No Means You’re Closer to Yes

by Marta Malyk | Nov 13, 2023 | Cold Calling, Sales

There isn’t a successful salesperson out there who hasn’t heard the word “NO” much more than they’ve heard the word “YES.”

I’ve written before about how salespeople are in the business of “NO” because they hear it so much.  This makes sense to me because not everyone is your customer.

Sales is a numbers game. If you approach ten prospects about an opportunity, you can expect that most will say no. But the more people who tell you “NO,” the closer you are to those few – possibly two or three – who might say yes and be able to move forward and have an in-depth discussion.   If you approach 100 prospects, with the same success rate you could be talking about 20 to 30 qualified and interested prospects.

My point is that we need to have the ability to hear the word “NO” without letting it impact our future activities. In my last blog, I mentioned how important consistency is in driving results and how critical it is for us to maintain our resilience to get those results.

Here are several approaches to try either separately or in combination to help us get past the negative feelings we have associated with hearing the word “NO”.

• Change or reframe your perspective. What if you could perceive a “NO” as being one step closer to the yes, rather than just a setback?
• Make sure you have realistic expectations. Again, not everyone will be your customer, and not every prospect will prove to be a qualified lead.
• Don’t be too hard on yourself. Practice self-compassion and don’t beat yourself up about a failed sales call.  Accepting the response and leaving the negative self-talk behind can help you move forward.
• Seek feedback and support from your coaches and peers. They have all experienced the “NO.” You are not alone.
• Refocus quickly and move to the next call. We know the steps it takes to generate new business.  After the “NO” it is exactly the right time to stick to your plan.

During my career as a sales professional, I’ve seen that if you can implement one or several of these approaches, you’ll develop the ‘growth mindset’ that is critical to ongoing sales success.

At One of a Kind Sales, we are experts at qualifying leads and setting appointments.  We understand that “NO” is not a personal rejection and it may in some cases mean “not now.” We have a proven method for generating the qualified sales leads that businesses need.  If you or someone you know needs more qualified leads, please reach out to me for a free consultation at 908-879-2911 or Nancy@OneofaKindSales.com.

Maximizing Peaks and Minimizing Valleys in Sales

by Marta Malyk | Oct 30, 2023 | Cold Calling, Sales

I meet periodically with a group of professional salespeople who are dedicated to sharpening their sales skills using the Sandler Selling Methodology. In the most recent session, we discussed something we all see at times – the peaks and valleys of sales. We’ve all had that experience in which sales cycle up and down, making a sales revenue line that has repeated peaks and valleys. What we all prefer is that sales continue on the upward swing and never trend down. So why does this happen?

We talked about the contributing factors. The consensus was that these peaks and valleys represent the daily level of effort we put into our sales process. We all know what activities we need to do to generate sales (for many of us, cold calling is a critical part), but we’re not consistent from day to day or month to month to the level of effort that we put forth. And this inconsistency is reflected in our sales numbers.

And why weren’t we being consistent? As we talked more, it seemed that the most common challenge was procrastination due to anxiety and stress associated with the outreach process. Although we all know that cold calling is the first step to qualifying leads that generate revenue, we fret over it.

So a critical success factor is the ability to handle that stress and overcome procrastination.  As a sales professional and a professional “cold caller”  who uses the DISC personality profile to understand my sales team and my sales prospects,  I realize that each of the four DISC personality types requires a different approach to stress relief.

Stress Management Recommendations by DISC Personality Type

If you are a D (dominant) personality type, physical exercise is most likely the best solution for stress management.

If you are an I (Influencer), then social interaction is a great stress reliever as you thrive on connecting with others.

If you are an S (Steady Relator), getting adequate rest and having good sleep hygiene are important to recharging and handling stress daily.

If you are a C (Cautious/Compliant), then having time alone is going to help manage your stress.

Wherever you fall in the DISC profile, it’s important to make sure that you take active steps to reduce stress to remove the most common reason for procrastination.  By doing this you’ll be able to act consistently on the activities that you know will generate consistent revenue and you’ll see fewer valleys and maximize those peaks.

At One of a Kind Sales, we are masters of consistency and we love cold calling. We can help your team become better cold callers or we can take on that task for you so that your team can go out and convert the new clients that we have qualified. Call Nancy at 908-879-2911 to learn more.