Is there any worse feeling than being told “no”? Or worse yet… hearing nothing at all? Learning how to handle rejection is one of the hardest tasks anyone has to master.
This feeling alone is what prevents so many aspiring and new entrepreneurs from achieving the consistency needed to make their goals a reality. Being told it just once is enough to believe that your idea doesn’t have legs and will never make any money.
But here’s the thing. Being a successful leader requires successfully managing rejection on a regular basis. It’s in a leader’s strength that you inspire others to be fearless and follow suit.
As a professional speaker, most people don’t realize that for every speaking engagement I book, I had to pitch almost 50 other opportunities I was rejected from prior to landing the one successful one.
Get ready to start feeling empowered every time you hear a “no”. Today I’m sharing with you exactly how to better handle rejection, which will allow you to continue on to find the solution that ultimately works best for you, your clients, and your new business.
Understand hearing “no” is not personal
Imagine if you took the word “yes” as personally as you take the word “no”.
What if every time someone said they want to sign up for your service, or buy your product, that you left feeling defeated and like an imposter. Ridiculous, isn’t it?
Someone deciding whether or not to engage with you is not a reflection of your worth or value.
There can be so many different reasons behind that no that have absolutely nothing to do with you. Maybe it’s not the right timing, they don’t have the resource to invest, etc.
Just because someone tells you no doesn’t mean there isn’t someone hoping and praying they’ll meet someone just like you to say yes to!! This is why learning how to handle rejection is so important!
So the next time you get rejected, remember it has absolutely nothing to do with you and try not to take it personally. If you do, it often means you’re not focused on what’s best for the customer, and that’s no good for any parties involved.
Every “no” is a step closer to “yes”
Each time you hear “no”, you’re a step closer to hearing “yes”.
Success, especially in skills like sales, is a numbers game.
The most seasoned salespeople understand that if their average closing rate is 30%, to get one sale they need to speak to a minimum of 3 people. They expect those two no’s as part of that journey to hearing the “yes”.
So today I challenge you to sit down and figure out your numbers. How many people have you made proposals to in the last month? How many of those said yes? How many said no? What percentage did they break out as?
When you know you need to get X number of yes’s… you’ll be able to confidently figure out exactly how many calls, and “no’s”, you’ll need to hear to get there.
Set a number of “no’s” you aspire to collect
Who here loves a good game?
If you struggle with rejection, a great one to play is to collect the number of “no’s” you hear in a day.
The key thing here is by adopting this practice, you’re building up the habit of hearing something uncomfortable each and every day. Eventually, the words will sting a hell of a lot less than they did before.
This is because the words no longer carry the same weight because you hear them more often. This wouldn’t be possible if you didn’t push yourself out of your comfort zone and put yourself in a position in order to hear it more.
So set a number you aspire to collect today and get to work getting them! When you do, you’ll not only have mastered how to handle rejection, but you’ll be a pro at collecting “no’s”
In Summary…
So there you have it! When you stop taking “no’s” personally, adopt the mindset each one gets you closer to a “yes”, and start to aspire to hear more of them, you’ll feel more empowered to remain consistent in your actions in order to achieve your desired results.
Persistence and the ability to keep going after failure is one of the most essential traits entrepreneurs have.
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