One of the toughest aspects about owning a business is to hear a client say “No thanks” to your sales pitch or proposal. In this economy, you may hear those two words more than you like. So how do you keep on selling after a rejection?
Well, Melody and I have had our share of rejection and have developed ways of effectively handling it. Here is what works for us:
1. When you are feeling down talk to someone.
The advantage of a partnership is that Melody and I can cheer each other up. For example, if I am feeling down from a rejection Melody can cheer me up. If you don’t have a partner, find someone who will support you and put the rejection into perspective.
2. Don’t personalize the rejection. Be objective.
We have all heard this before at some time in our lives. But in business this is especially true. Typically most times a prospect doesn’t buy your service it is for a business reason, such as they don’t have the money to spend, and nothing else.
3. Realize you will need so many no’s before you hear a yes.
Turn each rejection into a statistic. For example in your sales cycle you may have to hear eight “no’s” from propects before you hear one “yes”. Knowing this, if you get a rejection you can say to yourself ”that’s OK because I need eight ‘no’s’ before I make a sale.”
4. Use each sales pitch that didn’t result in a sale as a learning experience
Melody and I examine each selling presentation we have given and list what we did well and what we could improve on. If you do this, you learn from any mistakes you may have made and continuously improve your pitch.
5. Lastly, go out and do something else!
Sometimes you just need a little break from business. After work I go out and ride my horse. Riding is very therapeutic since when you ride you must focus on your horse and tend to forget the troubles of the day. After my ride, I always feel much more relaxed and up beat.
Now What?
If you enjoyed this post, nothing would make me happier than if you responded on your own blog, commented below, or subscribed for more updates.
November 17th, 2008 at 11:16 am
These are wonderful suggestions for handling rejection. Aside from my blog, I’m also a job search counselor. Rejection is a huge part of looking for a new position and it can be both frustrating and depressing. I’m going to share your tips with my clients. Thanks!
November 19th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Thanks Eileen for the comment. Yes rejection sure hurts. In this economy your clients must really need to dig deep inside to keep on going.
BTW: I love your website http://feistysideoffifty.com!
November 17th, 2009 at 2:58 am
this was really helpful, i have just taken on a new role in sales and could make a good living from it but i found that i may not be any good at selling.. so i thought rather than give up find a way thru it.. hence the search for ways to get around rejection…
thanks for the tips, will try and use them tomoro.
March 15th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Thanks for this post. A negative blog post sent me reeling, but you have helped me put things into perspective.
Thank you.
March 16th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Great post! I am just starting out in community management/marketing media and trying to learn how to do it well – resources like this article are incredibly helpful. As our company is based in the US, it?s all a bit new to us. The example above is something that I worry about as well, how to show your own genuine enthusiasm and share the fact that your product is useful in that case.