How do you overcome failure and rejection?

Everyone fails and gets rejected at some point in their lives. It's a part of life. But it doesn't mean you're a loser. It just means you're human. Here's how I overcome failure and rejection: 1. I allow myself to feel my emotions. It's okay to be sad, angry, or disappointed. Don't try to bottle up your feelings or pretend you're okay when you're not. 2. I remind myself that I'm not alone. Everyone fails and gets rejected at some point. It's part of being human. 3. I try to learn from my mistakes. What went wrong? What could I have done differently? Once I understand, I avoid making the same mistakes again. 4. I don't give up. Failure and rejection are setbacks, but they're not the end of the world. I keep trying, even when it's hard.

Follow up is key! Don’t take that NO as it’s over! When someone says no always try to find their pain level & see how you can help them get rid of that pain!

Failure and rejection happens to the best of us. Its how you use it as a motivational tool. It should be used as a driver to make your next attempt harder for the next reviewer to refuse. During my time as a sales rep there were plenty of times I was turned down in my approach for new business. I never took it as a rejection of me as a person nor my sales skills. It forced me to better prepare for sales pitches and have a full understanding of the target business. Unless you really understand the company that you are selling to you cant truly show how they would benefit from your product or service. Acknowledge the initial disappointment and use it as a driver for your next approach.

These days in my life I think of my family putting food on the table for them, that is my true motivation. Everyone fails, correction everyone does not always make the sale. There are multiple elements that play a role with making or not making the sale. Trust, loyalty to a different person or company, and price. These are all things that play a role with the sale. Don't beat yourself up and don't be afraid to ask a person who said no, why did you not go with me? Learn from it, the majority will be open to letting you know. Learn your strengths Learn your weaknesses Grow yourself stronger Exercise/games with groups, it will help release the stresses going on in life. Last, don't be afraid to say I don't know, but let me get back with you.

Once you accept that you'll mostly face a no rather than a yes in your approaches...you can start to feel differently about 'rejection.' Start measuring sales results the same way you measure 'marketing' results and you'll reach this conclusion. There is NO FAILURE. ONLY DATA. e.g. The data says we are targeting the wrong people. The data says our script sucks. The data says we are not articulating the problem sufficiently well. Better to report back to the boss who asks "how's it going" with Well the data is telling me.....

Our shortcomings often offer a myriad of lessons to absorb and adapt from. The next time you fail to achieve your goal or fall short of a milestone, remember to stop and take stock of not only the journey along the way, but the new journey that begins with the ending of another. Often looking back on the factors that led to your initial feeling of failure will lead you to new patterns of success. Remember, it isn't self-detrimental to take note of where you failed and what went wrong, but instead, should be perceived as preventative action. However, dwelling on the mistakes can be counterproductive - don't get lost in the sauce, just find new ways to cook the entrée.

Here's an exercise I recommend. Run a report every quarter (or more often if it make sense for you) of Closed Lost deals. What do they have in common? What negative feedback are you hearing? This will point towards areas that need improving.

You must be willing to grown and learn actively, constantly and in difficult situations, or you're going to get stuck. Grow from your mistakes. Don't just learn from them. Knowledge isn't power. APPLIED knowledge is power. Make sure the mistake wasn't in vain. Grow. Adjust. Shift. Refocus. Realign your purpose. Don't allow the negative self-talk to last. Rebound faster. Get back up quicker. Get back in there and move on to the next one easier. You can do this!

Negative feedback is also feedback. My team always analyzes it to understand what could be done better in every situation. Always thank your prospects if you've gotten a negative response from them because it will help you become better next time.

Celebrate your wins - no matter how small. Figured out a way to get the quota of calls in and it feels more natural! WIN! Determined a more systematic way of researching your potential clients? WIN! Figured out a way to easier connect with leads? WIN! Closed the deal? WIN WIN WIN!

Reframe your income goals into sales behavior. For example, if my income goal is $100,000 and I make $5,000 per sale, that means I need to make 20 sales per year. I also happen to know that I close the sale with 90% of the prospects I present to… that means I need to have roughly 25 presentations to be comfortable. Here’s where it gets fun… I know it takes about 40 cold calls (phone or in person) to end up with one presentation. Thats 1,000 cold calls a year. 83 a month. 20 a week. 4 a day. Ready for this? I now know that every single cold call I make, I’m paying myself $100 toward my income goal. Regardless of outcome. All of a sudden things feel more manageable and rejection is just part of the process. I still got my $100. Enjoy!

I would suggest to focus on the game and leave the results for the end - losing a deal, a meeting opportunity is not failure logically. You just have to be consistent at it, understand this is a probability game - higher the effort, probability will be higher for a positive outcome! For rejections, don’t take them personally, take it on the service/product you sell - idea is to detach yourself with the outcome again and you will feel balanced with the rejections and acceptances both.

Active listening is crucial in sales as we all know. But so is active thinking. Critical thinking is key. You need to be assessing, reassessing, reapproaching all day. Take feedback and reframe the next call or meeting with a new attitude. Be present. Be an active listener and be an active thinker in those meetings. DO not go to autopilot because you think you've got this one in the bag. The ones you think you definitely have are the ones you should be giving your absolute all to, or trying out an opportunity or upsell. Challenge yourself more than anyone else does or will!

Agree! It’s great inspiration to remember that the most successful leaders, athletes, inventors, etc. and the most intelligent minds have ALL been there! There isn’t any successful human who has never been told “no” at some point in their career. Keep pushing and stay positive. What if the greats had given up??

Emotion in sales can be for a number of reasons and may feel incredibly personal. I once lost a large client that I had sacrificed nights, weekends and holidays for, over and over again. It wasn’t my fault. It was out of my control to meet their wants with my company resources. They left abruptly without warning and nearly quit interacting with me completely. It hurt my feelings and drove me to change companies, which was a good move overall. I learned then that while I was building deep relationships, these were not friends. They were clients. Money was driving the relationship and blurring that line is a risk to your performance. Know your worth. Then remember that some can’t afford you and some have other needs.

Avoid getting too high or too low. Wins & losses, ups & downs are a natural part of sales. Focus on consistency > perfection. Process > outcome. Focus on getting 1% better every day. I like to focus on 1 "do-or-die" task everyday, and if that's the only thing I accomplish it was still a successful day. If this is challenging, work on building the skills of noticing and naming your emotions (I have some book recommendations on this topic if interested).

Exactly. That’s the way I look at it. People are going to tell you no and people will tell you let’s do it. Just keep going and growing!

The moment I realized that failure and success were both imposters in my life was the day was the day that I learned it is ok to fail as long as you have the courage to continue on. Failure is not final and success is not forever so I treat those two imposters the same.