Sales rejection can be very painful for a lot of people. Some people actually stop making calls so they don’t have to feel the rejection! If this is you, you may be experiencing call reluctance. Often times you don’t meet your goals because of FEAR…Fear of rejection, fear of the unknown, fear of failure or fear of success. Fear of rejection will keep you from making phone calls or meeting with new prospects.

Verance Consulting. Sales Rejection

Does sales rejection keep you from meeting your goals?

We learned to ask for what we wanted at a very young age. Sometimes we got what we wanted and other times we didn’t. A “NO” did not stop us from asking again or trying a different approach. A “NO” generally did not make us fearful of asking again.

When I was in college I tried out for the softball team. I thought I was pretty good and asked the coach for a softball scholarship. While I did not get a full scholarship, I did get a partial scholarship, which paid for tuition and books. We don’t have anything to lose by asking, but we have everything to lose by not asking.

Why does sales rejection stop you in your tracks when you take on a sales role? I admit, early in my sales career, it stopped me. Those early days of hearing 9 “NO’s” to get to 1 “YES” was painful. I wish a trainer or mentor had been there to tell me it was normal in sales to feel this way. I learned if you want to be successful in sales, you certainly have to persevere, be willing to put yourself out there and step out of your comfort zone. Later in my sales career, a “NO” to me was just a maybe for a different day. Many of the companies I called on told me no, I continued to pursue and several of them became my largest accounts.

If you are experiencing call reluctance, feel the fear and do it anyway. I promise it does go away. The more calls you make, the better you become and your confidence grows. Think about it through a sports analogy. If you grew up playing sports, you didn’t become an expert overnight, you practiced drills, played in scrimmage games then played in real games. You got incrementally better with each practice and each game.  I grew up playing softball and cannot tell you how many times I played catch, practiced drills, and participated in games from the time I was 10 through college. Let’s just say it was a lot! So, why do you expect to be so good in sales when you haven’t practiced or learned the skills you need to be successful?

4 keys to Overcome Sales Rejection

  1. Keep in mind your prospect is not rejecting YOU, it is not about you personally. They may not need your product or service at this time.
  2. Do you sell a product or service you believe in? If you don’t think your product or service will add value to your customer find a new product to sell.
  3. Why didn’t you make the sale? After every meeting with a new prospect, ask yourself… What did you do well? Where could you improve? Did you uncover their needs? Did you give the buyer what they needed to make a decision? Did you ask them to buy?
  4. Learn new skills. Learn how to communicate more effectively with different personality types and you will close more business in less time.

Sales rejection may keep you from asking for the business because if you don’t ask, they won’t say no. However, keep in mind, when you do ask, you get a lot more people to say yes. Winning new customers will eliminate sales rejection pretty quickly.

Shelly Pereira is a Sales Trainer and Certified B.A.N.K. Personality Sales Trainer with Verance Consulting.