In some ways, sales is very similar to baseball; both are driven by numbers, percentages and statistics. You can learn a lot of things by studying those numbers, even when it comes to things like success and failure, or rejection and recovery. Let me show you what I am talking about.
What pitcher has won more games than any other pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball? Even if you didn’t know the answer for sure, you might hazard a lucky guess if you are any kind of a fan at all. The answer is Cy Young, who won an astonishing 511 games between 1890 and 1911. Yep, his name is on the award that is given every year to the best pitcher in each league. Now, this next question is a little trickier. What pitcher LOST more games than any other pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball? (Drum roll ??..) The answer is Cy Young! Between 1890 and 1911 the winningest pitcher in the history of baseball was also the loser a whopping 316 times! And just to add insult to injury, this pitcher -- whose job it is to get people out -- also gave up more hits than any other pitcher in history – 7,092 to be exact. That brings up another record held by Cy Young – most runs given up: 2,147.
Okay, so where I am going with all of this? I am simply trying to point out that one of the most revered and honored figures in the history of baseball also holds all the records for being the biggest LOSER! But in baseball, just like in sales or in life, even when you lose some, you still have a chance to recover and come out a winner.
Day in and day out, a sales rep’s biggest enemy is rejection, because every time someone says NO, you can’t help feeling a little bit like a failure. Hey, you are in sales, not hypnosis or mind control! Sometimes people say no. There will be calls – lots of them – where you absolutely nail your presentation, tailoring every facet to perfectly match the needs and personality of the customer, and at the end he still says NO. Maybe he actually says it very nicely, as in, “I really appreciate your offer but I am just not ready to buy today. However, I will keep you in mind. Thanks for calling.” Still, that grades out pretty much as “NO!” It can also hurt a bit.
Rejection is one of the irreversible realities of sales. Great research, great training and great presentation give you the best possible edge for making a sale, but these things aren’t magic. Sales is still a numbers game, and the numbers rarely lie. Let’s say the stats for your industry indicate that for every 100 calls you can close 30 sales. That means “only” getting rejected 70 times makes you a winner! Strange but true, and very hard to get your brain around, especially if you are new to sales. So keep reminding yourself all day, every day and out loud that success isn’t about avoiding rejection, it is about perseverance and execution. Everybody is going to hear a lot of “NOs;” that is normal and natural and to be expected. But step up, toe the rubber and make your next pitch. The wins will take care of themselves if you have prepared well, presented well, and are proud of your product.
Just to complete the analogy, perseverance and execution were the keys to Cy Young’s success, too. He holds a few more very telling records.
Most games started – 815
Most games finished – 749
Most innings pitched – 7,354 2/3
Most batters faced – 30,058
Once again, the numbers tell the rest of the story. Cy Young is one of the greatest figures in the history of baseball because he was dedicated to showing up for work every day and doing his job with courage and excellence. His career is a testimony to the truth of one of my favorite phrases, “If you don’t quit, you can’t lose.” If you can just get your mind around that, then rejection and failure can be reduced to nothing other than signposts along the road to a life of record-setting successes.
Whenever you are having a tough day, think of Cy Young, and also remind yourself of these Big Four Commandments of Sales.
I. Thou shalt not expect perfection.
You are human; your customer is human. Therefore, you are both subject to weaknesses, failures and fits of unpredictability at times. Accept it and move on.
II. Thou shalt dwell on your successes, not your failures.
Focus on your successes instead of your rejections. Remind yourself how good they felt, and how good it is going to feel again, maybe as soon as the next call. Sometimes you need to analyze a call to see what went wrong, but don’t forget to balance that by analyzing your successes, too, so you can repeat what you are doing right.
III. Thou shalt view failure as a step in making progress.
Don’t be afraid of failing. Learn whatever you can from it, adjust and keep going. My definition of a successful person is someone who falls down six times and gets up seven.
IV. Thou shalt not take rejection personally.
In most cases, the customer may not even know you, so if he says NO, he can’t really be rejecting you. There are a whole host of reasons that might be driving his decision, and a most of them have nothing to do with you.
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October Sales Quick Tip of the Month – Speak Up, Then Shut Up
There may be no more powerful closing tip – and there are a million of them – than this simple caveat: the first person to speak, LOSES. What does this mean, exactly? It refers to that moment in the sales discussion when you feel the time is right to ask for a commitment from your customer. You may phrase your question in a number of ways. The point is, after you make your offer or request, don’t say another word! No matter how uncomfortable the silence becomes, let your customer be the first one to break the silence. Typically, most sales reps get really nervous if the silence lasts more than about 15 seconds and, fearing that something is wrong, they will jump in and say something to break the silence. If you do that, you will take your customer off the hook and you most likely will never get him back. So what if he is uncomfortable? At this point, he needs to be uncomfortable for a while. If you will wait, he will eventually break the silence, either by saying accepting your offer, or by expressing reluctance or asking a question. Any response from the customer that isn’t yes is still a new opportunity to clarify and move the process back to the close again, and you stay in control of the call.
