I’ve heard from many of you that Matt Atchison’s material is helpful. He is doing an outstanding job as one of the Southwestern Company’s top District Sales Managers. I hope you enjoy his treatise on rejection….
Let me tell you about the worst rejection of my first summer.
I ran up to this house and there was a dad in the driveway washing his boat. I gave my approach to him and he stopped me short to let me know that I was talking to the wrong person. He said, “My wife is an educator so she deals with all that stuff. Go knock on the front door and she can help you.” So I jogged up to the door and knocked, stepped back and waited. She came to the door and she was a real cool mom. Let me right in and said she was very into education. I was hopeful. I gave my introduction and learned that she was indeed very into education. She had 2 PhD’s and she actually had started her own charter elementary school. (A school that cost over $15,000 a year for elem. kids!) So this lady was definitely an authority when it came to education. You will run into lots of these people.
I started to give my demo and after about 5 min she stopped me. She said very politely that she was not going to buy my books. I was like “ok”. This was nothing new, as I had heard ‘no’ from others before. But then she asked me if it was ok if she offered me some thoughts. I figured that wouldn’t be so bad as I packed up my sample books. She started off by saying something like this: “Matt, you are going to have a very tough summer here. You seem like a really nice kid with lots of potential. But I think you are in the wrong job. I own my own school, Matt. And I would not recommend one family in my school to buy these books from you. As an educator, that’s what I’m for. And our textbooks are good. I have a very hard time believing that I can’t find all of this somewhere on the internet. For free. Why would anyone pay for this? I would be surprised if you even have a family buy these books from you. $300 is a lot of money and people just don’t have $300 to blow on books. (She had a boat, remember.)” But I kept listening because she was being very nice about all this. She was very motherly. She continued: “And in this day and age, Matt, no one is going to let you into their door. I only let you in because you look nice. (This was right after 9/11) You should go back to Nebraska and get a job where you can actually make some money. Wait tables or something. If I were you I would get back into your little red car and go home today. This company is exploiting you. You are working these long hours out here banging on doors for them. There’s no way that your mom knows you are doing this right?! I would never let my child do this. Seriously Matt, you should go back home today.”
Ouch. I packed up my bag and thanked her tongue in cheek and ran to my car. When I got to my car I punched the steering wheel and cussed a lot. I was angry. Who was I angry at? Not her. Me. I remember feeling like I couldn’t believe that I had been duped into doing this job. What was I thinking by coming out here and doing this crazy book selling job?! I vowed to myself at that moment that there was no way that I would come back the following year. I was dead certain that she was right and that Southwestern would be out of business within a few years.
STOP.
Question: What part of the summer did this happen to me my first summer? Beginning, Middle or End?
Truth is that it happened in my last week. AFTER I had already made over $20,000 for my summer job!!!! And I believed her! That’s what is crazy about rejection. It will cause you to lose perspective and become irrational. How could I believe her that no one would buy? People had already bought that same day! It’s the “experts” that will give you this type of very logical rejection. Be careful.
The rest of the story is necessary too. After punching my steering wheel, what did I do? I went to the next door. With a crappy attitude. 2 hours passed with a bad attitude. I got in zero doors. Then I stopped for a minute and realized how poor my attitude had gotten. I decided that I was going to make a change so I threw some water on my face and said a prayer. I went to work with a new mindset. 3 doors later I got in. And guess what. The mom and her kids were totally into my books. The kids were in high school and they were in honors classes and they were definitely going to use the books to save time. Mom was pumped. She thanked me and told me how great of a job I was doing. She gave me a Coke for the road and she said, “Matt, you are going to do great here in Mendon. People are really into their kids and you’ll have a lot of families buy these. Thank you so much for stopping by and showing us these books. My kids are going to love them. Can’t wait to see you when you deliver!”
