Daniel Pink’s To Sell Is Human: Our Review

In To Sell Is Human, Daniel Pink explores the science and art of selling, and how it can be used to transform the way you convince others. Drawing on a wealth of social science, he shows readers that selling is a part of their lives, no matter what they do. He also provides practical ideas to help them become more honest and sustainable in their approach.

In his book, Daniel Pink takes the old adage of "Always Be closing" and adds a new one called "Attunement, Buoyancy, and Clarity." To sell well, one must convince others to part with their resources.

According to Pink, about 15 million people in the US make a living from selling. The other eight million work in sales, and they're constantly influencing and persuading others to give up their resources in exchange for something.

He claims that people who work in sales are considered to be incredibly bothersome. He looked at a word cloud that included a survey's list of terms that people associated with the term "sales." Among the top 25 were "pushy," "yuck," and "ugh." In addition, 20 of the words were negative, and the remaining four were positive.

Chapters' Summary

Chapter 1: We're All in Sales Now

We are now focused on moving other people to get what they want, and this includes moving them to part with their resources. According to some, 40% of their time is spent on non-sales activities, which is very important to their professional success.

Chapter 2: Entrepreneurship, Elasticity, and Ed-Med

Due to the lack of specialization, many entrepreneurs choose to become salespeople. In 2020, it is estimated that the number of Americans working on their own will grow by 65 million, making it the majority of the workforce.

Chapter 3: From Caveat Emptor to Caveat Venditor

Buyers become sellers' curators when they can get more information about a property. This allows them to make informed decisions and make sense of all the data they're looking for.

Chapter 4: Attunement

The ability to move people depends on how well you understand another person's perspective, how you perceive the world through their eyes, and how you get inside their head.

Chapter 5: Buoyancy

Compared to agents who scored in the pessimistic half of the explanatory style, those who scored in the optimism half were 37% more likely to sell insurance. Optimism can help us persevere through challenges and build confidence in our ability to influence others.

Chapter 6: Clarity

The ability to see others' problems in a fresh and revealing way is known as clarity. It helps people identify their own issues that they didn't realize were there. The ability to move people is dependent on one's ability to find and identify the true problem. Clarity is also the ability to make sense of complicated situations and move from solving them to discovering hidden ones.

Chapter 7: Pitch

A pitch is not about moving people to adopt your idea. It's about creating something that will compel others to talk about it and eventually come up with an outcome that will appeal to both of you.

Chapter 8: Improvise

Sales is about overcoming objections. In traditional sales, people are usually not listening to offers unless they are specifically asked. They are more likely to hear them if they are offered something that they can respond to.

Daniel H. Pink the Author

Daniel Pink is a New York Times best-selling author whose latest book, The Power of Regret, is about looking back and moving forward. His other titles include When and A Whole New Mind, as well as Drive and To Sell is Human, which was the top-selling book in the newspaper.

In his model, Pink focuses on helping people become motivated by using their internal drivers. He calls this type of behavior "Type I." It's different from the traditional approach to extrinsic motivation, which focuses on rewarding people through punishment and rewards.

In order to achieve intrinsic motivation, people need to develop three goals: 1) Autonomy, 2) Mastery, and 3) Purpose. Autonomy is the right condition of self-government, while mastery is the skill or knowledge that one has in a particular activity.