May I Ask You A Question?

Have you ever caught yourself doing that? Wanting to ask a question but not sure it's OK so you preface it by asking permission?

I have.
It's ridiculous if you think about it. Asking permission to ask a question as though you were kneeling before the Queen of England.

But at least it's asking. It's a start. Some of us don't even get that far.

We really want the cookies with the chocolate sprinkles but we only see chocolate chips. We just take what we see and we never ask for what we really want.

We'd like to know why our cable bill keeps going up, but we don't question the new service charge. We just continue to pay.

We're curious about how long the construction next door will last.
We don't ask. We stay curious. We complain about the noise instead.

We think we have no right. We think we are intruding. We think even if we do ask, it will make no difference. Nothing will change. We are afraid of hearing no.

Yet if we don't ask we don't get.
If we don't ask we don't know.

I've been working on my first ever coaching teleseminar, Selling is Not A Four Letter Word (details to follow soon!) so I've been thinking alot about asking.  When I first started selling I was told if I asked the right questions I would get all the information I needed to close the deal. I was also taught to ask for the order, early and often. If you don't ask you never know where you stand.

Sounds so simple. Yet still we hesitate, we waffle, we stall, we are reluctant.

Or we don't. We stretch past our unwillingness and we ask. As I did last week when I got my annual premium for my apartment insurance. I got curious. I called a few other agencies to get quotes. They were all lower. I called the broker I had been using and discussed the situation. I asked questions. I asked for a lower rate.

Turns out my policy had not been reevaluated in a long time and the way they assess premiums had changed. My premium went down significantly. All I had to do was ask. I wondered why I hadn't sooner.

But I knew that answer. I didn't think it would change. I didn't think my asking would make a difference. I had forgotten what I had learned years ago. Ask questions. Lots of them. Get information. Ask for what I want. I just might get it!

Does asking for what you want come easily or do you hesitate?
What are you going to ask for today?


Stay tuned for details on Selling is Not a Four Letter Word. If you would like to be added to my mailing list please click here!