Dealing with rejection and next steps

It’s normal to get rejected and normal to get ghosted. Sometimes, you’ll receive a positive response and it’ll seem like there’s a 99% chance it’ll go through… only to never hear back from your prospect again. 

This is an unfortunate but unchangeable part of pitching. Rejection can be hard to deal with because you often pour a lot of yourself into your pitches.

Unfortunately, there are no life hacks or shortcuts with pitching. The quick and simple trick is to keep going. Learn from each pitch you send and make improvements. Ask your peers for feedback. Commit to a sustainable process that won’t burn you out. 

Pitching takes time, so stick with it and your efforts will pay off.

Rejection is always a forward movement

Though it might not feel like it, rejection doesn’t mean you’re going backward. Every time you receive a “no,” there are lessons to be learned that you can implement in your next pitch or even in your business. 

You can reuse old pitches, improve and make edits on these pitches, and send them to a completely new prospect (ensuring it’s tailored to the new prospect, of course).

Pitching is a game of luck. A rejection isn't personal, does not mean you’re bad at what you do, and doesn’t even necessarily mean your pitch was bad.

When a pitch is successful

Don’t forget to review your successful pitches and celebrate your wins! It can be a huge confidence booster to review your accomplishments and will give you inspiration for future pitches.

If your new client gives you feedback, excellent. If not, don’t hesitate to ask them why they chose to move forward with you once you’ve finished the job. Try to understand why these pitches were successful.

Ask yourself questions like:

• What was the client most excited about?

• What was the length of the pitch or how long did it take to talk through?

• How quickly did you get to the point?

• How many examples of work did you share?

• Which examples did the client like the most?

• What were the client’s follow-up questions?

• Was it an in-person meeting or over email?

Think about these questions, or even write the answers down to have them available for your next pitch. Don’t forget that every prospect is different. Something that works well for one prospect might not work well for the next. Research the company and your contact to prepare for this and ensure as much success as possible.

Your next steps

1. Use the pitch you have developed in this playbook and send it to the prospect you identified in the first step.

2. Input the sent pitch into your new pitch tracker.

3. Review the pitch when you hear back from the prospect.

4. Find a consistent pitching schedule that works for you.

Congrats on taking a big step forward in developing and streamlining your pitch process! Never forget that rejection is normal, try and learn from it, and celebrate your wins, you deserve it!