I walked out of the house and got into my car. Then it hit me. As I pulled out of her driveway, I looked down the street and saw that dad just finishing up washing his boat. I realized a very valuable lesson at that moment. Some get it. Some don’t. This lady who just bought from me totally got it. The teacher from earlier in the day did not get it. Oh well. The answer to every problem lies behind the next door. Make sure you go to it.
Do you have a similar rejection story to share? or a comment or solution that would help other readers? Be sure to comment!
Here is some more great info from Matt Atchison on bookfield objections. Matt is one of the top District Sales Managers with the Southwestern Company:
“We already saw these last year.” This objection can cause you to lose faith that you can do well this summer. BE CAREFUL OF THIS!!! Don’t worry. Every year we work over each other and every year we do well. It will be no different with you. I can teach you how to dominate this objection. Having books in your district is NOT a disadvantage. My two biggest summers I sold directly over 10,000 unit summers from Yvette. I learned how to take this frustrating objection and turn it into an advantage. Plus, I want you to do as well as you can. I wouldn’t put you in an area where you couldn’t be #1 in the company. Trust me. Back in the 70’s students would sell over their roommates that SAME summer. They still did well so my guess is that you can too. Time for a definition you should know. UFA= uneducated field advisor. You will run into these almost every day. They are ‘experts’ that tell you how to do your job. They will think that they can teach you a better way to do your job than what you are doing. “Go set up a stand outside the PTA meeting.” “Call people 2 days in advance.” Do this or do that. Do you think that in the last 150 years, we have figured out how to be most efficient at this business? There was a kids a few years ago that made over $100,000 in his third summer selling books. He did it the same way that I am teaching you. Listen to us and trust us that we know what we are doing. The most coachable kid will be #1. When someone starts to give you advice, take it with a smile and thank them. Then move on and continue to try your best to get more efficient with the system that I am giving you.
“We bought the books and we haven’t used them like we’d hoped.” This is another objection that can cause you to question your product. But it’s important to understand that this happens usually for one of two reasons. 1) In our organization, we teach how important it is to give a quality presentation to the family when we deliver the books. This lesson is very crucial because it teaches the kids how to use their books properly and it also gives them a shot of enthusiasm about the books right before school starts. Sometimes you may have a student that doesn’t give a very good lesson upon delivery and that can often times hurt the family’s initial chances of using the books as intended. Give a good lesson please; it’s the right thing to do. 2) Our books are not miracle books. They do not open themselves and do homework. So sell the books to families with honesty. I am very realistic with families and I tell them that these aren’t supposed to be used every night for 2 hours. I let them know that the books are for when they need them; a few nights a week maybe, or some nights not at all. But it makes sense to have something around for when you have a quick question or you are studying for an exam. Here’s a question: If you go into someone’s house and they have a dusty Bible lying on the shelf, is it the Bible’s fault that the family is not picking it up? Nope. In order for the Bible to do its job, YOU MUST OPEN IT. Same goes for our books. If a family has let dust gather on their VL’s, it’s not the books’ fault. Duh.
See, rejection can be real tricky if you’re not careful. If you can understand the psychology behind the “no” then you are far less likely to fall victim to it. Never lose faith in what you are doing. You are a tremendous person and you are doing a job that has worked for thousands of years. It will work if you do.
I’ve got one more blog coming up on this topic, so stay tuned for more great material from Matt! What objections do you find yourself running into a lot? How do you handle them? Share a comment or a solution.
Here is some great stuff from the Southwestern Company’sMatt Atchison. Matt is a District Sales Manager, and is one of the best salespeople and sales trainers in recent history. Here is part one of several on the nature of rejection, and how to handle objections from Mrs. Jones.
Rejection is going to play some tricks on you and your emotional state this summer. I am going to do my best to prepare you for what you may or may not experience this summer. Ultimately, rejection will build confidence within you. But you will have to get your knees skinned up a bit for that confidence to set in.
