Being Accountable When Disappointed

Category: Blog

August 3, 2022 | Mark Altman

When dealing with a sales prospect who gives you all the signals that they are going to buy, including making an actual commitment, what do you do when they change their mind or bail on you?

When you feel wronged by someone else, a person breaks a promise, doesn’t follow through on their commitment, or you are generally disappointed by someone’s actions, it’s important to reflect on what you could have controlled and what was out of your control.

You have four choices in these scenarios. Think of which one you typically choose:

A. Rationalize and tell yourself you dodged a bullet because they are showing they aren’t true to their word. This may be true but you can’t completely be sure.
B. Unreasonably criticize yourself for being fooled and second-guess whether you can trust people in general or people like them.
C. Reflect on your role in the process and consider that they may not have seen enough value in your solution OR in you to move forward and they simply changed their mind.
D. Be assertive, pick up the phone, and ask what happened.

The right choices are C and D. By choosing C and reflecting on your role, you flex your self-awareness muscle to see a potential blind spot in the sales process. By choosing D, even though the prospect/client may not respond or tell the truth to give you the closure you are looking for, asking for the truth provides an opportunity for learning and growth and perhaps how to adjust your process moving forward.

Enjoy this post? Contact us at MindsetGo to empower your leaders and teams to build confidence, develop skills, and shift mindsets and habits for lasting change.