Our training and research seems to support a) the importance of paying equal attention to each layer and b) that traditional training only works when done in this order.

Influence is mastering communication on all three levels. That's why most sales training frequently has little effect on performance and results.