Gordon Sinclair, the owner of Gordon restaurant in
Chicago, had an epiphany about 10 years ago when he
began adding up the cost of no-shows and found that the
grand total was $900,000 a year, a figure that got him
thinking, fast.

He made a change in the restaurant’s procedure that
underlines the curious moral status of a restaurant
reservation, which is less than a contract but something
more binding than “let’s have lunch.”
He instructed his receptionists to stop saying,

“Please call us if you change your plans,” and start
saying, “WILL you call us if you change your plans?”

His no-show rate dropped from 30 percent to 10 percent.

In other words, by asking a question and eliciting a
response, he created a sense of obligation.

Getting that soft commitment made a huge impact.

“May I send you some information?” is asking the
prospect to give you permission.

“If I send you some information, will you look it
over and we can talk again in a few weeks?” is
asking the prospect to commit to the next step.

Your primary objective is to have them make a
commitment to buy something. But, what’s the
secondary objective? Do you ask for commitment
as a secondary objective when the primary
objective flies out the window?

If you’re able to engage them at all, you should
be able to ask for some commitment–not permission.

Then, you have a reason to send them material,
so they’ll be ready.

“May I call you in a few weeks?” is simply asking
for permission.

People like to honor their commitments. If the call
ends and they have only given you permission, why
would they care what happens next? The ball is not
in their court.

But, if the call ends and they’ve committed to doing
something, odds are good they’ll do it.

And, if asking for that commitment doesn’t feel right,
then it probably means you’ve got more work to do
in building interest.

Make it your goal on every call to ask