Rejection stings. but it doesn’t have to. As a business owner or employee you can use customer No’s as a wonderful learning opportunity. Each interaction with a potential customer is an experiment. You will always learn something: A pattern, a skill, a new way of communicating.

Using the 5 phase Customer Journey framework and an assessment of Ready, Willing & Able helps you pinpoint the exact steps to take to get a Yes.

Step away from shaming yourself and step into objectivity to know what is right for your customer and build trust.

In this episode, we talk about:

• separating the rejection from rejection of the offer vs the rejection of you as a person.
• the five stages of a customer journey.
• the three-part assessment of ready, willing, able?
• approaching each interaction as an experiment. There’s always something to learn.

Time Stamps:

01:16] Rejection Even Happens When You Offer Your Services For Free - I share one of my recent experiences of reaching out to someone in need as someone who struggles with depression, not a business owner. Here's what happened.

[03:33] Mindset Management for Rejection - Challenge the default belief that you are personally getting rejected. That is rarely the case, commit to the distinction from rejecting the offer or thing versus the rejection of you as a person. Learn the other reasons for a No.

[05:30] The Five Stages Of A Customer Journey - Business marketing has relied on this for over a century to know how meet customers where they are at, and how to nurture them to a sale.

[5:54] Stage 1: Pain Aware - If there is no pain, they will not be interested in a solution.

[7:21] Stage 2: Problem Aware - how do they know the right solution if they don’t know the problem they need to solve?

[8:25] Stage 3: Solution Aware - There are always multiple solutions to any problem.  When is your solution the best choice?

[11:15] Stage Four: Product And Service Aware - Presenting your offer at the right time increases your chance for a Yes.

[12:02] Stage 5: Client/Raving Fan - Serve your clients well and they will help you in return.

[12:44] Are They Ready, Willing, And Able? - Use this three-part assessment to know the best timing for your services or product. If any one of these three parts is a No, the Customer is not ready for your offer.

[13:05] Assessing If Your Prospect Is Ready? - Look for these two things, if they're not there, you're going to have to nurture them to help them get ready.

[13:41] Is Your Prospect Willing? - The trickiest part. Some people are comfortable being in pain. If they aren't ready to explore or experiment with a solution, they may not be willing.

[16:48] Are Your Prospects Able? It's important to know that there are four different elements to able. Here's what they are:

[16:52] 1. Priority - They may be ready and willing, but is this the highest priority right now?

[19:06] 2. Emotional Energy - Keep them psychologically safe. Know when to take your foot off the gas pedal for a while. They’ll always come back if they felt you were gentle with them.

[22:36] 3. Financial Ability - Is it real or just them being polite? This totally happened to me when getting a quote for cutting down three large trees on my property.

[24:22] 4. Time Constraints - Being patient for it to be the right time, or adjusting your timing to fit their life.

[27:26] Experiment, Experiment, Experiment - You can figure this out. You will find all of the answers and skills. But you have to learn by experimenting. A book alone won’t provide 100% success right from your first time.

[13:41] Willing - The trickiest part.  It won’t work if they are not willing to try a solution to their problem.

[16:48] Able - Priority - They may be ready & willing, but is this the highest priority right now?

[19:06] Able - Emotional Energy - Keep them psychologically safe.  Know when to take your foot off the gas pedal for a while.  They’ll always come back.

[22:36] Able - Financial - Is it real or just them being polite?

[24:22] Able - Time - Being patient for it to be the right time, or adjusting your timing to fit their life.

[27:26] Lots of Experiments Reveal the Answers - You can figure this out.  You will know all the answers.  You will have all the skills.  But you have to Learn by Doing.  A book alone won’t provide 100% success right from your first time.

Links to Get Started

• Unshakable Business Co-Lab - Get your business up and running, smoothly & profitably while putting your Mental Health First.  Rise together with other value aligned entrepreneurs.
• Business & Life 1:1 coaching - Get a private coaching experience with longer session times.
• Entrepreneur’s Overwhelm Calmer - Calm down & get back to productivity with this free 1 page visual.
• The Startup Soloprenuer’s Schedule Guide - Leverage the Law of Attraction to mainfest your dream schedule.
• The Clarity Steps to Achieve Any Goal without jeopardizing your Mental Health.