tips REJECTION TIP Five Tips to Rejection Proof Your Sales Approach
Salespeople usually focus on get- ting others to say yes. But what could you learn about the art of persuasion if you sought out 100 chances to hear no? That’s exactly what Jia Jiang did. Hoping to beat his fear of rejection, the aspiring entrepreneur vowed to make 100 absurd requests, record the encounters, and blog about the experience. But a funny thing hap- pened: not everyone said no. Jiang didn’t just get comfortable
with rejection; he eventually learned how to overcome it. As a result, he got to fly an air- plane, play soccer in a stranger’s backyard, and meet Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (who offered him a job). He also talked a Krispy Kreme worker into making Olympic rings from donuts and helped his wife get a job at Google.
In his new book, Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invin- cible Through 100 Days of Rejec- tion, Jiang shares his newfound suc- cess secrets – including key lessons for salespeople.
1. ASK “WHY?”
By asking about the underlying reason for a rejection, you get the chance to overcome it or identify other opportunities.
For example, when a stranger denied Jiang’s request to plant a rosebush in his yard, Jiang politely asked why. “My dog would dig them up and destroy them,” the man ex- plained. Then he suggested asking his neighbor across the street. Turns out, she loved roses and happily ac- cepted the gift.
Asking “why” turned a no into a
referral that led to yes.“ There’s only an upside to asking ‘why,’” Jiang
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writes. “After all, you have been rejected already. And the insight you might glean from the response you get could prove valuable.”
2. MAKE A LESSER REQUEST “Asking ‘why’ can open up a whole new channel of understanding and possibility between a requester and a requestee,” writes Jiang. “But so can retreating to ask, ‘If you can’t do this, can you do something else?’ There is often room to ma- neuver around a no.” When a McDonald’s worker said it was “impossible” to make Mc- Griddles at 2:00 p.m., Jiang tried a lesser request: Could he have something like a McGriddle? She accepted the challenge and made him a similar sandwich. The lesson for salespeople: When prospects say no, make a lesser request. You could ask for a future meeting to reevaluate, sug- gest a different product or solution, or request a referral.
3. UNDERSTAND YOUR BUYER When you assume you understand your prospects’ challenges – and offer one-size-fits-all solutions before uncovering their unique needs – you risk alienating or even insulting them. Jiang learned this lesson when he offered to cut a hairdresser’s hair “to break up the monotony of her day.”
“What do you mean I must be
bored?” she fumed. “I love my job!” Even the customer in her chair yelled at Jiang. “What bothered me most was the
realization that I hadn’t actually been thinking about the other person’s needs,” Jiang writes. “I’d wanted this rejection attempt to be about her but, really, I hadn’t proposed anything that might actually do her a favor. I was only asking to fulfill my own desire.”
4. ACKNOWLEDGE DOUBTS When Jiang asked a Starbucks em- ployee if he could stand at the door
VIDEO: REJECTION PROOF YOUR LIFE
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