To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Daniel H. Pink
Daniel Pink believes that in all walks of life we are spending a majority of our time in “non-sales selling” aka moving others somehow. High tech startups may not have as many dedicated “sales reps” as legacy companies however, all employees must now add a sales mindset to their role. Whether you are in sales or not this book will help you see the world clearer and navigate a better way to get what you need done.
Take a look at these modern tech startups ala Facebook or Dropbox and its hard to find dedicated sales team because the line between non sales and sales roles are blurring. Everyone is now responsible for selling. Take the healthcare space. A patient comes into a doctors office with unhealthy habits that are eroding his health. This patient is smoking and eating junk food every evening. It is now the responsibility of the doctors to "sell" their patient on healthier life choices.
Pink also points out how much of a game changer the website is. Back in the old days sleazy salesmen could get away with saying whatever they wanted to largely because of the huge information gap between sales rep and prospect. The internet evened this gap. The best path forward for sales reps is to be honest and upfront. A "I'm not sure let me double check and follow up with you" earns some credibility. Educate your prospect with a wealth of info and keep it simple.
An easy way to win over your prospect according to Pink is to stay positive. A point he makes is to always say, “Yes, and…” instead of “No” or “Yes, but…”. Subtle but has a big difference. Keep your points constructive without making it seem like our smarter or disagreeing with them.
Key takeaway: In this modern day and age of selling, provide a real value add. Whether that's by sharing best practices you've seen in the industry or a helpful case study. See the quote below for more clarification.
Quote of the book: “Anytime you're tempted to upsell someone else, stop what you're doing and upserve instead.”
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