How to Manage Client Rejections
When you’re selling your services, you’re going to be faced with some skepticism and rejection, especially when you’re just starting out.
For better results in the pitching and sales process, I recommend this parallel mindset:
- Client focus
- Continuous, deliberate improvement
Let’s say that you’re a consultant who has partnered with a provider of an HR system for payroll, benefits, and performance management. You work with clients to implement and customize the HR system for their needs.
If you meet a lead, tell them a little about your company, but make sure to quickly emphasize the benefit that your service can provide:
We help you lower your hiring costs.
That might not do the trick. The lead might respond:
Thanks, but we’re good with our hiring costs.
Resist the temptation to enumerate the features of the platform or your capabilities as a consultant. Instead, offer an even more detailed and credible value proposition, referencing previous clients (as permitted) and performance data:
We helped a previous client lower hiring costs by 25%.
This specificity could be the difference between apathy and engagement.
To steadily improve your pitching and hit the mark with greater accuracy and frequency, take the following approach:
- Catalog sales questions that you did not respond to confidently or convincingly.
- Fully think them through, with greatest focus on client benefit.
- Next time, answer better.
