Show notes
In order to turn the tables on rejection in sales, there are very specific steps you can take, and we work with our clients to help them do that every day of the week.
David: Hi and welcome back in today's episode co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the idea of turning the tables on rejection in sales. Welcome back, Jay.
Jay: Hey Dave, it's always good to talk with you and I love these topics. They're so important I think more than anything, at least for me, rejection, fear of rejection stops me from doing a lot of things that I know I should be doing.
David: Yeah. And you are really not alone. I think we've all felt that way at one point or other. I know there was a period of time, a lot of years ago, where I was so frustrated by this that I'm like, okay, what can we do? To not just try to overcome it, not just try to overcome the fear, but to actually turn the tables on rejection in sales.
And essentially what I came up with is that in order to make that happen, we have to take the initiative in terms of identifying the types of clients that we want, the types of clients that we will accept. And by leading with that strength, going into each prospecting opportunity with the idea that I may accept this client, I may not.
They may accept me, they may not. If the two of us agree that we want to work together, we will. And if one of us doesn't want to work together, we won't. And being okay with that, Once I embraced that idea and that concept, everything became a lot easier.
Jay: Yeah. So just a paradigm shift. I will tell you, and this is no joke, before we dive into your concept a little bit more, I went to a doctor and I said, just give me a drug that makes me not fear rejection. He didn't have it, but hey, I was willing to try anything.
David: Yeah, it's funny because you would think there'd be something for that. I guess maybe something that might relax you or make you not care as much about the rejection, but, short of medication, I think the idea of sort of reframing it in some ways and saying, all right, I'm going to do what I can on my end in terms of identifying the clients that I want to work with.
And just by doing that, you can actually eliminate a lot of rejection when you decide in advance that there are some people you're going to talk to that are probably just not a good fit for you.
Jay: Yeah, I love this and I feel like I've been doing this, but not purposefully like you're talking about. I get to the point now where when I talk to somebody and they're not interested, I almost feel glad.
Because through the conversation, I learn they're not really a good fit for me. So we both kind of decide that on our own. We wish each other well. I add them to our drip campaign and it's done. I can hang up the phone call and do other work or move on to the next call.
David: Yeah. It's so much better when you're able to take an approach like that and feel good about the fact that we really weren't born to do business with anyone who can fog a mirror, right?
It's not an ideal scenario for either of us. I also realized at some point or other that rejection in some ways can actually be a tool to help you find better clients, whether you're the one who's rejecting them, basically saying, okay, this isn't a good fit.
Or even in a situation where if you decide you would potentially like to work with them, if they decide they don't want to work with you, if you view it as essentially a way for you to be able to find better clients, that also makes it quite a bit easier to take.
Jay: Yeah, I think I told you in the past, my dad was a salesman his whole life and I asked him how did you deal with rejection and he said I look at no's as a positive.
I know what my close rate is. I know how many cold calls I have to make. And so every time I got a no, that means I was one step closer to the yes. So, changing your outlook, your mindset, it actually made him feel good.
Okay, one more closer. I got that no. And so I'm on my way.
David: Yeah. And going along with that exact mindset, when you recognize that every wrong client that you take on is going to cost you time, money and energy that could be spent with better quality clients, that also makes it a lot easier to deal with.
Jay: Yeah. And I, when somebody says they don't want to work with me, I'm like, whoo. You know, it's like,
David: Slipped the noose!
Jay: That's right. Because they've listened to my services. They've listened to my spiel. They know what I'm going to cost. And if after that, they're like, you know, or even when they start asking for discounts and things like that, we've just learned.
No, we're proud of our product. We know what it's worth. We know what it costs. And if you're not in that strike zone, then whew, I'm glad that we decided before we went any further.
David: Yeah, the idea of just clients in general, particularly when you're starting out in business, it's like, okay, I need clients.
I want to bring a new client through the door. It's all about client, client, client, or customer, customer, customer, whatever you refer to the people as. But one of the terms that I tend to use a lot in my material and just what I'm talking to prospects and clients in general is the idea of the ideal client.
What is the ideal client? Who exactly are the types of customers and clients that you want to work with? And when you come up with your own sort of filter of the types of prospects and clients you want, it really allows you to be far more selective in terms of who you bring through the door, but it also allows you to feel a lot less concerned when you talk to somebody who's not a good fit. Because you don't feel like, Oh, I have to sell this person anyway.
Jay: Yeah. And , you had mentioned something to me in a previous podcast that really hit home. And it kind of changed the way that I look at things.
You talked about the salesperson interviewing the potential client to see if they're a good fit as much as the other way around. And I find myself now saying, is this somebody that I even want to close or do I want to start getting out of this conversation early.
Sometimes now in the first 2 or 3 minutes, I can say, this one's not going to work out. It's not going to go the way that I want it to And so let's get it over with.
So I love that idea that i'm interviewing them As much as they're interviewing me.
David: Exactly. Because you can't decide for them whether or not they want to work with you. And they can't decide whether you want to work with them, right? We can only make those decisions for ourselves. When we realize that, I think everything gets a whole lot easier.
Jay: Oh, I agree with you and I love easy when you do sales. Right? And then the other thing that I know we've talked about a little bit is if you can change your sales pitch into more of a feeling like you're not pushing your services on them, but they really need your services.
I mean, I'll give you an example. I never have to tell somebody, Okay, let me show you what our costs are. Never have to do that. They always ask me, What are your fees?
And to me, that's such a great place to be. I'm not a salesperson. I'm just somebody showing them what our expenses are. And then when we get to the screen that has our expenses, I say.
Would you like me to walk you through each of these? Right? I'm never, "okay, let me show you each of these and this is the most important for you" and, and whatever. And then they'll say things like, " well, I really think maybe the third package is something that would work for us." And I'd say, "you know what, based on our conversation, that's probably right. And let me tell you some of the other benefits."
So there's no real sales going on at all. I'm just answering questions. To me, that is the most beautiful way to be doing sales. And there's really no chance of feeling like I got rejected. Because they're the ones asking the questions, right?
David: Exactly. And there's also a layer of exclusivity that comes with that. When you are in a position where you can say to somebody, "Hey, I don't think this is a good fit," where you can make that determination as you're having the conversation.
"Listen, based on what you told me, from my side, it sounds to me like you're a perfect fit for this. It seems to me like this is something worth pursuing. What's your take?"
And then they'll say either. Yeah, I agree. It sounds like this is something that's good. Because then at that point, it's okay to have conversations about, what's it going to cost and how does it all work and everything like that?
Because until you can get to the point where you're in basic agreement about whether you even want to work together at all, the price doesn't even matter at that point.
In some sense, the deliverables don't even matter at that point. You want to get a good feel up front for whether or not this is the type of person you can interact with.
And if it is. Then you go forward with it. And if it's not, there's not a lot of point wasting a lot of time, as you just indicated.
Jay: Yeah. And, it depends on the type of business, but in my case, I'm looking for partners. I'm looking for a long term relationships, year after year after year. I'm not looking for the turn them and burn them, one time hit.
It really surprises me though, how often now I say. You know what? I really don't think that we're right for you, for whatever reason. And early on, I would have been clawing and scratching to get their money And it would turn into heartaches for both sides.
And I just say it comfortably. I'm like sometimes i'll say I know I shouldn't be talking you out of our services, but I really think that because of abc and d This is not going to be a match and they really appreciate that. And if anything does change down the line,