If you fear rejection — during telephone conversations or when you ask for a sale — you may want to take a lesson from Chinese-American entrepreneur Jia Jiang.
Jiang's fear of rejection was so strong it almost cost him his dream of creating his own company. But then he found a website that touted the benefits of "rejection therapy."
I was intrigued. Although I had never heard of rejection therapy, I had taken to challenging attendees of my workshops to ask for things they were sure would be denied to them.
After one of my Manhattan workshops, two attendees from the Midwest went to a bar together and asked the bartender to give them free drinks. They told the bartender that this was their first visit to New York and that they wanted to make sure the drinks were good.
To their surprise (they had assumed the answer would be no), the bartender gave them their drinks for free — although he did make it clear that would be allowed just one each.
The next day, they excitedly shared their success with our group, and the point was made clear:
Ask! You might just get what you want.
