When one door closes, another dozen could soon slam shut. Yes, if you work in sales you’ll know everyone hits a losing streak at some point.
But if you want to build a brilliant career in this sector – and a quick look at the openings on s1jobs reveals the great opportunities out there – it’s vital to find a way to handle rejection.
And what better way than by learning lessons from a profession where rejection is pretty much part of the job?
Actors hear ‘No!’ more often than umbrella sellers in the Sahara.
Even famous stars get knock-backs, no matter if they have Oscars on the shelf in the downstairs loo and a proven record for packing in punters at the box office.
Hollywood star Mark Ruffalo is one such A-lister. He reputedly suffered 800 rejections before a casting director was willing to take a chance on him.
Experienced sales people recognise customers say ‘no’ at least seven times before they say yes, which is why persistence is so important – along with an ability not to take rejection personally.
So how do actors such as Ruffalo do it?
Analyse your performance
Did you listen before you spoke? Did you stick rigidly to a script or did you pick up on the cues coming from the audience and ad-lib your lines accordingly? Thinking on your feet is vital for sales success.
Learn from rejection
Is there anything you could have done better or did you get feedback that could be useful next time? Don’t allow hurt feelings to get in the way of a valuable learning experience.
Don’t give up
Just because one person said no doesn’t mean everyone will. Don’t see obstacles where they don’t exist and never be afraid to go back to the original lead. Just think of every ‘no’ you hear as one step closer to a ‘yes’.
Hold out for the big boss
There’s no point in delivering your best Shakespearian monologue to the assistant stage manager while the director has skipped out for lunch. And it’s the same when pitching to a new client. Are you sure the person you are seeing is someone with the power to say ‘yes’? If not, you’re wasting your time.
Get over it
There’s nothing to be gained from dwelling on what went wrong. There are lessons to be learned but once you’ve absorbed them, anything else is just bearing a grudge and that will impact on your future performance.
Now let’s turn every small no into a big yes with the latest Sales vacancies from s1jobs.