"I've Been Dumped!": Handling Sales Rejection

It probably has happened more than you'd expect but everyone has been dumped, at one time or another, especially in selling. Unless you're born lucky, you'd want to get past it as quickly as possible.

Sales rejection can be quite a challenge to overcome but nonetheless, it's not impossible to get over it. You can start moving on with these tips:


It's not you, it's me.
Yes, it is the customer, not you. It's the product or the service that you're offering that they're rejecting, not you. So don't take it too personally. It might be a wrong timing for them, they might just be looking around, maybe they haven't decided yet or probably, they don't have a need for it yet but the important thing to know is YOU, as a human being, are not being rejected.


I'm not the right one for you.
Which might be true. "There are many fishes in the sea." That line is not only applicable to dating but also to selling. Why would you be so hung up on someone who doesn't see and need your product's/services' worth? You'll get only more and more frustrated and you'll also get those who already said NO, more and more irritated. Focus instead on the endless supply of "fishes" in the sea.


We need to see other people.
Again, true. Network, network, network. You don't know how many are going to say NO until you've talked to them all.You'll never know someone who badly needs your product or service until you've contacted them. Or until they were referred to you. 


I need some space.
They might just be browsing around, just comparing prices & quality so they can't commit. Yet. So there's a probability that they will come back. Keep your emotions at bay and let them look around, even at your competitor. Just keep your doors open and keep on entertaining as many customers as possible. Those who said No the first time might just turn up anytime, ready to buy from you.

Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
Or in this case, it's better to try and be rejected than never trying and never being rejected at all. Michael Jordan & Albert Einstein had to go through it to be the best at their field. So persevere and don't ever quit.




Just think about this, the faster you churn out NOs, the higher the probability you'll have a YES. Keep track of the rejections that you've received, take note of how many it was until you've reached a YES. So the next time you're getting rejected continuously, you'd turn that into something positive: "You're one step close to your next sale! Just keep the REJECTIONS coming!"

Tips on Finding Prospects Online

Google or any search sites might come in handy but knowing how to search for it, what keywords to use and what words to eliminate would make your search easier.

Finding by Job Title

Typically, one would type in the targeted company and the designation of your prospect. You might type in, for example, Company name-sales manager. Which will either give you a lot of search results, especially if you're searching in a large, international corporation, it would give you a whole bunch of manager titles, most of which might be indirectly related to your targeted company.

They key to making your search easier is by narrowing down your results. 

Typing sales manager -GE would get you 1,380,000 results.

Instead of just typing the company name then the job title, key in first the designation followed by the website. Restrict the search results to sites that are relevant to the company that you are looking for. 

For example, try typing in "sales manager" site:www.ge.com 

The search results would be greatly reduced to 230.

Locating by business email address

You might think getting an email address of a prospect might be tricky, especially if you don't have any direct contact with them but in a way, it's easier to locate one if their corporate email address is the same with the company website. Just type in @company website and you'd surely find business email addresses associated with that company. 

You can also mix it up and search by email address & job title. Just place the job title at the beginning of your search and enclosed it with quotation marks. An example would be "sales manager"- @ge.com

You might find what you are looking for or you'll probably get a whole of results that you have to comb through. Either way, once you've gotten a list of decent corporate email addresses, remember to never, ever spam them. It will create a negative impression on your company and spammers using corporate or even-non corporate email addresses can be blocked and you'll end up losing the opportunity to new business.

Research first, Sell Later

Having the most innovative, most beneficial, most cost-reducing product in the market doesn't necessarily translate to immediately closing a sale, especially after a major presentation. It takes more than great features or a reasonable price for a product to sell; you have to know those customers who's really keen on your product.

That's where the the importance of research comes in.Your research must be able to provide you with the following:

1. Recent mentions

The internet is readily available to provide you with the basic information you would need to relate to a client. You don't have to know every personal detail about them, just gather those that would seem appropriate for a small talk, eg. article mentioning client, similar professional connections or interest, general news on client's company so as to make them comfortable about you personally.

2. Relevance

How exactly does your product fit into their business? Have they used something similar before and what were the feedbacks? This is a must, otherwise, they won't see the need to acquire your services or products.

