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03/11As I write this, I have to admit, I’ve had a pretty challenging and character building week. I’m in the middle of a large number of sales calls… and when I look back at my results, I have not received as many “yes’s” as I would have liked.
Of everyone I’ve seen, I’ve only had around 1 in 5 people say yes to my offer. In other words, every time I see 5 people, 4 of them say no to me. Either what I have to offer is too expensive, or they think they have a better way or they just don’t see the vision I’m painting.
I don’t know about you, but I hate people saying “no” to me… I hate feeling like I wasted my time seeing someone (who appeared qualified) only for them to turn me down.
But here’s the question… are they actually turning me down?
When I first got into sales, I hated people saying “no” even more than I do now. I was so petrified of getting a “no” and being “rejected” that I almost would not even turn up for the sales meeting. I also postponed following up people and I rarely asked for the actual order… hoping that somehow people would just pay me. Stupid right?
Absolutely… but it was how I went through life. Little wonder my bank balance was always closer to zero than I would have liked.
So what’s changed for me? Well, I still hate getting a “no” … but I don’t get hung about it. I’m well aware that, regardless of how good my sales pitch might be, how great my product offering could be, people are still going to say no. It’s just a fact of life.
Sometimes they will say “no” and other times it’s a “not now”… but either way, I don’t get paid.
That does not mean that I give up though… and neither should you.
All of us have been seen and heard of the great Walt Disney and his legacy that he left behind for the world. Yet, he heard “no” from virtually everybody that he spoke to when he first came up with the idea of Mickey Mouse. They thought his idea of a cartoon about a mouse was one of the dumbest things they had ever heard. In fact, when he went to banks to get funding for his first Walt Disney theme park, he was turned down and rejected by 302 bankers before someone finally believed in what he had to offer.
Imagine what kind of loss that would have been for the world… for all the children and adults alike who’s lives have been improved by Disney’s creations… if Walt Disney had not persevered through all the “no’s”.
And he did it by playing the numbers. He knew that he only needed a single yes for his vision to be carried out.
I’ve adopted this exact philosophy in my sales duties. I know that everyone won’t say yes (even if I think they are crazy to say no to me 
) However, I know that approximately 1 in 5 will say yes… so I need to see 5 qualified prospects to get 1 sale.
How about you? What are the numbers that you need? Perhaps it’s 1 in 302 like Disney or 1 in 5 like me.
The other thing to remember as well is that when someone does not accept your offer, they are not rejecting you… they are rejecting what you are selling. It is the product that is being rejected, not you.
It was when I realised this that I stopped worrying about people saying “no” to me. Of course it still bothers me because I truly believe that what I’m selling can change lives. However, I am no longer stopped by the fear of people saying “no”.
So whenever you are looking at selling something… apply the Walt Disney methodology. Sell by the numbers, accept that some people will say no to you no matter what… and just move on. It may be hard to do initially… but it gets easier.
And what’s your other option? Give up? That wasn’t an option for Walt Disney, it’s not an option for me and it should not be an option for you.
Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts on handling rejection. How can you use the Walt Disney Strategy in your life?
To your success,
Niro
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