In the captions below, is this a source of food or a weed? What’s your gut say? If you were hungry would you look it up since it is over six foot tall and in abundance just in case? Hunger cues your reasoning to challenge your habits. That is how cues work.

Habits are very powerful ideas which can be a huge help to you or a monumental missed opportunity. Everyone has habits, from tipping service help to gesture responses to loved ones to preferences for how you talk or address people of different perceived social class. Habits free us up to pay attention to other things by taking predictable circumstances and allowing us to apply predictable strategies.

Habits, studies reveal have several components. One of them is the cue. In “The Power of Habit, Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business”, author Charles Duhigg makes a really great case for cues and their uses. In advertising today cues and rewards are used to sell and market nearly everything.

If you do this (the cue) you will get this (reward), which they hope evolves into a habit.

Cues trigger habits, and for many consumables marketers want you to feel the need to purchase their product to solve your need and get your reward, on a sustained basis.

How does all of this apply to the empowered volunteer? First off, salesmen or salesladies all have cues and habitual responses, which can lead to rewards. Trained sales people are always asking closing questions if the time seems right after taking the temperature of the client or prospect. If the question gets a positive response or answer, ask a closing question out of habit, that is go on automatic. The cue generates a question which also when positive cues a habitual closing question. A negative response also cues a habitual response, but that is another process.

The question must be presented as fluid and natural, thus the habit. If not, it will seem contrived and be less effective as a closing question. So the cues drive the responses to the questions on taking you up on the offer. The reward is obviously the purchase or joining the group.

Have you developed the habits of success? Practice in person until you do starting with the cues.

In his new book, The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World, bestselling author Harvey Mackay, in chapter 85 says that in the Army the rule of thumb is to never volunteer. He disagrees.

Only victims volunteer was the message from the Army. I learned in the Navy, that Navy stands for “Never Again Volunteer Yourself”. I did not follow that motto either in my personal life. Mackay also says in his book that volunteers vault ahead and that those old images learned in the military are not how he believes.

Volunteers, pay attention to cues from your prospects, create good habits regarding engaging them and see the rewards from your volunteer activities when the people join your group.

He goes on to reflect on how valuable volunteers are and how much volunteers get back in experience, in his opinion far more than they put in. Habits of success are built on practice and experience. In volunteering you are getting the experience and developing the habits you will be able to use throughout a life time.

To successful people, a cue is often no more than a challenge. The reward is the success in bringing in the challenge under budget or over the required fundraising level or whatever they set out to do. Usually they had to expend energy and often personal capital to get the job done. Once you have successfully managed to meet your goals as an empowered volunteer and the new members are enjoying the group, look for other potential challenges to help out with. Find new rewards to chase and create new cues for new habits!

Fundraising is one skill that is often difficult and yet rewarding. If you could find new members, could you also take those lessons and raise money?

The difference between asking someone to join your group or to donate their money is mostly mental on your part, it is still a commitment on their part and you still have to ask them for either one.

Hopefully during your time as the empowered volunteer you scouted out other opportunities such as places to ask for donations of goods perhaps for the next silent auction or other needs of your group?

You should create the habit of always keeping an eye out for new opportunities for you and the needs for your group. This habit alone is worthy, sometimes you only need to let the appropriate person know of the opportunity and they will be better able to engage the business and gain the help or service needed, due to their private network. You don’t always have to be the only person making things happen. The more you are valued, the more valuable you are in other areas.

Mentally create cues for your habits, practice them until they are natural and then set out to engage the real people of life and reinforce that habit until it either works or you refine it to work. Then reinforce the habit by repeating it and reaping the rewards, every time you are cued to do so.

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