To Sell is Human - Post#1--Overview

Overview: Written with his signature wit and a bushel of social science research, Dan Pink has written another bestseller—about selling. Most of us spend around 40% of our time trying to influence—or, as Pink says, “move”—others. As more than 54% of 18-34 year olds opt for entrepreneurship, the time spent “moving” others will grow. Because of the Internet, the information tipping point shifted toward the consumer, who now walks onto a used car lot with reams of research to start the negotiation.  Instead of caveat emptor, it’s caveat venditor. And to sell, we all have to focus on our A-B-C’s: Attunement (take the other’s perspective, use empathy, and mimic the buyer); Buoyancy (before the event use an interrogative self-talk, during the event use positivity, and afterward use an optimistic explanatory style); and Clarity (focus on problem finding, not problem solving, and find new frames/lenses to look through). Pink also offers three new skills we will need: Pitch (using one of a number of structured ways to present our ideas—think Hollywood); Improvise (hearing “offers,” saying “yes, and,” and making the other person look good—think Second City); Serve (make it personal and purposeful). Best line of all in the book: “Treat everybody as you would your grandmother.”   
To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others (Riverhead Books, 2012)  by Dan Pink, reviewed by Steve Gladis, Ph.D. (January 2013).