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By Jack Canfield
America’s #1 Success Coach
Co-creator, Chicken Soup for the Soul brands

The gift called “asking” has been around for a long, long time. One of life’s fundamental truths states, “Ask and you shall receive.” Kids are masters at using this gift, but we adults seem to have lost our ability to ask. We come up with all sorts of excuses and reasons to avoid any possibility of rejection.

Yet the world responds to those who ask! If you are not moving closer to what you want, you probably aren’t doing enough asking.

Here are seven asking strategies you can implement in your business (and in life) to boost your results and your bottom line:

Asking Strategy #1: Ask for Information

To win potential new clients, you first need to know what their current challenges are, 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. Once you know what’s important to them, stay on this topic and find solutions for them.

Asking Strategy #2: Ask for Business

Here’s an amazing statistic: after giving a complete presentation about the benefits of their product or service, more than 60 percent of the time salespeople never ask for the order! That’s a bad habit, and one that could ultimately put you out of business.

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. No doubt you have heard of many good ways to ask the question, “Would you like to give it a try?” The point is, ask.

Asking Strategy #3: Ask for Written Endorsements

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.

When is the best time to ask? 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.

Asking Strategy #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.

Asking Strategy #5: Ask for More Business

Look for other products or services you can provide your customers. Devise a system that tells you when your clients will require more of your products. The simplest way is to ask your customers when you should contact them to reorder. It’s often easier to sell your existing clients more than to go looking for new ones.

Asking Strategy #6: Ask to Renegotiate

Regular business activities include negotiation. Many businesses get stuck because they lack skills in negotiation, yet this is simply another form of asking that can save a lot of time and money. Look at your vendors and suppliers and see if there are areas where you can be saving money. Just ask.

All sorts of contracts can be renegotiated in your personal life, too, such as changing your mortgage terms and rate, reviewing your cell phone plan and requesting a policy review with your insurance agent. As long as you negotiate ethically and in the spirit of win-win, you can enjoy a lot of flexibility. Nothing is ever cast in stone.

Asking Strategy #7: Ask for Feedback

This is a powerful way to fine-tune your business 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.

HOW TO ASK

Some people don’t enjoy the fruits of asking because they don’t ask effectively. If you use vague language you will not be clearly understood. Here are five ways to ensure that your asking gets results.

Ask Clearly
Be precise. Think clearly about your request. Take time to prepare. Use a note pad to pick words that have the greatest impact. Words are powerful, so choose them carefully.

Ask with Confidence
People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you’ve figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence.

Ask Consistently
Some people fold after making one timid request. They quit too soon. Keep asking until you find the answers. In prospecting there are usually four or five “no’s” before you get a “yes.” Top producers understand this. When you find a way to ask that works, keep on asking it.

Ask Creatively
In this age of global competition, your asking may get lost in the crowd, unheard by the decision-makers you hope to reach. There is a way around this. If you want someone’s attention, don’t ask the ordinary way. Use your creativity to dream up a high-impact presentation.

Ask Sincerely
When you really need help, people will respond. Sincerity means dropping the image facade and showing a willingness to be vulnerable. Tell it the way it is, lumps and all. Don’t worry if your presentation isn’t perfect; ask from your heart. Keep it simple and people will open up to you.

© 2008 Jack Canfield

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Jack Canfield is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar brand Chicken Soup for the Soul. The New York Times #1 best-selling book series has more than 100 titles in print and over 100 million copies sold in 41 languages. As an internationally recognized leader in personal development and peak performance strategies, Jack has spent the last 30 years teaching millions of people how to up-level everything they do. His bestselling book, The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be contains dozens of the most powerful secrets to success used by top achievers from all walks of life.

By Ruth Klein
America’s De-Stress Diva
And Author of “De-Stress Diva in the Kitchen”

In today’s economy, more Americans are choosing to eat at home. But in this time-crunched society, how can you find the time to prepare healthy, everyday meals at home?

Here’s how:
1. Hire Chef Crockpot. Crockpots are inexpensive and easy ways to prepare healthy meals in the morning that will be ready by dinnertime. These slow cookers roast meats and vegetables for six to eight hours, producing tender, tasty meals with fewer calories and less mess than frying on a stovetop.

2. Hire Chef George. As in the George Foreman grill (or any variation of the indoor electric grill). These grills are built with drip pans to drain unwanted fats and oils into an easy-to-clean drip pan, and most foods take only five minutes or less to grill. You can combine meats and vegetables, or just grill vegetables.

3. Stock your cupboard the healthy way. If you don’t keep unhealthy foods at the ready, you won’t reach for them when you cook. Include healthy staples such as non-fat chicken or vegetable broth, plenty of seasonings. Choose fresh vegetables over canned or frozen. Choose sweet potatoes over plain potatoes for extra vitamins. Choose organic over non-organic to avoid long-term threats to your health from chemical additives. An organically grown chicken might cost twice as much, but will taste 10 times better and be 10 times healthier for you. Aren’t you worth it?

4. Integrate other tasks into meal preparation time. Integrate other activities in your kitchen to make cooking and cleaning up less stressful. Invite your children to discuss their day and homework challenges with you while you chop, cook and clean. Practice deep breathing and stretching exercises while you reach for ingredients, plates and silverware. Listen to soothing music or tapes that teach you a foreign language while you work. Integrating important and/or enjoyable activities can double the rewards of preparing and serving healthy meals.

5. De-stress your dinner (and breakfast) table. Ban negative conversations at the table. If an unpleasant topic arises, say, let’s talk about that after the meal. Ask everyone at your table to share a pleasant memory from the day, or from the past month, or past year. Smiling is as contagious as yawning, so smile while you are at the table. Make your table cheerful with a vase of fresh flowers or fruit. On gloomy days, use silly paper napkins.

6. Have fresh water at the table. Keep pitchers of iced water on the table to encourage your family or friends to drink plenty of refreshing water with their meals. It’s a healthy, zero-calorie substitute for sugary or caffeinated drinks. Dress up your pitcher of water with thin slices of lime or lemon (or a dash of crushed mint) to make iced water an attractive treat.

7. Plan ahead for the next healthy meal. Invite family members to contribute to the next everyday meal using ingredients on hand. Ask younger family members to band together to create a fun recipe. Make meals a joyous, joint endeavor by letting the kids or your friends take over your kitchen one day a week.

Branding & Productivity Coach, Ruth Klein, is the author of “The Everything Guide to Being a Sales Rep,” “Time Management Secrets for Working Women,” and “The De-Stress Diva © in the Kitchen” and publishes The “De-Stress Diva” ™ bi-monthly with 6,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to de-stress your work, home, personal, financial and romantic life, get your FREE tips now at www.destressdiva.com for more information.