5 Steps To Beat Rejection

CHICAGO -- Dan Seidman will never forget the sales target he once called 46 times without a response.

On his 47th call, he left a message: "Congratulations, you've won an award. We've named you our Most Elusive Prospect."

Finally, the woman returned a call. She was angry and told Seidman to never call her again before hanging up. But not long after, she called back and admitted the approach was clever. She agreed to meet with him.

"How are we distinguishing ourselves?" Seidman asked during the opening session of the InsuranceNewsNet 2018 Superconference. "How are we getting appointments we're not supposed to get?"

Seidman is a sales coach who works with companies on how to open doors and get Yes responses. One of the biggest stumbling blocks to sales success is overcoming rejection. It's a hurdle every young sales associate learns to manage.

Seidman reviewed five techniques:

* Identify top objections. Write them down three ways and brainstorm best responses with others.

* Respond to unclear words. For example, "we're OK with our current situation" is a common rejection. A good salesperson would seize on "OK" as an opening, Seidman explained. "Do you want to be 'OK' or do you want to be great?"

* Tell a story. People identify with stories and they are a great way to make a connection, Seidman said.

"Sales professionals have to have great stories," he said. "People hearing a story will put themselves in a role in the story."

* Use metaphors. Using metaphors will help people connect and engage.

* Pain or gain direction. Eighteenth century philosopher Arthur Shopenhauer observed that "people aren't just motivated, they are motivated to move toward something or away from something."

For example, a car buyer might be motivated by a desire to drive a brand-new BMW (gain), or by a desire to improve their miserable gas mileage (pain). The salesperson's job is to find out which one is motivating the desire.

Seidman challenged attendees not to give up on "hiding buyers." Like the woman he called 47 times. Sometimes a little creativity can close a sale and match a reluctant consumer with a needed insurance product.

"If an alien came down and he was collecting specimens of great sales producers, would he pick you?" Seidman asked.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

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