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How to handle the fear of rejection
Many newer salespeople and even experienced reps are literally paralysed by the fear – it grips some so tightly that they can’t make phone calls or conduct face to face meetings. They are so worried about being rejected that they take it personally.
Rejection is inevitable when you’re selling, but you can handle it if you know what to expect and how often to expect it.
My first suggestion is to know your ratios.
- How many calls to qualify a prospect?
- How many calls to reach a decision maker?
- How many calls to confirm an appointment?
The number will vary depending on what medium you’re selling and there’s no science to figuring out this number. But talking to others in your business and paying attention to your own success rate will help you estimate how many rejections to expect. Once you can estimate how many “no’s” you’ll get you can easily work out how close you are to a “yes”.
Some more tips to deal with the fear of rejection:
1. Be prepared. Have a solid script or roadmap to use for all of your phone calls and a clear set of questions for your face to face meetings. Make sure you know what objections to expect and how to handle them.
2. Develop a routine. Such as making phone calls at the same time every day. Remember the more people you speak to the more people you are going to find who have an interest in your product or service
3. Build relationships. Don’t write off prospects if they initially reject you. It doesn’t necessarily mean this person will never be your client – keep the conversation going.
4. Establish your credibility. Create a newsletter or publish posts that establish your authority. You can then communicate regularly with potential customers.
5. Celebrate your success. At the end of every day congratulate yourself on that day’s achievements – how many calls did you make? What objections did you handle? How many businesspeople agreed to meet with you? How many sales sis you close?
Prepare a plan to deal with rejection, implement it and stick to it.
Until next time good selling!!
About the author
Stephen Pead is a media industry veteran of 30 years with significant experience in direct sales, sales management and general management. He is based in Sydney and specialises in helping SME’s market their businesses more effectively and providing training for salespeople and sales managers.
He can be contacted at [email protected]
