Ep 02: Your Conversion Rate is a Red Flag
And Why I Started Celebrating Rejection
For a while, I had a number I loved to brag about that now makes me cringe.
Every single person I got on a consult call with became a paying client. A 100% conversion rate. I told people about it like it was proof of something — proof that I was good at this, that I had the gift, that sales came naturally to me.
Now I find it a little embarrassing.
Because a 100% conversion rate doesn’t mean you’re great at selling. It means you’re not selling enough. And I’d bet money that if this is you, you’re also not making the income you want — at least not as consistently as you want.
Here’s where my perspective changed.
A few years into working in startup and tech sales, I was given a project: sell seats to an in-person founder event. Tickets were $3,000–$5,000 per person. My goal was 10 seats in two weeks.
To hit 10 closed deals, I knew I needed to reach out to 100 people and get on roughly 20 discovery calls. Not because I was bad at sales. Because that’s how sales math works. Most people say no. You plan for that and build your pipeline accordingly.
I hit my goal with two days to spare.
When I was an entrepreneur, I approached it completely backwards. I’d think: I want 3 new clients this month, so I just need to find 3 perfect people. I’d cherry-pick my outreach. Keep the list small. Only approach people I was almost certain would say yes.
And then I’d wonder why I had more slow months than I wanted.
The difference wasn’t my sales skills. It was my relationship with no.
In a sales role, rejection is just part of the game. You anticipate it, you plan for it, and you move on without drama. It’s not personal. It’s math.
As a business owner, I was so personally tied to my work that I avoided rejection at all costs. Every no felt like a verdict on my worth, my talent, my whole business. I didn’t set myself up for success because I was too busy trying to avoid failure. So I kept my conversations small and safe. And I called my 100% close rate a win.
It wasn’t a win. It was avoidance dressed up as success.
Here’s the mindset shift I want you to take into this week:
Stop trying to find the perfect three people. Start having more conversations. Cast a wider net, go into it expecting that most people will say no, and stop treating rejection as a sign that something went wrong. It didn’t. It’s supposed to happen.
If you have a 100% conversion rate, you’re not a sales unicorn. You’re someone who’s been too afraid to hear no — and it’s costing you more than you realize.
The goal isn’t to close everyone. The goal is to talk to enough people that closing some of them is inevitable.
Go find some no’s.
Until next time, Rebecca
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