Negativity and Positivity in the “No”

We have spoken in class about how learning to fail, is the only way you’ll learn to win. I’m sure that we’ve all been taught something similar throughout our lives–“learn from failure” is the phrase I was raised with. There is a lot of wisdom to this, learning to fail is a necessity to life–not just sales. One tip that many sites, like Close.io.com and even Pink’s book suggests is anticipating the “no” you will inevitably receive as a salesperson.

Work with the “no’s” instead of despite them. Expect the word “no.” Anticipate it, and be prepared to hear it often.

As someone who has quite a negative outlook on things, I naturally tend towards negative thinking. Pink talks about how plenty of sales books suggest that before going into a sales situation, people should do positive self talk. Pink suggests the opposite–people need to be prepared for the “no” so that when it comes, they’re not emotionally devastated. So what about people like me? People who have no problem predicting a negative outcome? Are we doing it right? Or are we missing a piece? Should negative thinkers instead think those positive thoughts?

Pink suggests neither. The best self-talk, statistically speaking, is asking questions–“Can I make this sale?” Once the question is asked, the person can then mentally walk through all of their tools to figure out a strategy to make that sale. It is a natural response, and helps to not just pump us up, or bring our expectations back down to earth, but to give us good tools which provide results. This resonated with me particularly because, to this day, if I am overwhelmed or can’t answer a question, my father always asks me, “Well tell me what you know?” This strategy originated with my mathematical struggles, but has applied well to the rest of life.  By articulating what I know about a situation or problem, I then am more clearly able to see all the pieces and how they can fit together into a solution. I also slow myself down, and take a calming breath, in the process.

So next time you’re going into a scary situation, or have a problem you’re not sure to solve, follow the advice of Pink, ask a question and answer it.