Alex is an investor who focuses on projects that he is passionate about, whether they be in entertainment, media, or fashion. His current projects include a globally-distributed clothing company based in Miami and several content creation projects bound for Netflix and Amazon.
As a public figure, Alex has had the opportunity to work with many brands that use his image and likeness for promotions and commercials. As an entrepreneur with several successful projects that garnered a lot of media attention, Alex became an influencer despite initially wanting to remain behind the scenes.
Hard work and consistency
Some view his achievements as an overnight success. Alex doesn’t agree. He knows it took many years of hard work and consistency.
Yet people tend to focus on the finished product.
Consider social media for example. We want to portray ourselves positively and in the best light, which can come across to others as a perfect life. But social media is just the highlight reel. It doesn’t show the downfalls, the difficult times, or the moments of self-doubt.
When all the hard work is glossed over, it is easy to be fooled into thinking that you are the only one not succeeding.
In reality, everyone makes mistakes. But those mistakes can become opportunities to learn.
Alex cites money, or rather the lack of it, as his biggest challenge. He started an advertising company using money he earned working in the fast food industry.
No job was too small. If he needed to clean bathrooms in order to afford computers or camera equipment or to pay the rent on a small office, he did it.
It was a difficult journey and he worked with a lot of people who let him down.
How to handle ‘no’
As sellers, many of us enter the industry assuming everyone will be nice, or at least polite. So rejection really hurts.
It takes a while to understand that they aren’t necessarily being mean to us but that maybe we are just not offering a good fit for what they need.
So how do we handle ‘no?’
We need to be realistic. We can get so involved in our project that we lose the outsider’s perspective and fail to see our own shortcomings.
Maybe the prospects are saying ‘no’ because there is a flaw in our presentation. Maybe we aren’t doing something right.
We need to re-evaluate ourselves and keep an open mind.
Is the feedback coming from a negative perspective or from a constructive criticism perspective? If you are continually hearing ‘no’ – what is the common denominator?
Find out why you were rejected.
It is the least you can do for yourself. Find out what part of your pitch caught their attention and what part turned them off.
Study your project. What do you need to do – what might you need to change – to get a ‘yes’?
The founder of Starbucks had hundreds of rejections, as did Walt Disney. They both learned so much throughout the process that when the ‘yes’ finally came – they were ready.
A ‘no’ is an opportunity to learn because it points you in the direction of improvement. [07:33]
Mental health
Learning to handle rejection is also extremely important from a mental health perspective. Depression is real. It is often overlooked but it happens.
As entrepreneurs, we deal with a lot of negatives and the only way to keep a positive outlook is to turn those negatives into positives.
Maybe things are falling apart so that you can build them back up in a better way. Maybe the structure was wrong or the foundation was crumbling; this is your chance to fix it.
Entrepreneurs are not successful simply because their one crazy idea took off. They are successful because they worked consistently at that idea.
It can be confusing when you see all the young kids on social media making so much money. You have to realize that most entrepreneurs aren’t successful until their mid-30’s or mid-40’s.
You are not in competition with other people. As an entrepreneur, you are in competition with yourself.
Your success depends upon your abilities: your ability to be organized, to be focused, and to care for your mental state. It is your achievement when it works and it is your fault when it doesn’t.
Think of it as a race. Don’t focus on the competition, or the people behind you, or next to you. Focus on what you can do this time to make it better than last time.
Focus only on the finish line and go for your personal best.
Think about your outreach. Can you improve your email? Is your offering good? Maybe it is all great but the timing just doesn’t work for your client.
Leave an open door
Alex recalls working on a huge proposal for a global brand a few years ago. He spent three months researching and building strategy but didn’t get the deal through no fault of his own.
He and his team had done everything they could have possibly done. The client loved it but they were simply not ready.
No amount of sweet talking would have changed a thing.
Fast forward to the present, and that same company now endorses Alex.
You never know where something might lead. Leave an open door and don’t burn bridges. Do good business with good morals.
It is understandable that several rejections can eat away at your confidence. We all have our insecurities. You have to love what you are doing so much that it doesn’t matter what other people think about you.
Don’t listen to negative comments. Understand and have faith in your talent. Listen only to those people who want the best for you personally and professionally.
Confidence is key
You will meet setbacks and failures because nothing is perfect. But you were brave enough to come up with and pursue your idea, so the negative opinions of others should not stop you.
If others don’t see that confidence in you, however, they will move on. You must have confidence and project confidence.
There are ways to build confidence. Books you can read, classes you can take – the more you learn about something, the more confident you will be when speaking about it.
Use frustration as fuel to improve yourself. Educate yourself. Be informed. Hustle inspires hustle. Surround yourself with uplifting people and rise together.
You will face rejection. It is not the end of the world. Get yourself back in the game.
When Alex is having a bad day at work, he reads about the struggles that Elon Musk is going through with his business, or reads about the daily struggles facing people without clean water.
It puts a renewed perspective on things.
If you are listening to this podcast, you are already in a better position than most. You have access to a computer and a desire to learn.
If you don’t know how to use what you already have to do well, then do your research. Learn how. There is an alternative to everything.
Energy attracts energy
Don’t let the game change you. Don’t allow other people to bring you down with their negativity. Radiate positivity.
Don’t give your energy to people whose loyalty is controlled by opportunity. Weed out the people in your life.
Why are they trying to help you? Why are they doing what they are doing? You can’t give from an empty cup so take care of yourself first.
“Plan, Prepare and Refuse to Give Up” episode resources
Alex loves to connect with people and to give marketing advice. Reach out to him at www.Alexquin.com.
This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same.
Previously known as TSE Hustler’s League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries.
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 recommend that you try it out.
You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.
I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.
If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcastso you won’t miss a single episode, and share with your friends!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS