Rejection is inevitable in sales, but it can also be demoralizing and frustrating for your sales team. How can you help them cope with constant rejection and keep them motivated and productive? Here are some tips to manage your sales team's rejection and foster a resilient and adaptable mindset.
Rejection can trigger negative emotions such as anger, sadness, anxiety, or shame. These emotions can affect your sales team's performance, confidence, and well-being. As a sales manager, you need to acknowledge and validate these emotions, rather than dismiss or ignore them. Show empathy and compassion, and listen to your sales team's concerns and frustrations. Encourage them to express their feelings and vent in a constructive way, such as through journaling, meditation, or talking to a colleague or mentor.
Sales = Rejection Dating = Rejection Promotions = Rejection If you can't teach your sales team that they need to eat, breath and embrace rejection, you will never build a sales team. You'll just be turning it over and over. What really helped me is something called the Law of Averages. In simple terms, find out how many NO's you need to get one YES. How many doors, calls or emails do you need to get through to make a sale? 10? 20? 100? Then all you need to do is take a deep breath and say, "OK... only 99 more NO's until my next YES!" Once you know this math, rejection is less emotional. I used to absorb EVERY rejection and it hurt. But once I understood 100 attempts = my next big paycheck, all I needed was consistency and patience.
High-five them for moral support and then remind them that rejection is part of every sales job, no matter how talented you are. The faster you can get over the rejection and adjust your strategy, the faster you can make your next sale. Check your ego at the door, sales people. This profession ain't for the faint of heart. You better love what you're selling too because getting rejected for a lame product/service stings even harder. That's why I choose to be a #BananaBadass. ??
Accepting Rejection is a key Actually i would advise the sales team before focusing on sales is to complete the 200 rejections first. Change perspective of rejection, this is much needed to develop their thinking and approach
One of the key ingredients to becoming a successful sales professional is the ability to embrace rejection. It's similar to being a successful hitter in baseball; you practice the fundamentals; you employ your best practices at the plate, and then you learn to embrace the fact that you will fail more times than you succeed. Ted Williams had the highest On-Base Percentage of all-time .482, which means he had more failure than success. However, when you connect and hit that homerun, either in baseball or sales, there really is no feeling like it. If that sales homerun happens early enough in a career, you're a salesperson for life.
Rejections are part and parcel of the sales process. It is important to maintain a positive frame of mind, ask for feedback from customers, analyze the reasons for rejections and make improvements wherever required. As a Leader I would motivate the team so that they do not lose focus and keep pushing forward. Provide feedback on their techniques and help identify areas for improvement. Provide a supportive environment where the they can discuss their challenges and seek support. It is also important to demonstrate resilience in the face of rejection and show the team how to handle setbacks gracefully.
Rejection can also create cognitive distortions, such as overgeneralizing, personalizing, or catastrophizing. These distortions can make your sales team feel hopeless, worthless, or helpless. As a sales manager, you need to help them reframe the situation and challenge their negative thoughts. Remind them that rejection is not a reflection of their value or ability, but a part of the sales process. Help them see rejection as an opportunity to learn, improve, and grow, rather than a failure or a setback. Help them focus on the positive aspects of their work, such as their achievements, strengths, and feedback.
Shadowing and having sales reps shadow you can help build up your team's mindset. Sometimes all they need is to see that rejection is a normal part of the process, even if it's nasty. Sticking to it is all you need to get to your next sale if you're actively prospecting, and in my experience, rejection is the worst and longest lasting right before my biggest wins. So: 1) SHOW your team how to shake off rejection 2) tell your team to get 50 more rejections before they give up and try something new (usually they're close a deal on accident before they get to 50) 3) think about sales like dating, you're not meant to be a good match for everyone
Ultimately this comes back to 'value proposition' (i.e. If the product, or 'perceived' product is good enough, then the sales will follow suit). Therefore, go back to the data, to look for trends/patterns/insights on (a) what is working, vs (b) what is not working. For example, identify the persona/industry/buying centres of your 'Top 5-10' customers, then replicate that success with similar profiles (and use MarTech like 'Lusha' to find lookalike audiences) & target direct omni-channel via Account Based Marketing (with multiple touchpoints). The answer will most likely be either (a) The Product/Service/USP needs improvement (b) Communication of the offering needs improvement, or (c) Targeting the wrong audience Success leaves clues!
