It doesn’t really matter what business you’re in, whether it’s sales or a business such as network marketing where you need to recruit people, many of us have to face up to and deal with how to overcome rejection. Rejection, or what appears to be rejection, is something we have to cope with and getting past the “no” is the difficult part for many people. Why? Because they believe it’s somehow THEM that are the problem, when it’s the person they speak to just saying the product, service or opportunity is not for them at the time of asking.
Overcome Rejection By Thinking It’s No For Now.
A good way of handling objection is to consider the “no” as a “no for now”, rather than a downright refusal to do business with you. It may be that what you’re offering the prospect right now is not a good solution for them, but you may be able to help them with something in the future. When you’re asking your initial questions, make sure that you keep the notes you put together for that prospect because you may come across just the thing that can help them in the future.
Don’t dismiss anyone because they said no to your offer. There may be exceptions of course, especially when someone is rude and more than dismissive of you, but in general you will be able to approach someone in the future if you have something of value to offer them. They may say no again, but, one thing is for sure, they will appreciate you thinking of them and know that you mean well in trying to help them. Some people need to be approached several times no matter how much they seem to trust you. Every person is different so when you take their “no” as a no for now, then you can move on to the next person.
Overcome Rejection By Moving On!
Now comes one of the best ways to “overcome rejection”, which is by saying, ok that’s another out of the way – NEXT! When you have accepted the “no for now” situation, make sure you start to consider everything as a numbers game. The more people you approach and talk to, the more chances you have of getting the sale or the recruit into your business. Work on your presentation and treat each “no” as a learning curve and then keep saying NEXT!
As you go through your days, the continuing no replies will get easier. For those of you who may have difficulty in accepting so many people appearing to reject you, you can overcome this by targeting the “no” instead. I got this method from a book called Go For No, and this whole psychology is based on targeting the “no” answer instead of working so hard for the “yes”. It means that you get so used to the “no”, you will get more yes replies and acceptance of you product, service or opportunity. Go out with a daily target of “no” replies and you will be surprised by how many yes replies you will end up getting. When you keep going for the YES, you will work yourself into the stress levels that will be detrimental to your business. If you head out seeking 20 NO answers in a day, but to get the 20 no replies you ended up with 5 yes replies, would that be a good day?
How is this possible? Simply because you won’t be so stressed out searching for the YES. Your presentation and approach will be better because you don’t expect the yes in your subconscious. Hang on to this thought for a minute. More NO replies lead to more YES replies. When you’re relaxed and expect the no, your posture will be different and the way you speak will be different too. It will be like you’re presenting an offer to someone with no expectation and you are not worried if they don’t take up the offer. Why? Because you are programmed to expect the no, you are more confident in your approach and you have accepted that when you get the NO you expect, you just say to yourself – NEXT!
To go for no is one of the best ways I know to overcome rejection. Also it helps you to deliver your message better and also to move on to the person who is most likely going to say no, but you never know, they may just say yes. And remember; when you get the NO you’re expecting make sure you say NEXT!
To the future,
Barrie Evans
P.S. Find out more about the Go For No book and philosophy HERE
September 3, 2014 @ 5:11 pm
what a great idea Barrie! No for now can work on so many different levels too!!
September 5, 2014 @ 9:09 pm
Expecting no instead of striving for the “yes” and not getting it helps so much to relieve the feeling of deflation. The no for now is always a good substitute if someone gives an “unconvincing” no, but the way forward is always to say to yourself “NEXT”
September 3, 2014 @ 5:14 pm
Great post, Barrie!!! Tons of value! Thanks for sharing 🙂 Shared for you
September 5, 2014 @ 9:06 pm
Thanks Joan 🙂
September 3, 2014 @ 6:12 pm
Thanks for sharing your take on this issue, Barrie. I've had many a coaching client come to me because they stall at the step of just trying to move on. They understand the advice as sound from a logical point of view, but have yet to uncover their particular hidden barrier that's preventing them from following through with a logical action step.
— Agree that it helps to, as you say, get used to hearing no's. They are inevitable.
— One thing I've found useful is to let go of the result of asking the "sales" question in the first place. That keeps all no's and yes's in perspective.
September 5, 2014 @ 9:06 pm
Thank you for your valuable input Kat 🙂
September 4, 2014 @ 3:48 pm
Hi Barrie,
Rejection is never easy. I like the concept of moving on to the next, the next, and so on. Even those no”s may even swing back … great, informative post, thank you
September 5, 2014 @ 9:05 pm
Glad to be of help Lesly 🙂
September 6, 2014 @ 3:15 pm
That is an excellent book Barrie, I was at a small seminar with Andrea and Richard and they talked about how the book came about … they are fun people 🙂
The concept of the book changes the way of viewing answers from a prospect, and makes many people more comfortable with presenting their business to others.
Groovy video 🙂
Jacs
September 7, 2014 @ 4:14 pm
Thanks Jacs 🙂
September 7, 2014 @ 4:21 pm
This is a great article Barrie. I look at every opportunity to communicate with a potential customer as a chance to advertise. My first aim is to bring my business or product to their attention. It is like dropping business cards. If you drop enough of them, a few people will call you back. Also, you should follow up on them. Actually, it is not bad if someone sad no. It means that they have considered your proposition. They now know that you exist. How can that be bad? My advise to someone who just started is to keep going. You will get better at it and it will pick up. You have got to believe that this will happen.
September 8, 2014 @ 1:15 pm
Good points Joe. Thanks for your input 🙂
September 13, 2014 @ 5:56 pm
Excellent post Barrie! Great points covered here – we have to just ‘get over it’ lol! And yes, a ‘no’ doesn’t always mean no, but either way we should never dwell on it, as it means to move on and find the ‘Yes’ we are looking for in partnership with our vision and goals for business. Thanks for sharing!
September 25, 2014 @ 3:12 pm
Great post and video, I also like to add this when it comes to overcoming objection never ever take the rejection personal. Many times objections do come up during a prospecting process because the individual who is doing the prospecting is not confident in their mindset first in asking the right questions. This is why on our industry you are required to get your mindset shifted from an employee to entrepreneurial thinking. Start asking questions about the prospect more in detail, and really care about the person you are talking to. Find out what their goals are and what type of problem they need your help in solving for them. People love to buy but hate to be sold to. Rember that.
October 9, 2014 @ 8:00 am
Great Post!! You never Know WHEN someone will change their Mind!
October 10, 2014 @ 10:21 pm
Very true Tara. Someone can change their mind from one minute to the other and we never know when that will happen.