Down but Not Out

Sales people face rejection and perhaps more than any other worker in a business. The very nature of their job requires that they approach people in hopes of convincing them of an idea or product which is often met with refusal. When this happens, there are two ways to approach being rejected: either you allow it to defeat you, or you use it to grow stronger. The difference between the two is what Daniel Pink calls buoyancy.

Ask Pink describes it, buoyancy is the ability to “Stay afloat in a sea of rejection.” Some days you may be met with nothing but dead ends and cold leads, but you cannot let that drag you under or you will never succeed. A seasoned sales person will learn to pick himself back on his feet and grow from his negative experiences. To help improve one’s buoyancy, Pink gives three tips to follow.

• Use Interrogative self-talk.
• Maintain good positivity ratios.
• Debrief with an explanatory style.

Interrogative self-talk is a form of self-motivation that a person uses before the sales experience to help prepare for rejection. In this form a person asks himself questions instead of just repeatedly affirming his good qualities. By doing this, he is forced to sell himself and remind himself of his strengths. Afterwards, a sales person is more prepared to handle rejection than before.

Pink’s claims that the ideal positivity ratio is 3:1. This means that one should maintain a balance of 3 positive thoughts to 1 negative thought. In saying this, Pink is recognizing that not all negativity is wrong and can in fact be a good motivator for success. However, it should always be outweighed by positive thoughts. This is helpful during a sales experience and can keep both mental and emotional health strong.

Finally, Pink sees the importance debriefing with an explanatory style after a negative sales experience. With this perspective, it allows a sales person to get and objective look at the issue and see the good and bad results from the sales attempt. This helps maintain buoyancy and keep people from sinking under in a wave a discouragement.

Buoyancy is a crucial trait for any sales person to have as it prepares a person to handle any and every sales experience. By knowing how to handle a sales experience before, during, and after the fact, a person can be truly unstoppable.