Facing Sales Rejection
“ Rejection just motivates me to keep trying and to do better.” - Sasha Grey
Why do some people shy away from pursuing sales as a career ? Rejection. Who wants to face rejection ? No one that I know. The fact remains that if you are selling any product or service, you will inevitably face rejection from prospects who simply say “no”. Sometimes the prospect does not overtly reject you, but rather they ignore or avoid you. They do not respond to your email , your texts,or return your phone calls. In this situation, it is easy to feel brushed aside and kicked to the curb. At a time like this, you have to look rejection square in the eye, take a deep breath, pick up your sword and shield; and run back into the battle. Here are a few tactics I have used over the years to cope with sales rejection.
Don’t Take It Personally. This is a tough thing to do but it works. It’s a mind game that you play with yourself that can keep you from getting discouraged and giving up. You tell yourself, “ This person is not rejecting ME per se, but rather my product or service. I am not a bad person. People like me and want to work with me. “ There could be any number of reasons why they shut you down. You may find out a later date, or you might never know. Detach and move forward.
Show Them the Value . Zig Ziglar, my motivational hero, liked to give the analogy that when prospective customers say “NO!”, they are merely telling us that we have not shown them enough value to equal their cost. If our value can effectively increase in the prospect’s eyes, so can our chances of landing their business. If you receive a “no” right out of the gate, take that as a challenge to show more value for your products or services. Assure your prospect that it is a win/win scenario. No one likes to lose.
Bad Timing. Timing is everything. The time to discuss how many children you would like to have is not when your wife is screaming in the labor and delivery room. Sometimes in sales, you can have the right people and the right product at the wrong time. This culminates in rejection with sayings like, “ not right now” or “ come back later”, which we realize can sometimes be stall tactics; but in some circumstances, can be very legitimate. How you handle this will probably depend on your type of sales and market place. I have seen residential sales people faced with this response, and they closed their eyes, opened them, then told the prospective client, “ Ok, let’s pretend it’s tomorrow. What’s changed ? Why not sign up today ?” If your market is more of a commercial nature, it might be wise to exercise some empathy, and set a later date as to when you can get back to the prospect. If an architect or end-user is in the middle of project, they don’t need a pushy salesperson hammering them for a decision and trying too hard to close them. Major turn off. Why not send them a meeting reminder with an invitation to talk about meeting ? This is not threatening to most people. “Ok… we can talk about this later. “ If you respect someone’s time, then they may be willing to give you more of theirs at a later date. This “not right now” response can be turned into a “ Yes !” in the future, ONLY if you are organized and diligent to follow up and keep your promise to contact this prospect. The fortune is in the follow up. I’ve seen it work.
Don’t fear rejection. Embrace it as part of doing business. Take the risk and keep knocking, and never give up !
“ Most fears of rejection rest on the desire for approval from other people. Don’t base your self-esteem on their opinions. “ - Harvey Mackay
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