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Mar 2025
22m 21s

What Should I Do When I Get Rejected? | ...

Donald C. Kelly
About this episode

There’s no way around it; you’re going to hear "no" repeatedly in this industry. However, how you handle those "no's" is what turns you into a better seller. My guest, Jacob Hicks, is going to show you how he turned 70% of his "no's" into future "yes's."

Meet Jacob Hicks

  • He is a successful sales coach passionate about empowering leaders, professionals, and entrepreneurs to achieve clarity and fulfillment in both their business and personal lives. 
  • Since 2014, he has been a sales leader who has exceeded goals, set records, and effectively led teams across diverse industries. 
  • When he isn’t working, he is dedicated to continuous growth through reading, music, investing, and mission work.

What to Do When You Get Rejected

  • Jacob believes that all success stems from prospects telling you "no." You learn significantly more from setbacks.
  • This is where you can reflect on what went wrong and how you can improve your deal-closing process.
  • He also believes that without a strong follow-up system, you will not be able to grow as a seller. You can work on your closing techniques, product knowledge, and other systems, but without a strong follow-up system, nothing else will be effective.

Why Following Up Is Important?

  • You call a prospective buyer, and they tell you they are not interested. Is there a way to still follow up, even after they have said "no"?
  • Jacob views it as a retreat point and interprets the "no" as the buyer saying they are not interested in the product or service at this moment.
  • His preferred line for this type of rejection is, "Would you be offended if I stayed in touch with you?" He has found that 90 to 95% of the time, people are open to you reaching out to them again.
  • This allows you to continue following up with them a couple of times a month and provide value until they are ready to do business with you.

Following Up Role-Play

  • Jacob and I engage in a sales role-playing scenario where he is the seller and I am the prospective buyer. He demonstrates how he handles my rejection by providing value and establishing a follow-up system. Our role-playing illustrates that a "no" can evolve into a "yes" over time.

"When you’re stuck in a rut, you have to do something to change the dynamic. If you’re sitting at your desk all day, get up and stand or do something different to get you out of your comfort zone, helping you remember that you’re trying a new closing technique." - Jacob Hicks.

Resources

Visit Jacob’s website for more information and resources.

Listen to his podcast to get more insider tips. 

Sponsorship Offers

  1. This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.

With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.

2.   This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.

Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.

3.   This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.

Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.

Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

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