Far too many people in direct sales or party plan businesses are afraid of rejection. They’re afraid of hearing the word “no“.
And I get it. I used to be afraid of rejection too.
In the first 2 years of my business, I did not sponsor anybody. At all!
I was afraid to ask, and by avoiding the ask, I rejected myself in advance.
I was saying “no” to myself before anybody else had a chance to.
So how do you change this?
You need to change your outlook on asking and following up. Because there’s nothing to lose by asking.
Thought exercise
Imagine you ask a friend to host a party for your or join your team. Imagine she says, “no,”. There it is, the dreaded no…
But what actually happened? In reality, nothing happened because before you asked, she wasn’t on your team, and she wasn’t hosting a party.
And after asking, that’s still the situation.
And you’ve spent your whole life without her on your team, so you know how to deal with that!
How to ask for what you want
There’s an art (or science) to asking and getting what you want. I found some great tips in the book The Alladin Factor by Marc Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield.
- Ask your sales lead to join as if you expect them to. Ask with a positive expectation, as if you expect to get a “yes.”
- Assume that you are able to get new team members (or bookings). Assume you can get a “yes.”
- Ask repeatedly. One of the most important traits of success is persistence. So don’t give up.
Are you persistent?
You want to keep asking your leads (without annoying them!) because they might say YES…
- on a different day
- when she’s in a different mood
- when her circumstances have changed
- when your company has a different offer
- when you’ve learned to ask better
The statistics that have most inspired me to be persistent came from research by a marketing specialist at Notre Dame University:
94% of all salespeople quit after the 4th call. However, 60% of all sales are made after the 4th call!
I didn’t want to keep missing out on 60% of my bookings or recruits because I wasn’t asking and following up enough.
You need to get used to the idea that there’s going to be a lot of rejection along the way to your goals. Don’t take the rejection personally – they are not rejecting you as a person.
Don’t give up. Develop tenacity and persistence. When someone says “no”, you ask someone else. It’s that simple.
Using the principles in this book, I built a global $20-million direct sales business.
In ‘Growing Your Direct Sales Team,’ I share my tried and tested methods from my 20 years in the industry.
My book comes with dozens of worksheets, checklists, and templates to get you on your road to success.