We knock on about 60-80 doors a day in our job to get in our 30 plus demos. Sometimes you will not find people at home, other times you will accidentally approach a non-prospect. And there will be times that you are not able to demo a prospect because of certain circumstances or rejection. The nature of our job requires us to positively deal with rejection on a daily basis. You will hear many “no’s” this summer. You will hear many versions of “no”. It is your attitude about these “no’s” that will determine how successful you will be able to be this summer in our sales program. In fact, every year the number one student in our program is usually also the student that hears the most “no’s” out of anyone. It’s because they are working so hard and seeing so many people that they work through the most people with the most efficiency. Remember that with each “no” that you hear, you are one closer to your next “yes”.
We do hear a large number of “no’s” and that may frustrate you at times. However, the most difficult aspect of rejection is NOT in the number of “no’s” that you will hear. It is in how those “no’s” can affect your attitude and your belief. The way in which rejection is delivered is the most dangerous. It will cause you to lose hope in your day, your job, your product, and ultimately your success. Let me take you through some examples of the daily rejections that you will hear and how to understand them. UNDERSTANDING rejection is the key to beating it. And of course a positive attitude.
Routine Objections:
“We have the internet. It does everything.” You will hear this objection in two separate parts of our job: 1) Before they know what the product does. 2) After you’ve shown the product. Either place it will likely frustrate you at times. Here’s what you need to understand. Our products serve an entirely different purpose than that of the internet. How realistic is it for a student to get quick , step by step math help on an algebra word problem on the internet? Or help balancing a chemical equation? The internet is unbeatable when it comes to research for papers, reports, or projects. Our Volume Libraries are not for research. They are for the other 80% that kids do nightly. Our books teach the key processes that kids must understand to do their homework, tests, and quizzes. It is vital that you learn enough about your product to understand the VALUE of having a set of homework study guides available for kids’ quick use. The more you know about your product, the less you will be bothered by this objection. Some people worship the internet. Good news is that most don’t. Become convicted in the differing purposes between our products and the internet and you will hear less of this objection too.
“We don’t have the money.” This objection can be a very tricky one. Most of the time people mean “I don’t want to spend my money on your books.” This just means that they are not sold on the idea or value of what you are selling. They probably have the money but in their mind they don’t have the ‘extra’ money to spend on something they don’t desire. Very rarely do people not actually have the money to purchase our products, but here’s what’s so dangerous. They will get you to believe them. And when you have 20 people a day telling you detailed stories on why nobody has money that can take a toll on your outlook and attitude. Here is a mindtrick that rejection plays. This objection has been the downfall of many SW students in the last 150 years. It’s a bogus one though. I have sold books in virtually every kind of economic demographic. Both rich and poor. I broke the 2nd year record in one of the poorest areas of New York. And I hear the money objection just as much in both territories. Our group was up 60% in sales from 2008 to 2009 in the worst economy since the Great Depression. SW has had some of its best years during down economies and that’s because the value of education is always core in America. People always have money. Kids always have homework. Don’t make this costly excuse, find a way. P.S. If you can tell that a family really has no money at all, then don’t waste time with them. Find somebody that does.
“We don’t have time to spend with you.” This one can feel personal, but remember it’s not. One of the challenges of our job is learning humility and showing respect. Oftentimes you may feel like people look down on you because you are knocking on their door selling something. But remember that what you are doing is a great thing. I understood in my mind that I signed up for a job where I was going to be judged 30+ times a day. Sometimes this job feels like a blue collar job. We work hard and experience lots of rejection and sometimes that’s not glamorous. But trust me that you are learning white collar skills. It’s a trade off that most youth are not willing to take. But you are, and being different is good. Everyone wants to be successful after college. Most won’t be because they are not willing to pay the price.
Congrats on having the ambition and toughness to be different. Trust me: Do the job right and treat people with respect and the growth in your emotional intelligence and communication skills will be priceless!
