Rejection in sales is common, but it can still feel demoralizing—and impact sales results. Fear of rejection in sales is a major cause of call reluctance. Frequent rejection is one of the biggest reasons otherwise promising sales professionals abandon a sales career altogether.
Sales leaders can help their sales professionals overcome their fear, build the confidence to deal with rejection in sales, and succeed.
6 Ways to Overcome Rejection in Sales
The secret to overcoming rejection is not taking it personally—and using each objection as an opportunity to listen, provide value, and work toward the next step in the sales process. Coach your sales team to build confidence through preparation, believe in your offering’s value proposition, and see rejection as a temporary obstacle rather than a permanent condition.
Here are six tips for training your sales professionals to handle rejection with confidence—and meet their goals despite it.
1. Learn to Expect Some Rejection in Sales
One of the best antidotes to sales rejection is also the simplest: Know it’s a possibility. A sales professional who understands that some level of rejection is a normal part of the field will be less likely to be deflated when it happens.
Train your sales team to use every “no” as a way to thicken their skin and a learning opportunity to hear “yes” more in the future.
2. Refuse to Internalize It
Bouncing back from rejection is a sign of resilience—an important quality for sales professionals to develop. Help your sales team understand that a rejection is never a reflection of their personal worth.
If someone’s close rate is lower than others, it may mean there’s a problem in the way they are selling. But it doesn’t make them inadequate as people. They may need more sales training, skills, practice—or they may need to reevaluate whether the prospect is fully qualified.
To stop negative self-talk in its tracks and help sellers get out of a sales slump, suggest they keep a list of the successes they’ve achieved to remind them of better days when a string of rejections gets them down.
As their leader, you should also be intentional about praising each of your team members for wins both big and small. Public recognition or a few words of encouragement go a long way toward motivating your team to keep their heads up and persevere.
3. Evaluate the Nature of the Rejection
In a sales call, “no” doesn’t always mean “no.” Sometimes a “no” is actually just an objection, and objections can often be overcome. Teach sales professionals to treat a prospect’s “no” as information rather than rejection and to follow up with discovery questions based on that information.
Did the prospect say:
- No, we already have a provider
- No, we don’t have the budget right now
- No, that’s not something we need
If the prospect already has a provider, sales professionals can follow up with questions about how well that provider is serving their needs. If they don’t have the budget right now, the seller may be able to help them find the money they need. If the prospect thinks they don’t need the solution, a well-designed questioning strategy may unearth a need they don’t know exists.
Even when the sale can’t be salvaged immediately, the relationship doesn’t have to end forever.
Train sales professionals to accept rejection graciously and then to stay in touch. You never know when a prospect who said “no” last quarter might suddenly have the budget, time, or immediate pain to motivate them to return to the conversation, especially if they were impressed with the professionalism and knowledge of your seller.
4. Always Learn from Lost Deals
Rejection in sales is especially painful when it happens late in the sales process. But even then, not all is lost. Train your sales professionals to view these experiences as learning opportunities.
Analyze the deal to understand why a loss happened. Coach sales professionals to ask the customer why they chose not to make the purchase and to evaluate the process to see where things went wrong. They can then use that information to improve their performance in the future.
5. Share Rejection Stories
Sharing our losses and disappointments with those who understand makes them easier to bear. Encourage sales professionals to seek support from each other, and to share their rejection stories openly so everyone can learn from them. When handled well, this can have the added benefit of improving camaraderie and team cohesion.
6. Focus on the Next Sales Opportunity
One of the best ways to overcome rejection in sales is to focus your attention on the next opportunity. Sales professionals who have lots of opportunities in their pipeline are less likely to be depressed by each instance of rejection. Encourage sales professionals to mourn their losses, but to quickly focus their attention on the next deal.
Winning Responses to Common Sales Rejections
The best defense is a good offense. Here are some examples of common rejections sales professionals may face—and potential ways to respond.
1. “I’m not interested.”
Response: Don’t take it personally. Politely ask if there are any specific concerns you could address or if they might be open to a follow-up conversation in the future.
2. “Your product/service is too expensive.”
Response: Acknowledge the concern about cost, then highlight the key value propositions and long-term benefits/ROI that justify the investment.
3. “We’re already working with another vendor.”
Response: Express understanding, then ask questions to identify any potential pain points or unmet needs where your offering could provide additional value.
4. “This isn’t a priority for us right now.”
Response: Ask when is a better time to circle back, and get agreement to follow up then. See if you can plant seeds about how your solution could address future goals.
5. “I don’t have the authority to make this decision.”
Response: Request the name/contact of the appropriate decision-maker and get permission to loop them in directly.
How to Reduce Sales Rejections
The only thing better than overcoming rejection is avoiding it in the first place. Help your sales professionals learn from each rejection and continually improve their sales skills, so that, over time, they experience less rejection and more success.
Using a consultative sales approach gives sales professionals the strategies and tactics to position themselves as strategic advisors and use value-based selling when they do get face-to-face with clients or prospects.
Ensure your sales professionals learn to ask the right questions, handle sales negotiations, increase their sales skills, and sell in the way the buyer wants to buy—and they will reduce rejections before they turn into objections.
Learn How to Deal with Rejection in Sales
Set your team up for success by providing them with high-quality sales training such as IMPACT Selling®.
