All You've Gotta Do Is Ask!

Article Taken from Afterhours Inspirational Stores

Ask, Ask, Ask

Jack Canfield and Mark V. Hansen, Chicken Soup for the Soul


The greatest saleswoman in the world today doesn't mind if you call her a girl. That's because Markita Andrews has generated more than eighty thousand dollars selling Girl Scout cookies since she was eleven years old.

Going door-to-door after school, the painfully shy Markita transformed herself into a cookie-selling dynamo when she discovered, at age 13, the secret of selling.

It starts with desire. Burning, white-hot desire.

For Markita and her mother, who worked as a waitress in New York after her husband left then when Markita was eight years old, their dream was to travel the globe. "I'll work hard to make enough money to send you to college," her mother said one day. "You'll go to college and when you graduate, you'll make enough money to take you and me around the world. Okay?"

So at age 13 when Markita read in her Girl Scout magazine that the Scout who sold the most cookies would win an all-expenses-paid trip for two around the world, she decided to sell all the Girl Scout cookies she could - more Girl Scout cookies than anyone in the world, ever.

But desire alone was not enough. To make her dream come true, Markita knew she needed a plan.

"Always wear your right outfit, your professional garb," her aunt advised. "When you are doing business, dress like you are doing business. Wear your Girl Scout uniform. When you go up to people in their tenement buildings at 4:30p or 6:30p and especially on Friday night, ask for a big order. Always smile, whether they buy or not, always be nice. And don't ask them to buy your cookies, ask them to invest."

Lots of other Scouts may have wanted that trip around the world. Lots of other Scouts may have had a plan. But only Markita went off in her uniform each day after school, ready to ask - and keep asking - folks to invest in her dream. "Hi, I have a dream. I'm earning a trip around the world for me and my mom by merchandising Girl Scout cookies," she'd say at the door. "Would you like to invest in one dozen or two dozen boxes of cookies?"

Markita sold 3,526 boxes of Girl Scout cookies that year and won her trip around the world. Since then, she has sold more than 42,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, spoken at sales conventions across the country, starred in a Disney movie about her adventure and has co-authored the best seller, How to Sell More Cookies, Condos, Cadillacs, Computers...And Everything Else.

Markita is no smarter and no more extroverted than thousands of other people, young and old, with dreams of their own. The difference is Markita had discovered the secret of selling: Ask, Ask, Ask! Many people fail before they even begin because they fail to ask for what they want. The fear of rejection leads many of us to reject ourselves and our dream long before anyone else ever has the chance - no matter what we're selling.

And everyone is selling something. "You're selling yourself everyday - in school, to your boss, to new people you meet," said Markita at 14. "My mother is a waitress; she slls the daily special. Mayors and presidents trying to get votes are selling...I see selling everywhere I look. Selling is part of of the whole world."

It takes enough courage to ask for what you want. Courage is not the absence of fear. And, as Markita has discovered, the more you ask, the easier (and more fun) it gets.

Once, on live TV, the producer decided to give Markita her toughest selling challenge. Markita was asked to sell Girl Scout cookies to another guest on the show. "Would you like to invest in one dozen or two dozen boxes of Girl Scout cookies?" she asked.

"Girl Scout cookies? I don't buy any Girl Scout cookies!" he replied. "I'm a Federal Penitentiary warden. I put 2,000 rapists, robbers, criminals, muggers, and child abusers to bed every night."

Unruffled, Markita quickly countered, "Mister, if you take some of these cookies, maybe you won't be so mean and angry and evil. And, Mister, I think it would be a good idea for you to take some of these cookies back for every one of your 2,000 prisoners, too."

And The Problem Is...YOU!

 Whenever you misdiagnose a problem,s you will mistreat it. Thus, when a subordinate is not performing, a leader should humbly look in the mirror before angrily glaring out the window. These three questions will help properly attack the cause of poor performance rather than just curse its effect.

