Ask, ask, ask.doc

Ask. Ask. Ask!勇于提出要求By Jack Canfield and Mark V. Hansen 译/李荷卿 题图/贾臻臻梦想是颗种子，如果只是深埋心底，不去浇灌和施肥，那它只会慢慢枯萎；而梦想的种子萌芽所需的水和养分大多数时候也并非唾手可得，任你取用，而需要你勇敢地去争取。The greatest sales woman in the world today doesnt mind if you call her a girl. Thats because Markita Andrews has made more than eighty thousand dollars selling Girl Scout cookies1) since she was seven years old. Going door-to-door after school, the very shy Markita turned herself into a cookie-selling dynamo2) when she discovered, at age 13, the secret of selling. It starts with desire. Burning, white-hot3) desire.For Markita and her mother, who worked as a waitress in New York after her husband left them when Markita was eight years old, their dream was to travel the globe. Ill work hard to make enough money to send you to college, her mother said one day. Youll go to college and when you graduate, youll make enough money to take you and me around the world. Okay?So at age 13 when Markita read in Girl Scout magazine that the Scout who sold the most cookies would win an all-expenses-paid trip for two around the world, she decided to sell all the Girl Scout cookies as she couldmore Girl Scout cookies than anyone in the world, ever.But desire alone is not enough. To make her dream come true, Markita knew she needed a plan.Always wear your right outfit, your professional garb4), her aunt advised. When you are doing business, dress like you are doing business. Wear your Girl Scout uniform. Always smile. Whether people buy or not, always be nice. And dont ask them to buy your cookies; ask them to invest.Lots of other Scouts may have wanted that trip around the world. Lots of other Scouts may have had a plan. But only Markita went off5) in her uniform each day after school, ready to askand keep askingfolks to invest in her dream. Hi. I have a dream. Im earning a trip around the world for me and my mom by selling Girl Scout cookies, shed say at the door. Would you like to invest in6) one dozen or two dozen boxes of cookies?Markita sold 3,526 boxes of Girl Scout cookies that year and won her trip around the world. Since then, she has sold more than 42,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, spoken at sales conventions7) across the country, starred in a Disney movie about her adventure and had co-authored the best seller, How to Sell More Cookies, Condos8), Cadillacs, Computers And Everything Else.Markita is no smarter and no more extroverted9) than thousands of other people, young and old, with dreams of their own. The difference is Markita has discovered the secret of selling: Ask, Ask, Ask! Many people fail before they even begin, because they fail to ask for what they want. The fear of rejection leads many of us to reject ourselves and our dreams, long before anyone else ever has the chanceno matter what were selling.Actually, everyone is selling something. Youre selling yourself everydayin school, to your boss, to new people you meet, said Markita at 14. My mother is a waitress: she sells the daily special10). Mayors and presidents trying