It's a reflex. You ask someone "How are you" and they will always say "fine". It doesn't matter if they are in the middle of a car accident, or in the hospital. "Fine" is how they answer.
When you ask a business owner if they are hiring, you sound just like every other person asking for a job. And here is why the answer is "No". You are not giving any reason at all to say "Yes".
Here is how I got the job of my dreams years ago from a business owner I wanted to work for, and learn from. This would work today if you came into my business.
This happened years ago, but it will work in any economy, in any area, in any business. Why? Because you are going to make an offer the business owner cannot refuse.
I walked into the business and asked for the owner by name.
He walked out and I said "Mr. Toth, I want to learn this business. I want to learn it from you, because I've heard you know what you are doing. I want to learn to run a business like this, so I can start my own business. Pay me whatever you think is fair, or pay me nothing at all. I want the experience and the training I know I'll get here. At the end of six months or a year, I'll open a business like this out of your area."
He said "I have six salespeople. They would kill me if I hired another one".
I said "I understand. I won't take any sales away from them. You pay them salary plus commission. Just pay me on the sales I bring in. I want to be your apprentice, and I want you to be my mentor."
It took him by surprise. In a few minutes we worked out a deal where he was paying me a very generous commission, and I cold work the hours I wanted. Within six weeks, I was the highest paid person in the business, aside from Mr. Toth.
Here is why this worked. The offer I made appealed to him in many ways. I wasn't talking about what he would give me, I was talking about what I would give him. There is a huge difference.
I didn't talk about what I needed (a job) but what I could do for him, and his business.
Nobody ever talked to him like that before. And nobody has ever talked to me like that in the years I've owned my own business.
I have no openings for any help in my business. I own a successful retail store. But if someone came into my business and said "Mr. Whitacre, I want to learn from you. Pay me whatever you like, I want to learn your business. You're the one that can teach me. I've heard you really know this business. What can I do to help your business?", I would adopt that person. I would pay them whatever I thought it took to keep them. Why? Because they would absolutely stick out, in a favorable way, from everyone else that comes in asking for a job.
Any business owner with a desire to increase their business would hire you in an instant.
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