{"id":219,"date":"2013-02-15T13:27:11","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T17:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/~reviewing\/?page_id=219"},"modified":"2013-02-18T15:24:22","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T19:24:22","slug":"to-sell-is-human-teaches-motivating-others","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=219","title":{"rendered":"‘To Sell is Human’ skillfully does its job"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Posted Feb.15, 2013<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others\u201d
\nDaniel H. Pink<\/p>\n

By MIKE LASUSA<\/p>\n

Daniel H. Pink\u2019s new book, \u201cTo Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others,\u201d is prefaced \u2013 predictably and almost obligatorily \u2013 with a quote from Arthur Miller\u2019s \u201cDeath of a Salesman:\u201d \u201cThe only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is, you\u2019re a salesman, and you don\u2019t even know it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/a>Pink argues that due to the realities of the fast-paced digital age we live in, where career-hopping and bouts of self-employment are becoming increasingly common, the idea of \u201csales\u201d has crept into other traditionally \u201cnon-sales\u201d fields, especially what he calls the \u201ced-med\u201d industries (education and healthcare), which are both among the fastest-growing sectors of the economy.<\/p>\n

How do professions in education and medicine incorporate sales techniques? Pink quotes a sixth-grade teacher; \u201cI\u2019m selling my students that the science lesson I\u2019m teaching them is the most interesting thing ever.\u201d Quoting a physical therapist, he writes, \u201cMedicine involves a lot of salesmanship\u2026I have to talk people into doing some fairly unpleasant things.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bit of a stretch, but you can see where he\u2019s going \u2013 we all have to \u201cmove\u201d others in order to reach our goals. Much of the time, that requires us to sell them on the idea that cooperation is more mutually beneficial than the self-centered behavior we\u2019re sometimes inclined towards.<\/p>\n

As the quote from the preface suggests, Pink\u2019s latest work pushes back against the idea that \u201csales\u201d is solely the realm of greasy-haired empty suits, prowling the asphalt at the used car lot, looking to unload a lemon on some unsuspecting chump. As Pink puts it, \u201cwe\u2019re all in sales now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citing the U.S. Census Bureau\u2019s estimate that the United States\u2019 twenty-one million \u201cnon-employer businesses\u201d (i.e., self-employed contractors, consultants, and the like) constitute the majority of businesses in the country, Pink argues that, these days, \u201c[d]esigners analyze. Analysts design. Marketers create. Creators market\u2026A world of entrepreneurs is a world of salespeople.\u201d<\/p>\n

With another almost inevitable cultural reference to Alec Baldwin\u2019s memorable monologue in the film version of \u201cGlengarry Glen Ross,\u201d Pink seeks to put a new twist on the \u201cold-school\u201d salesman\u2019s motto, \u201cA.B.C. – Always Be Closing.\u201d Pink\u2019s argument goes like this: the sales world has undergone a revolution whereby the axiom \u201ccaveat emptor<\/i>\u201d <\/i>(\u201cbuyer beware\u201d) has been replaced by \u201ccaveat venditor<\/i>\u201d <\/i>(\u201cseller beware.\u201d) This is due to the change in the balance of what Pink calls \u201cinformation asymmetry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the advent of the Internet (and especially smartphones,) consumers were often dependent on manufacturers and salespeople for information about potential purchases. Buyers had to \u201cbeware\u201d the inescapable bias and potential for dishonesty in the sources of their information. However, with buyers\u2019 increased speed and ease of access to unbiased sources of information about goods and services (think Angie\u2019s List and Ripoff Report), in Pink\u2019s words, \u201c[t]he low road is now harder to pass and the high road \u2013 honesty, directness, and transparency \u2013 has become the better, more pragmatic, long-term route.\u201d<\/p>\n

To illustrate this point, Pink returns to the aforementioned stereotypical example of the pre-owned automobile business. Pink points out that at CarMax locations, no longer do slick-talking shysters babble at customers about brake pads and bumper strength until they finally get fed up and walk away or relent and \u201csign on the line which is dotted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather, prospective buyers sit down at a computer with a sales rep and access all the same information available to the potential seller. They can ask questions, do Google searches, and ultimately approximate as closely as possible the economist\u2019s ideal of the \u201cfully-informed, rational consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the flip side, through social media and other web-based platforms, experiences with poor service and\/or defective goods can be easily and instantly shared with even the furthest reaches of a dissatisfied customer\u2019s social circle \u2013 hence Pink\u2019s coinage of the phrase \u201ccaveat venditor.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

So, what is Pink\u2019s new take on Baldwin\u2019s old-school A.B.C. acronym? \u201cAttunement, Buoyancy, and Clarity.\u201d Attunement involves what is known as \u201cperspective taking\u201d (as Pink quotes from a research paper, it is \u201cmore beneficial to get inside [the] heads [of one\u2019s customers] than to have them inside one\u2019s own heart.\u201d)<\/p>\n