More from Matt’s article on rejection and objections next week! Share your comments below.
Over the years as a trainer at the Southwestern Company, I have adopted many tenets and training tips from success guru, Anthony Robbins. One such principle he teaches is this:
“When we succeed, we party; when we fail, we ponder.”
This underscores the value of failing. Falling short of our expectations causes us to evaluate what we did incorrectly and to make adjustments.
I came across an interesting piece from Fast Company. In it, Alex Bogusky, co-chairman of Crispin Porter + Bogusky suggests that there is little or no value in failing. He, in fact, never allows his team to study their failures–he only focuses on successes. For companies which spend lots of time analyzing failures, Bogusky says “you create a fearful culture where you spend a lot of time looking at where you screwed up,” he says. Speaking at an innovation forum, Bogusky turned Robbins’ thesis upside down. Check out his comments here.
So which is it? Do we learn more from our successes or our failures?
I say: from both! Context is everything. Certainly my daughter learned quickly when she (successfully) reached up and put her hand on our very hot stove! She pondered her failure as we drove to the clinic, and has never made the same mistake again. On the other hand, there is value in reviewing what caused success. When we have a good year at Southwestern, or as a marketing team, we always evaluate afterwards and ponder what we did well and what we could improve on.
Covey suggests taking time each week to reflect. He recommends thinking about what worked and what didn’t and what you could do to improve. As long as there is reflection and evaluation, both success and failure can be learning opportunities.
In selling, the emotional weight we attach to our sales calls–how we label our experiences–makes all the difference. There is no failure, only feedback. If we miss a sale and tell ourselves, “I failed.” or “I’m not good at selling”, it adds a negative emotional dimension to our memory (and our future behavior). If we miss a sale and tell ourselves, “I learned from this encounter–I’m learning tons!”, this creates the sense that the sales call has been a success, a learning experience, rather than an outright failure.
What are your thoughts on this topic? I welcome your comments.
Here is a blog submitted by Patrick Dichter, a veteran Student Manager with the the Southwestern Company’s Eagle-Blitz organization. Patrick has a degree in International Business, and is pursuing an MBA at the University of Denver. He also was a candidate for the Student Excellence Award this year.
Tim Tebow was recently drafted in the first round to the Denver Broncos. A huge number of people from Denver fans to sports writers have been very vocal critics of picking a quarterback like Tebow who clearly has yet to develop the technical abilities normal required in the NFL. His biggest fan, Mark Rau, would tell you Tebow can take on the whole league blindfolded, with a 21 point handicap. Denver’s coach, Josh McDaniels, however defends his choice by stating Tebow has certain characteristics that simply can’t be taught – he’s super competitive, a natural leader, and has the ability to rally a team. McDaniels thinks these ‘intangibles’ are worth the first round pick, and the other pieces of the puzzle like throwing mechanics can be taught.
SO, many college students wonder what will help them in the job market after college. The vast majority focus primarily on their technical abilities inside the classroom and traditional internships or jobs. Yet what are the vast majority of employers looking for in recent grads? In every information session for the Southwestern Company, I reference the study in Job Choices magazine where NACE surveyed companies asking for the #1 most desired trait in potential employees. The entire list is…..drum roll….. intangibles! The number one is communication skills. So the question begs to be asked, of the hundreds of thousands of college students looking for a top pick in the employment draft, who is going to garner the attention of the best teams(aka top employers)? Most likely those who have taken the time and effort to develop the intangibles such as communication skills, personal growth, personal motivation and leadership.
The good news here is that all hope is not lost! While many feel the intangibles of an NFL quarterback cannot be learned, the intangibles of a great career CAN be learned at Southwestern.
Thanks, Patrick! If you feel inclined, comment! If you have a pertinent blog that you need to share, send it to me.
