Your favorite college rejects your admissions application.
Your bank rejects your car loan.
In sales, we all know so well what rejection is. We deal with on a daily basis.
You make phone calls, send out emails, mail out marketing pieces, and leave voicemails, and what do you get for your efforts?
Rejection.
Well, most of the time. Sometimes you do get some wins – some orders or sales. As a result, you are motivated to move forward. But after receiving rejections on a daily basis, you are bound to become frustrated and angry.
However, let’s put rejection in perspective here.
Yes, it’s a lot of work dialing for dollars, sending and replying to emails, and leaving dozens of voicemails daily.
But when you think about it, all that work is nothing compared to writing a novel or short story and trying to get it published. Let’s look at rejection from a writer’s point of view for a minute.
You spend months, if not years, writing a novel. You are working alone (or maybe in a coffee shop). You are attending seminars and workshops where your work is sometimes trashed by your teacher or classmates. You post your work on Wattpad and read negative comments. You submit your publication to agents and publishers, and they reject your work.
Sound familiar? Sure, but the difference is that a writer is pouring his heart and soul into his work. It’s personal. He’s also spending a hell of a lot longer writing than you are making sales calls.
Here is a list of some famous writers who were initially rejected –
William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” was rejected 20 times before it was published.
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen received 134 rejections for “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”
Robert Persig’s “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” was rejected 121 times.
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected 12 times.
Madeline L’Engle’s book “A Wrinkle in Time” was rejected 29 times.
Stephen King’s “Carrie” was rejected 30 times before it was published.
My point? Don’t give up. Embrace rejection. Sure, you can always fine-tune your sales techniques and strategies. Seek advice. Get a mentor.
Still not convinced. What do the experts have to say?
Below are two videos from YouTube how to handle rejection in sales –
Jan Buermans, a sales trainer, says that when faced with rejection, you should ask one question “What do you mean?” and then shut up and wait for the answer.
Lily Rubio, Creator & Owner at Cupcake Covertops, offers some of the best advice I’ve heard on how to deal with rejection. For example, she mentions that for every 10 no answers, you get one yes. The key is to get out there and make sales calls and not take it personally.
Some love the challenge of achieving quotas while others hate them.
Quotas can make or break you. In most cases, if you achieve or exceed your quotas, you will earn higher commission checks. If you don’t meet your quotas, in most cases its goodbye job and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Some complain that quotas are too high and unrealistic – and they may have a valid point. I’ve seen cases where more than 50 percent of salespeople are fired or just quit because they don’t meet their quotas. The turnover in some sales departments is so high, that they constantly having to hire and train new salespeople Very costly.
While I don’t offer a solution to helping you meet your specific quotas, I do have a suggestion that could help.
Below is a great video from YouTube from Reggie Rivers at TEDxCrestmooreParkED. Mr. Rivers, a former Denver Broncos Running Back, speaker and author, makes the argument that if you want to achieve your goals, don’t focus on them. Now, I know what you are thinking – this is beginning to sound like psychobabble. But hear me out – what Mr. Rivers is suggesting is that you focus instead on changing your behaviors in order to achieve your goals.
Let’s say you have a monthly or quarterly quota to achieve. You are anxious. You are worried that you are not going to make your numbers. You get stressed out. You complain to your co-workers. You procrastinate.
Why? Because you are focusing on the quota. What you should be doing is focusing on how to improve your behavior to achieve your quota.
Let me give you some examples –
1). Rather than coming to work on time, why not come to work 20 minutes early to start making phone calls to catch decision-makers before the gatekeeper arrives.
2). Rather than make 50 calls a day, whynot push to making 60 or 70 a day.
3). Rather than leave work on time, whynot try staying a little later to catch decision-makers after the gatekeeper leaves.
4). Rather than ignore the advice of your sales manager, why not sit down with him on a one-on-one meeting and map out a plan on how you will achieve or exceed your quota.
5). Rather than envy the better salespeople, why not ask them if you can sit in on their conversations and listen to how they work the phones.
6). Rather than sending long emails that no one is going to read, why notsend shorter and more concise emails that a prospect may respond to. (More people than ever are reading emails on their mobile devices than on their desktops).
