The Bounce Back Factor
Maybe you know the following quote by Robert Frost, the poet. It's one of my favorites.
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
I like these words for the insight they seem to offer. That no matter the ups and downs that we encounter daily, life goes on and we should stay in the moment and enjoy every minute. Of course, that's my interpretation.
I also like how you can apply the principle of 'life goes on' to the sales profession. High-performing salespeople succeed every day. They also fail every day but what helps them recover from their losses quickly is their mindset. High-performers believe that a 'no sale' is an opportunity to learn from a negative experience, take a lesson and turn it into a positive experience that will help them execute more effectively in the future. They bounce back fast and are ready for the next sales call.
When an average performing salesperson gets a 'no' they dwell on it. They make excuses for not getting the sale. Soon their sales effort is dead in the water. Their inability to recover from rejection quickly has sabotaged them again.
Want to improve your (or your sales team's) ability to recover from rejection? Here are two things to do immediately:
1) Begin working on increasing the the size of your sales pipeline and the number of qualified prospects in it. Knowing that you have other opportunities to work on if you get a 'no' from any prospect is a great confidence booster and will help you maintain your selling behavior momentum.
2) Change your view of what rejection or a failure to get the sale really means. It doesn't mean you look around for external reasons that justify the outcome. Getting a 'no' allows you an opportunity to take a lesson–for example, drilling down further into the prospect's budget issues to determine whether they truly qualify for your offering. Turn the negative experience into a positive one and bounce back quicker.
Making these changes will result in a more productive, effective, efficient sales effort.
And remember, life goes on. Go live it!