1. Detach.
When you attach your self-worth to a meeting or a sale (extrinsic motivation), you feel worried, rejected or anxious when you don’t get the desired outcome. So you sink even deeper than you felt before.
There’s a popular neuroscience phrase that describes this, “Neuorns that fire together, wire together.”
Same thoughts.
Same feelings.
Reprogram your brain.
Your mantra? “I’d like the sale, but I don’t need the sale. Everything’s going to be okay. I’m not for everyone.”
Different thoughts.
Different feelings.
2. Vent.
Kick rocks for a few minutes. Tell a friend or coworker how you feel. Then move on. You can’t change it.
3. It’s not your fault.
You can do everything right and still not get the sale.
Your prospect might be making progress without you. (Jobs-to-be-Done)
They’re getting from point A to point B.
There are things holding them back from changing. “I know how to use my current solution. I’d rather dance with the devil I know.” (Intertia)
They’ve got a few concerns about this new way of getting the job done. “Will people use it?” “Will it work?” “Will I lose my job if it doesn’t work”? (Anxiety)
One day their current way just won’t cut it anymore. (Push)
Your new way will look pretty good. (Pull)
Jobs-to-be-Done theory tells us when the habit of the present and anxiety of switching are greater than the intensity of the problem and the pull of something new, people don’t buy.
It’s not your job to get people from “not looking” to “buying”.
If the problem intensifies, they might come back.
You don’t create motivation, you align with it.
4. Learn.
Say something like this to your prospect, “That’s okay. Thanks for giving us a look. If I’m not asking too much, how did you know we weren’t for you?” Listen without having an ulterior motive to change their mind.
5. Be grateful.
When a prospects reject you it’s a gift. You can focus on people who are motivated to talk with you. Selling is about conversations with an “s” not a conversation.
6. Walk.
Research from the University of Michigan found that it’s the dose of nature that most efficiently dropped peoples’ stress hormones.