Don’t take it personally

This article came from the ChangingMinds.org. As a salesperson, appropriately dealing with rejection is a test that we will all be faced with. Here are some tips from ChangingMinds on how to evaluate rejection as a learning experience.

http://changingminds.org/disciplines/sales/articles/dealing_with_no.htm

One of the hardest things for a sales person to deal with is a flat refusal, which is perhaps why cold calling is one of the most disliked activities. If, however, you can turn a refusal into an interesting and valuable experience, then your job can become much more interesting!

It’s easy to take a rejection of a product or sales call as a rejection of you, personally. It seems as if the people don’t like you in some way, or that you have personally failed somehow.

If you take this position, you are going to be a very sad person. Sales is full of rejections. You need at least to learn to put failures behind you. Look forward. There are many more people out there who are desperate for what you are selling.

Be objective. Separate the problem from the person, just as you might when you are selling. In fact you can sell to yourself the benefits of (this time) not completing the sale.

Leave the door open

Thank the person, whatever they say. Thank them for their time and for listening. Appreciate their situation and why they are not ready to take things further today (note the assumption that they may be ready another day).

Never take revenge, even with little snide remarks, because that will mean that at minimum they will never buy from you or your company again and maybe they will take revenge on your revenge, such as calling your boss or complaining about aggravation.

Learn from it

Take the opportunity to learn from what happened.

Think about the conversation, what was said and how it flowed. Think about the body language and voice tone. Were there any key moments when things went awry? How might it have been different? How might another person act and talk, perhaps a sales person you admire?

Be open and honest (but not berating) with yourself. Do you have any deep needs or limiting beliefs that are getting in the way? Are there any preferences that you have that are making you miss things? Are you trapped in any dysfunctional games that are preventing you from selling more often?

After telling them that you accept they are not ready now, you may also ask them for feedback on how you performed as a sales person and how you can be more effective. This can be effective sometimes are re-opening the door as they realize that you are a concerned person.

Did you know that asking good questions is one of the most important aspects in sales? As a MOB member, are you asking your potential clients important and thought-provoking questions that peak their buying interest? Questions can serve a few purposes including engaging your client in conversation as well as helping to build trust and a good rapport.

Here are some tips from the guys over at The Brooks Group for all your MOBsters to help you formulate questions for your clients . Read the full article here for more tips!

1. Know exactly what you plan to ask – before you ever get in front of a prospect. Be careful, however, to make sure that your questions don’t sound “canned” in the way that you phrase them. This is where in-depth pre-call planning comes in.
2. Ask open-ended and indirect questions – when you ask only “yes” or “no” type questions, you’re actually discour-aging your prospect from opening up and offering more information. “Yes” or “no” questions often set a negative tone for your interaction as well. Open-ended questions help prospects tell you how they feel, what they want, or what they think.
3. Strategically phrase your questions – getting the prospect to relate how he or she perceives his or her problems, needs, or value-added expectations can help you to improve the chances of closing the sale. When you ask the right questions, the prospect will provide invaluable answers in terms of how you can sell your product or service to them.
4. Aim your questions – try to use your questions to identify the one dominant drive that your prospect has. When you begin to notice a common thread that courses throughout your prospect’s answers, you’re probably homing in on their dominant need, problem or expectation. Once you are able to identify this thread, you should aim your questions in that direction in order to further your understanding of the way that your product or service can satisfy what the prospect is trying to accomplish.
5. Uncover your prospect’s buying motives – ask several questions that will help you understand what is motivating our prospect to buy. These motives are important, because if you focus on the motivations as well as the agenda of your prospect, you will stand a much better chance of finalizing a transaction.

Welcome, MOBs!

 

I’ve set this blog up as a place for members of Disaboom’s Marketplace Opportunity Brokers team to share and exchange sales tips, stories, and more. To reach me and share your MOB tips or stories, click here or leave a comment. I’ll publish the best tips and stories in the blog.

For those who’ve stumbled across this blog and aren’t already hip to the MOB groove, I’m talking about Disaboom’s new program, through which you can make a 33.3% commission by selling local business listings. It’s new, totally legit, and all you need is basic sales skills and the drive to earn money from home, while setting your own hours. I’ve never seen a similar opportunity with no cost to get started, and I think this is going to be huge, particularly within the disability community.

I’ll start by posting some basics on how to get started and a tutorial walking you through making your first sale. Got a suggestion or a tip? Let me know!