Here's how you can stay positive when facing failure in sales.

Failing to sell something on the first try is difficult if you’re new to sales. If you give up after that first try, that’s failure. If you try again, that’s progress; that is just practicing your sales pitch for the next time.

Life isn't certain just like sales. One has to determine if the issue is due to their process which needs adjustment, or if the problem is due to economic changes with your clients. A person can uncover the reason and then work on improving their process or find a new set of customers.

Always stay positive and confident. Buyers can sense desperation. Never let a loss or an unexpected buyer response carry over into your next call or deal. Sell like you’re already at your quota; this confidence rubs off. Use the term “onto the next” to move on quickly but ensure you reflect on the loss and learn from it. This mindset helps you stay resilient and ready for the next opportunity, maintaining a positive outlook and continuous improvement.

No one likes to lose, but the best sellers use losses to learn and motivate themselves. When a deal is lost, top reps put more time into prospecting, listening to call recordings, breaking down their deals, and asking for strategy guidance. Look for these reps—they have an innate drive that’s hard to teach. Encourage all your reps to adopt this proactive approach to failure, using it as a stepping stone to improve and succeed in future deals.

Preparation by knowing not just your products or services inside and out but knowing your customer impact and their user stories will help to keep increasing potential benefits for your future customers. It can also provide insight to your partners and keep things improving by guiding towards product/service refinement or broadening options.

This is one of the most important pieces of being successful after failure. To get better, you need to learn from both your wins and losses. Take a second/deep breath after losing a deal, but turn the page. Once you’ve gotten over it, dissect the deal, try to understand what you could have done differently, think about improved strategies, and ask your team member or manager for feedback. Losses are good because they are learning moments that you need to reflect on to improve and succeed in future deals.