Rejection is part of the success formula. People run away from adversity when it's confronting the dark parts of ourselves that will materialize what we really want.
When someone says no to your offer, they are really saying NO to a thousand smaller things such as your product, prices, positioning, brand, delivery et al.

People are used to generalizing rejection and taking ownership as part of who they are, this is bullshit. They don't know you from Adam. How can they possibly reject you?

I get abuse shouted at me down the phone all the time. It's part of the game. It's not pleasant, and I hang up on these people very quickly because I don't want that negative vibe to affect the next call. But I don't ever sit and ponder the meaning behind their irrational behaviour, I don't jump to conclusions that it must be about ME, because you are only making assumptions which are probably wrong anyway when you do this.

My experience as a cold caller.

I find it fascinating how self-esteem develops in Jia Jiang, the man behind the blog you suggested. Now he is slowly becoming a media personality, after his TED talk, and a life's mission that is to help other people find a solution to a problem- handling rejection.

troubles help us grow, and the process of facing issues that only we can face, without any help, builds a character. he is courageous, and I admire his work.

I remember a great suggestion James Schramko, my business mentor, gave about similar issues:

Strengthen your strong points, do not waste to much time on correcting the weak ones. Concentrate on what you are great at, and develop it. Self-esteem will follow.

thank you and thank you PanteraIM for an interesting comment

Being told "I'm not interested" on a prospecting call is NOT rejection.

Rejection is being told by your girlfriend of 4 years, "I'm leaving you." (Thankfully that hasn't happened to me). Or your boss firing you because, after a year, it's not working out. Note: NOT because of a layoff.

But this illuminates a huge problem with the calls made by most people: they are trying to SELL right away. You are trying to turn everyone you talk to into a customer. This is wrong. First you want to QUALIFY.

When you qualify, you are looking for Fit. Not trying to sell. Selling comes later, maybe 2-4 minutes later, after the prospect qualifies In.

Also, most calls begin so badly that the prospect is freaked out that they're going to be stuck on the phone for 30 minutes, listening to the features and benefits of aluminum siding, which they don't care two hoots about. So they react by lying: "I'm not interested", "We're taken care of", "I already have someone doing that", "We don't need any help, thank you." Nonsense and 99% lies. NEITHER of you have enough information at that point to know whether it's a fit or not.

But you don't know that, so you take it as personal rejection.

Dumb idea.

Is it personal? Nope, they have no idea who you are. You are just a voice on the phone and your "relationship" began 60 seconds ago.

Is it rejection? No. It can't be, because they don't know you...and you don't know them.

Get a better process to start your calls off correctly, so that there IS a "rest of the call." Find out WHY people buy in your niche--and it isn't because of features & benefits. Learn a consistent sales process so that you know what's going on and where you are in the process.

Most people are too lazy to do these things. even if they understand they exist. So the GREAT NEWS is that if you do, you will be so far ahead of the rest you will have no trouble standing out. You'll start your calls off so differently from the rest, the prospects will be astonished and want to talk to you. Then you can find out if they're a fit or not. Then , if they are a fit, you can sell.

As far as "abuse" goes, I rarely receive any. And when I do, I laugh. It's funny. That's the person who needs help the most--but they just qualified Out on personality fit. Good. I'm GLAD I won't be working with someone who can't control their emotions. And is it personal, what they said? Nope. Neither of us knows the other.

Rejection if well taken helps you work harder and focus your energies on being better

Check out the book Go for No.

It's an interesting take on things. Go in expecting no's, make it a game, set a goal for how many no's you can get in a day. In the no's there are always a few yes'$. Gotta do a bit of mining to get to them first.

What I do is take the total amount of calls that you do a month then divide that number by the total amount you earn a month and that is what you make every time you do a call no matter if they buy or not .

So say thank you on a yes or a no because you just made money..

Just ignore them.