Customer Reviews

Starting from No: Ten Strategies to Overcome Your Fear of Rejection and Succeed in Business

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4 star:		(1)
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I loved this book. Not only was it interesting and easy to read, the suggestions offered were y useful for life's rejections as well as business. I appreciated the self-tests at the beginning to help me analyze what I am most afraid of (i.e. cold calling, rejection from a friend) and suggestions on how to deal with these. The cartoons were delightful and the "Try this" section at the end of each chapter gave me specific goals to work on to deal with the fears. I admire Ms. Jaffe's openness about her own family's difficulties in starting a business and appreciated the stories gleaned from 120 interviews with business owners. This book was recommended to me by a fellow intrepeneur and I will certainly pass it on to others. Deb K.

There is much I like about Azriela Jaffe's writing, but what I admire most is her up-front honesty. She uses examples from her own life & from her family to 'tell it like it is'.

There's no writing as though she's a guru on high dispensing wisdom that's nothing more than theory.

When you read anything from Azriela, be it her books, web site, or newsletters, you get a very clear picture of the woman behind the words.

"Starting from 'No'" is a workbook filled with self-tests, charts, checklists, worksheets, quizzes, tips, & strategies. Everything is backed-up with examples, stories, and real life experiences. The suggestions for working though problems are down-to-earth and do-able. No 'pie in the sky' for Azriela.

And the examples come from small business people, sales people, home-business owners, writers, consultants, coaches, and more. These are real people, like you & me, who have come up against the same fears, problems, & rejections & lived to tell about it.

Chapters cover:

=> fear of rejection & why rejection is just the word we use for fears of all kinds -- failure, success, humiliation, approval (or lack thereof), and more

=> how to make yourself rejection proof. What concrete things can you do to overcome the fear that cripples you?

=> what are your limits? Can you stretch them? Are you taking on more than you can handle & setting yourself up for failure?

=> the power of your mind. The only thing you have to fear is fear itself -- now who said that!?

=> resiliency & flexibility -- do you know when to hold fast & when to give in? Do you see yourself as a victim? Do you see negative situations as everyday occurrences, use them, & move on?

=> maintaining detachment -- take a step back & assess situations.

=> asking for referrals, building rapport, keeping yourself motivated, & knowing when to take a break.

=> staying in the game -- do you know the difference between temporary setbacks & when to throw in the towel?

Shall I go on with more examples? Nah. Just know there's much more.

I found so much useful information in this book. One section that caught my attention while thumbing through the book is what Azriela calls "The Jaffe 3-5 Rule".

Many of us were taught the '3-Foot Rule'. It means that anyone within 3 feet of you is a possible prospect.

Talk about pressure! I never could figure out how to bring up products while standing in line at the post office.

Azriela rejects this notion, too. Her '3-5 Foot Rule' has no pressure attached & reads like this:

"To prosper in your business, focus your efforts on no more than three to five major target markets, using no more than three to five primary marketing tools, and making the most of your three to five greatest business skills. Be sure you spend your time in three to five major business responsibilities, and if possible delegate the rest." (p. 144)

You're not left in the dust after this statement. Azriela walks you through a step-by-step way to implement the idea so it'll work in your specific business & situation.

Then she shows you how to draw up a chart so you can see what needs to be done & then prioritize your tasks.

I'm not categorizing this book. It's not self-help, though it has those aspects. It's not strictly a management book, either.

Let's call it a success book. It will prepare you for the pitfalls of running your business, show you how to avoid them, and, if you do get caught, how to get out of them.

I highly recommend this book. You won't be disappointed...

Keep trying and you will eventually succeed at whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. My 25 years of experience as a salesman and entrepreneur has proven this axiom to be true, but how does one persist in the face of constant rejection? Azriela Jaffe has the answer in her new book, Starting from "No": 10 Strategies to Overcome Your Fear of Rejection and Succeed in Business. She first explains the origins of our fears of rejection. These can be as different as are our personalities and life experiences. Understanding the origins of our fears of rejection ultimately gives us an understanding of the integral role rejction plays in success. This understanding provides the foundation from which to attack our fears of rejection. Ms. Jaffe provides numerous strategies and techniques for overcoming our individual fears of rejection. These strategies and techniques are gleened from the experience of seasoned salespeople and entrepreneurs. This stuff really works in the real world. The book is comprehensive in that it discusses forms of rejection we may not even recognize such as customer complaints. I would trade a thousand books on sales techniques and motivation for this one book because all of the techniques and motivation in the world will be ineffective unless a person has an understanding of the role rejection plays in success. Starting From "No" not only provides the reader with that understanding, it gives the reader the tools to transform rejection into a force that drives success.