7). Rather than do administrative paperwork throughout the day, why not set time aside to perform that work so that you can focus more time on making sales calls.
8). Rather than just repeatedly make call after call, whynot spend about 3 minutes quickly reviewing your prospect on LinkedIn to ensure you are actually calling the right person.
9). Rather than rewrite the same email each time, whynot create templates of emails to send that you can customize on a case-by-case basis.
10). Rather than bitch about the bad prospects you are receiving from the Marketing Department, whynot find your own prospects from Data.com (formerly Jigsaw), LinkedIn or other sources. (I actually bought prospects out of my own pocket in some of my previous jobs in order to increase my sales). Do you see my point?
If you have a quota to achieve, don’t panic. Sit back. Relax. Review your sales process. Create a list of ways you can quickly improve your behavior. Then go. Move forward.
Sounds easy? No, it’s not. It takes time to change your behavior. Don’t try to do everything on at once. Take it in baby steps. As the old saying goes, the first step in achieving your goals is to take the first step.
So take it.
Below is Mr. Rivers’ video presentation from YouTube –
You are sitting at your desk trying to compose an important email to send to a client. You are on a tight deadline. You are trying to concentrate. Suddenly, your co-worker sitting next to you in an open space office loudly blows his nose. Or, another co-worker sitting across from you in the same open space gets into a heated conversation with his girlfriend over the phone. Or, another co-worker walks over an employee two desks down and starts up a conversation about weekend plans. Or, another co-worker two rows down is shouting at the sales manager to gain his attention.
Distractions. The price some of us pay for working in an open space office.
Is an open space environment a good or bad idea?
This question came up recently in my head while I attended a panel discussion on “What Can We Learn from Billion Dollar Startup Workplaces?” The event was sponsored by WorkDesign Magazine and it was held at a semi-open space office of WeWork Wonder Bread Factory in Washington, D.C. (I say semi-open space because start-up companies actually work in small offices with glass walls. Yes, you can see people working when you walk by, but the offices do reduce some noise and offer some privacy. In addition, I notice phone booths available for people to make personal calls).
It appears that the trend these days for start-ups and some well-established companies is to adopt open space. For example, during the panel discussion, Emily Hollan White, Senior Director of Talent & Culture at Optoro, showed us a layout and photos of the new open space for her company. Optoro, a company that helps retailers sell their excess and returned inventory, moved into its new location last year. Ms. White explained that the open space environment encourages more collaboration among their employees.
I have worked in open space, semi-open space (with high cubicles) and close space environments where I had my own office. I even worked in my home office.
Let’s outline the pros and cons of working in an open space –
Pros of Open Space:
1). Collaboration – working in an open space encourages collaboration and teamwork among employees. Lack of walls and secrecy generates more camaraderie and increases information flow.
2). More space – from an employer’s point of view, he is saving money by not having to build offices; thus, he can hire more employees and increase his usage of floor space. This is a win-win for everyone – open space encourages more job growth for employees, and employers benefit by increasing their profit.
3). Big brother is watching you – from your employer’s point of view, he can make sure you are doing your job and not playing Solitaire or reading porn sites on your computer. (And frankly, if you have so much time on your hands to be playing computer games and reading x-rated sites, you are in the wrong job).
4). Cost savings – again, from an employer’s point of view, he is saving money by reducing heating and cooling costs. Also, there is a more communal atmosphere where the company can save money by having employees share resources, e.g., copiers, printers, fax machines (yes they still exist) and office supplies.
5). Sales pitches – from a sales point of view, you can listen to each other’s sales pitches and lines, and adopt or tailor them to your own needs. For example, here is a video clip from the “The Wolf of Wall Street” where Jordan Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), pitches a penny stock to an unsuspecting and naïve investor –
You notice that several salespeople in the background are listening to Mr. Belfort’s conversation. That actually happens more often than you think in sales. If someone is using a good line or phrase, you make note of it and use it with your clients.
(However, for the record, I don’t recommend that you lie or mislead your clients).
Cons of Open Space:
1). Distractions – too much noise can make it difficult for employees to concentrate on their work, thus hurting productivity and increasing stress.