Over the course of the next month, most of the student managers at the Southwestern Company will wrap up their team building efforts. This is the time of the year when recruiting fatigue sets in, and some students give up on theirgoals. “I’ve done well enough.” “What’s important is quality, not quantity.” Other rationalizing thoughts surface (not that I ever thought them).
I was conducting a webinar on how to have a I Wanna Win finish, and it reminded me of the greatest finish I witnessed in swimming history–the U.S. men’s 4 x 100 relay at the Beijing Olympics. Do you remember?
At the 50 meter halfway mark, Jason Lezak peered through his goggles at the lane to his right and briefly lost hope.
“The thought really entered my mind for a split second,” Lezak said. “There’s no way.”
The anchor swimmer took off from the blocks well behind Frenchman Alain Bernard and, after sprinting for 50 meters, had not closed the gap. Bernard, who began this race as the world-record holder in the 100 freestyle, had not put the race out of reach — something he all but guaranteed by declaring the French would “smash” the Americans in this event.
When he flipped and pushed off the wall, he was still half a body length behind. As a Masters swimmer, I can tell you that is huge in a sprint race. The United States was going down and taking Phelps’ quest for eight gold medals with it.
But just as quickly as that glimmer of despair flitted through Lezak’s mind, it was shoved aside by fresh determination.
“I changed,” he said. “I thought, ”That’s ridiculous. I’m at the Olympic Games, I’m here for the United States of America. I don’t care how bad it hurts, I’m going after it.’ I just got a super charge.”
Lezak closed the gap and out-touched Bernard by .08 of a second. Less than a blink of an eye. The greatest comeback I have ever seen at the Olympics. People went crazy. I went crazy. It was very cool, unless you were French. Here is a link to a video of the whole race:
Are you in the final stages of your school year? a big multi-faceted B-to-B sale? building your team for the summer? This is the time when people give up a little, and think, “no way.” Decide it’s important to hit your goals–you may not have millions of fans cheering for you, but finishing strong(ly) is a great habit to adopt. Your thoughts/comments are welcomed!
The grass is green. Birds are chirping. The weather is warming up (no, I’m not talking about climate change) and I can leave the windows open at night. It’s time again for Southwestern Company’s annual Sales School! This year we’re slated to have nearly 2,800 students in for sales training from all over the world.
So here’s a question for Southwestern Company students and alumni: at this time of the year how do/did you feel going into a summer of selling? Everyone I know has a different emotional reaction to the notion of selling books.
What is the best emotional state to be in prior to a sales challenge?
Think back to a time you competed, or remember a time you had to perform. Got it in mind? When you performed well, you probably felt a mixture of positive anticipation and light anxiety. When did this go away? Most athletes will tell you, “when the gun went off” or “when the competition began”. Most performers say their anxiety left when the show began.
If you are all jazzed and excited, but haven’t “counted the cost” and thought through the challenge properly, you’re overconfident. If on the other hand, you throw up every time you ponder your upcoming event, you’re taking it a bit seriously. Worry is rarely a productive state to be in. There is a happy medium.
Before a good summer, I visualized what I wanted to happen. I reviewed my goals. I got excited about the long range outcome of what the summer sacrifice would entail. I pictured my team in checkout, the awards banquet, where I would be in the superstar book….
I also remembered (briefly) how difficult a Southwestern summer was, how hot it got, how heavy the bag was, how taking a team to the field would pose a multitude of frustrations, how tired I felt…. I’d say I was about 85% excited about the summer challenge and about 15% anxious. It seemed to be a mix that worked for me. I felt ready.
What’s your proper mix? How do you get emotionally prepared for a sales challenge? Think! Is it a vague sense of impending doom or is it an experience you’re leaning into? How can you get excited and prepared to perform?! Share your thoughts and help others.
1. a fair or proper equivalent in money, commodities, etc, for something sold or exchanged, for a fair price in return
2. worth, or degree of worth
3. that which is desirable or worthy of esteem for its own sake; thing or quality having intrinsic worth
Value, by definition, requires some sort of sacrifice. You give me money; I give you milk. You wouldn’t give me money for the milk if you didn’t think you would derive at least the same value out of drinking it as the amount of money you are paying me for it.