For anyone in the business world who fears rejection, Azriela Jaffe's book is right on the mark. She provides the reader with a straight forward method of self-analysis to determine why we fear rejection and how this fear can be overcome and channeled to gain positive results. She uses many excellent samples from her personal experiences. She also has interviewed many other successful individuals who describe how they overcome their fear of rejection.

This is a great book, with many helpful business ideas. What is great about this book is that in every chapter there is a section that says try this, and some of these ideas are very good and ideas that I am looking forward to trying.

Ms. Jaffe has addressed a topic that is important to many of us in business--especially us "creative types." I'm glad I ordered this book. It helped me understand the genesis of my fear of rejection and gave me practical information on how to counteract the fear. Highly recommended.

Yes, I too read and enjoyed Azriela Jaffe's book. But that's certainly not all! The truth is, the information that she has laid out in this book WORKS! She helps you realize where your "fears" come from, and then explains (along with real-life stories of other entrepreneurs dealing with the same issues) exactly what you need to do to deal with and overcome these issues. This book is definitely on my "Top Ten" favorite business book titles, and I read lots of them! In fact, I think this book is so powerful, I'm offering it to all of my sales reps! Kudos to Az!

This book was sent to me by Azriela for review...and it was INCREDIBLE! I learned so much about myself! I found out that I not only have a fear of success, but I also have a fear of failure!! She offers alot of tips and advice in the book that are helping me overcome both of these states. Very informative and resourceful...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I hesitated to pick up "Starting from No" by Azriela Jaffe. After all, I was a 40-year veteran in broadcast sales and knew all the ins and outs. I was also a veteran of sales motivation tools including every book by Napoleon Hill, (best known for Think and Grow Rich). I had imagined myself into a new and higher comfort zone created by Maxwell Maltz in "Psycho-Cybernetics". I had watched Pam Lontos get huge audiences to pucker up on imaginary lemons. I had heard many motivational speakers in the industry give tips on how to get appointments, and how to turn that appointment into a sure sale by doing and saying the right things. I learned to give yes-yes choices (Do you want the appointment next week or the week after) rather than yes-no choices (Do you want to buy or not)! I drafted mission statements and posted them in my office. That, I thought, should cover the gamete. Azriela Jaffe could hardly be expected to teach me anything!

How wrong I was. About 10 pages into the book, I had to stop reading to order a copy for each member of our sales staff! I realized that this was more than a sales motivation tool. This book actually spells out the underpinning needed for a great sales career. Those underpinnings have nothing to do with the prospect, and everything to do with the internal battle we all fight attempting to overcome the fear of rejection. Pam and Maxwell and Napoleon and all the others have great selling ideas that start when you pick up the phone to contact a prospect. If that call doesn't happen, there's no way the motivators can work their magic.

For the first time I realized that I could define fear of rejection. For the first time I realized this fear isn't a single syndrome but is created by many different factors, and all those factors are all manageable. For the first time I realized that my performance and the performance of our sales staff didn't depend on shooting for 100 percent close ratios. It didn't depend on highly subjective sales pitches "guaranteed" to get results. Instead Jaffe cuts through the murk and quantifies sales success in numeric terms, so many calls a day - so much in sales commissions per month. She doesn't see "no" as a failure, just a necessary step toward the eventual "yes". That's the whole secret, if you are not afraid of the "no", you can achieve sales success beyond your dreams.

This great common-sense book even gets into maintaining good relationships with customers who have already said yes. Two days ago I was berated by a customer who was unhappy. He thought he didn't get what he was promised. He called our support people, he called our sales people, and he called our distributors and berated them too. I discovered late in the day that the unhappy customer had failed to purchase software that would allow him to do the things he wants to do. He had specifically asked that the software be dropped from a contract to save money, even though he was made fully aware of the consequences at the time of the sale.

Boy was I going to get him! How dare he disrupt our business because of circumstances he had created himself! I can talk tough too and he was going to get a phone call from me that he would never forget!

Then I started another chapter in "Starting from No", the one about maintaining good relationships. I discovered that indeed there were alternatives in how to deal with such a customer. That ultimately I have the ability to either move this customer into an acceptable way of doing business or deciding that we do not want to do business with the guy. Neither choice gets personal, neither choice requires berating by any party. Both choices offer professional and logical ways to defuse the situation.

If you're new to the sales business, or a sales veteran, read this book. If you're a business owner or thinking of being one, read the book. If you are looking toward a sales or business career, this book is the best investment you can make. It has the power to change your life.

John Schad President Smarts Broadcast Systems

It's about time someone put this material together! I've been in business for 25 years and the #1 reason people fail is because they don't know how to handle rejection and use it to their advantage. They should have courses in this subject in college and university business schools but no one ever talks about -- yet, is the single most important factor in determining someone's success. I highly endorse Azriela's book -- I have already recommended my business associates read it too! A very valuable resource! Lee Simonson, Exec. Dir., Excel Communications