Ya Gotta Ask!Written by Dave Balch
The e-mail came just yesterday. A friend had a friend that had been trying for 20 years (that's not a typo: TWENTY years!) to get Permanent Residency status but, due to INS paperwork snafus and red tape, had been frustrated in his efforts. The issue is not whether he qualifies; issue is paperwork.Can you imagine being that frustrated for that long? Neither could my friend, so she sent an email to everyone in her address book asking if anyone knew anyone that could help. It sounds pretty unlikely, doesn't it? You'd think there would be a better chance of winning lottery than fixing a government paperwork problem with an e-mail shot out into universe! Why bother even asking? Guess what? A member of my motorcycle club works for INS, in same office where problem has been! What are odds?? There is a very important lesson in all of this, and here it is: if you want something, no matter how unlikely it may seem, ya gotta ask! My friend could have easily thought that it was ridiculous to send out such a message because of overwhelming odds against getting results. But she did it anyway. Ya gotta ask! How does this affect your business? There are a million ways; here are just a few. For one thing, it reminds us to ask for order, single most common reason that sales are lost; we don't ask them to buy from us! Ya gotta ask! Do you know of any opportunities to partner with someone but haven't asked because "they wouldn't be interested"? Ya gotta ask! Have you spotted that perfect new salesperson but haven't approached them because they seem happy in their current job? Ya gotta ask!
| | PrioritiesWritten by Dave Balch
Unfortunately, most of us need a little reminder every now and then about what is really important. Something will happen in our lives and we just sort of sit up, slap our foreheads stupidly, and say "DOH! Of course! I knew that, but I forgot that I knew that!"The trouble is that we never know when that's going to happen and, when it does, it may be too late. If you lose a loved one in a tragic accident, how will you be able to say those things to them that you meant to say but never did? My guess is that you probably don't have to think very hard to figure out your top priorities in life. Are you taking time, however short, to think about it? And are you acting accordingly, spending your time and financial resources where it matters most? I just got a reminder of my own; my bride of 19 years was diagnosed with breast cancer. After we got news I felt two profound emotions: fear and gratitude. The fear, of course, was about what future held. The gratitude was for all time we have been able to spend together by working at home for over 20 years. After her first surgery we learned that it had spread. When situation is dire, it's easy to drop things that used to be soooooooo important and focus on things that really are. I was in parking lot of a local market and I saw a man and woman arguing about something. I thought about how their anger was probably over something that, in reality, just doesn't matter a hoot. Someday they, too, may get a sudden reminder and they will hopefully realize how unimportant and insignificant those types of arguments usually are.
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