“It’s about growth, it’s about resiliency, it’s about becoming rejection-proof. So you can forage ahead and find the favorable outcomes.” – Meshell Baker in today’s Tip 1612
Do you accept rejection?
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Meshell Baker, our favorite sales confidence igniter and authentic selling crusader. Here she is:
Meshell Baker: Hello. Today, I want to talk about becoming a rejection-proof seller. First, I want to define for you the difference between reject and rejection. You see, reject is a verb that simply means that someone has refused to accept, use, believe, or consider your offer. That’s it. They just didn’t want it. No doesn’t mean not never, just means not now, means that they’re budgeting, their timing, they didn’t see the value. It simply means that they decided that they didn’t want to accept what you were offering. That’s it. That’s on them.
Now, rejection is when it becomes your feeling about what has transpired. You internalizing their no as a sense of hurt feelings or lack of worthiness on your part. We’re really going to talk about how you can feel safe in the midst of hearing all these rejections.
Selling is a challenging job. You are hearing rejections all day long. We know the statistics. The more you go out and you prospect, the more likely you’re going to hear no. It’s also the more likely you’re going to hear yes. To get to the yeses, you have to go through the nos.
A quote by B. Smith, I have stood on a mountain of nos for one yes. However, in our culture, because career success is often directly linked to your self-worth, people begin to feel a sense of lack of acceptance, lack of appreciation, lack of esteem when they keep being rejected.
I want you to understand, successful sellers have conditioned themselves to understand that the more nos I hear, the more likely I’ll hear a yes. They tell a different story. People who linger in the rejection actually do not know how to tell themselves a great story about the no.
So if you want to feel safe, I’m going to give you an acronym, S-A-F-F-E, yes, I doubled the F in the SAFE.
Switching your mindset about rejection, viewing no as not now rather than not never. Recognizing that rejection is a standard part of doing business and sales, shifting it from feeling personal, which goes to the A.
Avoid taking it personal, discouraging the habit of internalizing and telling yourself a story about what you did wrong or how you could have been better and just looking at it as performance. Like any great athlete or any great performer that gets on stage and has paid millions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of dollars to get out there and perform, you, a seller, are the same type of athlete. Condition yourself to play the game tape and go back out and take the shot again and again and again. The more you practice, the more you’re prepared to feel that no is nothing.
The F – Feedback is separate from the person. So when you’re really good at this, you will begin to ask the feedback. Even when they tell you no, you can leave that interaction valuable for the person listening to you and you’ll be able to garner some feedback about why they said no. What was it? Was there anything you could have done different? You’ll be able to establish a relationship regardless on the no.
That’s the second F. Focus on the opportunity. When you’re shifting from just trying to transact with that person and you’re actually focused on creating valuable outcomes, you literally understand even if they say no, it’s still a valuable opportunity to interact. Hey, I know this was a no for you. Is there anyone else you know that would find this valuable? Look, we’ve had such a great time. I’ve had such an incredible time learning about your business and your need and what you’re attempting to solve. I know you said no to me. I am going to follow up with you to see how it’s going. You can definitely… I am invested in your success so you will hear from me, which leaves the door open for you to go back. You never know what’s going to happen down the line. Always plant a seed. Regardless of the outcome, leave that person better off for having met with you and you create numerous opportunities.
An E is Embrace the no. It’s just simply a word. You give the word meanings. If someone spoke to you in a foreign language and told you you were horrible, you wouldn’t know. The only way you know is because you know the language. So make up a language about no. Make it a game in your head so you’re telling yourself a different story about no. You have this.
Remember, it’s about growth, it’s about resiliency, it’s about becoming rejection-proof. So you can forage ahead and find the favorable outcomes. Have a great day selling.
Scott Ingram: For links to connect with Meshell and more, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1612. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come right back for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!