When Should You Ask for A Favour?

Here’s what BNI Founder, Dr. Ivan Misner recommends.

Most of us have been in a situation where someone has asked for a favour before having the social capital to make that level of request. To amass financial capital, you invest and grow your assets. Social capital works the same way. You have to invest before you can withdraw. If you can answer “Yes” to most of the following points about a person, you are in a pretty good position to ask a favour of them.

·         Do you trust the person to do a great job and to take great care of your referrals?

·         Have you known the person for at least a year?

·         Do you feel comfortable explaining at least 3 of their major products or services to others?

·         Do you know the names of the person’s family members? Have you met them?

·         Have you asked each other “How can I help you with your business?”

·         Do you know their goals for the year, including personal goals?

·         Would you be able to call them at night if you needed to?

·         Would you be comfortable asking for help with either a personal or business challenge?

·         Do you enjoy the time you spend together?

·         Do you have a regular appointment scheduled?

·         Do you enjoy seeing them achieve success?

·         Are they top of mind for you? Do you think about them frequently?

·         Can you have open, honest talks with them about your overlapping areas of interest?

If you haven’t answered “Yes” to most of those questions, you’re not yet ready to ask for a favour. If you can’t yet answer “yes” to those questions, you need to invest more in that relationship.

The full podcast is here.