Salespeople who aren’t committed may not be able to get prospects and customers committed either. There are four basic commitments salespeople must make to be successful:
- You have to make a commitment to yourself. Selling is the process of educating prospects and customers about the value they will receive from purchasing your product or service. How you spend your time educating your prospects and developing your activities to reach your sales goals is largely left to you. So the first commitment is always to yourself.
- You have to make a commitment to your job. Staying abreast of new developments, changing markets and declining economies is critical to success. What helped you close sales in the past may not work today. By remaining committed to constantly striving for knowledge, you will focus on customer needs.
- You have to be committed to your company. Committed salespeople find reasons to be enthusiastic about their companies, realizing that their futures are tied together.
- You have to be committed to your customers. Committed salespeople always try to deliver the best to their customers. They’re always available when problems develop and do everything in their power to act in their customers’ best interests.
Commitment overcomes rejection
Selling is an effort of trying to beat the odds of rejection. When you attempt to sell a product or service, you’re more likely to be rejected than accepted. One solution to rejection is to learn not to take it personally. Rejection of an offer is a fact of life in sales. It comes with the job and is normal. All salespeople must learn to deal with rejection.
Salespeople have to understand the cause of rejection and take corrective steps to influence it. How they handle rejection may say more about their success than any other selling technique.
According to customer surveys, almost half of salespeople disappear after objections are raised.
Two negative sides
There are two negative reactions to rejection. The first is salespeople simply stop trying. They become oversensitive, cautious and retreat.
The second is they become too aggressive with prospects and customers, attempting to overcome the rejection with heavy-handed tactics.
Both of these reactions can be disastrous.
A positive approach to rejection is awareness. Whether rejection is valid or invalid, you need to understand the cause of the rejection before you can try to overcome it.
Here are three ways to deal with rejection and stay focused:
- Learn from lost sales. Review what could have been done better.
- Keep a success journal. A constant barrage of resistance can often eclipse recent successes. Keep a journal of sales successes. List the approach, how objections were handled and what made the customer buy.
- Get a boost from customers. When things aren’t panning out, remember what’s working for existing customers. Keeping a file of positive customer feedback and testimonials can give you a quick boost. Try to contact those customers to learn what they appreciate most. Comparing that feedback to recent efforts might end a slump.
Source: John R. Graham, president of Graham & Associates, a marketing and sales training firm based in Quincy, MA.
