You Lost the Deal. Now What?

“I recently lost a deal that I was sure to get (And I mean officially lost, as in “they’ve already signed with a competitor” lost) How do I move past this?”

This happens to every salesperson at least once. The real question is, will you let the loss of this deal cause you to lose even more sales?

The bigger danger is allowing that one deal to cause you to continue your losing streak by dwelling on it. I know its tough… especially if you really needed that commission to make those extra bills / recent unexpected expenses go away.

But you are at a crossroads… You either deal with it or you let it consume you and allow it to steal other deals from you.

Turning LOSS into a GAIN

Here’s what I’ve found to be the best way to handle the mental anguish of losing a deal…

Own it. Make no excuses. Take responsibility.

Once you do that, ask yourself:

“What could I have done better?”

If you start the blame game and make excuses as to why you lost the deal, you’ll never correct the behavior that caused you to miss out on that commission and the sting of the loss will linger much longer than you want it to.

Accepting responsibility and self analyzing what went right and what could of or should have been done differently allows you to accept it and move on.

It also makes you a better sales person. One who will be better prepared the next time you run into a similar scenario.

In fact, mistakes are one of the greatest teaching aides out there. But only if you are willing to take ownership of them.

– Michael Pedone