A counter-productive, but popular attitude is to underestimate you prospect’s intelligence. I suppose by doing this you can sometimes soften the blow of “rejection.” After all, the guy who just turned down your supremely perfect proposal must be a dummy, right? Not necessarily.
Most people are smarter than you or I give them credit for. They may not be book smart or school smart, but people usually know which end is up, particularly when it comes to their businesses. Don’t make the mistake of selling people short. Deal with them on a level playing the field with respect and sincerity. You will not only enjoy the results, but you’ll find more pleasure in what you’re doing for a living.
Take Pride In Your Job
What you do for a living is important, and it affects more people than you realize. If you haven’t already done so, it is about time for you to adopt this mindset.
Maybe your immediate supervisors are so busy with their own problems that they fail to reinforce the importance of your contributions. An amateur can easily get bent out of shape when this happens. A professional knows the importance of his or her contribution and doesn’t need to hear it from others on an hourly basis. (But they do need to hear it from time to time, just like everyone else does.)
Sure, we enjoy the sound of others applauding our work, but we don’t depend on it to do our jobs. We know that we add value to our company and to our customers. You are a professional. Take pride in that fact.
Don’t Take Rejection Personally
The notion that rejection comes with the territory is a myth. If you insist on interpreting events as a rejection, then I want you to please absorb this advice: Taking rejection personally is an enormous waste of time. There are a whole bunch of “no’s” attached to this profession, and these usually have nothing to do with you. Sales, my friends, is not about you. Sales never has been about you. Sales will never be about you. Sales is, was and always will be about a buyer with a pre-existing need for a service or product and you coming to the rescue.
You are the conduit…the middle person. You are the mailman, the purveyor of information. You simply cannot take this thing personally, either good or bad. A decision to pass up the chance to buy probably would have occurred with you or without you.
You can only help those in the “buying” mode. Coaxing somebody to buy when they are not ready or interested borders on cheating, lying and scamming. I don’t know about you but I find these terms to be unflattering and maybe even revolting.
Do not waste your time or any one else’s time within earshot by taking rejection personally. Do what is right and you never have to apologize. It is not about you.
Mike Marchev has plenty of stories, strategies and tactics to keep you on top of your game.
Mike will be conducting his 5th annual Travel Sales & Marketing Business Development Cruise, sailing the Freedom of The Seas from Ft. Lauderdale. Email him at mike@mikemarchev.com for complete details. Five cabins are still available.
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