2). Lack of privacy – computer screens are easily visible and phone conversations are likely to be overheard. (However, my rule is this – always assume that your employer is monitoring your computer and phone activity, even if they claim that’s not the case. Sure, there is no harm in you checking the weather or the lunch menus at the local restaurants, but avoid sites that you know your employer will frown upon).
3). Germs – open space can encourage the spread of disease, especially colds, which could adversely affect attendance and actually hurt productivity for the company.
4). Not attracting good employees – some potential good job candidates may be discouraged from working in an open environment because they don’t feel it’s a good fit for them.
There have been several articles written in recent years discussing the open space working arrangements.
They reported that “the open layout has increased productivity, energy and connectedness.” But they admitted that “the journey from a traditional office to this new space where everyone shares workbenches, tables, lounge areas, and first-come-first-served private rooms took careful thought and planning.”
After much planning and design, they created an open space that included an open café, several small seating clusters for small group conversations, glass-walled conference rooms, and lockers for employees to keep personal items.
However, they did offer rooms for employees to use for private meetings, phone calls (but no private offices for management), and background noise masking, “so that conversations in the open are heard as mild hubbub rather than distinct, distracting words.”
The last two points are worth exploring more because I believe that The Bridgespan Group may have found a possible compromise and solution to make open space more tolerable for everyone.
1). The need for private offices – sometimes you need some privacy. Maybe you need to discuss something personal with your manager, or you need to meet with your HR manager. Based on my experience, all open space companies that I’ve worked for have provided private offices for those reasons and more.
2). Background noise masking – I went on a job interview recently where my potential employer told me that their company uses white noise to reduce the noise level. I think that’s a great idea. I only wish that some of my previous employers had adopted the same practice.
Below is a list of some companies that provide background noise masking tools and systems –
Here are some other suggestions for improving working conditions in an open space environment –
1). Give potential employees a tour of your office – Do a “show and tell” of your office space with all potential employees when they arrive for an interview. Make sure they know upfront what type of office they are required to work in. Or better yet, have them sit with a salesperson for a few minutes to get the feel of the office. Better to learn early if a new employee can handle and adjust to an open space than to find out later that he can’t and have him quit. Let’s face it, not everyone can work in an open space. No shame. It happens.
2). Earplugs and Headphones – In sales, you can’t function wearing earplugs and headphones when you are trying to make calls. However, there are times when you need quiet in order to compose or respond to an important email or write a contract or RFP. In those situations, yes, I would recommend wearing earplugs and listening to music of your choice while writing. (Personally, I can’t concentrate while listening to music, so earplugs are my solution).
3). Enough space – there is space, but then there is too little space. I’ve worked in an office where I felt the salespeople were sitting on top of each other. In addition, you were sometimes required to get up out of your chair to open the office door for deliveries or visitors, answer tickets, and do live chats – all while trying to make and receive sales calls, and sending emails to your clients. At one job, I actually had to sit next to the company printer and got distracted by the constant churn of printing, while employees would walk to and from the machine. And to make matters worse, some employees would treat the printer like it was the proverbial company watering hole and stand around shooting the bull.
While I understand that some start-ups are running on tight budgets, you need to ensure that your employees have enough space to actually do their jobs. If not, the money you save on offices and utilities may be lost with high turnover.
4). If you’re sick, go home – While I admire dedicated employees who are willing to come to work even when they are under the weather, you must be considerate of others – this is especially true in open space environments. No one expects you to be a martyr for the cause – while falling on your sword is noble, you may end up slicing your co-workers in the process. Maybe employers need to give sick employees more leniency when it comes to docking their sick time or offer employees the flexibility of working from home when ill.
5). Encourage Employee Feedback – if you are moving into a new office, or switching from a traditional closed office to an open environment, seek employee feedback and comments. When employees feel their opinions are being considered, this encourages high morale and retention.
6). Enforce good manners – sure, we are all adults, but sometimes we need to be reminded of that. That means if someone is speaking loudly or hovering over you while you are working, take them aside and politely tell them to knock it off. Of, if things are really going badly, speak to your manager.
However, speaking to your manager may not always be possible.
