Why it’s so hard to hear ‘No’

 

Failure is essential to growth. We can’t succeed if we never fail.

 

And while failure might be a great opportunity to learn — it still stings, burns, and sometimes feels downright agonizing while it’s teaching us.

 

The strength of that discomfort is usually proportional to the investment that’s been made — the money, time, effort… the heart.

 

The more we put in, the more we feel like we have on the line, the more failure stings.

 

So often we think about sales when we think about bearing the weight of failure, but don’t overlook your admin staff.  They suffer from the sting of failure too – especially when they have to handle angry, disappointed or difficult clients.  

 

They’ve spent so much time preparing for the conversation, drumming up courage to make the call and thinking about the solution that they have to offer that sometimes the risk of rejection is too great to bear and the phone goes undialed.

 

We have to help them work through the fear, and face the possibility of failure.  That call might not go well, but then again it might just be perfect!!!

 

It’s so crucial — in handling difficult customers — that we learn how to fail, recover, adjust, and try again.

 

Failure is probable. In fact, if you’re trying — failure is predictable.

 

But when you have a proven technique to try, a proven process to work through, the likelihood of success increases exponentially and that risk of failure is smaller and easier to accept.