No one enjoys rejection. It can hit hard at your self-worth. But getting a “No” delivers an opportunity, like making a mistake. Study it. Learn from it. And get better. Stop fearing rejection.
Getting turned down is a natural occurrence for anyone who makes a living in sales, so you’d better learn to manage your response. Remember, rejection is a symptom, not an end. It’s an opportunity.
What do you really fear?
Ask yourself, “What do I really fear?” I expect that fear of poverty would be stronger than the fear of sales rejection. When you fail to ask your homebuyer to buy the home, your effort will not culminate in a sale. No sale, no commission.
When a customer turns you down, don’t take it personally. They aren’t rejecting you, just your product. Stand back and evaluate your communication with this prospective buyer. Is it the wrong time for them to buy? Is it the wrong location? Does the home lack certain features that really matter? Use their “No” to spark your interest and to dig deeper. The difference between “Yes” and “No” could be as simple as qualifying what the buyer is getting for the price. Once you have fully explored the buyer’s needs and wants—when you have carefully asked, listened to, and filtered through spoken and unspoken desires—you are in a powerful position of influence. You should feel excited, not fearful, and energized, not hesitant. So let’s look at the source of possible rejection.
The meaning of “No”
No” could mean anything from “I’m not ready” to “Absolutely not!” It’s your job as a new home sales professional to determine where in the spectrum your buyer’s refusal is coming from. In many cases, you’ve pushed on to your next selling point before the customer was adequately convinced of the previous one. Maybe they hadn’t yet fallen in love with the community and you’ve moved on to selling the home. Possibly you thought their love for the home exceeded price resistance. Then they hit you with, “The price seems really high.” What does this mean? It’s not actually that the price is too high. Rather, you haven’t sufficiently communicated the value of the builder, the home, the features, and the location. You’re not getting a “No”; it’s a “Not yet.” And you can work with that!
In new home sales, rejection is inevitable. Rather than fear it, learn from the rejection and grow as a sales professional—as long as you apply the lesson. Rejection is not a failure, but an opportunity to sharpen selling skills. Of course, if you’re being presented with a disproportionate number of these “lessons”, then you’d better explore more sales training…or another career.
When you confront your fears and beat them down, you discover that fear exists only when you allow it to live in you. Don’t be such a good host.
