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Be confident in your call to action


A well known "rule" in sales is that you don't get what you don't ask for.

Even if you are not in Sales, you probably need to sell your ideas and recommendations to others. That's why most professional presentations or critical messages should persuade the audience to make a specific decision or take action:

  • Support this initiative

  • Buy our product

  • Approve this change / recommendation

  • Volunteer for this project

  • Give me a raise

  • Marry me

To increase your chance of success, everything you put into your message should support and drive your audience to say Yes.

And then you need to ask for desired outcome.

Most presenters understand this. And most have a 'Call to Action'.

But one thing I notice in many presentations is the call to action tends to be very passive. I hear weak qualifiers attached like:

"Would you consider..?"

"Would you like to..?"

"Is it possible to..?"

"Can you..?"

I want you to be confident in your Call to Action. Directly ask them to do what you recommended.

As an example, let's say you put together a business case for a promotion for a member of your team. So you ask your boss:

You: "Would you consider giving Bill the promotion?"

Boss: "Yes I would"

or

You: "Would you like to give Bill a promotion?"

Boss: "I would LOVE to give Bill a promotion!"

or

You: "Will you give Bill the promotion?"

Boss: "Yes" or "No and here's why..."

All three scenarios get an answer. But only the direct Call to Action gets a decision.

Ask for your desired outcome.

Be confident.

Be direct.

Get a decision.

Note: There are other ways to close. And there can be cultural biases to navigate. But those require a deeper discussion. Contact me if you want to explore.

#Decisions #Win #Tips #Confidence #Culture

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