Answers to Prayer

Chapter 8

EVERY PROBLEM A CALL TO PRAYER

As division sales manager of the Northeast Division, covering a geographical area of eight states, I spent most of my time visiting telephone directory canvasses in progress.
 
Looking over several weekly sales reports, I decided to visit our yellow pages salespeople working on a major directory in Pennsylvania. One man's sales results in particular had caught my attention. Previously a top achiever, he was now experiencing a substantial loss of revenue. I concluded that Charles had a problem that interfered with his work.

Conversing with him, I found that his ex-wife, who had custody of their two children, was making it difficult for him to see their children. In addition, his ex-mother-in-law was doing everything possible to turn the children against him, which just about broke his heart. He admitted that he had a hard time keeping his mind on his work, and that if things didn't improve soon, he would have to quit his job.

I asked for the mother-in-law's name so that I could pray for her. He was a bit surprised by my request, but gave it after commenting that "I doubt that prayers will help, seeing that my parents have been praying for the old witch from the day I married her daughter. In fact, they even had a couple of Masses celebrated so that she would not break up our home, and that didn't help." To make a long story short, I placed the names of the ex-wife, ex-mother-in-law, and the kids on my prayer list along with that of Charles, and every morning, with my Bible open at the twenty-seventh chapter of Matthew, I interceded in their behalf. And above all I prayed that the Spirit of God would help Charles carry his burdens without falling apart.

It was company procedure that all yellow pages representatives would phone the division office in Virginia on Friday between 1:00 and 3:00 in the afternoon to report their figures for the week completed. They stated the amount of advertising dollars handled, the decrease or loss, the net figure, and any changes in number of advertisers.

As I traveled home on Friday, I would stop after 3:00 and phone the office to get the sales results of the men that needed my close attention. It was extremely encouraging, and at the same time a blessing to my Christian experience, to get Charles's figures and see how the Spirit of God was blessing, guiding, directing, and encouraging him as those sales results improved from week to week.

Sometime later I heard all about it from the man himself. With a joy born of heaven, he told how things were changing for the better. He said a couple times, "Your prayers have real power. They really work for people." 

While company policies prevented me from talking religion with my people, I was able to live my religious convictions, and I thank God for that. I was surprised to hear one of their comments about living my religion. Because of a health problem, a rep's doctor told him that he had to move to a warm climate. Before leaving for California, he came to see my wife and me. To my great surprise, he told Hilda in my presence about the high regard my associates had for me. "One fellow stated that the day he begins going to church again, he will go to Roger's church. He will belong to a church that has power."
 
A Liquor Problem Solved

George was a good worker, but on weekends he usually rewarded himself for a job well done by drink-ing. A single man, he lived in Boston, but one weekend had stayed in a New England city where he was working on the telephone directory. On Friday evening he drank too much and somehow landed in jail. He called the manager of the telephone company, who bailed him out. 

The next morning after having sobered up, he figured that he should not delay in trying to save his job. He thought of calling me, but assumed that I, a religious person, would likely fire him on the spot. Instead he called the division office in Virginia with the hope that he might be able to talk to my boss, whom he presumed would be more compassionate, since the man was a social drinker. My superior told George that I made those kinds of decisions, and that I would be at the telephone office on Monday to discuss the matter with him.

On Sunday evening my boss phoned me at home, told about the problem, and suggested that on Monday I call a meeting of our people working the directory and, in the presence of everyone, fire the man.

Having prayed about the matter, I decided against such a move, and talked to George in private. As I traveled to the office I prayed for wisdom to handle the situation with tact. In fact, I felt that maybe I should keep him in our employ, and use his problem for a prayer experience. I believed that the Spirit of God would give the man victory over his drinking by my interceding for him. That is, if the Spirit of God would first cause him to plead with sincerity for his job.

Then I thought, George is too proud a man to humble himself to the point of pleading for his job. He'll turn in the company materials and quit before he does that.

However, I found the man highly distressed over his problem. As I listened to his request for compassion, I realized that he was fighting a real battle against liquor.

It was with tears in his eyes that he finally said, "Please give me another chance! Please!"

"George," I replied, "another chance I am giving you. But seeing that I am sticking my neck out for you, I am going to help you in giving up liquor by praying that God will bless your life and give you victory over your drinking."

Thanking me, he said, "However, I don't think that prayers will help. My mother has been praying for 15 years over my problem. She has recited the rosary and paid to have Masses celebrated so that I would get victory over the problem, but it has not helped."

"Well, George, I believe in miracles, so let's see what will happen."

That's exactly what did take place—a miracle brought about by God's Holy Spirit. A few months later he told me how delighted he was that he had given up drinking. He had lost all sense of pleasure from his drinking.

