Visiting the carnival midway, the salesman noticed the
fortune-teller's tent and popped inside. The room was done in somber
purples, with a dull white glow coming from an ancient crystal ball. An
old gypsy woman was bent over the orb, and she looked up when the
salesman entered.
"Hi," the salesman said in response to her stony gaze. "I'd like my fortune told."
Nodding, the woman said gravely, "I will answer two of your questions for one hundred dollars."
"One hundred dollars!" the salesman balked. "Isn't that terribly expensive for this kind of service?"
"Yes it is," she replied. "And what is your second question?"
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to
succeed at sales, they must have mastery over their usage of
questions. True masters of questioning realize that there is a cost to
every question, so they must think and plan before asking any.
Wouldn't you agree?
"Waste is worse than loss. The time is coming when every person who
lays claim to ability will keep the question of waste before him
constantly. The scope of thrift is limitless." - Thomas A. Edison
