Handling Rejection
Today I want to talk about rejection, because selling is rejection, plain and simple. The top sales people can deal with it, the rest can’t. Ask any Sales Executive and they’ll all tell you the same thing. The biggest reason their salespeople do not bring in enough business is that they don’t see enough people. They don’t see enough people, because they fear rejection. They fear rejection because they don’t know how much rejection they need. They don’t track their activity.
The only way to handle rejection is to know how much rejection you need. How many times do I have to dial the phone to speak to a decision maker, how many decision makers do I need to speak with to get an appointment? How many appointments do I need to go on to close a sale?
If you learn to track your activity, answer these questions and know your success ratios, you’ll be able to laugh at rejection, which will motivate you to make the calls resulting in far more appointments, and guess what, more sales and lots of money in your pocket.
“No Today Only Means “No” Today
When prospecting on the phone it’s counterproductive to argue or debate with someone who is saying “No.” You’re wasting time when you could be making more calls and the odds of turning around that “No” are worse than the chances of getting a “Yes,” on the next call. Your best bet is to say, “Thank you very much, have a great day,” and move on.
Besides, nothing says you can’t call back the prospect who said, “No.” Remember, “No” today only means “No” today, not tomorrow, next week or next month. How do you know the prospect wasn’t having a bad day the first time you called?
Now if you’re worried they might remember you when you call back, don’t worry, they won’t. No offense to you, but none of us are that memorable.
So the next time you’re on the phone with someone who has no desire to see you, hang up, move on and make the next call. But next week, go back to your “No” prospect, because “No” today only means “No” today.
Why Appointments Get Cancelled
Do you know the biggest reason appointments get cancelled? Believe it or not it’s because salespeople call on the morning of the appointment to confirm. Think about it. Has this happened to you?
You call and say, “Mr. Jones, I just want to make sure we’re still on for today.” He replies, “I’m glad you called.” And right around then you’re NOT glad you called.
The second you say, “I just want to make sure we’re still on for today,” what you’re really telling Mr. Jones is, “Mr. Jones, here’s your chance. I don’t know if you knew you could cancel, but if you didn’t, you know it now. Here’s your shot if you want to take it.
My feeling is, unless the appointment is 2-3 hours away; just go! Unless you can show me, in your calendar that you’re all booked up, just go! Yes, there’s a chance Mr. Jones won’t show up. So what. Leave a note saying “I was here where were you?” Chances are he’ll feel bad and you’ll have a much easier time getting the appointment and the sale. Remember, guilt is a great motivator.
About Warren Greshes
Warren Greshes is the Sales expert featured on The Accelerate with Ascend Panel. As an internationally acclaimed Hall of Fame speaker, top-selling author, consultant, broadcaster, podcaster, educational products producer and former minor league baseball team owner, Warren has been travelling and performing around the world for the past 30 years building his brand, in front of audiences as small as 6 people and as large as 10,000. Meet Warren and the other Pros on Feb. 17 at:
Invictus Office Center
601 Fayetteville St. Suite 300
Durham, NC 27701
10am – 2pm