GM to the Top 1% 🎂
Today I turn 37.
I'm not going to pretend that's not worth acknowledging.
But I'm also not going to waste your Saturday morning with a list of gratitude that reads like a hallmark card.
Instead I want to tell you the story I've never fully told.
Because it's the story that made me who I am. And it's the story that eventually made me a better salesperson than any training ever did.
🎓 THE YEAR I GOT REJECTED BY EVERY COLLEGE
I was 17 years old. Immigrant kid. Parents who had given up everything to get me here.
My grades weren't bad. But they weren't exceptional. And when the letters came back, every single one said no.
Not waitlisted. Not deferred. No.
I remember sitting at the kitchen table reading the last rejection. My parents were in the other room. I couldn't tell them right away. I just sat there.
The thing about rejection at 17 is that it doesn't just feel like a closed door. It feels like a verdict. Like someone looked at everything you are and said: not enough.
📝 THE APPEAL
My counselor told me I could appeal to UC Davis.
She also told me most appeals don't work. The acceptance rate for appeals was somewhere around 3%.
I wrote the letter anyway.
Not because I was confident. Because I had nothing left to lose.
I didn't write about my grades. I wrote about why I deserved a chance. I wrote about what I had already overcome. I wrote about the specific things I would contribute if given the opportunity.
I made them see me as a person, not a file.
They let me in.
💡 WHAT THAT TAUGHT ME ABOUT SALES
That appeal letter was the first sales pitch I ever wrote. I just didn't know it yet.
Everything I've done in enterprise sales since then comes back to that letter.
Make them see you as a person, not a vendor.
Make the case for why you deserve the chance, not just why your product is good.
Address the objection directly instead of hoping they'll overlook it.
Give them a specific reason to say yes today.
Fifteen years later. $500M+ in closed enterprise deals. The same principles.
The 17-year-old at the kitchen table figured it out before anyone taught him the framework.
🎁 MY BIRTHDAY GIFT TO YOU
Every year on my birthday I try to give something back to the people who have made this newsletter worth writing.
Today that means: the 500 AI-Powered Sales Prompts collection is 25% off for 48 hours.
Use code BIRTHDAY at checkout.
These are the exact prompts I use at AWS on my enterprise territory. Research, discovery, follow-up, objection handling, champion enablement, pipeline reviews. All of it.
Normal price: $27. Today: $20.25 with code BIRTHDAY.
48 hours only. No extension. This closes Sunday at midnight.
Get it here: edwardgorbis.com
❓ QUESTION OF THE DAY
What's the rejection that ended up being the best thing that ever happened to you?
Reply and tell me. I read every one.
☕ Share Morning Sales & Earn Rewards
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5 referrals = Private Community Access
10 referrals = 30-min strategy call with me
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Thank you for being here. Means more than you know.
Edward Founder, Morning Sales
P.S. Code BIRTHDAY. 25% off. 48 hours. edwardgorbis.com — go get it.