Rejection is a part of sales however constant rejection may come with the constant mistake or lack of information or problem in understanding your customer needs there is nothing to do with personal or professional lacking or individual failure. We need to reframe and clear our thoughts by understanding customer needs and expectations and position our product and offerings accordingly.
Employ the “EQ” Technique of the Consultative Sales Process: 1. “E”xpress empathy. 2. Ask “Q”uestions to understand. 3. Resolve issues. 4. Follow up diligently. 5. Act as a supportive coach until perfection is achieved. 6. Joint visits. 7. Monitor and evaluate progress daily.
Gather Feedback: Encourage polite follow-ups with prospects who reject your offer. Ask for specific reasons for the rejection. Analyze Rejection Trends: Look for patterns in the reasons for rejection. Are they related to your pitch, product-market fit, or lead quality? Adapt Your Approach: Based on the analysis, adjust your sales strategy or messaging. Refine your pitch, target better leads, or address product shortcomings.
Rejection can also affect your sales team's motivation and engagement. As a sales manager, you need to provide support and feedback to your sales team, and help them overcome their obstacles and achieve their goals. Provide them with the resources, tools, and training they need to succeed. Recognize and reward their efforts and accomplishments, and celebrate their wins. Provide them with constructive and specific feedback, and help them identify and correct their mistakes. Encourage them to seek feedback from others, such as customers, peers, or mentors.
Maintain Positivity and Resilience, Foster a positive and resilient mindset within the team. Emphasize the importance of staying motivated, optimistic, and focused on long-term goals despite setbacks or rejections. Reassess Strategies and Approaches so that we can get success .
I recommend mapping out together with the team the main rejections that come from clients and collectively finding multiple solutions for these situations. Discuss how each person has handled these situations in the past and what has worked in their favor. This creates a so-called play book that is always available as a helpful resource for sales representatives.
Dealing with rejection is just part of the sales game. As a manager, it's super important to figure out how to help your sales team based on their unique styles and personalities. Offering the right kind of support and training is key to helping the team toward success.
- Offer resources, tools, and training. - Recognize and reward efforts and accomplishments. - Provide constructive feedback. - Encourage seeking feedback from others.
Once the team has overcome the emotional hurdle and is in a position, to review what went wrong and how to change for the future, the manager should help ideate and enable. There are many tools available to help diagnose and help build the next plan. As a manager, enablement of the teams is a core responsibility. Enablement could be through workshops, training or 360 feedbacks.
Rejection can also influence your sales team's mindset and attitude. As a sales manager, you need to promote a growth mindset among your sales team, and help them develop a positive and proactive approach to rejection. A growth mindset is the belief that one can improve one's skills and abilities through effort and learning, rather than being fixed or innate. A growth mindset can help your sales team cope with rejection better, as they see it as a challenge and a feedback, rather than a threat and a criticism. To foster a growth mindset, you need to model it yourself, and praise your sales team's effort, process, and progress, rather than their outcome, talent, or intelligence.
Constant rejection is a consequence of many individual factors or a combination of all of them. - Lack of motivation - Implementing wrong sales strategies - Poor understanding of customer needs - Making false assumptions - Poor communication Field Managers should quickly analyse the situation before it reaches a situation of constant rejection. Understand early trends when things aren't going right and seek course correction. In most cases, it is realignment that is needed with a little motivation that can steer the ship in the correct direction.
Embrace the power of a growth mindset within your sales team. View each rejection as a stepping stone toward improvement rather than a roadblock. Encourage learning from setbacks, adapting strategies, and persisting with determination. With a growth mindset, every challenge becomes an opportunity for development and success.
To foster a growth mindset, you need to model it yourself, and praise your sales team's effort, process, and progress, rather than their outcome, talent, or intelligence.
I personally believe in the power of positivity, even when faced with setbacks and disappointments. Having a growth mindset not only helps to deal with rejection but also encourages the team to think of alternatives and ways that they could have approached the situation differently. The important thing is to talk about it, have a rant if you need to and get right back into it. After all, when one door closes another will open soon enough. We go again!
Having a growth mindset is super important. When you face rejection, use it as a chance to learn and improve. Keep trying your best and never give up, because every rejection is just another opportunity to grow and get better!
Rejection can also take a toll on your sales team's physical and mental health. As a sales manager, you need to encourage self-care and balance among your sales team, and help them prevent and reduce stress and burnout. Encourage them to take care of their physical needs, such as eating well, sleeping well, exercising regularly, and avoiding substance abuse. Encourage them to take care of their mental needs, such as practicing relaxation techniques, pursuing hobbies, spending time with friends and family, and seeking professional help if needed. Encourage them to set and maintain healthy boundaries, such as saying no, delegating, and taking breaks.
