Rejection can put even an experienced sales pro into a downward cycle of failure. Art Mortell, author of the bestseller The Courage to Fail, points out that the experience of selling is a five-step cycle, where beliefs create attitudes, which create emotions, which determine sales performance, which determine results, which in turn reinforce the beliefs, thus completing the cycle:
If you’re experiencing bad results (like “rejection”) it reinforces whatever beliefs and attitudes that might be creating the emotion (like fear) that is adversely affecting your performance. That’s the downward cycle. The easiest way to get out of a downward cycle and back into an upward cycle is to change your beliefs about rejection. If those beliefs are powerful enough, they’ll change your attitude and emotions, thereby improving your performance and results
In other words, rather than clinging onto some lame belief like “rejection means I’m lousy” you need to incorporate a more powerful belief about what rejection means. In my previous post on rejection, we played a bit with your beliefs about rejection by pointing out that you’re being paid to be rejected. That’s a start. Now let’s find some beliefs that can profoundly improve your sales performance. Here, according to Art Mortell, are some beliefs about rejection that he’s discovered among top sales pros:
- Rejection renews my humility, sharpens my objectivity and makes me more resilient.
- I take the challenge of selling seriously, but I do not take myself too seriously.
- The more I fail, the more I succeed.
- Rejection is only failure when I don’t use it as an opportunity to try new ideas.
- I learn more from failure than success.
- Negative feedback is information that helps me make corrections in my course of direction so that I stay on target.
- If the rejection is invalid then I simply cannot take it personally.
- My self-esteem is not based on the reactions of others buy my own sense of virtue.
- The unkindness of others reminds me that I need to be kind to myself.
- If I’m going to get a rejection, it might as well be from someone important.
- If you don’t take things personally, you can actually enjoy rejection.
- Nobody ever got ahead without taking risks.
Now, I want you to consider — really think about — the following question:
How much more successful would you be if you REALLY BELIEVED the same beliefs about rejection that motivate and energize the top sales pros in the world?
Seriously, take a minute and really think about it! How much more money would you make? How much more success would you have? How much easier would it be to win that bonus? How much quickly would you exceed your quota? How much more would you enjoy going to work each day?
If that sounds good to you, click the “thumbs up” button at the top of this post.
In tomorrow’s post, I’ll explain exactly how you can change a belief at the gut level — so that the old, lame belief no longer intrudes, and the new belief becomes an integral part of your emotional life and thought processes.
