Many people find selling to be a tremendous challenge. Some fear hearing “no” – others might lack sufficient confidence in their product/service offering to ask for the sale in a concise and forthright manner. A short while back, I heard a presentation by John Baker in which he articulated a simple formula for getting what you want. He calls it “The Asking Formula”. To learn more visit www.theaskingformula.com.
His formula is based on some simple principles:
- If you don’t directly ask for something, you surely won’t get it
- Not knowing what you want typically doesn’t provide the result you’re seeking
With these axioms as a foundation, John recommends the following approach to productive selling:
- First, be clear about what you want. Be concise and direct. Demonstrate a sense of urgency and focus your intent on just one thing
- Second, articulate your request by declaring “I’m asking for ______.” Exude confidence. Eliminate all qualifiers and use a visual if possible to showcase your ask. Be careful not to fall into the trap of providing a lot of information – this only confuses your audience about what you want.
- Third, think about what your target audience gets by fulfilling your request. Oftentimes, this requires active listening. Build a personal connection, demonstrate that you know your customer’s business and understand it, and then provide three core reasons based on THEIR WANTS on why they should do business with you. Articulate these three “best reasons” for why they should respond to your ask.
- Fourth, restate your ask and stop talking. Give them a chance to answer and ask for more clarifying information. Then, concisely address their additional questions with supporting facts on why you can provide what they seek.
The result is likely to be a closed sale. However, don’t fret if you hear “no”. They might be doing you a service by saving you time on trying to sell them something they don’t want, or by providing a key insight regarding how you can more clearly present your value proposition in the future. Use the Asking Formula, and enjoy the sweet feeling of getting what you want!