3. Problems

Again, a vital part of your research for you to relate your product as a solution. Remember though to state their difficulties in a positive way, as that works better than telling them what they already know. Point out also, in a positive way, the methods they've done that were not as successful, then lead them to your product as a solution.

4. Competitors

Have they done or offered something similar? Is your product really better than theirs? You don't have to just focus on comparing your product with your competitors, you can also compare them to their own competitors, eg, current, similar issues, how did they handle it and such.

5. Benefits

What could they gain from the product a few months from now? Specify and relate it to their goals. Will it increase sales revenue by what percent? Will it lower down the cost to what degree? Will it gain them more leads and by how much in a term?

Of course, researching the latest trends about your industry is a must, as well as knowing by heart the latest features or updates regarding your product but what is most essential is doing some research on your client. No matter how exceptionally useful your product might be, at the end of the day, customers buy from those who understands what they really need and not from those who think they know what customers really need. Research from their point of view, not from a salesman's point of view.

Pre-approach & Dating: Why it Matters

Pre-approach is thorough research done to become more familiar with your prospects. It's necessary to obtain information about them beforehand to increase chances of closing a sale and gaining a new customer. 

Think of it as the dates and the "research" one has done before a marriage. They've either looked up the potential partner online (facebook, myspace, digg, etc), asked common friends then tested the waters. That way, you'll more prepared for the encounter, know what jokes to deliver, what turns on your particular date, especially if you want to get serious with them.

Pre-approach is exactly like that. It also shows your respect and consideration for your prospects by knowing their full names and how to address them, how to plan out your presentation for them, knowing their quirks and their nuances.

Pre-approach helps in qualifying prospects. It saves you from wasting yours and your prospect's time. Suppose you've already finished a sales presentation with someone and who seems willing and able to help you out, only to find that they are not the actual decision makers? Any response where you'd express the desire to meet the decision maker may not be taken well by the person and would show your lack of preparation. Suppose you found out at the end of your date, he/she is a close relative? Now that would be really uncomfortable.

Pre-approach also gives you some essential background on how the prospect might respond. Knowing beforehand how to communicate with them will give you the upper hand. Some might see the need for your product but are just too busy to spend time listening to you. Others might be willing to talk but are not really the customers you're looking for. The most challenging types are those who haven't identified their needs yet and also keeps slamming the door at you. So determining how to handle and how to communicate your message regarding your prospect's needs would really be an advantage. Apply that knowledge as well in dating and you'd be able to widen your circle and get to know more potential partners.

Pre-approach also provides a way to easily relate to your prospects. You might share an interest with them, have read the same book, are rooting for the same basketball team. Use that as an opener, pique their interest by genuinely sharing those similar topics, create that small talk.Connect with them as casually as possible. They'll be more open and more willing to listen to you once you've gained a bit of their respect & trust. And that also includes dating.

Blind dates might be fun but for a professional activity, particularly for a sales prospect, that could be a real turn-off. So pre-approach, date around, do your homework and know your prospect.

Finding New Prospects Online

Prospecting is crucial to any business as it further increases your chances of making a sale or at least making it known to your target that you have something to sell. It might seem easy especially with today's technology but knowing where to quickly locate new, quality prospects would give you an upper hand among your peers.

Using the internet is probably the most popular if not the easiest method. But where exactly do you start? Here are a couple of ways to start finding those prospects:

1. Linked-in

There are thousands of individuals & companies from around the globe in this professional network. You can easily connect with someone by joining a group & its discussions. Searching for a specific individual is narrowed down by selections such as designation, location, industry, years of experience & more. 

You can follow your prospects activities once they've added you in their network. You might find your prospect posting a message in a similar group, asking for assistance or more information about a product or service and you might be the one that they are looking for. You can also directly message anyone in your group or network. Either way, you can connect with them easily on a professional level.

Think of it as Facebook but more for business activities.

2. Facebook

Although networking here might be more casual than Linked-in, still you'll never know if your market is out there until you start searching. They could be friends of friends. They could have liked a relevant Facebook groups/pages. Either way, someone is bound to discover your services.

3. Twitter

Look for groups or individuals by interest (entertainment, business, art, technology, etc). You can also type in a particular hashtag, which categorizes or "tags" twitted topics. Find people with such tags and look at their profile. It might a potential prospect who might also be connected to other prospects in the future.

