Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount The Hardest Part of Asking is Shutting Up (Money Monday)
As humans, we naturally fear rejection and do everything possible to avoid it. We’re social creatures at our core, and being rejected feels like we’re being shunned, banished, or kicked out of the group. In fact, the two biggest human fears are rejection and death—and as strange as this may sound, in our hearts we fear rejection more than we fear death.
This, by the way, is a huge problem in sales because, as a sales professional, it’s your job to go out into the world, find rejection, and bring it home. And even though objections are not really rejection, it can still feel that way.
It’s the fear of rejection that makes selling so difficult for most people—and why most people will never do your job. Sales is such a lucrative career choice simply because it’s a rejection-dense job. Companies are willing to pay big bucks to rainmakers who can control their emotions, face rejection head-on, and find a way to win.
Ask and You Shall Receive
The good news is that if you fear rejection and want to avoid it at all costs, the easiest way to do so is to never ask for anything. Of course, if you don’t ask, you won’t get.
You might steer clear of the pain of rejection for a while, but sooner or later it’ll catch up with you when you find yourself unable to provide for your family, missing your mortgage payment, or stuck in a dead-end job. These things, I’ve found, hurt far worse over the long run than rejection.
There’s a verse in the Christian Bible, Matthew 7:7, that goes, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Now, I recognize that Jesus isn’t talking about sales in this verse, but he could be.
You’ll often hear it expressed as, “Ask and you shall receive.” If you think about that for a moment, you’ll notice that asking comes before receiving. In other words, asking is the beginning of receiving. If you want something, you have to ask first.
Ditch Your Wishbone
Far too often, we become rain barrels. We sit and wait. We hesitate and hope. We wish our prospect or customer would do the job for us, but they don’t—because it doesn’t work that way.
If you want to sell more and earn more, you need to ditch your wishbone and grow a backbone. It’s up to you to ask. Asking is the beginning of receiving, so you won’t get the appointment, the next step, the information, access to the decision-maker, or a buying commitment unless you ask.
And the truth is, on the other side of asking, there’s always the potential for objections and rejection. There’s always the chance you won’t get what you asked for. That’s just how asking works.
The Hardest Part of Asking: Learning to Shut Up
This is why the hardest part of asking is learning how to shut up afterward. You need to allow space for silence to do its work and for objections or questions to be put on the table. It’s hard to shut up when you’ve put it all out there and left yourself vulnerable to rejection. That awkward moment after you ask can feel like an eternity as you brace for a “no.”
To protect yourself from hearing a rejection, you might start talking, and talking, and talking—deluding yourself into believing that as long as you keep talking, your prospect can’t reject you.
The problem is, in that moment of emotional weakness, you come across as insecure and untrustworthy. You introduce objections that didn’t previously exist. You start blabbing on and on about features and benefits, terms and conditions, your dog, or what you had for lunch—until your stakeholder, who was ready to say yes, gets talked into saying no by you.
Your insecurity in that moment of vulnerability invited rejection.
Why Silence Is Your Secret Weapon
Here’s the most important rule of asking: After you ask, you must shut up. Despite the alarm bells going off in your adrenaline-soaked mind—despite your pounding heart, sweaty palms, and fear—you have to bite your tongue, sit on your hands, mute the phone, do whatever it takes to remain silent and allow your prospect to answer.
Sometimes they say yes. Sometimes you get a flat no. Most often, though, you’ll get a maybe, which usually shows up as an objection, a question, or a negotiation. And right there is your opportunity to turn maybe into yes, because objections are not rejection.
Objections Are Not Rejection
Objections are signs of confusion, concern, the sorting out of options, risk aversion, cognitive overload, and the fear of change. Objections are a natural part of the human decision-making process. They show that your prospect is still engaged and simply needs your help to make a tough decision.
Questions are also not rejection. People often ask legitimate, but difficult, questions they need answered before they feel comfortable moving forward. Confidently and calmly answer their questions, and you’ll get the yes you’re seeking.
Negotiation is not rejection either. Negotiation is a clear indication that your prospect is engaged and ready to buy. The door is open to a yes—you just need to collaborate with your stakeholder to gain consensus on a mutually beneficial deal.
Improve Your Closing and Negotiation Skills
If you want to become a better closer and negotiator in these situations, check out my book, Inked: The Ultimate Guide to Powerful Closing and Sales Negotiation Tactics that Unlock YES and Seal the Deal.
Inked is a comprehensive guide that will teach you exactly how to improve your win rate. You can get it in hardcover or listen to the audio version on Audible or Spotify.
Put On Your “Courage Boots”
To be a rainmaker in sales—and in life—you must put on your courage boots, walk out into the world, and face rejection head-on. Rather than running from it, you have to go through, over, under, or around it—whatever it takes to get to a yes.
What makes rainmakers unstoppable is their willingness to run headlong into rejection again and again, enduring it with the unwavering belief that they will find a way to win. Embrace the ask, shut up to let silence do its work, respond to objections with confidence, and you’ll discover just how powerful you really are.