Ask a Favor, Get Some Help

Have you ever asked a favor in business? Large or small, when you ask a favor an unexpected dynamic sometimes occurs.

Instead of only you experiencing a degree of relief and gratitude, often times the "askee", the person from whom you've asked for help, will feel indebted to you. Most people will see you asking for their help as a sign of deference and assume the role of the parent in the relationship. They will want to help you, see themselves as a bit of a mentor.

It's easy to imagine this happening if you're asking your boss or someone in your own company who genuinely likes you and/or wants to see you succeed. But, it also happens with Clients!

Don't believe it? Next time you go for a meeting with a Client, ask to borrow a pen and see what happens. Of course, you'll run a bit of a risk. The Client might be a detail freak and wonder, "Who comes to a meeting without a pen?", but more likely, the Client will go out of his or her way to get you a pen, giving up theirs or an extra or rooting around in their desk to find you one, often times telling you to keep it, thinking that you'll need it later and you'll think better of them.

This played out for me in a much bigger way earlier in my career. I was working to build a successful consulting business unit in a much larger firm. We had been making progress at business in a very large, Fortune 10 Client, where the CIO had been receptive and had awarded us a big-to-us, but small-to-him piece of business. Our firm wanted to focus attention on this global Client and run a workshop to build a comprehensive account plan. We would bring together leaders from the U.K., Germany and the U.S. During one of the planning sessions, someone suggested we bring in the CIO to give us his perspective on our plan, a very audacious request for a firm doing so little business with him. As I'd had the most significant interaction with the CIO, it fell on my shoulders to ask for and secure his time.

I decided to send him a hand-written note, letting him know that I wished to ask for his help and that I would call him at a pre-appointed time. I remember pulling off to the side of the road, so that I wouldn't be distracted and so my mobile phone reception wouldn't falter. I called and got through to him via his administrative assistant. He picked up the line and I said, "We'd like to ask you to address our account planning session". He listened to the rest of my proposal and responded. "Some one else from my staff would be better suited for this", he said. I stopped him and said, "I'm asking this as a favor". I told him that it would mean a lot to me, personally, and would allow me to get his company our company's attention, the kind of attention he needed to be more successful. Could he do me this favor?

You know what? He agreed, on the spot. He did address our account planning session. He gave us the sixty minutes we asked and stayed for thirty more. He even had lunch with us!

I can't guarantee the same results every time, but the next time you need something big or small, ask for it, ask for a favor. You might be surprised.