For some reason, I was thinking about handling rejection this AM. Maybe because I am doing follow up calls today and know there may be some that will say, not right now..follow up in a couple of weeks. Who likes that? But then I began to think of rejection and compared it to the lessons we were taught from our parents way back when.
Stay with me, I think you’ll understand!
I thought of it in terms of what we were all taught as babies just learning to walk for the first time. How many times did we fall on our bum before we actually made it upright? And when we fell, did we just say..”well that’s it, I guess I’ll just stay on all fours the rest of my life, what a loser. I just can’t do this anymore. It’s just too hard!”
No! Neither did mom or dad! They encouraged us to get right back up on our feet and try again. No matter how many attempts we had to make before we took that long walk! We and our parents had complete confidence that we would make it no matter how many times we “failed” and fell on our bums. And we learned lessons from all of those falls!
In sales, we are constantly facing rejection and many times think of it as a form of failure. From getting that appointment to asking all the right questions, to getting to that need of a designer.
I have been told multiple times when I am training, “Oh I cannot ask that! They will never give me that kind of information”.
I think those beliefs are buried in fear of rejection and ultimately failure! People are comfortable with their avoidance of rejection and many times need great coaching to work through that fear!
But I have found that if you think about rejection differently, it’s not so scary! You can get on your feet much faster and make that next call or ask that next question. You’ll see, you’ll live though it!
So here’s my coaching tip!
Look at rejection as a lesson; and one step closer to making you a better sales person and even closer to that sale!
If you find yourself rejected in some way, don’t beat yourself up! Better to ask yourself, how could I have asked that differently? What could I try next time? Why did this not end up the way I envisioned? What could I change that could have better results next time.
What lesson(s) did I learned from that?
Next time spend your time more effectively. Instead of getting out those self-imposed boxing gloves to beat yourself up or feel badly, take a breath and think back on all those lessons you learned just trying to do what comes so effortlessly to you now, walking!
