How to deal with objections and rejections?

If you are an entrepreneur, you get used to hearing a lot more no’s than yes’s in yourjourney. The more no’s you hear, you start to feel frustrated, angry, depressed and a whole mix of emotions that eventually lead to burnout… which is BAD! But more on that later! Today I wanted to talk to you about how we react/respond whenever we hear a rejection.

Every time we hear a no, we either go into the Fight, Flight, or Freeze response!

In the Fight response, we start to defend ourselves and blame the client and their inadequacies. We start to view the Client as the villain and our instant reaction is to justify ourselves in a — “it’s not me, it’s you” way.

In the Flight response, we accept everything that the Client says, bow out of the conversation, and take the rejection to heart. We think of ourselves as the victim and start to plan different tools and techniques to better our proposal.

In the Freeze response, well we are stuck. A million things are going through our minds and instead of being present during the meeting, we go through multiple scenarios where we start to overthink, hyperventilate, and just crash. This is the worst of the above three scenarios because, in a way, we tell, rather show the client that we cannot handle stress, or that we might crash every time something doesn’t go according to THE plan.

Comment below if you have ever gone through any of the above-mentioned scenarios and what was your experience like!

Now, what can we do instead of these classic 3 reactions?

We pause.

Pausing is so crucial because every time, yes, every time, we hear an objection, it becomes about us and our insecurities.

Like in this?tweet?from Chris Do, one of the many people I admire, taking a breather and thinking ‘what else this could mean’ allows us to shift the focus to the client and the project.

One trick that my coach Zion Kim taught us during a sales training was, if you hear hesitance, or see them pulling themselves in during a meeting and you see a rejection coming, you take a breather and ask them, “Hey. What’s going through your mind right now? Tell me so that we can work on it together.”

This sentence changed the way I viewed rejections. It didn’t become about me. In fact, I was offering to stand alongside them and work on a solution together rather than fight, flight, or freeze. Not only was it a great way to shift your perspective around rejections, but it also allowed the clients to have a glimpse of what our relationship will look like if we decide to work together.

And hey, if you still end up getting rejected, for whatever reason, you managed to plant a seed, covered with kindness, patience, presence, and joy. The client is now aware of your work ethic, your level of proficiency, the way you handle stressful situations, and the relationship you built with them over a discovery call.

In case a new project comes up in the future, they will be more than happy to reach out to you and see if you can work together. In fact, a lot of times, when either I reject the client or the client rejects me, I let them know that if some of the traction points that led to the rejection (Please use the traction points, example — price, duration of the project, etc, rather than just saying traction points, if you plan to use this script) change, I would be more than happy to reconnect and see if we can work together.

If there are a few of you wondering if this is something that has to be said and if it sounds desperate, it doesn't. Remember the client is not a mind reader, they don’t know if you will still be up for future collaborations unless you say it, so just go ahead and water the seed you planted in the client’s mind. Don’t make this into an ego game where the first person to say ‘I want to work with you in the future loses. It’s not a game, it’s a collaboration to create something wonderful together. And it’s better to not let these ideas stray into your mind because you will once again go into the Drama Triangle of playing either The Hero, The Villain, or The Victim. But more on that in the coming few articles!

Until then, don’t let the fear of rejection prevent you from reaching out to potential clients. You can’t experience the true freedom and the joy of creating using your passion unless you create something wonderful out of it and you do it for someone else other than yourself! Not that creating for yourself is bad, it’s just pretty dope when you see pure joy sparkle on someone’s face when they see what you have created for them! So go on, and create!!

P.S. If you are going through burnout and would like to be supported by someone on this journey of creating your reality, book a?discovery call?with me right now!

AGNI, my signature coaching program, is a set of 1:1 sessions that will take you through this journey with you as the focus and help you navigate, overcome, and prevent burnouts in the future.

So… what are you waiting for? Let’s go!!!

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Madhurima Sappatti?is a Freedom Soul Coach hailing from India. As a Freedom Soul Coach, her aim is to help people, especially creatives, entrepreneurs, and coaches, get Freedom from Burnouts and Limiting Beliefs, and get the Freedom to Reconnect, Love, and Express Themselves. She brings together inner work, burnout, and spirituality to enable as many people as possible!