As it goes with selling. And with life, for that matter. Most things worth having (or achieving) are not easy to achieve. That is why they’re worth achieving in the first place. They must be sought after. They must be earned.
You’ve got to be willing to give something of yourself in order to get what you want. Life doesn’t go around just giving away success to people who are not working for it. You’ve got to shell out whatever it is that you consider to be of equal exchange for that success. The bigger the success, the bigger the sacrifice.
You’ve got to believe that your end result is going to be SO good – that you’re willing to jump hurdles and wrestle giants to get there. And why wouldn’t you? The feeling of success is certainly worth the sacrifice it takes to get there!
So when you’re selling, keep in mind the value of your ideal outcome. What is it you’re working for? Remember how good that’s going to feel! Sure, you will endure hardships and obstacles throughout your journey. People will say “no” to you. People will doubt you. People will think you can’t do it. But I dare you to prove them entirely and completely wrong.
Try not to feel resentful that reaching your sales goals requires lots and lots of hard work. But rather, feel excited that you’re working toward something so great, that its actually WORTH going through hell for it. That’s how good it is; and that’s how badly you want it!
Getting there – hitting your goal – closing the sale – THAT is going to feel spectacular.
Here’s a quick bonus mini-blog, compliments of the Southwestern Company. Several of you responded to my earlier posts about how to handle networking events, not only from a first-impression standpoint, but also considering what to say and how much to tell someone when you meet them. I gave you the Cliff/Spark Notes version of this topic area….
For a more thorough treatment of how to craft a great 30-second explanation of what you do and why others should do business with you, I refer everyone to Geoffrey James, author of the bNet blog entitled, Sales Machine. He shares a six-step process to hone your message. To get to this blog click here. Good stuff for your upcoming networking event or your next elevator ride….
Whether you’re demonstrating a product, or conducting your 2000th information session with The Southwestern Company, there comes a point in most salespeople/recruiter’s lives where your closing percentage drops off.
“That’s a nice set of books, but…”
“The Southwestern program sounds OK, but…”
“You’re a real good salesperson, but…”
Ouch. We’ve all heard a variation of these. Where are we missing the boat? Chances are we are simply selling people logically, but not emotionally (see future blog). What can be done?
When I was a sales manager with Southwestern, I noticed my closing percentage declined—somewhere after spring break. My Director, Roy Loftin, would fly in, watch my presentations, and then coach me, like this:
“Boring. No enthusiasm.”
What!? I thought I was doing a vibrant presentation; I thought I was holding them spellbound—evidently not. So, I made adjustments. Here a three ways to add zest to your presentations:
1. Get re-excited about what you do. Don’t “curb your enthusiasm”—in fact, make a list of what got you fired up about your work in the first place. My co-recruiter and I used to hold a psych-up session, complete with choreography, prior to our interviews: “Who’s got the jobs?! We do!” etc. (Not exactly Final Four excitement, but we got enthused.)
2. Add visuals. I know many of you at Southwestern hold information sessions orally—without any Powerpoint or visuals. Guess what? 1) Most people are visual and 2) you are not a great orator. You simply can’t hold their attention for over an hour. So think about adding more senses to your preso or demo. Some groups use video clips during presentations to enhance the experience. Think: how can I employ more senses? Touch? Smell? Taste?
3. Get your prospects involved mentally. Have the prospect do something rather than just listening to your talk. Let them touch your sample books (I always used to pass them around). Have them figure out the profit on paper. Ask lots of questions—this will also save your energy.
When I got excited again, and made some creative adjustments, my closing percentage magically returned! What are your ideas to stay fresh and enthusiastic? You are a creative bunch. What are you doing to remain zestful in your sales and recruiting efforts? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
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