By Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk

by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, president

I recently attended a National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) luncheon. I used to be a board member of the Atlanta group, and truly enjoy the programs they sponsor and the members I meet at these meetings. This one in particular piqued my interest, since Annette Saldana was speaking on “The Art & Science of Making Irresistible Requests.” It had me intrigued, to say the least.

Annette didn’t disappoint. She had me at her first example, in fact. By asking if a client was willing to pay a commission on a particularly big referral that she had sent them, she made $70,000 in one day. I don’t know about you, but I’d love to be able to tell that story! She went on to talk about others who had received free rent, some that entered business partnerships that seemed all but impossible and some that simply got business they never expected.

What’s the big deal, you ask? Most of the time, we can easily talk ourselves out of asking for what we want because we don’t want to rock the boat, we don’t think the other party will be interested, and most importantly, we want to be liked. We can create all sorts of scenarios in our heads to justify not asking an audacious question, without taking the time to think about the myriad ways it might just work. It’s human nature, and the ugly truth is that it keeps us from reaching our goals.

She then told us how we could make an irresistible request successfully by following these three simple steps:

1. Think big.

2. Write down what you want and why it’s a good idea for the person you are asking.

3. Ask joyfully.

That’s it? Other than the fact that it has to be a win-win situation, this seemed like the easiest thing ever. So to prove to us that it does work, she had us ask a person at our table a question and see what the answer would be. I can’t go into details on the question I was asked, yet, but I can say that it was definitely a win-win situation and may lead to a wonderful and profitable client for bbr marketing and some fantastic growth for that client too.

Holy audacity, Batman! It will take a while, and probably some pretty strong pep talks from time to time, but I am going to try to put this into practice. I’m going to ask for what I want more frequently, and not talk myself out of it before I even open my mouth. The worst that can happen is that the answer will be no, and that’s certainly not the end of the world. In many cases, what we think is a big deal may be nothing to the other person. Most times, the benefits from getting a yes far outweigh the risks of getting a no, so you have little to lose.

So, since there’s little to lose, I’d like to ask how can we help market your firm this year?

What do you think? What would you like to ask? How could this change the face of your company or job? I’d love to hear your thoughts!