Dealing with virtual sales rejection

Social selling is the newest weapon in the sales world, and with good reason. It offers the greatest and most efficient opportunity to identify ideal clients and customers. It also offers something a little more unpleasant—virtual rejection. There is no surefire way to avoid it, but there is an immediate fix.

Social selling can be tricky. There are no real rules other than the golden rule: Treat other people as we would wish to be treated ourselves.

That means that you need to stop sending emails that are all about you! Stop focusing on yourself and start concentrating on your prospects needs and goals. Prospects have no desire to read emails filled with the details of what you do and how you do it. They don’t care about you. They care about themselves. They don’t care about your company. They care about their own company. And finally, they don’t care about your products or services. They care about results.  

What do you think is going to get a prospect’s attention and deliver more impact? A virtual sales pitch that’s all about you, your company and how great you are? Or a powerful email that shows you understand their pains, problems, challenges and issues. Express to them that you have some information and insight. Explain how you have helped similar companies with successful solutions.

Launching into a virtual sales pitch is the #1 reason why sales professionals are suffering from virtual sales rejection.

Selling has its ups and downs. Anyone attempting to sell in the online world is bound to be met with rejection. If you are dealing with the sting of virtual rejection and online brush-offs, it’s time to take responsibility. Ask yourself: Would I respond to my own messages? Is what I am saying (or not saying) causing prospects to toss my message into the trash? Are my emails piquing interest or creating resistance? What is missing from my message that is causing me to be rejected?

Here is what your prospect is thinking. “This company is no different than the rest – just another self-serving salesperson wasting my time.  Go disturb someone else and don’t bother me again.” Once a prospect comes to that conclusion, you lose! Nothing you say will change that belief. What you say and how you say it must contain insight and interest for your prospect to come to a different conclusion about you. Otherwise it leads to a decision maker’s normal, natural reaction—stop wasting my time.

Everyone is overloaded and overwhelmed with hundreds of daily emails. When a complete stranger barges into their inbox and sends an email explaining all the reasons they are so great, they end up in the trash. Dumped again!  That is internet-speak for, “Not interested at all, ever.”

If you are willing to change your language and communicate with prospects the way they want to be communicated with, you will suffer less rejection. To be effective, you need to be clear and concise, not pitchy and promotional. You need to start an online conversation with something of interest to your prospect. Something that would make them want to give you a sliver of their precious time.

You have a choice. You can make a shift right now and suffer less rejection. Stop sending mediocre messages that produce lousy results and end up in the trash. Instead, send powerful and memorable messages that pique the interest of the recipient and get them to take action in your favor.

Every email you send out is an opportunity to connect or chance to be dumped. Are you following the online golden rule?