It isn't you they're saying no to

Don’t take a no personally. That was one of the lessons I took from Charlotte Jorst of Skagen Design when I visited her and Henrik in 2011.

Don’t take a no personally when selling

Charlotte talked about the time she went around shops with watches to get Skagen Design going. Many said no. Some even shouted at her.

I asked how she handled it. Her point was that she shouldn’t take rejection as a no to her personally. It was the product the shop didn’t want.

That distinction let her keep going rather than feeling every no was a personal defeat.

One harsh rejection became a good customer

She also described a place where she’d received a particularly severe telling-off. Even so, she contacted the shop again.

According to her story, the owner later felt guilty about how he’d treated her and became one of their best customers for many years. That was an experience from her journey, not a guarantee that every rejection ends that way.

A visit that energised me

We’d just moved from Florida, and the move had been hard. The visit near Reno gave me new energy. I found Charlotte happy, outgoing and fun to be around.

I’d recorded a longer interview to edit for Amino. The little point I shared immediately was precisely: It isn’t you they’re saying no to.

Don’t take a no personally: The story from my visit to Reno

It’s been quite a while since I made a video. We’ve just moved from Florida with the family, and it’s been hard. Both emotionally, saying goodbye to all our friends, and practically, with the move itself. A sailboat, car, jet ski, boat berth and lots of other difficult things needed handling. It’s been fairly stressful.

Now we’ve flown to Reno to visit Charlotte and Henrik Jorst, who started Skagen Design. We’ve just come from the visit, and I’m in an overwhelmingly good mood. We ended up talking to Charlotte. She’s the more outgoing of the two and the one who enjoys that sort of thing most.

In the video, I say they sell three million watches a year. That’s quite an achievement, and you can feel their success gives them money to work with. That’s the figure I mention at the time.

With that much success, perhaps you’d imagine someone stuck-up or very pleased with themselves. They have good reason to be pleased with themselves. But you certainly can’t call them stuck-up. I’ve rarely met a woman as happy, outgoing and fun to be around as Charlotte.

Nine out of ten shops said no

One thing I really gained from the conversation was the story of Skagen Design’s beginnings. Charlotte had spent a long time knocking on doors, as they say. She went out with watches under her arm, rang bells and entered different shops to get them to stock the product.

I asked whether many said no. Yes, she said, all the time. Nine out of ten said no. Some wouldn’t even talk to her. Others scolded her, went mad and shouted and screamed.

But her point was that you shouldn’t take it personally. It isn’t you they don’t want. It’s your product. She’d built a kind of shell around herself so she could say: If they don’t want my watches, I’ll just keep going.

It’s a small difference in thinking, but it made a big difference to her ability to continue. A no to a watch didn’t have to become a no to Charlotte as a person.

The biggest telling-off turned into 15 years with a good customer

The most interesting example was the place where she’d received the biggest telling-off of all. She still kept contacting them. Even after the harsh treatment, she called again.

According to her account, the man eventually felt so guilty about shouting at her that he became one of their best customers for 15 years. That’s the story I took away from the conversation.

For me, it was a powerful example of what persisting without turning rejection into personal defeat can mean. That was Charlotte’s experience with that customer, and it’s her advice I’m passing on here. I discuss my own experiences of persevering and building businesses in Iværksætter til jeg dør.

More than an hour of nuggets for Amino

I’d brought home more than an hour of nuggets from Charlotte. At the time of this video, I still needed to edit the interview and put it on Amino. I looked forward to sharing it and said it was something to look forward to hearing.

Now that the last month’s hard work moving was over, my pulse was starting to settle again. I expected a few more videos from me. Right here, we’re in a car park in Reno, near Carson City, and I finish by showing some of the surroundings. It feels like real cowboy country.

Take a look at my travel blog – Click here