I once had a salesperson working for me who was super passionate about building relationships with customers. She genuinely cared about developing friendships that went beyond just business. She was always professional, ethical, and kept everything on the up and up.

She was an amazing salesperson in every way except one. She barely sold anything! After a whole year of working with her, coaching her, and pushing her to her limits, it just wasn’t working out.

I asked her what she thought the purpose of selling was. She said it was all about building relationships. I agreed, and then I asked her why we wanted relationships with customers. She had a great answer for that too. She said we wanted to help them.

I agreed, and then I asked her how we had helped them.

At this point, she was a bit stumped. She said it “depended on the circumstances.” She thought maybe we helped them by building trust. She also thought we could help them by being a resource for them.

None of her answers were wrong, but none of them were quite right enough for her to remain a part of the sales team.

I told her that all the things she mentioned were important for building long-term relationships, but the most important way we truly helped customers was by selling them our product. That was also the only way we could stay in business.

I said that the purpose of selling was to make a sale. We build trust to build a relationship, and we become a resource to keep that relationship strong. And if we’re truly in sales, we’ll professionally leverage that relationship to make a sale.

That sounded harsh and manipulative to her, but I explained that it wasn’t. Selling is most rewarding when we’re helping people whom we genuinely like. People whom we would be friends with even if they weren’t a prospect for whatever it is we’re selling.

Building strong relationships with customers is a great way to grow your business, but it’s not the same as selling. Selling is about making a sale, not only about building connections. After working with sales teams all over the world, I’ve noticed that many people who try to make a living selling can’t seem to grasp this basic concept.

The salesperson I had invested a year working with couldn’t sell because she never asked for the order. She worked hard to build relationships, but she was afraid of risking damage to them by asking for the sale. We moved her to a customer support role where she could use her relationship skills without the pressure of selling.

But here’s the thing: she wasn’t alone. Research has shown that 80-85% of people who make a living, or try making a living, by selling never ask for the order. They might try to subtly ask by saying things like, “So, what do you think?” or “Well, let me know what you decide; I hope you decide to go with us.”

But here’s the truth: if you ask a true order-asking question, you’ll get either a yes or a no. If you get anything else, you either didn’t ask the right question or the prospect didn’t hear it correctly. In either case, you need to ask an order-asking question again.

An order-asking question sounds like, “Looks like it meets the requirements we’ve been discussing. May I have your business?” or “This looks perfect for you, or are you ready to move ahead today?”

If you’ve guided your customer or prospect through their buying journey, you’re ready to ask a simple yet crucial question. It’s a business question that most customers expect.

So, go ahead and ask it confidently. Remember, asking for an order is the logical and appropriate final step in a professional sales presentation.

I’ve never seen a newspaper headline like “Salesperson shot dead asking for an order,” yet many salespeople act as if it’s a common occurrence.

The goal of selling is to make a sale. That’s how you create a customer, keep your business afloat, and stay a successful salesperson.

You’re 100 times more likely to make a sale by asking for it than by letting a customer decide on their own, without your help. If you’re a strong relationship seller, resource provider, problem solver, and sales pro, you owe it to your customers and yourself to ask for the order every time.