Said a famous philosopher: "Tell me WHY and I'll move heaven and earth to do it". WHY is the key to peak performance. Given this, you may be wondering: Is it possible to produce outstanding improvement through simple things?

									I have great news... Yes it is possible to harness dramatic change by simple means. In fact, keeping it simple is key to phenomenal improvement. Simply start by asking WHY and then listen. If you're asking yourself, listen to what thoughts come to mind. If you're asking a team member, pause and don't interrupt. Regardless, the right WHY questions will work wonders, I guarantee. As we've looked at these questions from different angles now, let's summarize the WHY, WHAT, WHO and HOW questions with a business example, just to illustrate how it can be applied in every day life:

We are about to switch to a new employer. The most effective question could be as simple as...

• WHY should I work here?

If the answers qualify for an overlap in mission and purpose, the first question you'll be looking into as a new-hire is also pretty self evident...

• WHAT is it that we offer?

Once we know our value to society or the market place, it's wise to clarify as best we can...

• WHO will care and want to collaborate?

Then, finally, the question that really brings every other question to full fruition is...

• HOW should we go about it?

Let's review each question category and look more closely at what their fruits are.

MISSION

primarily comes from asking WHY

Do you believe knowing WHY will make a difference in your job? I mean, really knowing why?! Most people, even when they leave a job in favour of another, never fully understood why they were there... and that's in fact partly why they switch to another company and/or position. When anyone comes even close to performing on the job, this someone has a serious WHY burning inside them. They're usually more loyal and stay on for a longer time. Check it out, if you will.

PASSION

primarily comes from asking WHAT

Some sales managers frequently are afraid of investing "product knowledge" in their team members, simply because they've experienced how a little knowledge easily makes sales people less inclined to being open and listen to client needs. Of course the tendency is there, but that's because they only get irregular and/or insufficient training.

It is my experience that the best sales people also know best WHAT they have to offer. If they're passionate about it, because they know WHAT they have, then that's a perfect foundation. But note this; if they're passionate and at the same time know little about the offering, it is very much likely that the sales rep is biased and you'd better be careful, both as an employer and as a client. A biased sales rep often has characterics such as dishonesty, hidden agendas, fictitious and fluctuating motivation and maybe most importantly little or no ownership to what is being delivered.

CONNECTION

primarily comes from asking WHO

So often I meet with sales people that have a fantastic product and/or service offering, but somehow they're unable to seriously produce results. On almost every occasion it's due to their not having done the simple exercise of finding out who they should be speaking with. Even when they are speaking with the right people, they know little about why the solution or offering matters to them.

INTUITION

primarily comes from asking HOW

Most sales training jumps straight into HOW, and because of that it is less effective. That's why most training, I'd even claim almost all training, only has short term results.

If, however, people also are becoming highly skilled in HOW, invariably something magical happens to them. Something inside them begins to glow. Some call it self esteem. Regardless of what it is, when skills become natural "the real person" seems to come out and uniquely influences the situation. This is when we begin to see intuition in action.

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