•  Did I clearly articulate what was expected and by when? Good people will try hard to hit a standard if they know what it is but it's different for them to be aggressive when they are confused. Just because something is said doesn't mean it's been understood. Make it common practice to gauge the audience (leader, entry level) comprehension of the task by having them paraphrase for you their understanding of exactly what you want done.
• Have I provided the time and resources necessary to complete the assignment? You have every right to expect a task to be done well and on time but you have no right to do so if you don't equip the person for the job. When you don't provide the resources to accomplish what you want done you set your people up to fail. This is especially true when requiring someone to tackle a stretch assignment of a magnitude they've not done before. If all the person has ever done is run around the block and you're asking them to run a marathon, you'll need to provide more time and resources.
• Have I provided the training necessary to do the job well? Not training your people and then expecting them to perform is wishful thinking at its worst. You can't get the prize without paying a price. Leaders who continually look to withdraw results from their people without making adequate training deposits are lazy and looking for shortcuts. And just because you stick someone in a two-week orientation training when they join your company and pump them up once a week in your sales meeting doesn't mean they have the skills they need to succeed. Training isn't a one-time payment, its an installment plan and since the level of your entrepreneurs performance is determined by the level of their practice, you'd best get serious, get committed, and get back to work to develop the human capital in your charge.

 When things go wrong and people aren't getting the job done, a good leader looks in the mirror first. Some people need to step up to the plate. Too many have a black belt in blame and take the spotlight off their own deficiencies by blaming others. When people fail to accept this responsibility they fall victim to the old adage, "we have met the enemy and he is us."

Mr. Weathers

 Mr. Weathers was an elderly man who had been living in the same house for his entire life. He had lots of friends in the community and was loved by all. One day there was a terrible rainstorm. With the storms came tremendous amounts of rain, causing a flood in Mr. Weathers' town. The townspeople called for everyone to evacuate. "Get out! The flood is coming! Get out!" Despite all the panic, Mr. Weathers was calm. Despite their pleas for him to leave his home, Mr. Weathers was stubborn, "Nope, I'm fine. God will come for me. I am a holy man."
 The rain continued to fall and the flood began to rise even more. The flood eventually rose to two feet. One of Mr. Weathers' neighbors was still around, gathering up his belongings before the flood swept them away. On his way out of town, Mr. Weathers' neighbor came by in his 4X4 truck and encouraged him to get on and that he would save him from the deadly flood. Despite his neighbors' plea, Mr. Weathers stood firm, "No, I'm fine. God will come for me. I am a holy man." So, the neighbor reluctantly rode off, leaving Mr. Weathers behind.
 As expected, the rain did not cease and the water continued to rise. By now, the entire town had evacuated and taken higher ground. The only ones left were firemen scanning the area for anyone left behind and the stubborn, Mr. Weathers.
 One of the firemen came across Mr. Weathers sitting calmly in his home. The man begged him to leave his home immediately or he would surely be taken by the flood. Again, Mr. Weathers was convinced that his faith in God would save him and denied the fireman, sending him on his way to recover other townspeople left behind.
 The situation began to grow dark as the flood rose to seven feet. Mr Weathers was forced to take refuge in the second floor of his home but was still convinced that as a holy man, God would save him. He then heard sirens outside the window from a rescue boat that was sent to fetch him from his home. The rescue team called out to Mr. Weathers telling him that they had come to save him and to get on the boat. From the second story window, Mr. Weathers called out, "No, I'm fine! God will save me!"
 Alas, the water had consumed most of Mr. Weathers' house. He was forced to climb onto his roof in hopes that God would save him. Instead, a helicopter appeared, hovering over his house. The rescue workers in the helicopter begged Mr. Weathers to get in and that they would save him from the tragic fate before him. Again, the stubborn Mr. Weathers declined and remained on the rooftop.
 Of course, the flood water continued to rise and Mr. Weathers was washed away and went to heaven. As he prepares to enter through the pearly gates, he went to God and said, "God, why didn't you come and save me?! I prayed to you every day and I went to church every Sunday. I was a good man! Why didn't go come for me?!"
 God was taken back by the accusation. "Fool, I sent you a 4X4, a fireman, a boat, and even a helicopter and you never took the help!"

 The moral of the story is to not be like Mr. Weathers. Don't wait for something to happen, make it happen. All life can do is provide you with knowledge and the tools to be successful. What you choose to do with those tools is up to you. We can give you a boat but we can't force you to get in it. So make something happen, don't wait for it to come around!