Book Blog – To Sell Is Human by Daniel Pink

To Sell Is Human by Daniel Pink

Rating 3 out of 5

Genre: Non Fiction

Category: Business

This book is written by a respected author in my view, and I had high hopes when I picked it up. Whereas I was not disappointed, I was also not overly impressed.

If you have read his other books, you may agree with the statement that Daniel Pink’s strength, as an author, is that he is a visionary in his unique perspective of the world. Coupled with this, he is very data-driven, leaning heavily on studies to make conclusions.

From the perspective presented in this book, the word ‘selling’ is completely reinvented. The reader is persuaded that sales (or ‘making people move’ as Pink likes to refer to it) is more a part of his everyday life than he would like to admit. Having extensively made this point in the first section of the book ”Rebirth of a Sales Man’, Pink then moves on to various methods and techniques aimed at making you better at the job of moving people. The next two sections – ‘How to Be’ and ‘What to Do’ have several useful illustrations that teach you the Do’s and Don’ts of selling.

Whereas the tools and techniques offered are helpful, the paradigm shift in the first section of the book is its chief offering in my view. When we truly acknowledge that we are indeed selling for a good part of the day, no matter what our profession is, we get away from the negative connotations people inadvertently create around this vital skill. And this paradigm shift is adequate, by itself, to make us better at selling. The techniques offered are then simply icing on the cake.

This book is surely worth your time. But if you have time for only one book by this talented author, I would go with Pink’s other book, Drive. Read my review of Drive here.