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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