Tuesday, September 26, 2023

117. Best ways to deal with rejection based on my personal experience

 


One of the most challenging aspects of being a financial advisor is how to deal with constant rejections. 

In my own practice (around 30+ years' worth), I also have also gone through a lot of these, and the final outcome usually is affected by how I dealt with it.

First is that I learned that if I take it personally, it usually ends whatever chances I have left in salvaging the business relationship, selling is a big part of financial advisory and rejection is a natural part of the sales process, a rejection is not a reflection of our worth as advisors.

Second is that I treat each rejection as a learning experience in my growth as a salesperson, I reflect on the event and try to identify what have I done right? what have I done wrong? how i can make a better presentation next time I encounter the same situation.

Third is not giving up. We can give up on that particular prospect but don't give up on the career! one rejection does not mean we will get rejected all the time! move on to the next prospect!

Fourth is to adapt and refine my approach. Whether I am selling or making a presentation, I take note of the reactions to what I have just said, if it has some positive impact on the prospect or my audience, I remember it. If it is taken negatively, I would reflect on it and restate it in some other way.

Lastly is that it helps to have a support system, the most productive part of my career has always been when I am in a group of like-minded individuals going through the same experiences, during meetings, we would talk about it, laugh about it and discuss ways and means and how it could have been done better.

This is just a short post, but I hope you have pick up some nuggets that could help you deal with rejections better!

All the best my friends!

jeff




Sunday, September 10, 2023

116. Why do I keep writing blog posts that nobody reads anyway?


Some people think I am successful, some people think I am a total failure, but no matter what others think I don't mind, because I have happy and grateful to where I am today.

My journey is not an easy one, maybe I have to overcome much more obstacles to get to where I am today, I have highs and I have lows, along the way I made mistakes, learned from it and moved on. 

I write blog posts for the audience of one, if I just inspire one reader, then I am fulfilled. here is one of my life stories...

I started working when I was 14, I was in my third year in high school and summers are spent in helping out customers with their orders in hardware stores in our area, this was not a big deal as quite a number of my classmates are also doing the same thing, the only difference is that they are working for their own family business while I am working for others.

These brief summer jobs gave me my first learning opportunities in realizing that a "customer" - someone willing to pay money for a product or service is the lifeblood of any business.

High school ended and college began, because of the need to self-support my studies, I opted for night classes so daytime can be used to find employment. 

A high school graduate in the job market really does not have a lot of options. Safe/regular clerical jobs are often for people with higher educational attainments, so I ended up as a salesman.

My first job is selling "Collier's Encyclopedias", yes! this is the pre digital age and encyclopedias are still the main resource materials. With the confidence I learn in my hardware store stints dealing with customers, I enthusiastically went out and look for my first customer!

Obviously, the skill set needed to sell a high-priced set of encyclopedias is much higher than the skill set to sell hammers and nails, I was not able to sell any.

The second realization I have is that to convince a customer to pay for a product or service, the salesman must be very knowledgeable with his product and be able to find ways to demonstrate to the customer how this product can help them. We are told by our trainers to approach parents and convince them that by buying a set, they are giving their children a heads up in learning and may help them better themselves academically.

The third realization I have is to be able a convinced a customer, we must know the customer, understand how a customer thinks and what he values. Then be able to position our product based on these.

Let me be the shoulder you stand on, as you scale greater heights!

Thank you, my friends. or is it Thank you my friend.

#acgadvice