Rejection

 

How many times have you heard the word “NO” when you have called a potential customer, hostess or recruit?  I am sure more times that we want to admit to and each time it may sting just a little, right?

For some, the word NO is a personal rejection and not a NO to the business option presented to that person.  For some, the word NO is just a word and they move on to the next person.  Which one are you?  It has taken a LONG time but I don’t take it personally now.  The truth is:

Picture this:

You go out for lunch or dinner, at the end of the main meal, your wait staff offers you dessert.  You think about it and say “no, thank you”.  Does the wait staff never ask another person if they want dessert?  Does the wait staff go back and beat themselves up because they didn’t sell a dessert?  No, they just go on about their work – offering options to the next customer.

So why is it different in our direct sales business?  Yes, I know that there are LOTS of people who can take the same approach as the wait staff.  I also know that there are many who take it to heart, wondering what they could have done differently or letting the negative feelings take over.  Shaking them off may take a little longer for this person.  Why is it easier for some and not others?

I learned (the hard way) to change my mindset from always looking for a YES to always expecting a NO.  Okay, that sounds a little crazy right?  But when you are looking for the NO, you are excited about the YES.  I am not going to say that it is easy especially for those who are always looking for a YES and almost come to expect it.  It takes practice but changing that mindset can make all of the difference in your business.

The 100 NO challenge is a great way to help to change that mindset:

Start tracking the NOs that you receive when you offer the opportunity to someone.  It can be to host a party, join your team or simply purchase a product.  Now, this doesn’t mean that you should imply the question, it means ASK them specifically.  Would you be interested in (insert the opportunity)?  When they say NO, cross it off.   Believe it or not, for every 10 NOs that you will receive, you will receive a YES.  Then celebrate that YES with a happy dance.  It will feel so good.

 

A NO doesn’t mean that you are in the wrong business.  A NO doesn’t mean that you aren’t good at booking, selling, or recruiting.  A NO simply means that the person is not ready TODAY.  Call them in a week and the answer may be different.

A great lead in for that is when they say NO, ask them if it is okay if you call them back in (enter a time frame).  Maybe it will be month, maybe it will be a different season, to maybe it will be 6 months.  The chances are good that they will give you an okay to call them again.  On the far side that they said, please take me off your list – it is okay.  For the very few customers that tell me not to call again, I tag them to mail them a “thinking of you” card in about 3 months.  Maybe they had a bad day.  Maybe I can get them to smile when they get the card.  Who knows, maybe they will call YOU because you thought of them without getting a sale.

 

 

 

 

 

The key is not to give up.  Who is going to join me in the 100 NO Challenge?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!