Another great article from Mark Suster:
I used to ask Deborah to book my travel plans in France and Germany were I went 1-2 times / month. There were online tools to book this stuff but the Internet booking sites were early.
I would tell Deborah: “I found this hotel near the Champs Elysees for 170 Euros. But I don’t want to pay that much. Tell them I’ll stay if they’ll give it to me for 120 Euros."
Her: “What? You want … what? Mark. You can’t do that! You can’t just name your own price.”
Me: “Of course I can."
The key lesson being that if you don't ask, you don't get. This is a common issue with sales. It took me a while to get enough confidence in myself and the value proposition I was offering to be able to ask the simplest question: "If we do this and that, will you buy from us?".
The take away is similar in this post I was reading this morning:
Have you been in meetings where lots of decisions are made but nothing gets done andnobody is held accountable? Unless you finish the meeting with commitments about “who will do what by when,” you’ve just built 90% of a bridge.
Don't be afraid to ask for a commitment. That's how you'll get what you want.