I wish to again make a point very clear: while the Holy Spirit doesn't force a person's will, He can do a lot to change a person's course of action in answer to persevering supplications to God in faith.

Putting on the Brakes

After attending a managers' meeting at the home office in Kansas City, I returned to the Northeast Division with a new objective in mind: to reduce the high turnover of yellow pages advertising salespeople in our division.

At the airport as we waited for my flight to take off, I conversed with two other division sales managers about the concept. They felt that for the vice president of sales to attempt such a thing was ridiculous. It would mean making all our people top producers, they said, and that couldn't be done. Many reps had problems at home that forced them to quit their work. Others, though well-intentioned and hard workers, just didn't have what it took to be successful. So there was only one thing to do, they argued-keep putting new people through training school, costly though that might be. There was no other way.
As for myself, I already knew that with the Holy Spirit blessing my people and their advertising customers, remarkable improvements could be made. Charles's experience along with George's had already proved that.

Some time went by, and on a Thursday evening my boss called me from Kansas. I had been at the Holiday Inn in Lowell, Massachusetts, for three days interviewing sales applicants referred to us by the Snelling and Snelling Employment Agency. "How many men will you have in next month's training class in Kansas City?" he immediately asked.

"As things now stand," I replied, "there will be no one attending."

After a long pause, he inquired, "Aren't you going to replace the three fellows who are trailing at the back of the sales force, the new fellows you and I talked about last week?"

"At the time of our conversation I was leaning in that direction, but today I am thinking differently. Boss, please excuse the analogy, but I have come to the conclusion that this business of letting people go after they have been with us for five months simply because they have not produced great results is a bit ridiculous. It's like acquiring thoroughbreds, casting them aside if they don't win a major race in the first year, and then turning around and buying more of the same.

"Believe me, sir, none of the people I have been talking to this week have impressed me as being better than the fellows we now have. If it's OK with you, I would like to keep the three, spend some time with them in the field, and try to make our present investments pay off."

"I am delighted to hear you talk that way. You know that I am progress-minded."

"If you recall, at our last managers' meeting the vice president of sales stated that it costs our company about $5,000 to have a man in school for a month and in the field for five months. What I would like to do if it meets with your approval-is to try saving some of that $5,000. What do you say?"

"I don't understand exactly how you are going to make top producers out of those three, but I sure would like to see you try. I am with you 100 percent, but I must tell you that if you proceed that way, you are going to step on the toes of the national sales manager, and you may make yourself an enemy. He has established a top-notch training school on the premise that a lot of high-caliber people going through its doors are needed to obtain a large percentage of top producers."

"I can't see why he would be unhappy with the vice president of sales encouraging us to try reducing the high turnover."
 
"He shouldn't, but he will if you are successful, because you will have started a trend that will jeopardize the future of his school."

"I appreciate your telling me about this," I said, "but I will not let it change my plans."

"Now we have another problem. He is expecting to have 35 men in the coming class. I have already notified him of our plans to have three recruits attending. But tomorrow morning I will tell him of your decision. Prepare yourself for a telephone call from Roy before the day is over." I had placed my plans before the Lord and felt impressed that I was going in the right direction, and determined to let no one change my mind. But you can rest assured that I spent a lot of time praying for those fellows. The next three weeks I spent with them in the field, one week for each man. I went with them on all their business calls, and to pleasantly surprise them, du-ing the first two days I handled all calls myself.

I placed them into such a relaxed state of mind that they found the experience a real pleasure. We chatted about a great many things, enabling me to learn much about their homes, the members of their families, etc. The men felt that they had benefited highly from the experience, which served to encourage them and produced good sales results. I believe that the Spirit of God had led me in that direction so that I could have the privilege of bringing the rich blessings of God into their homes through my intercessory prayers.

My prayer list grew longer and longer as I got to know my people better. And the time came when I didn't even turn the radio on in my car for the news, but spent all my traveling time interceding in prayer for someone. I should add that of the five divisions of Continental Telephone, the Northeast Division became known as the division with the lowest turnover of yellow pages representatives in the entire nation.

My boss often told the higher-ups that I was the man that had the power to put the brakes on and bring the turnover of our sales force in the Northeast Division to a solid stop. While he gave me the recognition, he knew that the power came from above. I made doubly sure that he understood that.

At the time that I was made district sales manager the Northeast Division was the least productive of all the divisions. But because of the blessings of God, in a few short years we reached the top. In 1977 my boss and I were awarded the Masters  Circle Award for our division's coming in first place for that year, excelling in all phases of company operations.

From then on to the time that I left the company in 1981, our division had the lowest turnover of salespeople and stood at the top in all other company objectives except for net increase to advertisers. (The Pacific Division, because of the phenomenal prosperity of the state of California, held that honor.)