Has your proposal been rejected by your Buyer? Here is a 3-step process to quickly bounce back from rejection.
As experienced Account Managers we have all been in the dreaded situation of having a proposal, which you’ve toiled over for weeks, disappointingly rejected by your customer. Or worse still, I recently had a client who received devastating news from his customer that they would be delisting more SKUs than previously communicated in their latest Range Review.
Rejection is part and parcel of being in any Sales role. However, this doesn’t prevent us from feeling negative emotions like disappointment, failure or even shame in that moment. And these emotions can hang around for some time afterwards, affecting your performance without you even realising it.
That feeling of embarrassment or shame over the result can make you retreat into your shell and act sheepishly around senior people in the business or even your Buyer.
The feelings of self-doubt can linger long enough to make you question the rest of your growth plan for the year.
The frustration can seep into your home and personal life. It can make you become more distant with your family and friends in the short to medium term.
We eventually get over these setbacks. However, the faster we can overcome these negative emotions, the faster we can bounce back, find creative solutions and action them at pace.
Step 1 – Acknowledge the negative emotions and let them go. Detach yourself from the result itself.
Negative emotions are important since they make us aware that something is wrong in our life. From a survival perspective, negative emotions alert us of dangers that we need to immediately address. However, once we are aware of a negative feeling, we need to quickly shift to a positive reframe.
If we dwell in this negative emotion, then this is akin to keeping our hand on a hot stove. It will only increase the pain or fear that we feel, which is not productive.
Indeed, one of the ways that we can do this is by detaching ourselves from the result itself (the result in this case being the rejection of our proposal). One of the biggest issues for people who possess a strong Hyper-Achiever Saboteur (as identified by the Positive Intelligence Saboteur Assessment), which I would imagine is common amongst FMCG Account Managers and Sales Leaders, is that they link their results to their identity.
Therefore, they can be become stressed, when they encounter glitches en route to their goals or worse still, fail to achieve their goals, because their whole identity is riding on the accomplishment of that goal.
In this particular case, remember that a rejected proposal or a reduction of your range in a customer Range Review is NOT a reflection of you as a person. Separating the result from the person will allow you to make the shift in step 2.
Step 2 – Find the gifts and opportunities which can be drawn from the experience.
A big part of being able to shift to a positive mindset is being able to find the gifts and opportunities in any challenging situation. The Positive Intelligence framework calls this the “Sage Perspective”.
In the example of a disappointing Range Review result, ask yourself the question:
“What actions do I need to take, what knowledge do I need to gain, or which skills do I need to grow to ensure that the pay-off in future, is much greater than what this result is costing me now.”
Use this as an opportunity to perhaps re-evaluate your Year-To-Go plan, to claw back some of the lost revenue.
Can you tweak the promo plan to drive more volume? Can you increase investment to improve your brand visibility in your customer via exclusive in-store events or online activation?
Can you get more information from your Buyer in advance to build a stronger plan ahead of the next Range Review to facilitate a better result next time? Tell yourself that there is no such thing as “failure” only “feedback”. There will be specific reasons why your proposal was rejected, or your Range was reduced. Interrogate more deeply than just accepting the surface level answers like “the rate of sale wasn’t strong enough” or “we need more margin/ fixed investment”.
Is there anything your competitors are doing that your business is not? It could be a packaging tweak or a move into SRP, which could actually make the biggest difference. If you can uncover these underlying root reasons, then it gives you the opportunity to better engage your customer in future.
Lastly what skills do you need to grow to improve the future result? Perhaps you need to level up your influencing and communication skills? Or this might provide an opportunity to further develop your strategic thinking.
Step 3 – Pick the best next steps and ACT!
Once you have shifted to a positive mindset and found the gifts and opportunities, i.e. solutions, to move forward, it is important to act immediately and strike while the iron is hot!
Communicate the news to your business and come armed with the plan to mitigate the risks. Engage the stakeholders in your organisation who can help you to bring your plan to life, whether that be Brand, Category or Customer Marketing. And then follow through with these actions across the coming weeks and months to put yourself in the best position for success.
This is going to be easier said than done! You have nasty Saboteurs, which will try to stop you from taking this focussed action and instead procrastinate.
This is why building your Mental Fitness is so important. Having stronger mental muscles can stop you from being controlled by negative thoughts and empower you to choose a positive mindset.
As is true of any lasting habit change, this takes at least 6-weeks of intense work. If you are interested in this game-changing program then take the Positive Intelligence Saboteur Assessment https://www.positiveintelligence.com/saboteurs/ and then book a free 30-minute coaching call with me at https://www.expcoaching.co.uk/ to find out more!