There are probably several different reasons why some agents are more successful than others, and it doesn’t really have to do with the market, weather, time of the year, or the products and programs they are selling. There is a two-letter word that is a hidden killer of all sales, and that word is “No.” It has killed a lot of careers.

Why is that? Why is that word so powerful? Could be you’ve heard it too many times, and finally you start financing it or putting terms on it, even an extended service agreement on the word “No.” What are you talking about! No. It’s one of the most destructive words in sales and even your personal life.

Think about how many times you say it in a day … “No, I don’t feel like getting up right now.” “No, I don’t want to work today.” “No, I’m not going to get out and make some appointments.” “No, I’m not going to call that dealer or account today, no I’m not going to hit my quota or goals, even though the month is half over.” “No, this just isn’t working out for me.” “No, I just can’t do that!”

No wonder things might not be going your way. You’ve been reinforcing the word “No” too many times in your mind and it’s starting to affect your attitude and performance. Sometimes we are so close to “Yes” that we can’t or won’t even believe it.

So we look for excuses instead of answers. If you take the time to ask yourself a better set of questions, your answers will come seeking you! The word “No” is like a disease that has destroyed so many sales. If you could pile up the bodies of the salespeople who couldn’t hack the word “No,” overcome, handle it, adjust to it and close, the pile would reach the moon and cast a dark shadow over the earth that would never let the sun shine again.

The word “No” is like a sport. If you play football, you are going to get hit and you are going to get hurt. I mean, you wouldn’t run back to the bench and yell at the coach or whine that you got hit, would you? Isn’t selling a sport? It’s more of a mental sport where your hurts are more like your confidence, effort, drive, self esteem, self worth, faith, determination, skills, and anything else that has to do with selling. What you need to do is prepare how to handle the “No” by learning scripts that overcome it. Keep the basics of selling in check so that you can minimize the “No”s and eventually be able to squash them like the small bug they are. Crunch!

You either close or you lose, you either hear “Yes” or “No.” So what are you going to do about it? Let it bug you and cost you a ton of money, future and potential, or prepare for it and kill it?

As a matter fact, “No” is just one letter away from “Yes.” Doesn’t “NO” mean “next opportunity,” “next offer,” “next opening” or “not yet”? It doesn’t spell “never,” does it? Just learn to prepare and get over it. Learn how to say “Next” when you lose a sale and move on, the past is what it is, gone and never to be here again. See you later! Next!