As a mentor, I spend a lot of time working with clients to identify their character and personality type and then giving them strategies to "cope" with the natural reluctance to expose themselves to rejection. A lot of these come down to negative motivation - in other words, if we don’t pick up the phone, the potential "pain" could be a lot worse.
EVERYBODY'S ON THE PHONE
Here are just a few things to think about if you are reluctant to pick up the phone and get prospecting for potential new clients for your business.
How would you feel if they went to a competitor?
Imagine that after a lot of procrastinating you finally pick up the phone and call that prospect, only to find out they signed up with your biggest rival last week. How would you feel? If you’re anything like me, pretty damn frustrated!
I’m like everyone else in that I don’t like losing, but I absolutely hate losing when I could have done something about it. Use this as an inspiration to avoid procrastinating and just get it done. As with other areas of our lives, there are lots of princes and princesses to meet out there but only if
you’re prepared to kiss a few frogs!
Turn the rejection on its head
This is one of my favourites, and it’s the technique that works for me every time. Don’t sit down and set yourself the target of making one sales appointment on Monday morning. Flip it, and set yourself the target of getting 10 rejections and reward yourself when you do!
This isn’t negative thinking - we’re not aiming to fail. But this is allowing you to see every "no" and being one step closer to the next "yes". Always be positive and hopeful on each call, but if it turns out to be a rejection then mark it down with pride as one more towards your reward.
Even the least "sales-y" people enjoy hitting targets and achieving rewards, even small or silly ones. Our brains enjoy the feeling of winning much more than losing, so set yourself the task of winning the rejection game.
Don’t take it personally
Ok, I know in the cold light of day that seems rather obvious. However, you’d be amazed at how many people do take a business rejection as a personal slight. Lots of people don’t hear "No, I don’t want your product" as "No, I don’t want/like you".
Remember that it’s just business. Heck, it’s just life in general. After all, you didn’t marry everyone you had a date with did you? No (well, I hope not otherwise you’ve had an expensive time of it). Sometimes things just aren’t right for one or both parties. Nothing to do with the individuals, but circumstances.
Selling is exactly like dating and relationships. Everyone isn’t compatible with everyone else, but there are plenty of people we are compatible with - you just have to put yourself out there and find them.
Learn from Rejection
This goes back to my introduction. When you engage with new prospects using a well-practised script and templates, you can always learn from it. Those lessons are incredibly valuable, and in the longer term, they are more valuable to your business than one isolated sale. Why? Because a sale doesn’t teach you anything except how to sell to the person who said yes - and you already did that! Rejection teaches you what you need to do differently next time you encounter a similar situation.
So, as regulars will no doubt be tired of hearing me say, analyse every call and meeting you have and extract those learning points. Maybe the person was interested in a different issue than the questions you asked? Perhaps the person you asked to speak to had left, and so you need to improve your information sources? When they said they were busy, did you just apologise and hang up or did you ask them for a better time and date to call back?
Challenges make you stronger
Ok, that sounds a little bit "twee" and like something you might find in a crappy self-help book. That may be so, but it’s bloody right! Sometimes, doing things we find the most difficult and getting through it does make us stronger.
I have faced many issues and had numerous challenges to deal with over the years. What I have learned is that dealing with issues takes you out the other side more resilient and with greater self-belief. The word "no" doesn’t feel good at the time, but if you accept it, learn from it, deal with the reasons behind it, then move on you will be amazed at how you will develop as a person.
What’s worse?
Ok, so this is kind of the "nuclear option" because it’s forcing you to choose from two negatives. But for some people, this is the key mental focus to have.
What is worse? An uncomfortable couple of hours on the phone or in meetings with someone who doesn’t know you and doesn’t particularly care about you, who says "no"? Or losing your business, losing your livelihood, maybe even losing your house?
For some people, focusing on doing the "least painful thing" is what they need. Some of us will always find prospecting and cold calling painful, uncomfortable, and unpleasant. But keeping in mind the likely results of not doing it can make it just about bearable enough to get it done.