Nothing in our lives is a guarantee. For the most part we go with the flow, for example we accept that each day’s weather could vary from cold and rainy to warm and sunny, and we plan for what we can. However, when it comes to our sales and business, we all of a sudden get filled with stress and anxiety when things begin to feel out of our control.
We often start trying to control the outcome, or at least we THINK the outcome is within our control, but when you really think about it… You know it’s not.
The reality is even if your sales process has fallen into a predictable course, it may not stay that way for long.
The only TRUE constant thing in life, is that change will occur.
My advice? Get comfortable with living in the unknown!
Make Plans, Drop Expectations
What happens when you start expecting something to happen? Maybe you’ve taken great care in thinking through exactly how a sales meeting would go with a prospect, and you’ve got some really incredible expectations tied to the result.
What often happens is that you end up feeling completely disappointed because you’ve built yourself up expecting that one outcome would happen, and when something different happens, you’re completely devastated.
Instead try focusing on what YOU can do to create the sales meeting you want.
You can take the time to research and prepare for the meeting, so that you are well-versed in the prospect’s company or business. You can greet the person with a warm welcoming smile and let them know how pleased you are to meet with them. And, you can create an atmosphere with open and honest dialogue. Even if you do all of those things, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get the sale.
HOWEVER, if you’ve done these things, you can walk away from the meeting knowing that even with a NO, it wasn’t a failure because you put your best effort forward.
My guest, (the incredible) Mel Robbins, shared a major rejection she most recently experienced with her book, The 5 Second Rule.
Mel and her team had decided that they wanted to self-publish, and that they wanted to have the book release on a day when no other “big” names were dropping their books. After much research, they settled on February 28, 2017. At the time, this date was Mel’s alone.
Mel and her team did everything they had to do over the next year to ensure the book was published on time, and that she had plenty of promo events planned.
One day when Mel was flipping through Success Magazine (a publication she writes for) and saw a promotion for Tony Robbins’ new book that was releasing on the same day that they had scheduled for her’s, February 28th.
She was understandably upset and knew that going up against a giant like Tony, would be hard. She even tried to find a solution by moving up or pushing back the release date, but everyone kept telling her it wouldn’t work.
In the end, the book released on February 28th as planned, and she sold more books then 9 other authors on the New York Times Bestsellers list, but was not placed in the number 2 spot simply because most of her sales had come from online and the New York Times Best Sellers list doesn’t look at these the same way. Once again, Mel was devastated and angry.
Mel has been an entrepreneur for quite a while, so she’s experienced many failures before. She knew that even though things weren’t happening in the way that she had EXPECTED them to go, she knew that while the rejection may not have been fair, it was required.
A Different Possibility May Be What You’re Looking For
Like anyone else, the failure Mel experienced was hard on her. She went through stages of anger and disappointment, but through it all she knew that they would eventually understand why things had gone this way.
Since we have no idea how our next big sales call or deal will go, we need to focus on remembering that even if we don’t get the result we want, what occurred was exactly as it should be.
It might feel completely awful in the moment. You may need to punch a bathroom wall (be sure to listen to Success Unfiltered to hear the full story from Mel), but you get back out there and know that sometimes when you least expect it, in a way you weren’t expecting it, AMAZING things happen.
After being quite a success with online book sales, Amazon’s stock of books ran out. Leaving people who were interested in buying the book the option to either wait a month till they were restocked or buy the audio version of the book.
People chose the audio version. And, now Mel’s audiobook (which she herself recorded) is the single highest selling, self-published audiobook in the history of Audible.
That’s pretty incredible, right? But, it doesn’t stop there!
Mel’s success with her audiobook led to Amazon working with Mel to create a 6 episode TV show for their streaming network.
So, no, Mel’s success didn’t happen in the way that she had expected it to. And, yes she had experienced some massive disappointments, but she stuck through all of the unknowns and is now coming out on the other side with so much success to show.
What’s my point? Stop being afraid of the unknown, and instead become best friends with it.
Things will work out EXACTLY how they’re supposed to!
In Conclusion
When things don’t go as you expected you need to take the time to feel all of the emotions. Be honest with yourself, express your despair, frustration or fear. It doesn’t matter how the rejection hits, just allow the emotions to get out of your body.
Once you’ve done that, accept that all of this is happening for a reason. It may take awhile to uncover it, but you will learn why eventually.
Embrace the changes to your story, and most importantly, remember that even if rejection doesn’t feel fair, it is absolutely, 100% required!
Get Mel’s Books:
- The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage
- The 5 Second Journal: The Best Daily Journal and Fastest Way to Slow Down, Power Up, and Get Sh*t Done
- Stop Saying You’re Fine: The No-BS Guide to Getting What You Want
Connect with Mel:
