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Every year companies spend tens of thousands of dollars on training their sales teams in areas like prospecting, questioning and closing more sales. While this type of training is clearly valuable, it fails to address a key factor impacting sales performance. That is, the ability of the salesperson to manage the rejection they face on a daily basis.
It is the gap between ‘knowing’ what to do and actually ‘doing’ it that determines how successful you will be. The smaller the gap between your knowledge and the action you take, the more effective and successful you will be.
In sales and business, it is crucial to have a system where you are asking for referrals, building advocates, and mining your existing database. The reality is that most people don’t do it.
If you ask anyone in business and sales how they are, 9 times out of 10 they will tell you that they are ‘busy’, ‘flat out’ or ‘under the pump’. Most people are, in fact, genuinely busy. However, many are not necessarily busy doing the stuff that they really need to do. I’m talking about the tough stuff, like getting on the phone (instead of email) and contacting clients, following up leads, or prospecting for new clients.
Considering that this type of activity could generate a good portion of your annual business income and sales leads, why do people resist doing it?
Well, there are three reasons, actually – fear of rejection, negative anticipation, and self doubt.
1. Fear of rejection
A lot of self esteem and peer recognition is weighted on achieving results. That’s why rejection can often be taken personally and, hence, avoided. By staying ‘busy’ there is no time to make the calls and risk being rejected and feeling like a failure.
2. Negative anticipation
Previous experiences often drives future action. If you have been rejected before, your brain remembers that experience and warns you each time you risk experiencing that again. So the energy and effort you put into your next call or meeting may be subdued and, hence, the results even less likely. This validates the self fulfilling prophecy of ‘they won’t buy from me’.
3. Self doubt
It is your energy that people follow, are influenced by, or buy from. If you don’t hold yourself in high regard, others won’t either.
People like to buy from, and do business with, those whom they like and trust. Self doubt permeates everything that you do and say and tells people ‘please don’t trust me because I don’t’.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
When salespeople feel stressed about rejection, supplying them with more sales training usually produces little improvement, wastes company resources and can often compound the state of self-doubt their already feeling.
What’s truly needed is practical techniques on how to bounce back. By learning specific strategies for dealing with setbacks, your sales team can become infinitely more productive, more energetic, and more proactive in the sales process – ultimately this means more sales, with less stress and more profit.
To view Michael's full bio click here.
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