Rejection is inevitable in sales, but it can also be a powerful learning opportunity. How do you teach your sales team to handle rejection positively and productively? Here are some tips to help you coach your salespeople to learn from rejection and improve their performance.
Rejection can trigger negative emotions such as frustration, anger, disappointment, or fear. These emotions can affect your salespeople's confidence, motivation, and resilience. As a sales coach, you need to acknowledge and validate your salespeople's feelings, and help them cope with them constructively. You can use techniques such as active listening, empathy, reframing, and self-compassion to help your salespeople process their emotions and move on.
Remind your team that every NO gets them closer to a YES. Sales is not linear, but there is always a next step and a path forward. Look to keep things moving.
Rejection is a natural part of sales. Show me a salesperson who closes 100% of the time and I’ll be first in line to hire them. Put a ranking system in place. Depending on your industry, IF your closing ratio is 1 in 7 you’re doing ok, 1 in 5 is really good and 1 in 3 is outstanding. That means you should be rejected, expect it and learn from it, but move on to the next call. One more call per day might mean the difference between total rejection and “so you’re telling me there’s a chance”. Optimism and a positive attitude will help you persevere, the moment a buyer smells your rejection, you become that salesperson no one wants to buy from. Having Confidence (not arrogance) combined with a true faith in your product/service equals success
Rejections are problem statements waiting to be solved, one should never take it personally, after all if the key doesn't fit, do you get angry at the lock.
I have been in sales for over 35 years in the coffee industry and this is very competitive. As you have said, don't see a No as rejection. I always ask clients why, as this will help me going forward - help me change my approach - maybe we are not doing what that customer wants, so it's not a rejection as such! Always leave on a positive note as the client may not be happy with their choice and want to return to you to renegotiate - alway leave the door open!
1. Tell them "Rejection" is also part of the sales process. 2. Ask them to speak to the customer and understand the reasons for rejection. 3. Ask the team to self-analyze, learn from their rejection. 4. Regular meetings and discussions with the team will help them avoid rejection and anticipate what can happen. 5. To be successful those rejections will help you.
Rejection can also provide valuable feedback on your salespeople's strengths and weaknesses. You can help your salespeople learn from rejection by reviewing the feedback they received from the prospects, and identifying what went well and what can be improved. You can use tools such as call recordings, CRM notes, or surveys to collect and analyze the feedback. You can also ask your salespeople to reflect on their own performance and share their insights.
Though many companies are loathe to go there, feedback on rejection must include prospects’ view of the product or service on offer. Value propositions, appropriate positioning, support materials and company reputation play a role… often before a salesperson says hello! Without acknowledging obstacles prior, it is like sending a salesperson to the lion’s den.
Call recordings are a great way to transform rejection into a valuable learning experience for your salespeople by diving into the specifics of what went well and what could be improved. Self-assessment can also be a powerful tool for personal growth
Rejection is actually a very good way identify loopholes in your sales and marketing approach/strategy. It also help you get leads and customers' perception of your brand, thereby giving you the opportunity to do it better. So, next time you face rejection, see it as an opportunity to improve on your initial approach.
Some ways to get started on reviewing feedback: 1.) Find an accountability partner to watch game film with - preferably someone that will give you the raw, uncut truth on where you can improve 2.) Create a systematic time for learning and review. Don't do it everyday. Once a week is good enough, but make sure this time is sacred and used for improvement. Consistency is the key to growing. 3.) Eliminate the need to improve in multiple areas are once. New sales people can get bombarded with skills to improve. Pick one to start. Try to find an area (Tone, Call structure, activity) and dedicate a pre-negotiated amount of time to it before switching course.
Training - Training and more Training. Sales teams should receive product training and sales training on a regular schedule, Similarly a great sales manager always has his hands in the dirty and should be selling alongside his team, Review and workshop rejections together.
Based on the feedback, you can help your salespeople improve their skills and strategies for future sales situations. You can use methods such as role-playing, coaching sessions, training modules, or peer mentoring to reinforce the skills that your salespeople need to succeed. You can also set specific and measurable goals for your salespeople to track their progress and celebrate their achievements.
