MADRID, 14 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Asking for a change or a salary increase at work is the most difficult professional request to make for almost a third of Spaniards, followed by requesting financing or the sale of a product or service, according to the I Barometer ‘The art of ask’, directed by Silvia Bueso, who assures that in general Spaniards are generous since almost 90% recognize that it is “more about giving than asking.”
Feeling judged or rejected and not wanting to bother or even lose important relationships are among the main fears when asking for money or selling, according to a study that analyzes Spaniards’ relationships with money.
More than half of Spaniards (50.7%) define their relationship with “asking for money” as negative, associating it with guilt, weakness, vulnerability or shame, among other emotions, according to the I Barometer ‘The art of asking ‘, directed by Silvia Bueso.
This is the first study that analyzes in depth what emotions the population feels when asking, what fears they face and what tools they use to carry out this action in order to achieve their professional or personal goals.
Along these lines, the word ‘ask’ continues to be associated with negative perceptions, although little by little a change in perspective is seen with 52.3% associating it with positive emotions.
In fact, the majority of people surveyed confirm that they are more into giving than asking, with 87.3%, and 9 out of 10 affirm that asking for oneself is what is most difficult for them, compared to requests for others.
In the words of Silvia Bueso, mentor, speaker and trainer, as well as author of two books on how to address personal and professional requests: “this study provides us with an invaluable opportunity to reflect on our own practices and work towards more effective and empathetic communication. in all areas of our lives, both personal and professional.
Among the professional requests, asking for a change or salary increase at work with 30.5%, as well as looking for financiers (27.7%) and selling products or services (25.9%) are the three most complicated professional requests. for the people surveyed.
Regarding planning in the work environment, just over half of the professionals, 56.4%, do not prepare a commercial or fundraising plan annually and 57.4% do not follow up on said plan either. .
Half of those surveyed say that they do not receive commercial training and just over a third declare that no one in the company receives it.
The I Barometer ‘The art of asking’ also analyzes the moment before making the request. On this occasion, the vast majority (3 out of 4) defines and chooses the profile of the person they are going to ask, investigates and collects information about them, validates if there are common interests and prepares their proposal with care.
When preparing the value proposition, the story written to address financiers and partners, the main obstacles extracted from Silvia Bueso’s analysis are knowing what you want to include, but not how to present it so that it is excellent and professional, followed by not finding strong messages and design to capture attention and not knowing how to differentiate and avoid the competition.
Likewise, 42.6% neither prepare nor practice the speech once they have the proposal, compared to 57.4% who do. And, when faced with this presentation of the verbal story, the most recurrent obstacles are not knowing how to structure it while being confident and convincing, preferring to present yourself by email without showing your face, and feeling that you do not have time or resources.
The I Barometer ‘The art of asking’ discovers that half of the people consulted have a negative relationship with the fact of asking for money.
The main fears when asking for money are not wanting to inconvenience and lose important relationships, shame about asking for money, and not wanting to feel judged and stigmatized. Only 1 in 10 say they have no fear when asking for money.
On the other hand, when selling or selling yourself, the three main fears are not meeting expectations, fear of rejection, and fear of competition. This situation leads to almost half of the people surveyed persisting a couple of times before giving up on a request, and the majority abandon or delay future attempts to request when faced with a refusal.
Delving into personal requests, the barometer shows that asking for money for a personal project such as purchasing a home or a car or launching a business project and asking for help that requires time or resources from the other person are the most complicated requests on a personal level. with 36.4% and 36.1% of the total.
As in the professional field, the study asks what are the main obstacles in personal requests. The podium is made up of not wanting to bother, not wanting to generate disapproval or disagreement, and feeling discomfort or insecurity.
On a personal level, the fact that the request generates a conflict (27.1%) or affects the well-being of the relationship (22.9%) are the main reasons for giving up. And in just over half of the cases, future attempts to ask are abandoned or delayed.