This does not mean being cold, manipulative, and deceitful. Putting oneself in the other\u2019s shoes can \u201cattune\u201d us to their motivations and reservations, which is more effectual than the pushy and aggressive steamroller approach favored by advocates of \u201cAlways Be Closing.\u201d As Pink reminds us, \u201c[t]o sell well is convince someone else to part with resources \u2013 not to deprive that person, but to leave him better off in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buoyancy involves confronting and overcoming the \u201cocean of rejection\u201d that comes with the territory of life in general, but especially the sales world. Getting back on the proverbial horse is an essential part of selling, and Pink highlights research showing that people\u2019s individual \u201cexplanatory style\u201d can help or hinder their comeback efforts.<\/p>\n

According to Pink, the best strategy lies in the middle of the road \u2013 not excessive pessimism or optimism, but what he calls \u201coptimism with its eyes open\u201d \u2013 an approach that neither completely ignores a lack of success nor attributes too much significance to minor setbacks, but rather sees failure as an impersonal learning experience that will contribute to future success through perseverance.<\/p>\n

The final link in the chain is \u201cClarity.\u201d As Pink writes, becoming skilled at the act of \u201cpitching\u201d ideas requires \u201cthe ability to distill one\u2019s point to its persuasive essence.\u201d Concision is key.<\/p>\n

Continuing with the theme of technological change, Pink contends that the \u201celevator pitch\u201d of a bygone era has been replaced by the even-briefer \u201cTwitter pitch\u201d \u2013 140 characters or fewer. He cites the example of Barack Obama\u2019s one-word campaign slogan, \u201cForward\u201d (which, along with a well-coordinated social media and internet campaign, worked out pretty well for him.) In a society where people\u2019s attention is constantly up for grabs, your message has to pack as much punch per millisecond as possible.<\/p>\n

One other theme of the book is the power of questions \u2013 specifically the simple question \u201cwhy?\u201d Referencing another research paper, Pink writes that statements<\/i> often go in one ear and out the other, but that questions<\/i> lead to a \u201cmore intensive processing of message content.\u201d This concept applies to attunement and perspective taking (\u201cWhat would I do if I were him\/her. Why?\u201d) as well as to buoyancy and explanatory styles (\u201cWhat can I learn from this experience? Why did I fail\/succeed?\u201d), but it is uniquely applicable to selling.<\/p>\n

Pink illuminates this point with then-future President Ronald Reagan\u2019s famous question to voters, \u201cAre you better off now than you were four years ago?\u201d This worked much more effectively than a statement like \u201cYou\u2019re not better off now than you were four years ago,\u201d because it forced people to think about why <\/i>they weren\u2019t better off (hint: it was Jimmy Carter\u2019s fault.)<\/p>\n

Pink has also written about business and technology for the The New York Times<\/i>, Harvard Business Review<\/i>, and a number of other publications. \u201cTo Sell Is Human<\/i>\u201d is a #1 best-seller according to The New York Times<\/i>, The Wall Street Journal<\/i>, and The Washington Post<\/i>, following on the heels of \u201cA Whole New Mind<\/i>,\u201d published in 2006, which examines the potentials of\u00a0 \u201cright-brain\u201d thinking and 2011\u2019s \u201cDrive<\/i>,\u201d which deals with human motivation and performance \u2013 both of which were well-received best-sellers.<\/p>\n

In \u201cTo Sell Is Human,\u201d Pink highlights some new and interesting social science research on the cognition and psychology behind persuasion and decision making (this line of writing seems to be his \u201cthing\u201d) and although it\u2019s an engaging read, Pink doesn\u2019t reveal anything truly earth-shattering here.<\/p>\n

On the whole, the book seems like a mash-up of some fairly basic concepts from psychology, sociology, communication, and game theory and a few fun, but relatively anecdotal supporting studies and examples. Still, Pink has certainly done his research and he knows what he\u2019s talking about \u2013 and like any good salesman, he knows a thing or two about presentation.<\/p>\n

Pink illustrates his points with interesting real-world stories and case studies. He writes in a conversational voice that shows off his narrative cleverness \u2013 but he sometimes takes his pop culture references into distractingly and unnecessarily awkward terrain \u2013 like when he refers to the Fuller Brush salesmen in their heyday as \u201cLady Gagaesque in [their] ubiquity.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also gives Tony Robbin-esque life-coachy tips about how to practice the lessons derived from his research, which are helpful if you\u2019re using the book as a how-to manual, but were usually less fascinating than the findings themselves. Nevertheless, though his prose may not always be the most elegant, compared to plowing through the dozens of articles and academic references cited in each chapter, Pink\u2019s unraveling of the story behind \u201csales\u201d <\/i>is certainly a preferable method of information delivery.<\/p>\n

While Pink is obviously a highly intelligent and creative thinker and an entertaining writer, a lot of his conclusions seem like dressed-up versions of textbook concepts. Then again, he\u2019s writing for a popular audience, not for academics. His skill lies in \u201cdistilling the essence\u201d of commonly dense academic research into easily digestible ideas, and to that end, \u201cTo Sell Is Human\u201d is both a testament to that talent and an enjoyable read, whether for personal betterment or simply for pleasure.<\/p>\n