We used to use race cars on the white board to represent every no they received. If you play the odds we were to get a yes at the end of the row. It just reminded them of the no’s have lessons and if you take those lessons to the next stop, the yes will make you forget about all the no’s.
These metrics are as important as wins. It's vital that you and your team understand "why it happened" which is often rooted in the qualifying stages of the sale, sometimes in the controllables by the rep. (timing, material presented, etc.). It's imperative, especially for those in the early stages of their career, to see that 9/10 times, it's not personal and you just got alittle bit better. Also, all the more reason to take time and properly celebrate the wins.
Feedback has been instrumental in my sales career's success. Role-playing objection-handling scenarios and refining my pitch have proven highly effective. Analyzing call recordings from top performers expedited my onboarding, providing valuable examples of 'great calls' and 'avoidable pitfalls.' This not only fast-tracked my success but also streamlined training and enhanced the customer experience, making it a win-win for all stakeholders
Encourage your team to reflect on the experience, pinpoint areas for improvement, and brainstorm alternative strategies. By analyzing each rejection, sales professionals can gain valuable insights and refine their approach, increasing their chances of success in future sales opportunities.
Finally, you can help your salespeople rebuild a positive and growth-oriented mindset after rejection. You can help them see rejection as a normal and temporary part of sales, and not as a personal failure or a permanent setback. You can also help them focus on the positive aspects of their sales journey, such as their accomplishments, their learnings, their potential, and their value. You can also encourage them to adopt a proactive and optimistic attitude towards their sales opportunities, and to seek out new challenges and experiences.
In my experience, perspective helps. Opportunities come and go for many reasons. Treating one better than the other is the real issue, that can be a career ender. We hear our top performing athletes say it all the time….”it’s just another game (opportunity). I will just prepare like I do every night we take the field”
In my opinion, mindset is the most important aspect of handling rejection. One way you can do this is by being vulnerable and telling your team about how you've been rejected, and the 'next up' mindset you've implemented to overcome it. Make sure they know they can detach from the outcome, do their best, and treat every sale as a learning opportunity to grow from. You gotta be there for them when they are rejected, because developing this mindset is like developing calloused hands, it won't happen overnight.
Chasing the "no's" is what helped me in my first sales role selling debit machines to small businesses who are frequently solicited. Picture knocking on a lot of doors with 'No Soliciting' signs. The formula for success was treating each 'no' as one step closer to someone saying 'yes'. Rejection is a necessary process to get you in front of the right buyer. As a seller you know how your product or service can help your customers, so each rejection gets you closer to helping out the customer whose business will ultimately benefit from your solution.
Mindset in sales is incredibly challenging. The strongest closers still hear “no” more than “yes”. It’s for that reason that I recommend reframing your thinking to be laser focused on what your objective is for each interaction. Break it down to what is the goal at this time. For example, in the first few interactions, your goal may be to learn the internal players within the organization. When you break it down according to your sales path it’s easier to see the accomplishments and stay in a positive mindset for each call. So instead of walking in thinking “I am going to win this account” for the first call, go in thinking “I’m going to learn about this team.”
Mindset is the key to building resilience around rejection. What we are doing as salespeople is EXPLORING the POSSIBILITY of doing business with each prospect. "No" is a perfectly acceptable answer. Cast a wide net for prospects and maintain objectivity around each opportunity. If you do this, the inevitable rejections will just roll off. On to the next opportunity!
One of the best ways to teach your sales team to learn from rejection is to reward their effort and not just their results. You can show your appreciation and recognition for your salespeople's hard work, persistence, and improvement, regardless of the outcome. You can use incentives such as praise, recognition, rewards, or bonuses to motivate and inspire your salespeople. You can also create a supportive and collaborative sales culture, where your salespeople can share their experiences, learn from each other, and celebrate their wins together.
Gamification encourages healthy competition and collaboration. Rewards for individual performance and incentives for reaching targets as a group. Tiers of rewards as well: anything from $50-$100 gift cards, to vacation getaway for the seller at the top of the leaderboard by the end of the year.
Resulting is the death of great sales people. Every industry is different, but there are anywhere from a handful to dozens of reasons someone may not buy from you. None of which have anything to do with your sales performance. Understanding PINR (Point-In-Time-Risk) is a part of the game, helps us put rejection in it's proper place: a useful tool for growth and reflection but not a death sentence reflection on who we are as a professional.
