Big Ask, Small Ask

But still, there's something awe-inspiring about strolling down the strip. The lights. The sounds. The impossibly cheap prime rib. I tell foreign friends that if they want to really experience the US of A, they should head to Vegas. And I always tell business owners and wannabe copywriters that if you really want to learn how to sell-if you really want to learn how to separate customers from their cash and have them thanking you for the privilege-a few days cavorting around a casino is just about all the education you need.

Why? Because Vegas is the absolute master of the small ask.

The small what?

The small ask. The tiny one. What does a slot machine ask you for? Just one quarter. Just one nickel. Just one little push of that shiny white button. Just 15 more seconds of your time.

In a recent post on the HWW blog I talked about how important it is to actually ask for a response from your customers (I even used a 7th grade dance as an analogy. Go check out the post). But there's a whole other component to the call-to-action mythology: You can only ask for as much as you've earned.

Huh?

Think of it this way: Say you meet a nattily dressed business type at a party and he immediately asks you for a thousand dollars. Would you give it to him? Doubtful. But if that guy put in the time and effort to sit down with you, find out about your wants and needs , lay out how his particular investment plan or product was going to dramatically benefit you and your family, get ringing testimonials from people you trust and give you a powerful guarantee that you'd be well taken care of for trusting him, then I'd say the chance of your cutting a check goes way the heck up.

Why?

Because in the second scenario he earned the right to to ask you for that thousand dollars (whereas in the first one he probably just earned a snigger and a withering stare.)

So here's the big point.

If you're asking for something BIG (and big varies depending on the customer. To some folks five bucks is big. To other $5k is nothing at all) you have to earn it. You have to do the old-fashioned marketing work of convincing them that you're trustworthy, that your product or service does what you say it does and that their buyer's remorse is going to be kept to an absolute minimum.

And the best way to get to the point where you're able to do the big ask-the best way to actually earn that special right-is by getting a little Vegas and making a series of smaller asks.

For instance, you could:

-Set up a form on your website that asks for an email address so you can send a customer more valuable and educational information.

-Send out a newsletter that asks your readers for a few minutes of their time in exchange for some useful tips.

-Set up a sales page that asks your customers to tune into a free teleconference on a topic that could have a big effect on their bottom line.

And about a hundred thousand other things that have you developing rapport and trust like our thousand-dollar-richer business man above. And when you've done all that homework and hard education? Well then, dear reader, ask away.