subject: Do You Ask Scampish Questions? [print this page] The other day I was working at home..The other day I was working at home... or shall I say "Trying to." My youngest son was trying to get my attention for about 45 minutes when I realized something... "He must have asked me 50 questions in that period of time." He is a feisty little guy.
Anyway...This made me think for a minute.
As we get older, we stop asking questions. We let our own laziness, busyness, egos... whatever... stop us from this important function.
So let's talk about questions for a minute... Smart Questions. Because after all, the quality of life you experience will be directly related to the quality of the questions you ask.
In this area most people miss the boat in many different ways. They even fail to ask themselves questions. If you notice, I often raise questions in the weekly note, to help people question themselves. Most people avoid being put on the spot, or challenged. But they are only scamming theirself. The truth is, successful salesmen seek out questions.
I have a long-time friend, who has seen his tiny business become a giant business, who no longer likes being questioned; has surrounded himself with yes-men; exiled those who challenge him; and I'm afraid he's heading for a crash because of it.
Most salesmen fail to ask their customers a lot of questions. In coaching, I'm constantly frustrated by agents who think, believe, and presume they know what their prospects and/or clients think and want, but actually know nothing for sure.
They fail to ask smart and successful people lots of questions. Ego is your enemy.
Often, I'm asked a question structured in such a way it telegraphs the desired answer. Just for the record, the best questions impose no limits on the answer whatsoever.
Curiosity may kill cats - But it definitely does NOT kill salesmen. No, it's quite the opposite. The best salesmen always ask the best questions of themselves and of their clients, Period, End of story.
PS. In Dale Carnegy's book, "How To Win Friends And Influence People," Dale talks about the importance and value of asking questions in developing relationships. Because, when you ask people questions, especially personal questions, it gets them to talk about theirself. And the fact of the matter is that, YOU are the most important thing to you. So if someone shows an interest in YOU, you instinctively like that person.