I once worked in a semi-open environment at another job that was so tense for me that I actually quit a week after I joined the company. I was sharing a small office with the sales manager and a senior sales rep. I found myself sitting in a corner with a nice window view overlooking a beautiful small pond and park. At first, I liked the arrangement. But after a couple of days, I began regretting my decision. My manager was a good ol’ Southern boy who talked incessantly all day long. He would talk about cigars, his car, his former jobs, his former sales reps, his wife, and basically everything under the sun except work.
Being a veteran employee, he had a solid pipeline, great contacts and he could squeeze sales to meet his monthly quota with no difficulty. However, being a new sales rep, I knew I would have to work hard during my first year to build up my pipeline. I had to concentrate and stay focused. But my manager just wouldn’t leave me alone. Being a new employee, I couldn’t just tell him to shut up. Finally, frustrated and angry that I couldn’t do my job, I quit.
(I found out later that other salespeople quit for the same reason I did. One guy actually sent my manager a video of Donald Duck to drive home the point. The manager was so dense, he didn’t take the hint).
Conclusion: Whether you think that open space offices are a fad or not, more companies than ever are adopting the plan. While I believe that most employers want their employees to be productive, they need to adopt some common sense approaches when considering office arrangements. No employer wants to see high absenteeism or turnover of employees due to poor working conditions. While the bottom line is earning a profit, you still need to attract and retain good employees who will help you achieve that goal.
I believe open space is here to stay. I believe the pros outweigh the cons. Just make sure your employees will have a say in office arrangements, or the only open space you will be seeing are vacated desks and chairs.
What do you think? Please let me know if you have any comments to share.
And to remind you how stressful sales can be, tomorrow is National Stress Awareness Day – yes, it’s a real special day!
How you can reduce stress?
1). Set priorities – don’t try to do everything at once. Have a clear plan for your top goals on a daily basis. Yes, it’s tough to do that because there are always emergencies – a client calls to complain, a package wasn’t shipped out on time, your computer crashes, etc. But if you write down your daily goals, that will help you minimize your stress.
2). Sleep – yes, it’s tough. But getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night will help.
3). Listen to relaxing music when commuting – while I love Rock n’ Roll, I prefer listening to classical music when I commute. It helps to relax me.
4). Turn off the news – at least until you get home. In sales, you always want to maintain a positive attitude. The last thing you want to do is listen to bad news while heading to work. That will only make you more stressful.
5). Avoid negative people – yes, that’s hard to do in sales if you have some angry clients who are always bitching and complaining. That comes with the territory. But if you are dealing with negative people at work, try to avoid them as much as possible.
6). Exercise – you don’t have to go to the gym every day. Take a walk. Maybe walk during lunch. Maybe bike ride to work.
Stress is a killer. According to the American Institute of Stress, work stress increases the risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke. In fact, according to the Institute, stress is the basic cause of 60% of all human illness and disease.
So please – take good care of yourself. Work is important. But so is your health.
1). Is your employer well-known in the industry? If yes, that’s half the battle right there. Nothing makes your job more difficult than working for a company that has very little name recognition. If a prospect instantly recognizes your company name, that will save you a lot of time by not having to explain what you are trying to sell. A good example is real estate. If your company has little or no name recognition, you will be wasting valuable time explaining to the prospect who you are and what you do.
2). Does your employer have a good marketing plan? If your company is helping you generate good, qualified leads, you will save yourself a lot of time. Nothing is worse than working on straight commission and wasting half your day finding leads. Searching on Google may be fun but it doesn’t pay the bills. You are a salesperson, not a glorified lead generator. If your company does not have a good marketing plan, your valuable time will be eaten up hunting leads.
3). Does your employer offer benefits? Believe it or not, some companies that pay only straight commission will sometimes offer benefits. Unless you are married and can piggyback on your spouse’s benefits or your parents’ insurance policy, this could be a big help to you.
4). Does your employer offer paid training to help you learn about the products or services you are selling? That could go a long way in helping you get a jump-start in filling your pipeline and generating income.
5). Does your employer give you some compensation for a short time? To help you ramp up, some employers will pay a small base salary for a few weeks or months. This should give you enough breathing room to build up a reasonable pipeline so you can start earning a commission.
