Buoyancy – “staying afloat amid the ocean of rejection is the second essential quality to moving other,” says Pink. Buoyancy starts before you even begin your day, preparing yourself to face all of the people during the day and the inevitable rejection that will follow. Conventional wisdom suggests “pumping yourself up” by thinking how wonderful and amazing you are, but recent studies show this is no longer the most effective pre-sale technique for reaching the right mindset.
Questioning self-talk, or interrogative self-talk, on the other hand, has proven to be much more effective in priming one’s mindset before the sale. By asking yourself questions about how you will do, you elicit answers and within those answers lie strategies for actually carrying out the task. Secondly, interrogative self-talk may give you intrinsically motivated reasons for pursing a goal. Research has shown, people are more likely to perform well when their motivations stem from intrinsic purposes rather than from extrinsic pressures.
The “conventional juice-my-self-up declarative self-talk” is definitely more effective than negative self-talk, but often all that it gives you is a short-term emotional boost. I have never heard of interrogative self-talk, but after reading Pink’s research on it I am convinced that it is the most effective pre-sale technique for reaching the correct mindset. It doesn’t give you unchecked positive self-confidence, but gives you confidence that is backed by reasons why you should be confident and even tactical ways you can do better. Revealing your motivations before the sale is also priceless in reaching the healthiest selling mindset. Interrogative self-talk, the best way of thinking before a sale and perhaps even for every day life.
BoweryJE22
This was a really interesting chapter in Pink. I also think it was interesting that it came up in class earlier this week, when one of our guest lecturers suggested that it is a good idea to go to a coffee shop and just ask random strangers for their phone numbers, just to experience rejection. It goes with the adage, “practice makes perfect,” and we must practice even the difficult parts in sales, like rejection. Pink says this at the end of his Buoyancy chapter, as well.