What do you guys do to get over losing a deal you've invested a lot of time and effort into? I just spent the last 6 months jumping through a million hoops, doing presentation after personalized presentation, going to countless meetings, and doing everything the prospect said they wanted, and today I get the call, "Sorry - we really love/want your product, but upper management wouldn't approve the purchase." I just feel like going home, crawling into bed and never going to work again. I seriously don't think I can do this anymore.

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Happens all the time. Remember, that was not wasted effort. They may choose to come around later, they might spread the word about your product to others....

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I agree with this. It happens to the best of us. I have just learned over the years to let it go. For every one you lose, another comes along.

Learn MEDDPICC and read John McMahon's book. It'll teach you what you did wrong.

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"The Qualified Sales Leader"

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Ray Dalio says - "Growth comes from Pain & Reflection.".

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Give it a beat. Recover. find different avenues to push deal forward. If that doesn’t work that’s what consistent prospecting is for. Focus on what can close. A loss teaches you if you’ll review what went wrong and get it right next time.

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Multithread, start high, and at some point say no more demos

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If you didn’t feel that way after getting that call, I would suggest you go become a sales ops/rev ops/reporting asshat…because obviously you would be heartless and detached from the combat of sales…as cliche as this sounds, you can’t teach heart! Funnel funding, deal scoring and benchmarking can all be taught/learned pretty easily…but the devastation you are feeling right now only comes from having heart…ultimately next time you face this same opponent in the ring you’ll show up ready (not that you weren’t prepared this time) but next time you’ll over-prepare and obsess about potential threats you haven’t even considered yet! I can’t stand sports analogies but movie quotes I can live with…so as Rocky said “it ain’t about how hard you hit, but about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, that’s how winning is done”…don’t give up…I recommend taking a few days to feel sorry for yourself, then get back at it harder than ever…listen to “Eye of the tiger” or “Roar by Katy Perry” my greatest successes have always come on the heels of my biggest defeats, go get that next deal!!

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Thank you SO MUCH for the kind words. I really appreciate it, and it makes me realize that what I'm feeling is normal (and I guess good, in a way). I will keep pushing forward. Maybe you should get a side gig as a motivational speaker.

Maybe I just don't have thick enough skin for this industry.

Find another deal

This is why you should always have three times your funnel. If you would’ve had the cushion, you wouldn’t worry about the one deal you lost seeing this from previous experience.

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