10 Ways to Deal with Rejection as an Entrepreneur
For someone that’s been in sales force for 20 years, I can tell you from personal experience I will never forget how I felt the first time I was about to sell or speak to an audience just because I was afraid of rejection. Believe me, I have trained thousands of people over the years and have seen so many ways people react to rejection. From sweating to shaking, to people hoping for the appointment to be canceled. We could list all the ways people react to that fear but that won’t help you to handle rejection and reach that next level.
If you or someone in your sales team is dealing with this and sales, today’s video is for you.
10 Ways to Deal with Rejection as an Entrepreneur
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You Do It All the Time
This list is all about perspective. If you have a hard time dealing with rejection you need to remember you reject all the time yourself. If you unfollow somebody that’s a rejection, if you block them or screen their calls, if you leave texts on unread it’s all rejection. You are not going to stop rejecting people and there is nothing wrong with that. Shift your perspective that fear of rejection and realize you reject people all the time.
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Two Types of Rejection – Personal and Business
If somebody you love and have a personal relationship with rejects you, it makes sense that you are hurt and afraid more rejection like that. If you are rejected by someone in business who doesn’t know you, who doesn’t care for you, and they don’t yet see you being able to fill a need for them, why are you worried? The more that business relationship gets deeper, they feel more committed to doing business with you. Have the perspective to realize that this was someone who doesn’t know you personally and doesn’t see you fitting into their plan or goal yet.
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Lifespan of Feelings
The difference between the high achievers and everybody else is the lifespan of their feelings, or how long they dwell on rejection. Most people hold on way too long to feelings of rejection. Nobody likes getting rejected but the high achievers don’t go around for days and weeks telling everybody about the great rejection they suffered. Your goal is to constantly shorten the lifespan of your rejected feelings. It’s never going to be zero seconds because you are not a robot, but you can work on it to get it to a few minutes or seconds.
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Anticipation
Handling rejection requires you to anticipate. I got the 4 Reasons Why People Buy from Tom Hopkins 20 years ago and it has helped me throughout my career. They are status, peace of mind, security, and need. I like to add one more which is scarcity. There are also 4 Reasons Why People Don’t Buy, which are fear, indecision, procrastination, and never asking. Gaining this perspective will help you tailor your script or presentation based on the client or person you are talking to. You address concerns before they arise and you limit the possibility of rejection.
A great example of this is when I went to buy a Patek Philippe watch the other day. The salesman was telling me how it takes a thousand people to create one watch. It is the reason they are so scarce and such an iconic status symbol. The watch salesman’s pitch was hitting on two big reasons why people sell in order to close the deal. Whatever your product is, you must look at your product and say, why would somebody buy my product? You may not be selling properly. That’s why you’re getting rejected so often because you’re approaching would need and your product is not a need. Shifting to the other side, understanding why people don’t buy can give you the same perspective. Anticipation is key to handling and even lowering rejection.
- Test Your Approach/ Push the Envelope
One of the best decisions I have ever made in my career was to constantly change and test new approaches in selling myself and my business. I would change how I talked to people and discovered what worked and didn’t work. Doing this made me and my business more efficient and minimized rejection.
My favorite technique is to ask the client or person, would you like to be five years younger? What do I mean by this? It is a simple pitch that goes like this, “In the next five years you are going to do business with me. Why? Because I’m not going to stop following up because I know my product is good. I’m just trying to save you five years by doing business today and not waiting because that’ll make you five years younger.” Break the ice and take their order! Test your approach and repeat what works.
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Follow Up King
There is a philosophy that some motivational speakers and salespeople subscribe to and that is that some people will buy, and some people won’t. But that doesn’t acknowledge why you got rejected. Maybe it was your approach, maybe it was your timing, maybe you lead with the wrong product. If you hang up the phone and cross them out because they said ‘no’ this time without any follow-up, how are you going to reach your potential? Becoming the follow-up king is the best way to handle rejection. Let’s look at two stats that better illustrate this point.
92% of salespeople quit before the fifth magical contact they make on follow up. That fifth follow up is when the sale is going to happen, and most salespeople quit before reaching that milestone. Follow up has to do with nurturing a relationship. You need to take notes, know their favorite team and birthday so you build that relationship. Why? Salespeople who build and nurture relationships make 47% more than those that don’t. So, most sales happen after nurturing a relationship and most salespeople aren’t doing it. They let reject stop them from reaching that next level. Change your perspective on following up and you will see results. For more watch the video Customer Experience Vs Customer Service. -
Role Play Your Approach with a Mentor
The next sales call that doesn’t go your way, don’t sit in your car and fume about it for 30 minutes. Meet with your mentor and role play the call over with them. They can provide you with insight that is staring you right in the face. You will lower the possibility of rejection because you are actively making yourself better by reaching out to someone you trust and has more experience than you. Lean on your mentors to fine-tune your approach.
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Master Your FAQ and Trust Them
You should have an FAQ. If you don’t, how do you know what your primary objections and obstacles are? How are you going to overcome them? Build and master your FAQ so you can duplicate your sales model, increase your closing ratio, and lower your risk of rejection. Go around to everyone on your team and compile your list of common objections. Learn your FAQs and trust them.
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Immediate Positive Reaction
Anytime rejection happens you got to distract yourself immediately. It will help shorten your feelings’ lifespan. This is so you can bounce back and make that next call or appointment and have the right mindset going into it.
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Make it Past Fight or Flight
When you try and sell someone a product or service their first reaction can go one or of two ways, fight or flight. Your goal to minimize rejection is to keep that person past this stage. Keep them interested and use some of the other points on this list to overcome their objections. If you do not get past this stage, you will always be rejected because your client is trying to protect themselves not listen to your pitch. It is all about building a comfortable environment either playing to their needs or showing that you care about the relationship. Passing the fight or flight stage puts you in an area where its all about your ability to sell. That’s where you can really shine.
Next Steps: Watch the video The Three Most Important Skills in Sales and register for The Vault Conference. Watch the first video on the website to find out exactly what’s being taught at the first vault conference.
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MESSAGE FROM PATRICK BET-DAVID
Dear Entrepreneur,
Over the years, many of you have asked me why I create content and openly share my strategies with you. The answer is quite simple yet emotional. Simple because I believe the strategies I share can get anyone results living in any country. Emotional because I know how close I was to giving up and just being average and ordinary. How close I was to just throwing in the towel. How close I was to believing my critics that I wasn’t good enough to compete in the market place. I never thought I would wake up one day running a financial firm with nearly 10,000 agents with Oscar De La Hoya as one of my investors. I never thought I’d create a brand called “Valuetainment” that inspires millions of Entrepreneurs around the world. I never thought I would get to a point of having billionaires, politicians, influencers and celebrities on speed dial. But something changed.
I got CLEAR on what I wanted and who I wanted to be.
I got CLEAR on a problem solving strategy that helped me in the war room, board room and the bedroom.
I got CLEAR on effective strategies and hacks that helped me grow during good times and bad times.
I got CLEAR on the type of a leader I want to be and the type of a team I want to build.
This is why “The Vault” is an event you must attend in 2019. I truly believe Valuetainment will be known as the brand that inspired the next generation of great leaders, minds, innovators and Entrepreneurs around the world. I will also be unveiling the vision of Valuetainment at the conference. We are in search for leaders around the world and I can’t wait to meet many of you face to face in Dallas.
Much love,
Patrick Bet-David (Tweet: @patrickbetdavid)
