How To Bounce Back From Rejection In Sales
Any salesperson has been there: you’re on the phone with a prospective customer, the conversation is flowing, and you believe you’re on the verge of closing a deal.
Then, out of nowhere, your prospect stops you dead in your tracks and says, “I’m not interested, thank you.”
What are your plans after that? You may want to panic, hang up, or abandon sales entirely—but you can’t!
Deal with rejection is an important aspect of sales for anyone. That’s why I’ve put together 11 tips for dealing with rejection in sales and bouncing back like Rocky.
1. Try not to take it personally
In most cases, a sales rejection simply means that your product or service was not what the prospect required. Or perhaps they simply couldn’t afford it. It seldom has anything to do with you personally, so don’t get upset if you lose a sale.
2. Be prepared for it
Rejection is unavoidable. It’s a natural and common part of the sales process. Prepare yourself to be unsurprised when a customer says “no.”
3. Maintain your professionalism
Maintain your polite and professional demeanor. Your prospect will remember how well you handled the rejection and stayed polite. If they need your services again, they’ll remember your professionalism and approach you first.
4. Ask why
You won’t know what went wrong unless you ask, so ask why they didn’t choose your product or service. (It may be a minor detail in your proposal that turned them off.)
This information will be useful in future sales calls. Plus, if it’s something you can easily change, you might be able to persuade them and close the deal after all.
5. Submit an impromptu proposal
If you lose a deal to a competitor, make a new offer right away. If something goes wrong with the other company’s deal, you’ll be right there to save the day.
6. Communicate with your teammates
Everyone in sales faces rejection—heck, everyone in life does. So don’t isolate yourself after a failed transaction.
Instead, discuss it with your colleagues. If you want, you can vent your frustrations to them. By communicating with them, you’ll realize you’re not alone, and you might even pick up some useful tips along the way.
7. Consider it a necessary step
If it takes an average of X calls to make a sale, consider each rejection as a step toward a successful closed sales deal. This shapes your mindset that rejections will be beneficial because each one brings you closer to victory.
8. Be persistent
Don’t remove the prospect from your list indefinitely. They may not be interested right now, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be in the future.
Check in with them regularly to see if they’ve changed their minds but don’t pester them too much. You don’t want to be their sales stalker.
9. Maintain your routine
Stick with it if you make a certain number of calls in the morning and a certain number of calls in the afternoon. This will help you stay on track.
10. Concentrate on the positives
Not every call will be turned down. You’ll feel much better about yourself if you focus on the calls you won rather than the ones you lost.
11. Never, ever give up
Don’t give up; keep going. More calls are required if you want to make sales. Furthermore, when you succeed, you’ll no longer be disappointed by rejections and will develop the resilience to bounce back like a champ.
Wrapping Up
For some salespeople, overcoming sales rejection is a real challenge. The thought of losing a deal can be extremely upsetting. However, you shouldn’t let it hold you and your sales team back—let’s concentrate on winning.
