You’ve heard the old proverb, “Ask and you will receive”. Have you put this into practice
recently? Often, small business owners don’t invest time and effort into practicing the art of
asking. The simple, yet powerful act of asking is critical to success. Yet many people don’t do
it because for some reason, people falsely believe that asking implies weakness and sets one
up for potential rejection.

Here are 7 Ways to Boost Your Business, simply by implementing
asking strategies:

1. Ask for Information
You can never have too much information. In fact, the higher up you go, the more you need to
know. For example, to win potential new clients, you first need to understand their current
challenges, what they want to accomplish and how they plan to do it. Only then can you
proceed to demonstrate the advantages of your unique product or service.

Ask questions starting with the words who, why, what, where, when and how to obtain the
information you need. Only when you truly understand and appreciate a prospect’s needs can
you offer a solution.

2. Ask for Business
It’s shocking, but true: more than 60 percent of the time salespeople never ask for the order
after giving a complete presentation about the benefits of their product or service. If you fall
into this trap, beware: it’s a habit that could put you out of business quickly. Always ask a
closing question to secure the business. Don’t waffle or talk around it—or worse, wait for your
prospect to ask you. There are numerous ways to ask, “Would you like to give it a try?” Find
the phrasing that feels most comfortable to you and ask.

3. Ask for Written Endorsements
It can be difficult to ask for endorsements if you don’t like tooting your own horn, but well-
written, results-oriented testimonials from highly respected people are powerful for future
sales. They solidify the quality of your product or service and leverage you as a person who
has integrity, is trustworthy and gets the job done on time.

The best time to ask is right after you have provided excellent service, gone the extra mile to
help out, or in any other way made your customer really happy. Simply ask if your customer
would be willing to give you a testimonial about the value of your product or service, plus any
other helpful comments.

4. Ask for Top-Quality Referrals
Just about everyone in business knows the importance of referrals. It’s the easiest, least
expensive way of ensuring your growth and success in the marketplace. Your core clients will gladly give you referrals  because you treat them so well. So why not ask all of them for
referrals? It’s a habit that will dramatically increase your income. Like any other habit, the
more you do it, the easier it becomes.

5. Ask for More Business
It’s easier to sell your existing clients more products and services than to go looking for new
customers. Look for other products or services you can provide your customers. Another
approach is to devise a system that tells you when your clients will need to re-order your
products – or to simply ask your customers when you should contact them to reorder.

6. Ask for Feedback
This is an important component of asking that is often overlooked. How do you really know if
your product or service is meeting your customers’ needs? Ask them, “How are we doing?
What can we do to improve our service to you? Please share what you like or don’t like about
our products.” Set up regular customer surveys that ask good questions and tough questions.
It’s a powerful way to fine-tune your business.

7. Ask to Renegotiate
Regular business activities include negotiation and often re-negotiation. Many business
professionals get stuck because they lack negotiation skills, yet this is simply another form of
asking that can save a lot of time and money. All sorts of contracts can be renegotiated in your
personal life, too, such as changing your credit card terms and rate. As long as you negotiate
ethically and in the spirit of win-win



Our primary question is, How Can We Help You Prosper Today? PBCi is here to provide
guidance and resources to help keep your business at its best. Request your Free Consultation
today.