News flash – working in sales, you’ll have LOADS more doors shut in your face compared to how many are opened.
If that really is the 1st time you’re learning that fact, contact me as I’ve got some more truths for you to help you decide if sales really is for you.
Rejection is a guaranteed daily occurrence and anybody still working in sales after 12mths is mainly doing so because they don’t take rejection personally, they don’t allow it to affect their mentality and they move quickly onto the next activity. It’s a critical aspect of working in sales. Some people can brush it off, some can’t. Those who can aren’t ‘better’ than those who can’t – they’re just more suitable for working in sales.
Some salespeople actively chase rejection. They start every new engagement aiming to find a valid reason why they should be rejected by the other party. If they can’t find one after extensive probing then they know they have an amazing opportunity in front of them which is worthy of more time, more focus and more energy. If they do find a valid reason to be rejected then they’ve saved everyone from wasting time, focus and energy which could be better spent elsewhere. These types of salespeople aren’t initially focusing on all of the good reasons why the other party should listen; they’re pushing to disqualify out asap because, for them, a clear and valid ‘no’ is just as good to get as a clear and valid ‘yes’.
A lot of sales training will teach that a ‘no’ can sometimes really mean ‘NOt right now’ i.e. the customer does have a genuine need for your product but at another time. That is very often the truth which should lead to you nurturing the engagement until the right time comes. However, one outcome of this training has been that some salespeople believe they have to turn every ‘no’ into a ‘yes’. This approach is a major contributor to the negative perception of salespeople as well as not helping followers of this ‘advice’ learn about effective time management and qualification; significantly crucial aspects for being successful in sales.
WORKING IN SALES MEANS YOU CANNOT WIN THEM ALL
There are plenty of completely valid reasons why you’ll fail to close opportunities; the competition have a better product, the customer is acquired by another business who already have preferred suppliers and, sometimes, it just comes down to pricing and the commercials. Of course you should push back on initial rejection to make sure it’s completely valid but, as you will waste time on other things whilst you keep working on getting the next yes, be grateful for every quick and valid ‘no’ that helps reduce the time until the next win!