6). Is the company’s commission structure generous? Normally to make a straight commission plan work for you, you either must be selling a high ticket item (e.g., real estate), or a lot of smaller items (e.g., vacation packages or timeshares) to be successful. As a rule, the higher the item’s cost, the longer the sales cycle will be. Can you afford a long sales cycle while working on straight commission? Only you can answer that.
There is nothing wrong with working on straight commission. Sometimes, your commission will be uncapped – meaning you can earn as much as you want. At some companies, if you are working on a base salary plus commission structure, your commission may be capped.
At the end of the day, only you can decide what works best for you. Just make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.
I have worked for two major corporations that eliminated their inside sales teams. Both corporations thought they were “saving money” by dismantling the inside sales teams and transferring the duties to the outside sales reps. Both corporations also believed there was too much overlap between the inside and outside sales departments, so they wanted to eliminate duplicative efforts. The thought was that the outside sales team could handle simple duties like renewing customers and selling smaller products or services, along with the rest of their responsibilities.
However, in both cases, the corporations realized a major mistake was made and they later reinstated a new inside sales team. In fact, one corporation did an about-face within a matter of 4 months. However, since most of the inside sales reps were no longer working at either company, both corporations had to start from scratch by hiring and retraining a whole new group of inside salespeople.
What happened?
In the first case, the corporation saw a major drop in the sales of durable medical equipment parts. Since outside sales reps earned most of their commission selling large equipment and services, they didn’t waste their time selling smaller items.
In the second case, the corporation received pushback from both their outside reps and customers. The outside reps complained they didn’t have time to follow-up on renewals, and frankly, they weren’t earning a lot of commission on renewals to make it worthwhile. Customers began complaining they weren’t given the same level of excellent service they received in the past from their inside sales reps. With renewals starting to drop, a new inside sales team was quickly assembled and they began the long process of retaining customers.
What can we learn from these two cases?
1). Focus. Selling is about focus. If your sales team is selling too many products and services, something is bound to fall through the cracks. Salespeople are commission driven. They are going to focus their time and energies on products and services that will generate the most commission. That’s common sense. For example, if given a choice between generating a new sale for a $5,000 product vs. a $50.00 product, which one would a smart salesperson focus on? You got it – the $5,000 product. So an outside sales rep isn’t going to bother chasing after a small order when there are bigger fish in the sea to catch.
2). Time. Salespeople have only so much time in the day to sell. So smart salespeople realize they must set priorities and stick with them. Time management is critical. Larger orders will always be a sales person’s first priority.
3). Small products add up. While renewing customers or selling small products may not be very sexy, the orders do add up. A $700 subscription may be chump change for some. But when you start dealing with thousands of subscriptions with that price point, you are looking at some serious money. Not to mention the opportunity to cross or up-sell once a subscription or small product is purchased.
4). Eyes and ears. The inside sales department serves as the eyes and ears for the outside sales reps. Outside sales reps can’t be everywhere at once. They have too much of a geographic territory to cover. But inside sales reps can cover a lot more territory quicker and easier. They can provide intelligence that outside sales reps can’t always get. Examples – a competitor is making a major play on a large account, or an account is threatening to cancel. By acting as an early warning system, inside sales reps can alert outside sales reps of potential threats to their sales. This collaborative effort is a win-win not only for both sales teams but for their employer too. It ensures more sales.
5). The larger picture. What many companies don’t understand is this – inside sales departments don’t exist just to sell. Inside sales departments are your last line of defense. If the marketing department fails, if the billing department fails, if top management fails, if the outside sales reps fail, if the production department fails, it is the inside sales department that will come to the rescue and turn things around. Thus, the inside sales department serves as the checks and balances to the rest of the departments. Inside sales teams are more motivated to solve problems because they are earning a commission.
Inside salespeople are also serving on the front lines. They “get it” if customers are upset and complain. They act quickly to resolve issues before they erupt like wildfire throughout the market. Inside sales reps know so well the power of social media these days. All it takes is a lot of negative reviews on Yelp, Google Reviews, industry discussion boards, and blogs before its game over, and sales begin to slide.
While some companies may have a love and hate relationship with their inside sales departments, it’s time to start sharing the love. Don’t dump your inside sales team.
Rejection. We all face it.
