I did something on Saturday that I don’t think I have ever done before.
I made a purchase at a garage sale and I didn’t ask to have the price discounted!
Some of you are horrified that I didn’t ask for a discount and others of you are saying to yourselves, “I didn’t know you could ask for a discount at a garage sale!”
I didn’t ask for the discount because the price on the brand new office chair was so good I just felt it wasn’t right to try and get it lower. That was hard for me but I did it.
If I had asked I’m sure I could have gotten a better price and that has always been my strategy at garage sales.
Ask. All they can do is say no.
About three years ago I was having lunch with a friend and he was expressing his frustration with his job. He was hoping to have been promoted by this point.
I asked him if his manager knew he wanted to be promoted and have more responsibility.
He said, “No. I’d be scared to do that. Isn’t that kind of presumptuous?”
“How is your boss going to know you want more if you don’t tell her?” I asked.
He said he had a meeting coming up in a few days with his boss and he would try and muster up the courage to tell her he wanted more responsibility.
Within a month he had been promoted to a new position in a different department with more responsibility and more money, because he asked.
Several years ago I was on a golf outing with some friends and relatives. We had played golf on a Thursday at one of those beautiful golf courses at a casino site owned by a Native American tribe.
When we were finished we had a bite to eat and were going to head to the next town to play another course the next day.
Some of the guys wanted to stay there that night to play some casino games but some wanted to get to the other hotel because the rooms were less expensive, not as nice, but less expensive.
I went to the front desk and asked if they could match the rate we were going to get at the other hotel. There were 8 guys so we needed four rooms. I told them all they had to do was meet the price and they would book 4 rooms that would most likely be empty for the night because of the time of day.
The lady went and asked her manager. “No problem,” she said. “We’d love to have you!”
I went back into the restaurant and told the guys they would meet the price. They thought I had just gone to the restroom. Did we want to stay?
“How did you get that deal,” one of them queried.
“I asked.”
“I gotta start doin’ that,” he said with enthusiasm.
This isn’t a post about taking advantage of people. In none of the instances stated is anyone taken advantage of. It’s about having the courage to recognize the opportunities we all have if we simply ask.
I’ve also gotten plenty of no’s in my life and many regrets of times I failed to ask. As I get older I’m finding I’m not as afraid of no as I once was.
Do you have the courage to simply ask?
Are you afraid of hearing no? If you heard “No” would your life be dramatically changed or harmed? Most likely not.
I’d love to hear your results of simply asking. Please leave a comment with your story.
Remember: all they can do is say no!
James 4:2
Have a STRONG and COURAGEOUS day!
