Sometimes a stumbling block looms before you. Worry not. Here's how to make it into a stepping stone.

When I was 29 years old, I started an Information Technology consulting firm. We were helping Fortune 1000 companies convert their systems to Microsoft Windows. It was 1991 and there wasn't much Windows programming expertise in the marketplace. I made over 500 cold calls in order to schedule only 35 meetings. And at each of those 35 meetings I was rejected. Yes, at every single one.

The frustrating part was that I was selling against the Big 6 consulting firms who had never done a full Windows implementation before. On these sales calls, I was competing against men in their 50's, men in suits, men representing companies that were considered "safe". And there I was, in my 20's, a total nerd fresh from Microsoft. I had worked on the Windows engineering team. I had years and years of relevant engineering experience, and my staff had even more. But the sales prospects chose the competition over us every time.

I kept hearing wishy-washy reasons as to why they wouldn't buy, such as "I need to check our budget... we've not worked with your firm before." Actually, what they really were saying was, "You're not in your 50's, you don't have gray hair, you're not with a huge, well-known firm, and that makes us uncomfortable."

After the 35th failed meeting I said, enough already! What did I stand for? What was my "brand"? It was to provide the highest quality work delivered on time and on budget, outstanding customer care, solid engineering expertise. I had done all this for my early tech clients, but now it was time to branch out to other industries.

I decided to stick around and spy on the successful guys after my most recent rejection. Positioning my car near the entry way, I'd get a good look at. I hid behind a newspaper as they walked out. As they passed by my car, I lowered the newspaper and stared at them. What did they have that I didn't? I didn't have glasses. I didn't have a wedding ring. I didn't have a navy blue suit. And... my hair was out of control! Could my sales challenge be as trivial as my looks? Could it be that the prospects simply couldn't get past this stumbling block?

I declared this stumbling block a stepping stone. Driving to the nearest mall, I bought a fake wedding ring, fake glasses, a navy blue suit, and a handful of hair clips. Voila! Now my look made potential customers feel comfortable. I started closing sales left and right.

When you're early in the game, trying to make it all happen, you have to realize that sometimes you just have to look the part to feel the part.

From that one firm that said "yes" after I looked the part, we built a client base of 700 of the Fortune 1000. We went back to the companies who'd rejected us earlier and closed deals. When you come across stumbling blocks, resolve to make them stepping stones.

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