Staying Afloat

In Pink’s model of the ABC’s of sales, buoyancy is the second essential quality among good sales people. When you look up the definition of the term, buoyancy is “the ability or tendency to float in water or air or some other fluid.” This term works excellently to describe what people in sales need to have to survive in Pink’s metaphorical sea of rejection. How many times have you turned away salespeople at the mall or in a store or even hung-up on a telemarketer? Rejection is constant throughout the selling experience and can be a major deterrent to people who might want to try getting involved in sales. Pink describes three components to help stay positive before, during, and after sales efforts, but I want to focus primarily on the “after” component for the sake of this post.

The “after” component to Pink’s definition of buoyancy is what he terms as explanatory style. The key concept of this component is how important positive, self assessment of negative circumstances are. In other words, when sales people experience rejection, it is important that they understand that the rejection is not permanent. They must be able to tell themselves that the reasons behind their rejection are temporary, specific, or external and be able to try again with the next prospect. Without doing so, you run the risk of slipping into despair and helplessness amidst the seemingly insurmountable sea of rejection. Perhaps that wording is somewhat exaggerated, but it should help in understanding why buoyancy is so important in sales. If it doesn’t, try looking at the included picture and remember to stay buoyant!