We always celebrate activity numbers regardless of closed deals. I once encouraged the team to share their worst rejections and stories for a monthly prize to encourage humour around the process.
This can be easily added into a routine meeting. An example is each person starts the meeting with telling us about a "win" they had turning around a negative. Whatever the format or structure, make sure its positive and supportive. From here, a good leader can recognize where effort is needed on a group or individual level.
Great contribution, Under normal circumstances it makes sense to reward effort But I like to accept the fact that I am not normal, with an articulated sense of discretion, yet humbled by blessings, From the experience of not finishing high school, no college education, to making it this far. I came close to believing that i may be a failure, I faced single parenting Abandonment in real life also Not just rejection in sales & business, On every level, So let me tell you that nine out of ten times you will fail or be rejected, To cope I used the love for my fellowmen, acceptance & gratitude for life, So I would advise my team to love what you do most importantly and simply accept the things you cant control, & just keep persistent.
Learning from rejection is not a one-time event, but a continuous process. You need to teach your sales team to repeat the steps above every time they face rejection, and to make learning from rejection a habit. You can also monitor and measure your sales team's performance and feedback over time, and adjust your coaching and training accordingly. By doing so, you can help your sales team turn rejection into a catalyst for growth and success.
Turning rejection into growth is an ongoing journey, not a single event. It's about instilling in your sales team the habit of consistently reviewing and learning from rejection. Encourage them to apply these steps each time they face setbacks. It's also crucial to monitor and measure their performance and feedback trends over time, adapting coaching and training as needed. This iterative approach transforms rejection into a powerful catalyst for continuous improvement and lasting success.
I recommend evaluating all tools to see if they support the purpose and processes of sales. So many companies still use PPT, even if it's not developed for sales. Fortunately, there are several other platforms you can select nowadays to empower all salespeople with tools developed for collaborative teams. These help you keep presentations always up-to-date, allow adaptation to sales discussion and are designed to easily share presentations. We have developed Seidat, but it's only one example.
One of the best ways to teach your sales team to learn from rejection is to?reward their effort and not just their results.
I wanted to share my thoughts on teaching the sales team to learn from rejections, as I believe it can be a valuable skill for their professional growth and success. Firstly, I suggest encouraging a growth mindset among the team members. It's important to emphasize that rejections are not failures, but rather opportunities for growth and learning. Encourage the team to view each rejection as a chance to improve their skills and strategies, and to embrace the learning process that comes with it. Secondly, providing constructive feedback is crucial when a salesperson faces rejection. Instead of focusing solely on the negative outcome, offer specific feedback on what could have been done differently.
One of THE most important things to do with a salesperson/sales team after losing a deal is something that is core to Stand Out Selling - a ‘Lost Deal Analysis’ (LDA). This is a process we run through, which takes their qualification process and ‘winds it back’ to find the exact cause(s) the salesperson lost the deal. When we do this with clients in our workshops, the insights that come out of this are invaluable! There are ALWAYS at least one or two things that are great learnings for the salesperson/sales team, that they can apply to all their other deals (now and in the future) to make sure the same mistakes aren’t being made! Yet most companies don’t do this, and forever make the same mistakes - and lose because of it!
Aftermarket Account Specialist at Xylem | Professional Writer | Molecular Biology B.Sc
A sales team is usually no stranger to rejection, and getting a "no" is not a reflection of one's ability to succeed. There are hundreds of thousands of others that may need our product or service, and a single rejection, or even a hundred rejections, barely scratches the surface of sales potential. Keep going, keep learning; rejection is an important part of finding the right people to help.
Dealing with rejection and acceptation are life skills, not just sales skills. I therefore recommend to test sales people’s ability to deal with rejection at interview stage. Ask them about a situation in life where they had an idea that was rejected by others initially but eventually accepted. Dig deep in the story and understand if the candidate has what it takes for the role. Motivation can be negatively and positively affected by rejection so coach your sellers and be there for them when rejection happens. Talk it through and offer perspective: rejection is not personal in sales.