to get votes are selling.One of my favorite teachers was Mrs. Chapin. She made geography interesting, and thats really selling.I see selling everywhere I look. Selling is part of the whole world.It takes courage to ask for what you want. Courage is not the absence of fear. Its doing what it takes despite ones fear. And, as Markita has discovered, the more you ask, the easier (and more fun) it gets.Once, on live TV, the producer decided to give Markita her toughest selling challenge. Markita was asked to sell Girl Scout cookies to another guest on the show. Would you like to invest in one dozen or two dozen boxes of Girl Scout cookies? she asked.Girl Scout cookies?! I dont buy any Girl Scout cookies! he replied. Im a Federal Penitentiary11) warden12). I put 2,000 criminals to bed13) every night!Unruffled14), Markita quickly countered15), Mister, if you take some of these cookies, maybe you wont feel so bad and angry. And, Mister, I think it would be a good idea for you to take some of these cookies back for every one of your 2,000 prisoners, too.Markita asked.The Warden wrote a check.当今世界上最伟大的推销女将玛基塔安德鲁斯并不介意你称她为女孩，因为她从7岁就开始推销女童子军甜饼，迄今已经创下了八万多美元的销售记录。玛基塔每天放学后都会挨家挨户去推销童子军甜饼。自从13岁那年发现了推销的秘诀，这个十分害羞的女孩摇身一变成了一个推销甜饼的高手。而这一切都始于一种愿望，一种强烈的、狂热的愿望。玛基塔8岁时，父亲撇下她和母亲，走了。此后，她的母亲在纽约当了一名服务员。对玛基塔和母亲来说，周游世界就是她们的梦想。“我会努力工作，挣足够的钱送你去上大学，”她的母亲有一天对她说，“你要去上大学，等你毕业了，要挣很多的钱，供我们俩周游世界，好吗？”于是13岁那年，当玛基塔在女童子军的杂志上看到“售出甜饼最多的童子军能赢得双人免费周游世界的奖励”时，她决定竭尽所能去推销女童子军甜饼要比世界上任何一个人卖出的女童子军甜饼都要多。但光有愿望是不够的。要让自己的梦想成真，玛基塔知道自己需要一个计划。“总是穿着合适的服装，也就是你的职业装，”她的姨妈建议说，“你在推销的时候，就得穿得像做推销的样子穿上你的女童子军制服。要始终面带微笑，不管人们买不买，都要待人友好。不要要求他们买你的甜饼，而要请他们投资。”其他许多童子军可能也曾想赢得那次免费周游世界的旅行，其他许多童子军可能也曾有过一个计划，但只有玛基塔每天在放学后穿着她的制服，时刻准备着请求，始终请求人们对她的梦想进行投资。“嗨，我有一个梦想。我在通过卖女童子军甜饼，为我和妈妈赢取一次免费周游世界的旅行，”她会站在顾客家门口说，“您愿意投资一二十盒甜饼吗？”那一年，玛基塔卖出了3526盒女童子军甜饼，赢得了她的环球之旅。此后，她共售出了4.2万多盒女童子军甜饼，在全国各地的销售会议中发表过讲话，并且主演过一部讲述她的经历的迪士尼电影，还与人合著了畅销书怎样售出更多的甜饼、公寓、汽车、电脑及其他一切。玛基塔并不比其他成千上万个、不分长幼、满怀各自梦想的人更聪明或者更擅长交际。区别就在于玛基塔发现了推销的秘密：要求，要求，要求！许多人甚至还没开始就失败了，因为他们不能提出他们想要提出的要求。害怕被拒绝导致许多我们这样的人在别人甚至还没有得到机会购买我们推销的东西前，就否定了自我和自己的梦想不管当时我们在推销什么。其实，每个人都在推销某样东西。“你每天都在推销你自己在学校，向你的老板，或是向你遇到的陌生人，”玛基塔在14岁的时候曾这样说，“我的母亲是一名服务员，她推销店里每日特供的菜肴；想得到选票的市长和总统也在推销切潘夫人是我最喜欢的老师之一，她讲的地理课生动有趣，那真的是一种推销在我目之所及的每个地方，我都能看见推销。推销就是整个世界的一部分。”但是要你想要的东西需要勇气。有勇气并非不害怕。因为，去要求就是做要求需要付出的代价，哪怕你心存恐慌。正如玛基塔所发现的那样：你要求得越多，要求就会变得越容易、越有趣。一次，在电视直播节目中，主持人决定给玛基塔一个对她来说最具挑战性的推销任务。玛基塔需要向参加该节目的另一位嘉宾推销女童子军甜饼。“您愿意投资一二十盒女童子军甜饼吗？”玛基塔问那位嘉宾。“女童子军甜饼？！不，我不买任何女童子军甜饼！”他回答。“我是联邦监狱的监狱长，我每天晚上要看着两千名罪犯上床睡觉！”玛基塔镇定自若地迅速回答说：“先生，如果您买一些这样的甜饼，也许就不会觉得这么糟糕，这么生气了。而且，先生，我想，您为您的两千名囚犯每人带回一块甜饼也是一个不错的主意。”玛基塔提出了自己的要求。结果，监狱长签了一张支票。Tip: Humor: one of Markitas secret to success除了敢于提出要求，幽默也是Markita的成功秘诀之一。After breaking various sales records and reaching somewhat of a celebrity status, Markita was invited to be a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. During the interview Johnny asked: “Whats the secret to your success?” Markita replied, “I just went to everyones house and said, Can I have a $30,000 donation for the Girl Scouts?” When they said No, I said, Would you at least buy a box of Girl Scout cookies?”第 4 页 共