Today's topic is the fear of rejection. Psychology Today has a study that says 75% of all people are afraid of rejection, whether in their personal or business lives. It's not fun to get rejected, no matter how you look at it, but I will give you some perspective today on how to reframe rejection so you can use it to your advantage. 

First, I want you to talk about embracing the NOs. Nobody likes getting rejections or hearing a NO. When I get told NO, it just makes me mad. You have to embrace the NO because, in sales, every NO gets you closer to the YES and the amount of feedback you get from the NO. If you're getting NOs repeatedly, think about what message these NOs are giving you. A lot of times, they're just not going to say NO, but they're going to provide you with some sort of information along with the NO. So look at the information and pivot to see if that will make a difference for you.

Number two: build resilience through preparation. The more prepared you are, the more you know about your client, their situation, what they need and want, and the more you know about the inside and the outside of it that you sell - when you get that NO, it should sting less because you've done everything possible what you have under control to prevent a NO. If they're still saying NO, then that's okay. It should just roll off your shoulder. 

But again, always look for a little bit of that information—why are they saying NO? It's always possible to return to them and ask why they said NO. Find out why they said NO because maybe it's something you can fix and approach them again. If they're saying NO to you, I would revisit them. You can even ask: do you mind if I check back with you? (In a week, two weeks, three months, a year from now, that makes more sense.)

A Harvard Business Review study of prepared sales reps found that 37% have less anxiety if they are sure of themselves and their product and know what the customer needs and wants.

You're not going to have that much anxiety, so 37% less anxiety and a 28% increase in the close rate. 

Preparation makes perfect. You can think about how being rejected and putting yourself out there is a form of preparation. So that's my third point: I want you to do something. I want you to set up a challenge for yourself, a rejection challenge in which you want to be rejected at least ten times daily. If you set that goal and just go out there, whether you're sending emails, picking up the phone, or meeting people in person. Set it up so you get ten rejections. 

First off, we'll lose a bunch more because you have a rejection goal. Second, those rejections, every time you do one, go out there and put yourself there; it becomes easier. And that's part of it. I was working with somebody who needed to make many phone calls. He got scared. He didn't want to do the phone calls, but I pushed him. I said, do it. It doesn't matter what they say if they say YES or NO. So just do it. It works the same way. Go out there, put yourself out in front of people, and then you get a rejection, great.

Don't worry about it, but you'll learn something from it, and it will get easier for you. Put that in place because I'm just telling you that if you do that, your fear of rejection will decrease. Embrace the nose, prepare, and make yourself resilient, and that'll lower your anxiety. It'll be easier to put yourself out there. Do a rejection challenge. And if you fly by those ten rejections super fast, make them 20 in a day; the more comfortable you get, the easier it becomes. It's all part of the sales process. 

People will say NO to you; you must be okay with that.

Rejection is just a stepping stone to the next level.

I hope you implement this rejection challenge today. Put yourself out there, and I promise your numbers will increase. You'll feel better as well, too, because it'll be easier to get rejections.

You can always reach out to me, look at all the resources I have on the website at theprofessionalrulebreaker.com, or jump on my calendar. You will get 20 minutes of my time where I'm going to help you find some low-hanging fruit or maybe even if you need help with these rejections, getting into the right mindset to have rejections. Set an appointment, and I will help you with that. In the meantime, go out there, be fearless, break some rules, and have a rejection-filled day, which will get you to the next level.

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