When you read these things, they instantly seem foolish, don’t they?

For instance, on what authority, we have to ask ourselves, do we KNOW that if X rejected us, Y & Z will follow suit? We fear that will be case, and we may suspect it will be so. But by no means is it conclusive, until we make it that way by failing to keep trying. Likewise, on what basis can we assert that today’s rejection will recur tomorrow? When I was a salesperson, working my way through college, I contacted a fellow who LOUDLY rejected my offer, to say least. Actually, he got unhinged and declared, “Never contact me, again!” I remember this episode vividly, because it was so exceptional. Anyway, very next day, by mistake, I phoned him. (Apparently, I forgot to strike his name from my list.) My error only became apparent to me after I got him on line and asked him how he was. At that second, I thought, “Oops!” To my surprise, he replied, “I’m fine.” I had no choice but to continue with my sales spiel, fully expecting him to reject me, even more loudly and emphatically, at any moment. Imagine how shocked I was to ask him for his order and to hear him cheerfully respond with, “Okay!”

He bought from me, very day after telling me to never contact him again!

Please believe me when I tell you it was a mistake that I had called him back. Given how poorly first call went, I was in no mood for a repeat performance. But by erring in this way, I accidentally proved point that rejection isn’t necessarily permanent. Today’s no can even be a precursor, and a necessary one, to tomorrow’s yes, if we only get our minds around concept. This story also demonstrates that rejection isn’t necessarily personal. The day before, when this guy bit my head off, he was probably overwhelmed by something that had nothing to do with me. Yet, when many of us are being spurned, our impulse is to blame ourselves and to feel sullied by overall experience. We feel awful, and beat ourselves down before next person can do it to us. So, what can we do to conquer rejection and to actually learn to invite it?

Four things:

(1)Tell yourself it is isolated; (2)Tell yourself it is temporary; and (3)Tell yourself it doesn’t pertain to you, personally. In other words they may be rejecting your idea or offer, but they aren’t rejecting YOU. (4)Prove these truths by actively seeking more rejections. If you hope to publish that novel or to get that screenplay into right hands, send them out more widely. Give more people chance to say no!

This is one of great secrets of Law of Large Numbers. Do more of anything, and you’ll make success inevitable!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a popular keynote speaker, consultant, and seminar leader and best-selling author of 12 books. He is author of Nightingale-Conant audio program, The Law Of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable. Gary teaches Entrepreneurship and Consulting at UCLA Extension, and he is President of Customersatisfaction.com and The Goodman Organization. When he isn’t being rejected, he can usually be found in Glendale, California, where he makes his home. He can be reached at gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Running Your Day Without a Plan

If there’s anything on this list that probably kills more sales people that any other, it’s trying to function without a daily plan. Study life of any successful sales person throughout history and you’ll quickly see that planning is a common thread that runs through all of their careers.

The worst thing I’ve seen that happens to dozens of sales people is that they manage their day according to how they feel. When this happens, you can work for an entire day without ever accomplishing anything significant. Don’t let this happen to you, make a plan and follow it every day.

Some of things you should plan into each and every day are new prospect development activities, follow up activities, research, and planning. Everything that moves a sale from beginning to end should be planned into every day.

Long Term Marketing During Work Hours

This one may not hit home if you’re not responsible for branding and marketing of your product on a more national or long term basis. But for those of you that are selling for a small business, or own a business, this one is just for you.

Long term marketing includes writing articles or books, working on your web site, putting together marketing material, and any other similar activity during business hours. If you’re in very first steps of developing your business model then this material has to be created before you can really selling, but for those of you that just aren’t convinced that your marketing material is top quality, or your brand positioning needs a little work, you’ve got a constant temptation to do this during work hours and it will kill your sales if you give in to it.

You’ve got to strike while iron’s hot and that mean selling during normal business hours and working on long term projects after or before business hours. If you think that sounds too difficult for you, guess what, you’re in wrong profession. When you decided to go into sales, you agreed to a whole different lifestyle than your computer programmer friends. Non-Business Work During Business Hours

This is catch-all for all those other things that you do at work that don’t make yourself or your company any profits. This includes paying bills, reviewing your 401K, balancing your checkbook, writing poems to your girlfriend, playing video games, watching movies, and so on. All of these things have a time and a place in life, but it’s not at office when you need to be selling. If you find yourself gravitating to these activities every day, I recommend getting some professional help. A great way to start would be to sign up for my Nacke Gazette where you’ll find encouragement and success tips in your inbox every couple of weeks.

Overcoming non-productive activities in sales is probably something you’ll struggle with your entire career. By being mindful of what you’re doing and fighting against distraction, you’ll see greater and greater success throughout years.