4. Discussion Forums

Find a suitable forum where there a lot of useful content related to your business and try having a discussion with it's members. 

If you aren't familiar on how to join online discussion forums, try "lurking" around. And by lurking, I mean just observe first. Don't jump in if you're still not sure how it works. Just read the topics and how the discussion goes first, get a feel of the forum environment. Then if you're really itching to discuss something, introduce yourself first and dive in.

4. Publications

Industry leaders who have blogs, newspapers, journals and any written publication online will also have more followers that could be commenting on those articles. Try to see who seems to be the most active commentator, check out their profile and gauge if they can be a potential prospect. If not, maybe they'd know someone who's in need of your product so don't ignore them just yet. 

Communicate with them through commenting in the said online article. If you think you're already comfortable talking online, message them personally. You never know what their response might be until you do so.

5. B2B Contact Database

Dozens of companies offer a customized way of getting massive leads. But what if you could just easily select and download those contacts, without having to go through the long process of negotiating and getting data? Try an online contact database. Download a few contacts and see if they are that really accurate. If you've gotten a 95% accuracy rate, that probably means that the database is consistent in delivering accurate, validated contacts. Start picking & getting contacts would be as easy as 1-2-3.

There are a lot of ways to look for prospects; trade shows, phone/building directories, referrals, community organizations and such. The internet though, is an easier method and social media is also a great help in reaching out to those prospects.

Stop Hesitating and Start Prospecting

Sales prospecting is considered an important yet a dreaded, fearful task. The lack of knowledge in effective prospecting often leads to a variety of invented fears (fear of cold calling, fear of rejection, fear of wasting yours & the prospect's time). It can be quite a frustrating process, especially if you're just starting out in the sales industry but for the pros, looking for prospects is a fun yet challenging task.

Without proper know-hows on prospecting, you might view it as a burden rather than a helpful task. But how would you sell if you have no buyers, not even a prospect? So consider first how to overcome those prospecting reluctance:

1. Believe in the power of prospecting.
Yes, again, its all about the attitude. If you believe prospecting will never work and that you'd just be wasting your time, then a sales profession might not the be right one for you.

If you're eager to sell, you must be also eager to prospect. Psyche yourself up, give yourself a little pep talk everyday, make it a daily affirmation. You don't have to necessarily tell yourself that you love prospecting but it would really help if you do. "Fake it till you make it" or in this case think about it as a "need/want" until it becomes a habit.

2. Stop making excuses.
It will lead you to nowhere. If you find yourself thinking of something that would prevent you from even starting prospecting, stop immediately that trail of thought. Stop rationalizing those excuses and just start prospecting. Just plunge in. Just do it.

3. Set a goal and push yourself towards achieving it.
Have you ever been late to an important meeting? Think of those things that you had to do in order to arrive on time. Think of the urgency, the need to do it because you have to; skipping breakfast, driving like a maniac, running like someone is after you, pausing for a few seconds to fix yourself while inhaling one deep breath and telling yourself that you can do this, you're the man, you're the best and so on and so forth then slowly calming your nerves and smiling while walking to your important meeting.

That's how your goal for prospecting should be like. If you're just starting out, set a manageable goal for the week. How may contacts SHOULD YOU, NOT CAN, make in a week? How may contacts SHOULD YOU, NOT CAN, get in a day? Get a calendar and cross out the dates every time you meet your goal. Put that calendar in a place where you can easily see it. You'd be surprise at your progress and at the number of prospects you've made at the end of the month. If you're feeling already the weariness or prospecting taking its tolls, stop for a bit and tell yourself  "I can do this, I am the master of my own universe.." and other similar affirmations that would psyche you up. Think & say every inspiring thought that comes to mind. Get a coffee, listen to an upbeat music, relax for a while, do everything you can to not stop prospecting, even for day.

Prospecting at first, would not an enjoyable experience, especially if you have no idea how to do it. But once you've learned the basics, applied that and you do it on an everyday basis, you'd eventually get the hang of it to the point of even making it into a habit. Eventually you'd feel incomplete when you haven't done even a single prospecting for a day and you'd actually look forward to doing it, everyday.

So just do it. Start prospecting right now!