Why Do You Take Things Personally?

Was it something that I said?

Maybe it was what I was wearing?

What did I do wrong?

Oh, the devastating feeling of being turned down and told, “No I’m just not interested” or “I don’t get involved in businesses like that”.

I think it’s worst than asking a person out on a date and getting turned down.

Have you ever experienced this in the past?

The being turned down on your business, not the date.  If you’ve been in this industry for any length of time – a week or more – then chances are that you have.

What you do from that point on defines you and your efforts at building a successful network marketing business.

Let me take you on a walk down memory lane. When I first started off in sales, I remember being so nervous that I would become physically sick to my stomach.  I knew that my clients could see the fear in my eyes, the sweat dripping of my forehead and would always try to find a way to avoid shaking their hand. Heck if they were around me they had better have a wetsuit on and a life jacket near by.

You think I’m kidding?

Not one bit. I would get so worked up that either I would start talking a mile a minute or go right in for the kill without ever finding out what they were looking for.

And if they told me “no, I think we will pass”, I was crushed.

I felt like a complete reject always taking them saying “no” to me, to mean that something was wrong with me. I would take things personally. That I was a failure, no good and should head back to lifting boxes at the docks and give up on my dreams.

One day I was with a client, and again I failed miserable. As the client said “no” (picture his mouth moving in slow motion nnnoooo…). I put all my show and tell stuff to the side and just talked to him for a moment.

I changed the subject and built up enough courage to ask him, “If you don’t mind me asking, where did I go wrong?”

I told him that I was new in sales and have been having a real challenging time with it and how it was affecting me personally.

As we talked, I listened INTENTLY and hung on every word he said.

Why?

Well there was no agenda, just two people having a conversation. I also found out that he was a sales manager and sales trainer.

Do you think he may have some valuable advice?

He shared with me that my body language read like an open book, I was nervous, confused and my energy was way off. He wasn’t sure if I was new, or that I didn’t believe in my product, or what the deal was.

We sat there engrossed in conversation, I absorbed every word and lesson that he shared with me. At one point he just asked me to share with him the benefits of my product with him and why the product would be of value to him.

So I did. About twenty minutes later we were filling out the paperwork for his order and we stayed in touch for a long time thereafter.

The sale felt good but the lesson was priceless. From that day forward I changed my approach in everything that I was doing and making sure to listened more, interacted more, and just forget about the sale.

The most important piece that I gain was in him sharing with me this. “Don’t ever take the rejection personally, it’s never about you. A prospect will move forward when they are ready, you just need to be there when they are ready.”

The network marketing industry has far too many people that give up because of the rejection, because they make a personal attachment to the outcome of every opportunity. They let every “no, not interested” pierce their heart as if it were their very own child being ripped away from them.

This is a business that requires YOU to take a “no”. To build a successful network marketing business you have to be willing to put yourself out there and risk being turned down. The only way for you to never face any rejection in this industry, is to never get started. But to do so would require you to give up on your goals and dreams.

Tagged as: Boxes, Confidence, Courage, Devastation, Docks, Dreams, Failure, Fear, Forehead, Handy, Heck, Length Of Time, Mile A Minute, network marketing business, Sick To My Stomach, Slow Motion, Successful Network Marketing, Sweat, Walk Down Memory Lane, Wetsuit