Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Check Please!

I am a middle child....sandwiched between two girls...it doesn't get any harder than that.  Who besides me was going to cut the grass or ride a bike 3 miles to the grocery store for bread and milk?  
 
That was an era you didn't get paid for chores and errands..."yes ma'am" was auto response for just about every question.
 
Maybe it was my indentured servitude, or my good nature, but my momma had a soft spot for me...and my older sister Donna would try to take advantage of that fact to get what she wanted.
 
"Go ask momma if we can have some ice cream."
 
"Ain't.  Why don't you ask her?" I retorted.
 
"Ok, but if I ask her...you ain't gettin any!"
 
You would think a high IQ, precocious 6 year old wouldn't fall for that standard reverse phycology routine, but my sister is brilliant in her own right...and older.
 
It worked...I asked...
 
Sara Clay didn't play.  You might get ice cream or you might get "I scream"... she had a bad habit of shooting The Messenger if she didn't like The Message!
 
I have watched sales people operate in much the same way as my sister.  The very thing they want and need...they are afraid to ask for - the check!
 
In sales, we have to become masters at not only asking for the check - but successfully getting people to part with it. That is no small feat - even when they see the value and they need what we offer they may clutch their wallets and purses with two hands.
 
I have not heard money psychology taught or trained in sales but many people instinctually know what drives that most critical moment of truth in the transaction...others flounder.
 
Why do many sales people have a reluctance to ask for the check?
 
The answer will be different for each sales person, but is critical to answer if success is to be obtained.
 
Money is a peculiar topic...right?
 
Everyone wants the "secret" of how to make more, but no one wants to talk about how much they earn - or how they spend it.  Deep down we would rather not reveal details that might show our inadequacy on the subject.  As a youngster, I remember asking my uncle how much a new car cost -
 
"Child, that ain't something you ask!" (yes, that is the 4th "ain't" in this Daily Crumb...forgive me!)
 
I was later to learn that you don't ask people their incomes or how much something cost. Somehow, the vital topic of money became "taboo".  What ideas about money do you bring in from your childhood?
 
Don't ask for it?
 
Don't talk about it?
 
Avoid the topic at all costs?
 
Many of our social mores about money are influencing how you engage you clients.  Building rapport - check.  Demonstrating value - check.  Handling Objections - check.  Asking for the check...?
 
The next few Daily Crumbs will help you get to the root cause of what may be holding you back and will help you be triumphant in that moment of truth when you have to say...
 

Check Please!
  

Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!
 

Next Time: Money Energy!

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