oday on The Sales Evangelist, we're going to talk about the fear of prospecting, how your coworkers often contribute to it, and how you can overcome your fear of rejection. Fear of rejection often keeps salespeople from going after potential deals, but it doesn't have to be this way. Intimidation If you're a new rep and your teammates warn you to stay away from a certain account, it can cause you to fear to reach out at all. In our case, a seller named Rick found himself in this exact situation. He believed so strongly in what he had to offer that he actually went to visit the client. [3:07] He spoke to the prospect's receptionist and he left information with her that she could pass on to the VP of the company. Several days passed and he didn't hear from the receptionist or the VP. Fortunately, his confidence outweighed his fear of rejection. He called the prospect at 7:30 a.m. and was able to talk to the exec because the receptionist wasn't there yet. Eventually, he closed the deal that his coworkers said couldn't be closed. His co-workers could have solved the problem as well, but they allowed the warnings and stories to intimidate. They never reached out to him. TSE Certified Sales Training In our TSE Certified Sales Training program, the first lesson we teach is how to prospect like an evangelist. The first thing we discuss is how to overcome the fear of rejection. [4:58] Fear results when we believe that someone is going to cause us harm or pain. But how does that belief come into existence? Because we were taught or coached to be fearful of the word no. When we were kids, we didn't fear being told no. But as we got older, we became conditioned to the idea that no is bad. Knowing the problems Rick did believe that he could be rejected, but he had a greater belief that he could solve a problem for the prospect. In many cases, because we don't understand what the prospect's challenges are, we have little confidence in our ability to solve problems for him. [6:57] To overcome fear, you must develop confidence in what you have to offer. The more times you successfully solve problems for comp0anies, the more confident you'll become. [Tweet "That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not because the nature of the thing changes, but our ability to do it changes. #BuildConfidence"] If you make enough calls, speak with enough prospects, and solve enough problems, you can become more confident. Getting better If you could listen to your very first cold call, you'd probably cringe because it sounds so awful. But imagine if you gave up after that very first cold call. Imagine if you gave up the first time someone yelled at you. [8:14] You'd never be where you are right now. Instead, because you kept doing it, you became confident. If you listen to the very first episodes of this podcast,  you might think I should have gotten more training before I started. Now, 985 episodes later, we're still creating episodes. Imagine all the money we've generated, the business opportunities we've created, and the salespeople we've helped over the years. You must have a belief that is stronger than fear. [9:30] Gain that by doing things over and over again. Also, gather as much intel as you possibly can about your prospect's problem. "Fear of Prospecting" episode resources If this episode was helpful to you, share it with someone else who can benefit from it. Help them overcome their fear of rejection. The TSE Certified Sales Training program targets new and struggling salespeople working for small to midsize companies. The sales training course will help you plan your day, understand prospecting, build value, and convert more customers. You can work through the course alone or as part of a group of 25 people. Click here to learn more or to register for the next course. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It's super easy, it's helpful, and I