Just Ask for It!

Most salespeople do not ask for the business and that just drives me nuts! It bothers me so much and I know why it does. It reminds me of when I first started selling back in the day. When I was a newbie sales rep. I wasn’t confident and I just figured that if the customer wanted what I was selling, they would simply move forward with me. Wow, I was wrong. As a result, many deals that I could have closed went to another salesperson. So when I see this problem happening now (with the salespeople that I am working with), it drives me nuts!

To illustrate this point, let me share a story with you. I am currently building a lake house. It has been six months since we started construction. I have been negotiating with contractors on a daily basis and out of all those contractors, not a single one of them had ever asked me for the business. This blows me away and continues to do so. We are not done yet with the house, and each day as I continue to talk with various plumbers, electricians, insulating companies, drywall companies, etc., none of them ask me for the business!

Let me elaborate on what I typically see instead. The contractor (salesperson) listens to what I need, does some talking, then emails me a proposal. After receiving the emailed proposal, very few of those salespeople actually call me to follow up and to review the quote together. Most don’t follow up at all. The few that have followed up with me simply ask if I received their proposal and if I had any questions. I confirm with them that I received their quote and then I typically say in a sincere tone, “I need some time to print it out and review it.” They then respond back with something vague like, “that sounds great, and to call with any questions.” I then usually don’t hear back from them again. This is not how Sales should work my friends…

As a selling expert, I wait and I listen to see if the salesperson is going to ask me for the order. They never do. I literally hope that they have the courage to ask me for a shot at moving forward with them, but it never happens. All they have to say is something like this: “Patrick, I would love the opportunity of earning your business and moving ahead with you on this project. Will you give me a shot?” I would LOVE to hear these words, but they never get spoken. As the customer, if I was asked to move ahead with an order, I would tell the sales rep either no, or I would let them know what needed to happen to move ahead, or just give them a “yes” to my business. It is that simple!!!

Here are a couple of explanations on why asking for the business rarely ever happens: 1. The salesperson lacks the so-called, “courage” or confidence to ask because subconsciously their gut tells them that they haven’t earned the right to do so. This as a result causes them to shy away from asking. 2. Another cause for not asking: fear of rejection. Getting an awful “no” when you do ask for the order. Wouldn’t it be better to get a “no” now, than to hope for something that will never be? 3. Lastly, and I believe that this is the real reason for not asking for the order: the salesperson didn’t sell themselves on the idea that their customer absolutely needed their services and their products so much that the customer shouldn’t go with anyone else except them.

It is this last explanation that explains the majority of why salespeople don’t ask customers for the business. They are not convinced in their minds that they are the very best service/product/solution for their customer. So get in the mindset right now that you are the best and that you can help your customers better than anyone else and that they need you more than anyone else! Once you have this mindset, you won’t hesitate to ask a customer for their business. It will become natural.

Embrace what I wrote above. Avoid doing what 98% of salespeople do which is simply emailing quotes and then dancing around the question of asking a customer to move ahead with an order. I am referring to the FAR MAJORITY of salespeople who do this on a daily basis and then don’t understand why they haven’t closed anything. Be the one or two percent of salespeople who do ask for the order by knowing that you can serve your client the best and that they need you more than anyone else!

Believe. Ask. And you shall receive!

-Happy Selling!