opportunity. For instance, let’s say Ajax Mortuary just canceled. Ask your- self and the customer what the reason for canceling is. It may have nothing to do with you, your service, or your product. If it does, you’ve uncovered a dissatisfaction that was bound to surface sooner or later and that also may affect other accounts. Such a procedure uncovers an op- portunity. Now that you know what doesn’t work, you are one step closer to finding out what will. When I sold print advertising, I lost count of the times quarter-page advertisers canceled by phone – only to buy up to half- and full-page cam- paigns (13, 26, or 52 weeks) the very same day! All it took was the ability to follow these three simple steps: 1, Don’t get upset. I took a lesson from the golf course and put it into the field: You have to play the ball where it lies. There’s no percentage in getting upset with the past. The key is to look for the opportunities in the event.


2. Analyze the situation. If we put SELLING TIP Paradoxical Therapy


Here’s my prescription for rejection. When you experience a sales rejection, consider


the old remedy the experts have used for decades. Think to yourself, “Nobody can reject me. They may reject my proposition, but they can’t reject me.” That’s the tried-and-true (but not highly effective)


intellectual approach. The fallacy? Rejection doesn’t get you in the intellect but in the guts. My prescription is paradoxical therapy: Find out what you fear most and go get yourself a truckload of it. What will happen won’t be nearly as bad as what you fear will happen. I first learned of this method while selling funeral insurance in Seattle in the early 1960s. Our general agent was a fine man, but he couldn’t spell paradoxi- cal therapy, much less pronounce it. He just called it “getting the insides kicked out of you.” He had each new agent call 100 people picked out of the phone book at random. We told them our real


names and then offered them – with a canned pitch – either dishes, encyclopedias, or vacuum cleaners. Why those three items? Our manager knew that few people would want to buy them. And since we didn’t even sell them, we knew we were certain to lose. We really annoyed many of the people we called, and they took it out on us. Some of the salespeople never made it through the first 10 calls. Maybe sales was the wrong field for them. Those of us who made it through 100 calls learned a valuable lesson: The angrier people get, the fun- nier they are – as long as they can’t get their hands on you and you don’t accept their evaluation of you. Now I say again: If you fear rejection – and that fear is holding you back – go get yourself a healthy load of it. Swim in it. Wash in it. Wallow in it. Then move on to the next call. That’s the only cure that works.


– HANK TRISLER


‘‘


Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, ‘Make me feel important.’ Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life. MARY KAY ASH


half the energy into creative thinking that we normally put into being upset, we could solve an amazing number of problems that otherwise seem unsolvable.


3. Concentrate on performance. Don’t think about the outcome or the money you stand to make (or lose). Those things are by- products. Staying composed and concentrating on flawless execu- tion under pressure separates the professionals from the amateurs – and the top performers from the thundering herd.


Remember: Success is a state of mind that you can create before the


fact by consciously improving your outlook. Getting upset hurts you, not your prospects. It stifles your energy and creative juices. Finally, in every unfolding event,


try to recognize what’s good about the people you see and the experi- ences you have. It may not work every time but, as you use your positive outlook and creative energy more and more, those muscles will de- velop. As they do, your resistance to stress and defeat will increase. Soon you will find yourself on the green in two strokes and putting that little white ball right into its cup. So use positive thoughts to direct the growth of your sales career. 


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