For decades Salespeople and Sales Experts have lived by one motto ask, and you shall receive. I'm here to tell you that is outdated and WRONG. Salespeople are all about the ASK, they Cold Calling and ASK for your time, they email and ASK for you to learn about THEM and yes they ask for the order.
The problem is that the ASK at the wrong time destroys the sales opportunity. Today Everyone is ASKING, and no one is receiving. So what do the experts say? Automate the ASK! ASK more! ASK loader! ASK differently! ASK more often! The results are all the same NOTHING, and their answer is? "Your ASKING Wrong."
We now live in a great technological and social paradox where everyone is visible, and yet no one wants to hear anyone else's ASK. This paradox has snuck up on us slowly, so it has been hard to notice how different the world is today. Until salespeople understand this paradox, they will remain in the ASKING trap and follow the experts whose approaches are as outdated as the typewriter.
So what is the New ASK? Well, could GIVE be the new ASK? Could Give and You Shall Receive be the new more effective approach? I'm sure a great deal of you are looking at this post the way my dog looks at the TV (she knows there is something there but can not make sense of it yet). Yes, Salespeople who Give. Not Give to Get but Give to become known. Give to become Liked and Give to build Trust.
But what do I give, is the obvious question. Well Give does not have to be expensive to be effective, a complement is Free and makes the perfect first gift. Giving a link to a great piece of content like this post makes a great second gift. Giving an introduction makes a wonderful third gift.
Like so many other things in sales Giving is counterintuitive and yet works.
So if you are looking to receive/close more deals change your cadence from ASKING to GIVING, and you will be amazed at the results.
If you would like to learn more about what is working today in Sales, check out my PodCast "The Brutal Truth about Sales & Selling" on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play.
I welcome your comments and if you want to see the power of Giving a try sharing this post.
Thanks for stopping by,
Brian