The questions we ask

I so desperately wanted to be in sales.

I worked my way up in the company and I wanted to try out sales and see if I can do it. This is why the moment my boss said he would promote me to a sales position, I was ecstatic.

My son, Bryan, was growing up at the time. The Ilocana (my wife) was working too hard but was being paid too little and I needed the extra income from sales commissions in order to help raise my family. So, the promotion came in at just the right time.

I read books. I studied sales people and what they do. I poured myself into researching on the history of prospective clients and I worked closely with our product designer and learned from him. I still remember the tension and the nervousness I felt in making my very first sales presentation.

I memorized my lines. I rehearsed again and again, I anticipated questions the buyer might ask.

My heart was pounding and skipping beats when I met the merchandiser for the first time and did my first pitch. The merchandiser asked a lot of questions. Fortunately enough, I impressed her with my product knowledge, and the orders were made.

I could not sleep that night. I relished the moment. I told myself, “Francis, this is the start of something wonderful.” All the reading, preparation and the questions are paying off.

And so, I proudly approached my boss and announced, “Sir, I got the orders.” He smiled and said, “Good, but could you sell more?” I answered in the affirmative. I had momentum. I was highly motivated. And yes, I did get him a lot more sales.

This time, I approached him and said, “Boss, I got more sales.” Expecting another note of congratulations, he bluntly inquired, “Did you collect the payments?” I was a little surprised and said, “I’ll do that tomorrow.”

And when I got the payment in full, I went back to him BUSINESS MATTERS… From B-2

and was pleased to say, “Sir, I got the payment.” Expecting him to say at least, “Good job,” he shot back with another set of questions, “What about sales? Are you able to sell more?”

Hey, there is a pattern here. When I bring in sales, he would ask me about collections. When I bring him the collections, he would ask me about sales.

Either my boss is a lunatic or a genius, and I figured out he was indeed the latter. His questions got me going and propelled me to action. And so I learned one of the most important lessons in life:

Questions are powerful!

When a person masters the art of questioning, you can be sure that the person exhibits a vibrant and intelligent mind.

Questions give us a lot of power in our conversations. Questions open up a person according to his or her own assumptions. Study Jesus and look at how powerfully He would counter a question by asking a question.

“Good master, what must I do to be saved?” asked the rich, young ruler.

Jesus responded by asking, “And why do you call me good?”

The religious leaders wanted to trap Him and asked, “Should we pay taxes to Caesar?” Jesus countered by asking, “And whose inscription do you see on that coin?”

Questions get us answers and information.  When we want to listen more or learn more, we ask questions, and most of the time, we get what we want.

When you ask the right questions, you get a connection with the person you want to bond with. When we ask and really listen to the answers, we show people that we are interested in them and this increases their confidence in us.

Do not rush to impress people with answers, but master the art of questioning. In other words, instead of trying to be interesting, make yourself really interested.

Truth is, the questions we ask ourselves show who we are as well.

For a person who is achieving progress, he or she would ask, “What’s next?” For a person who has sunk to mediocrity and is presented a new challenge would ask, “Do I have to go through that?”

For a person who is selfish and greedy, the constant question is, “What’s in it for me?”

For a person who seeks to serve and be a blessing to others, his or her ceaseless question is, “How may I be of help to you?”

Questions reveal a person.

I guess the question here now is, what kind of questions are you asking?

(Send your high potential leaders and experience two inspiring days with Francis Kong learning leadership and life skills in his widely acclaimed Level Up Leadership this Oct. 27-28 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries contact Inspire at 09178985010 or call 632-6310912 or 6310660 for details.)