Winning does not always come easily. In fact, much of the time it is necessary to have some failure before you can succeed. While we can learn some things from our successes, we learn much more from our failures. As much as I hate to be cliche, this reminds me of the light bulb story. Thomas Edison failed over 1,000 times when attempting to invent the light bulb. Had he given up, we may still be in the dark today.
This concept is called “Buoyancy.” Pink says that Buoyancy is, “How to stay afloat amid that ocean of rejection.” This is a very important skill for anyone who practices the art of selling. Even the best salesmen will experience rejection at different times in their careers. In order to maintain confidence when selling, you cannot be afraid of being rejected.
I remember times at Enterprise when I would be having a bad sales day which would mess with my confidence. If my confidence was low, I would think to myself, “this next customer doesn’t want to buy coverage, why even try?” This was a bad attitude to have because every customer is different and have different needs. That is why buoyancy is so important, you must stay afloat amid the sea of failures.
Buoyancy is a great concept that can be difficult to master. It relates very closely to Sandler’s first rule of separating the role you from the real you. You won’t be able to get far if you get discouraged before you have the opportunity to improve someone’s life with a sale.
I really appreciated this section of the book! It’s important to recognize how much of a difference positive self-speak can have in our daily interactions and especially in a sales context. Rejection is part of the game and it’s huge that you not take it personally.