To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others

Daniel H. Pink

Dec 2012 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

Look out for Daniel Pink’s new book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

#1 New York Times Business Bestseller
#1 Wall Street Journal Business Bestseller
#1 Washington Post bestseller

From the bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind, and teacher of the popular MasterClass on Sales and Persuasion, comes a surprising--and surprisingly useful--new book that explores the power of selling in our lives.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans works in sales. Every day more than fifteen million people earn their keep by persuading someone else to make a purchase.

But dig deeper and a startling truth emerges:

Yes, one in nine Americans works in sales. But so do the other eight.

Whether we’re employees pitching colleagues on a new idea, entrepreneurs enticing funders to invest, or parents and teachers cajoling children to study, we spend our days trying to move others. Like it or not, we’re all in sales now.

To Sell Is Human offers a fresh look at the art and science of selling. As he did in Drive and A Whole New Mind, Daniel H. Pink draws on a rich trove of social science for his counterintuitive insights. He reveals the new ABCs of moving others (it's no longer "Always Be Closing"), explains why extraverts don't make the best salespeople, and shows how giving people an "off-ramp" for their actions can matter more than actually changing their minds.

Along the way, Pink describes the six successors to the elevator pitch, the three rules for understanding another's perspective, the five frames that can make your message clearer and more persuasive, and much more. The result is a perceptive and practical book--one that will change how you see the world and transform what you do at work, at school, and at home.

Ratings and reviews

This short volume is a great reminder that we are all in the business of selling in one form or another. He also gives some new rules of selling, many of which involve making sure that you see things from the potential buyers perspective, that you are looking for a win/win rather than trying to better the other and be sure you genuinely feel you are making their life better rather than just enriching yourself.

In To Sell is Human, Daniel Pink teaches that all of us are in sales, and his refreshing modernized view on sales will change your life; whether you sell timeshares or computers or even if you just want to learn what makes humans tick, no one covers it more clearly than Pink.

Not anything really groundbreaking here, but definitely an entertaining book. Author seems to be well informed and does his research.

About the author

Daniel H. Pink is the author of four books, including the long-running New York Times bestsellers Drive and A Whole New Mind. His books have been translated into thirty-three languages and have sold more than a million copies in the United States alone. Pink lives with his family in Washington, D.C.