Fear of rejection is one of the biggest inhibitors for people in sales and Business Development roles. This is because these individuals equate their Business Development role performance with their self-worth. In doing so, they are inherently risk adverse and extremely cautious in executing a process, reluctant to call on senior level individuals and will avoid pushing decisions if there is the possibility of a no. They do this because they equate the no with failure, not only in the role of Business Development, but also as individuals. What these individuals have done is put their self-worth and self-respect dependent on the sale and, therefore, must close the sale in order to validate their self-worth. Getting a no is a rejection of not only their efforts in Business Development, but a rejection of themselves personally. This negatively impacts not only their self-esteem, but also their ability to perform the role effectively.
Business Development is not a role in which you try to validate your self-worth. You have intrinsic value as a person which is totally separate from your performance in this role. Your success or failure here is a function of your choices in the role, the training you have been fortunate to obtain and the psychological limitations you bring to the role.