In the 2008 Olympics, Michael Phelps won the Gold Medal in the Men's 100Mbutterfly beating out Milorad Cavic by a mere .01 second.Literally, in the 1/30th time it takes to blink, Phelps's dreamswere realized and Cavic's dreams were dashed.

Over the course of a salesperson's lifetime, it's inevitablethat you will face this same struggle. You will be told “no,” berebuffed, and even be harshly rejected due to the differencebetween you and your competitor, over what may seem to be a minoror even trivial difference.

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The difference is that in the example above, Cavic at least wonthe silver medal and has something to place on his mantle forfuture generations of Cavic family members to view, awe, andadmire.

In your struggle to win sales, when you earn second place, youget nothing … nada … the big goose egg … And it's possible thatonce that client is locked up with your competing vendor, they maynever relinquish that relationship, and that relationship may nevercome up for bid again.

So, how do you avoid this harsh reality and always finish first?The truth is you can't.

It's time to build what our colleague, Kendall Colman, callsyour “rejection muscle” because rejection is going to happen. Infact, in the sales world, you will likely find that you will betold “no” way more often than not. Even if you have a relativelyhigh closing ratio of 20% to 30%, this means that you are beingtold “no” 70% to 80% of the time.

Now that you are comfortable with the fact that you are going tobe told “no,” it's time to consider some ways to handle thisrejection:

1. Understand that “no” is not negative, it's onlyfeedback

Life is neutral. The only one who is placing a label on thisevent is you.

2. Labels are sticky

Once a rejection occurs, it's easy to move the label from theevent to then labeling ourselves by saying: “I suck … I am aterrible sales person … I am such a loser… Why would anyone buyfrom me?”

Breathe and stop with the labels. Instead, interrupt thatthinking with: “It's just experience.”

3. Reflection is not just a three-syllableword

Most sales people make the same mistakes over and over againbecause they never ask themselves or their customers what theycould have done differently. Prospects when asked, many times, willbe incredibly open with you about the reasons why they chose acompetitor.

Make friends with your competitors. (Photo:Thinkstock)

4. Embrace being in second place

We once visited a coffee roaster who said, “Our Company likesbeing No. 2. We know that our competitor's best clients arejust one mistake away from calling us.”

Never burn a bridge … keep in contact with them (but avoid the“just checking-in call”), keep visiting with them at networkingevents and act as their resource broker (see below).

5. Be a resource broker

Want the fastest way to become No. 1? Send your prospect “atrickle” of contacts that they need to know either personally orprofessionally. It's almost guaranteed that no one else is doingthis.

6. Realize you are not the“Godfather”

In the movie, The Godfather Part II, Michael Corleonefamously mumbles, “Keep your friends close and your enemiescloser.” Remember: the workplace is not the mafia.

Make friends with your competitors. This may go against everydog-eat-dog, business-world, Spidey-sense you have, but remember,your competitors are just like you.

At times, they are overwhelmed, not every customer fits theirbusiness model, they need the help of outside expertise, and whoknows, they may even be in need of a sub-contractor from time totime. And if they don't know, like, and trust you, they won't callyou.

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So here's the point, remember that when you say “YES” to onecustomer, you are saying “no” to 10 other possible customers. Yes,there are customers you consider whales or elephants, butultimately, our global economy is built with literally morepossibilities than you could pursue in 100 lifetimes.

According to a Dun and Bradstreet article from 2013, there were235 million companies across 200 countries of the world. Based onthe 5 rejections you received today, you only have 234,999,995 morecompanies to go. The possibilities are limitless.

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