Next month, my 22 year old daughter will begin her first real job working for the company which initially turned her down. How did she get the job, despite the initial rejection? Here’s her story.
A month before graduation from University of Maryland, Jamie went through what I would consider a very thorough interview process with her first-choice employer. It included 2 phone screenings and a half day in person interview. On the heels of what she thought was an interview which went well, Jamie received the news that she wasn’t getting the offer. She felt the initial sting…the ego blow. Yet, she decided it wasn’t over. She knew there was a good fit between what they told her they were looking for and what she had to offer. They just needed to know it too!
In a gutsy move, Jamie responded to their rejection email by asking for feedback and a second chance. They agreed! The feedback they gave her was incredibly helpful, not just for this job but also for life. She didn’t just listen when they shared the information, she absorbed it. She didn’t let ego get in the way of what she needed to fix in order to make the next interview even better. She practiced what they told her and was prepared. When it came time for her shot, she nailed it. They called her back within 5 minutes of the end of the interview and offered her the job! Yahoo!
What does a 22 year old’s 1st job have to do with sales? Everything.
Too often I see companies who deserve a prospect’s business saunter with their tails between their legs away after receiving an initial rejection.
What if that $1MM sale could be yours after you were initially rejected if you only asked for (and incorporated) feedback and another chance? Would the 10 minutes it took to ask for feedback and the hour it took to incorporate it be worth the incremental $1MM? I think so!
In case you think this is a fluke I can tell you that one of our Door Openers® got our client into a big RFP AFTER the RFP process had closed. How did that happen? Our Door Opener was armed ahead of time with language that made the prospect rethink the initial decision and include our client even though the process was closed. And, our client won that RFP!
Do you have language already developed that will reverse a prospect’s decision? If not, I highly recommend spending some time on it!
In case you think the RFP story is a fluke I can tell you that our Paychex rep got me to reverse my decision to go with a different payroll provider (even though the Owner of that business had been a friend of mine for years).
It is possible to reverse a decision and have your prospect choose you, even after initially being rejected.