Rejection is a common and unavoidable reality in sales, but it does not have to be a debilitating or destructive one. By following these tips, you can help your sales team deal with rejection better, and build their resilience and adaptability. These skills can not only improve their sales performance, but also their personal and professional growth.
Encourage self-care and balance by promoting practices that support mental and emotional well-being. Encourage regular breaks, exercise, and stress management techniques. Emphasize the importance of work-life balance to prevent burnout and maintain motivation during challenging times. Providing support and resources for self-care fosters resilience and helps the team navigate through periods of constant rejection.
I really believe its important to suggest PTO to your team - for those particularly burnt by a bad deal or two, or those who have been inundated with meetings/etc for several weeks - they may not recognize the need to take time, or they may think that now is the worst time to ask. By suggesting it, you implicitly approve of it, while also reinforcing the importance of taking care of yourself. Also - lead by example here. Take PTO, and don't *proactively remain engaged w/ email/slack/etc ... if you're the type of manager who takes PTO but stays heavily involved in comms, AEs will think thats what they should do too.
It is amazing and satisfying how celebrating small wins go along way of boosting the confidence of the team to take on the next challenge.
1. Provide empathetic support and encouragement. 2. Offer targeted skill training for improvement. 3. Set achievable goals to boost morale. 4. Foster a positive work environment for collaboration. 5. Analyze past rejections for strategy refinement. 6. Equip the team with necessary resources. 7. Lead by example with resilience and positivity. 8. Implement incentives for motivation. 9. Encourage self-care practices. 10. Maintain an optimistic outlook for future success.
Somos pessoas, e pessoas precisam de cuidados! é preciso aten??o e o ouvido atento para detectar e direcionar o time em caso de quest?es de desiquilíbrio! Somos seres humanos e situa??es complicadas na nossa vida inevitavelmente acabam atrapalhando outras esferas. Quando n?o é possível resolver sozinho é importante reconhecer a necessidade de ajuda!! O líder pode, de maneira n?o muito invasiva ajudar o colaborador a entender a situa??o e como resolve-las!
If your sales team faces constant rejection, it’s your job as their leader to figure out why. For instance, is the root cause of rejection related to poor call planning, poor call execution, targeting the wrong buyer, or something else? If an entire team is dealing with the same issue, you won’t be able to fix this problem by firing and replacing individual sellers. It’s your responsibility to diagnose and solve the real problem.
In sales a salesperson has to face 100 NOs for 1 YES. So being a leader it’s our responsibility to prepare a team who accept the rejections as a part & process of Sales. support your sales team by providing extra training for objection handling create culture of open communication, Seek feedback to identify improvement areas, Evaluate team dynamics to ensure a supportive environment. Still if no improvement then the leader must come down to market & face customers along with the team to understand the gap between sales strategy & customer’s expectations. Changing the sales strategy time to time & keeping customers need, wants & expectations always works. you can overcome challenges and achieve greater success.
As team leader, your team's performance is your responsibilty. Go out and talk to your competitors, the client's heads, educate yourself, find out what's lacking in your management methods or you team's incentives? Sometimes, sitting it out while giving hopeful persopectives while making small changes, double sales coverage, coverage change, marketing support, and more importantly constant but not too formal feedback with your team is key.
Rejections are obvious and like a tunnel while on a long drive—keep driving carefully and don't get caught in the current situation. This can be based on headwinds, market fitment, or timing. The best way is to analyse the feedback from multiple markets/segments to understand why the product/service is being rejected. The role of the leader is to continue motivating the team, meet the Industry leaders/customers/partners and get feedback on the trends working and not working/ redefine the approach, incentivise/add a time-bound promo, strengthen the demo team, and add proof of concepts. It is always seen that constant efforts will change the situation and hit 20% of customers' help, achieving 80% of the target
Listen and observe. Adress the issue, encouraging the team to express how they dealt both with the victories and the losses. You learn more from the NO, than from the YES With a loss there is a big opportunity to seize, the opportunity of Stamina, of transcendence and above all, wisdom. A team that had nothing but wins will forever stay amateur, a team that learnt from mistakes is golden. Leaders should encourage the workforce to be brave, kind, and opened. Conflict is what triggers the best stories.