The Right Way to Ask for a Favor

Before you ask someone for a favor, don’t. If you go out of your way to help people, most will ask what they can do to help you in return.

If you’re helping a lot of people and no one is offering to help you in return, it’s possible you are dealing with a bunch of “takers”.

TAKERS are people who only think in short term gains. They make little effort to help the people around them and instead, proceed to suck the life out of everyone. Stay as far away from these people as you can.

If you must ask someone for a favor, here is the right way to do it:

1. Make it okay for the person to say no
   The best way to do this is to say, “Hey if you can’t make this happen, don’t worry about it.” Saying this will help maintain the relationship you have with the person. It will also, ironically, make the person more likely to do the favor.
2. Be sure that what you are asking is clear and be direct
   Once you’ve established that it’s okay for the person to turn you down, tell them exactly what you want them to do for you.
3. Set a time to follow up
   If they agree to help you, suggest a follow up time when you can check in on the favor. I recommend somewhere between 3–5 days, for most favors. Do not forget to follow up.

That’s it. If you do this correctly, you’ll find that most people will be so pleased by the experience they will ask how they can help you even more.