Volume 3, Issue 9
The Power of NO
The word NO has such a negative connotation in the English language. Think about it for a moment. When have you ever heard the word NO and had a warm and fuzzy feeling or positive reaction? For most, just thinking about hearing the word NO is enough to stop them from taking action or pursing a life-long dream. Other words associated with the word NO are: rejection, disappointment, demoralization, repudiation…and the list goes on.
But, for an entrepreneur, the word NO means something entirely different. When an entrepreneur hears the word NO, they take it as an opportunity to work even harder. They’ll see a challenge and say “Let’s do this!”
The word NO doesn’t have any power over an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs know that they have to hear the word NO over and over again in order to eventually hear the word YES. The word NO becomes an entrepreneur’s best friend. NO becomes a motivator for entrepreneurs, a driving force pushing them to reach and exceed their goals.
The difference between being a winner or loser, a success or a failure, is how you deal with hearing the word NO. For example, let’s say there are two entrepreneurs, both selling the same product at the same price to the same target market. Both startups have the same 25% close ratio. So for every one YES, they receive 3 NO’s. The first entrepreneur hates hearing the word NO and takes it personally every time he hears it. The fear of hearing the word NO results in fewer appointments scheduled, only 2 a day or 10 per week. He closes 2.5 deals a week, 139 deals a year. The second entrepreneur thrives on hearing the word NO and does not take it personally. He expects to hear it over and over again. He sets up 5 appointments a day, 25 per week, resulting in 6.25 closed deals a week. That’s 4 deals a week more, or 208 more deals a year. Which entrepreneur will be more successful?
How many NO’s do you think some of the most successful entrepreneurs have heard before becoming the top in their field? We just see them at the top and think they got there by having a secret formula or a special gift, but they got to the top because they were willing to hear the word NO over and over again and were able to turn a negative into a positive.
So the next time you hear the word NO from a prospective client, just smile and say thank you because that NO just got you a little closer to your next YES.
