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Can you do me a favour?

Just a simple question can open more doors than you can ever imagine. Recently I was running a sales meeting with my B2B team when I shared this irresistible question I’ve used successfully so many times before on so many gate keepers in so may businesses all over the world.

The simple question, “I was wondering if you could do me a favour?” or “Favor” if you’re in the USA. Hopefully the gatekeeper can’t tell which spelling you’re brain’s using? If they can, then you’ve got no chance of getting past this gatekeeper on any occasion.

Nevertheless, this question is almost impossible to say no to? 99% of the time you will get a YES!!, our favourite word in business. If not “yes” then  a “maybe” or “it depends”  but all responses have a positive outcome.

You could even sauce it up a bit by saying, “I’m wondering if you could do me a big favour? My boss has asked me to speak to everyone who might be able to benefit from this great product/service. From what I can see, there must be quite a few in your office that would love to get access to this great deal?” Or you could say, “…would love to get a chance to take advantage of this special offer?” You can take it from here.

Never let your business be dictated by your lack of creative questions!

This question works on so many levels for a couple of reasons. First, it creates curiosity, ” I wonder what this nice person wants me to do? It might be fun, interesting or at least less mundane than my next task,”  the gatekeeper’s thinking.

Secondly, it appeals to our conditioned and polite human nature. We are socially trained to serve and love to help others when asked in a sincere, nice and thoughtful way. So make sure you put your nice, happy cap on when using this approach.

And there’s a third element that works really well and takes all the pressure off you, “the entrepreneur/sales engineer”. You can be unashamedly enthusiastic when explaining all the great needs, features and benefits of your service because you’re not selling to the gate keeper per se but selling through them. Getting them pumped and excited to help their colleagues get access to your wonderful product or service.

If worse comes to worse and you for some reason forget your lines or forget to ask for a favour, all shall not be lost. What happens if you drop “a favour” out of the question? You end up with quite a different approach and whole new equation. But if the answer is “YES” then you’re very lucky indeed; Literally speaking that is. 🙂

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Dominic Kotarski writes, speaks, inspires, motivates and teaches on the most important aspects of your business including Sales, Coaching, Team building, People Management and Business Development. Get weekly access to his blog & training videos FREE by subscribing HERE He is an International Consultant and the author of “The Making” – A Complete Sales Guide 

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Dominic Kotarski

Dominic Kotarski is an author, coach, sales trainer and Founder of Sales Success Academy. He's personally inspired, coached, trained and managed thousands of salespeople and business owners in 11 different countries. You can find him in Vancouver, Canada where he lives, works, runs, ski's and spends most of his free time with his family.

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