You can get used to being rejected

If you don’t ask, you won’t get anything.

Recently I became obsessed with Japanese writer hunting. It is because I love writing on Medium and I want to write more in Japanese which is my first language. So I made up a publication for stories written in Japanese, and I started to ask Japanese writers and bloggers to join my publication as writers.

Once, Medium used to have a lot of Japanese writers. The number of Japanese active users dramatically decreased after ‘Medium Japan’ officially stopped their activity. Still, Japanese writers on Medium didn’t become extinct.

There were a few people who were writing in Japanese on Medium when I started scouting. I left my messages on their posts and asked if they were interested in writing on my publication. Some quickly reacted, but most of them didn’t. Some of them took a while to decide if they would join or not.

Recently, I also asked non-native Japanese writers who are learning or have learnt Japanese as a foreign language to join. Interestingly, I get positive responses from them more often.

Of course, there are some people who said ‘No’ in their responses and some just ignored my messages, but I don’t care. I realise that I am used to being rejected. I learnt to not get depressed even after being rejected when I was younger.

Have you ever been annoyed by the sales phonecall from strangers, such as recommending a new internet service, cable TV, or fitness products?

I used to be that kind of telephone-caller. In the Japanese language, we were called ‘telephone appointer’, at that time — I guess that it is not a popular job, now that marketing online is more critical than through telephone.

I sat in front of a phone or computer connected to the phone and made phone calls to the people on the list. It was not the job that you are waiting for the phone calls in a customer service room and pick them up to solve your customers’ problems. My job was calling the people who you didn’t know and you had no idea if they could be interested in your products or promotions at all. It was a horrible job, but it paid well.

I have sold various items; beauty products, new credit cards, even gravestones which were the nastiest item I’ve ever dealt because I had to call people just after their family’s funerals! I have also telephoned people to remind them about their credit card debt.

I made lots of phone calls every day and most of the time I was rejected. My day was like this; first person who I called immediately said “Sorry, I am not interested in” after I told her the company name who I was working for. It was just a 30 seconds phonecall. This was the most common reaction from people.

The next person listened to my explanation about the product for a while and at last said: “No, thanks”. I talked for around ten to fifteen minutes and didn’t get anything.

Next; a talkative person started talking about herself and not let me talk. I spent my time listening to her and she just ended the conversation after she finished. Next; she just quietly hung up the phone without saying anything.

Occasionally, I had some rude people or I must have called them at the wrong time. I have been yelled at, “Do not call me anymore!” And then, next…

That was my job at that time. I was politely treated only when I was calling as a credit card reminder. Other times, I kept being rejected. Still, as long as I kept calling the people, I had someone who was interested in my products. You just need to continue until you get something you want.

People don’t like being rejected. Neither do I, but you can get used to it. I feel happy to have experienced it in the early stages of my career. After getting used to being rejected you can proactively ask somebody something.

If you don’t ask anything, you won’t be rejected, but you cannot get anything. It is like seeding. Even if you seed ten seeds in your garden, you are not sure how many of them will germinate. However, if you don’t seed at all, it is clear that you won’t get any crops. As long as you take action the possibility is not ‘zero’.

Life is a series of negotiation. Fear of getting rejected cannot stop me!

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