To Move Forward in Sales, Just Ask

I think some salespeople won’t ask for the appointment or sale because they don’t want to be embarrassed or be seen as uncool.

When you start in sales, NO sounds like a “bad” thing. It’s like you were trying to cheat, ask for more than your fair share or do some other socially unacceptable thing.

Or you feel like one of those sellers interrupting your dinner to talk about some product you don’t want.

All that mixes together with general fear, and before you know it calls don’t get made and sales progress stagnates. The pipeline never gets filled. There are no leads, suspects, prospects, possibles, maybes, not todays or anything. There is nothing. Because of all the fear and desire to look good.

It happens to all of us. I had to ask to get into a major sporting event for free recently. It’s a long story, but I had a reasonable excuse why I should get in for free.

I knew it was a long shot. But off I went.

A smiling youngster greeted me at concierge services. I gave him my story. His smile disappeared as I gave my pitch. With a sour face, he directed me to another person down the wide corridors outside the main stadium. Another person greeted me. Again, their smile disappeared as I gave my spiel. The directed me to another person.

Now I had to give my pitch in front of several hundred paying customers waiting to get in! I gave it my best, with people looking at me thinking, “What? This dude wants to get in for free? This sounds like a bunch of BS! I want to beat up this guy! Hey, everyone, let’s GET HIM!” They rushed me and started beating me.

OK, that part didn’t happen, no one beat me up.

But that’s what it feels like inside when you are asking someone for a favor, an appointment, or a sale. Again, the person’s smile disappeared, and they waved me inside the venue to talk to someone else.

See what is happening? I was now inside the main venue. Not there, but making progress.

Isn’t this a little like what you go through when you are selling a product? Seeing lots of people and getting no, no, no. Feeling the doubt but staying strong.

I see the security team at the end of a long, dark hallway to the main venue. I approach the most important- looking guy. Over the roar of the crowd, I explain my story. He points at another dude who has a giant walkie-talkie.

Again, I give my story. By now, I’ve shortened it, made it better and sharper. Walkie-talkie guy takes one look at my face and waves me in. No questions, no discussion, no hesitation. I walked out in to the bright lights as if the crowd was roaring for me! SOLD!

I tell you this tale because it just happened recently and is fresh on my mind. I had to talk to lots of sour faces, people who clearly thought I was trying to cheat them out of something, like I was breaking the rules. It’s like when a cop pulls you over, you feel guilty. But I knew I was right — I should get in free.

And I got in because I just kept asking. ASK. People are afraid to ask for things.

It works. Just ASK for things. Yes, you should refine your pitch. But if you just ask for what you want, you’ll move forward in life.

But don’t take my word for it. Take a look at this enlightening info from a Stanford researcher: “Nobody likes getting rejected, which is one reason we often think twice before asking for a favor. If we believe we’re likely to get turned down, why bother? But recent research led by Daniel Newark, a doctoral candidate in organization studies, shows that we overestimate the chance that our requests for help will be denied — especially after we’ve been turned down before. And that suggests we should be asking for help more readily and from a wider set of people than we currently are.”

Just reading that word make you feel uncomfortable, right? REJECTION!

Oooohh, scary!

They didn’t just say no! They REJECTED you!

Haha — that’s how it feels, doesn’t it. Like they have one of those big rubber stamps that say REJECTED! and they are stamping it on your head.

Look, you can learn to get over rejection like you can learn anything else. Check out what this guy did to condition himself to overcome rejection.

You probably don’t have to condition yourself like that guy. I mean, wow!

Just ASK for what you want.

One sales trainer encourages shy sellers to get going by just simply asking businesses if they want the product or service. It’s not ideal selling, but at least it’s simple to do.

The idea is that there are people in your town or market right now that need your service. They NEED it. You don’t have to sell them You have to FIND them.

The trainer was saying by just calling and asking them if they need your service, you’ll eventually find the ones that NEED it right now.

But you have to ask. If they say no, wait a while, come back with new information, a new angle, new insight as to why they should say yes.

And ask again.