Many creative professionals find themselves hesitant to move ahead when it comes to the business of selling or managing because of their overwhelming fear of rejection. Two most common instances of this are the call for an appointment and the follow-up call for a work review.

Here’s how you can eliminate the "no" and feel more confident.

ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN "B". Always have a place to go, a question to ask when you don’t get the answer you were looking for. Here’s how it works. When calling for an appointment, you know you are not going to get an appointment each time you call. Yet when you are told, "We’re not interested", most creative professionals respond, "Thank you, good-bye!" To overcome this "no", prepare several questions to choose from that will allow you to take this conversation to the next level - getting information! No appointment? Then get any piece of information to follow-up on later. For example, you can ask, "Who else uses design services?", "When should I call back?", "How often do you work with different photographers?" Make up your own questions.

For your follow-up calls, be sure that every question you ask is an "open-ended" question and begins with WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE OR HOW. For example, instead of, "Can I give you a call in a couple of weeks?" you ask, "When can I give you a call?" Instead of "Can we schedule my performance review?", you ask, "When can we schedule my performance review?" Always plan and prepare to overcome and eliminate rejection as carefully as you prepare for any design or creative project. Be your own best client!