During my sophomore year of college, I began my own financial planning practice through Northwestern Mutual as a Financial Representative. Over my time I have learned loads on how to cooperate and work with different families/individuals on a array of topics. Through working, I have been told no, yes, and also to not call back. It is a process that is not easily done in one night although sometimes you have that luck. Being able to do sales is not about selling a product but selling value in what you can provide for the other party and how you can benefit the other party. Likewise, you want to acquire value through what you get in return for your efforts. Selling is about building trust especially in this field because you are there for the long haul. You need to know in and out what you can provide for the client and how what you are providing is better than what others can. Knowing an industry and actually walking through the work of being with people are two completely different things. You need to be able to separate your feelings from work in the idea that when people say no to you, they are not saying no to you but to what you are offering and if they are rude to you and do say no to you then you would not have wanted to work with them in the first place. Being able to handle problems in your work no matter what you end up doing will tell a lot about your character and how you deal when your back is against the wall. You must be able to calmly and collectively take on one task and then the other which in my opinion takes experience rather than just knowing you have to do so.
andersonsa22 
riehljb21 
trischlerba23
Reading this reminded me of a quote from Harvey Specter. “When your back is against the wall….break the g****n
thing down.” It is not entirely relevant but certainly memorable. I agree with you that ultimately first of all…you need to be confident in the product you are selling. I could never respect whole life insurance salesman. They are not selling anything good, but simply taking advantage of buyers. By contrast, if you are proud of the product, and believe you can add real value to someones life, then sales becomes easier and more effective.
Andrew, I liked how you included being comfortable with your customer saying no. This seems to be a common theme in the class, with Professor Sweet talking about it along with John Porter. It is important to understand that the client is not exactly saying no to you but offering along with the point that if they are rude why would you want to work with them anyways. I think it is extremely difficult to hear no and it is not something that people enjoy hearing, but we need to start seeing no from a different prospective.