Previous Blogs
Adapt, Evolve, Adjust to the Times
June 20, 2011
Setting Clear Expectations
May 6, 2011
Timing is Everything
March 24, 2011
Always Bring Your “A” Game
February 16, 2011
Uncovering The Decision Maker
January 12, 2011
Know When to Hold ‘Em, Know When to Show ‘Em
November 29, 2010
Innovation vs Rejection
October 14, 2010
I like it, but what's in it for me?
September 20, 2010
Seeing, Hearing, Feeling...The 3 Senses of Sales
August 24, 2010
Your actions speak so loud; I can’t hear what you are saying!
July 12, 2010
Sending the Right Message
May 31, 2010
2 Ears, 1 Mouth...
April 24, 2010
Play to Win!
March 21, 2010
Why does Winning Matter?
February 27, 2010
The Road to Success is Filled With Potholes
Tweet
July 22, 2011
As sales people, we square up to the face of rejection everyday that we hit the pavement. This is a fact, and whether you are the top seller on your team or working your way up, each person hits a pothole every once in a while. What differentiates the good sellers from the great sellers is that great sellers view rejection as opportunity rather than an roadblock and find a way to cash in and grow from each experience. Even when told no, if we can walk away from an account with more than we walked in with, then we will never walk away from an account as a failure.
Walking away with more does not necessarily mean gaining more business. Sales is a numbers game, and as we all know, “you can’t win them all”. But, where we can find victory at each account, regardless of the outcome, is through self-assessment and development. After every account we call on, we should be asking ourselves the same few questions:
- What did I do well?
- What will I continue to do?
- What could I have done different to affect the outcome?
- What areas do I feel that I need more development?
- What will I do differently moving forward?
While it only takes minutes to answer these questions, the information uncovered during the self-assessment period will go miles for building future success. But, only if we hold ourselves accountable and set achievable goals based on the information we uncover. Development is a two-part act, and it’s important that we follow through on our actions to improve our success ratios and stay on the right track.
All too often, we take rejection as a failure. Rejection is only a failure if we allow it to be. If we continually review our actions, how that led to the outcome of the opportunity, and how we will proceed moving forward, then there is no possible way we could ever look at an account as a failure. Win or lose, each experience we have and each prospect we meet should be viewed as an opportunity to grow, and as we learn from these opportunities and set new goals for ourselves, we are laying the pavement for the highway to success.