To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Persuading, Convincing, and Influencing Others

Life is all about pitching. The problem is that we're not very good at it. Each day millions of people earn their keep by convincing someone else to make a purchase. They sell planes to airlines, oil shares to sheiks, cars to drivers. They sell consulting agreements, magazine subscriptions, time-shares, double glazing, broadband, fitted kitchens, car insurance, life insurance, pet insurance! Some work in fancy offices with glorious views, others in dreary cubicles, but most look exactly like you. In fact, each and every one of us spends time trying to persuade others to part with resources - money, time, attention - though most of the time we don't realise we're doing it. Parents sell their kids on going to bed. Spouses sell their partners on mowing the lawn or putting the cat out. We sell our bosses on giving us more money and more time off. And in astonishing numbers we go online to sell ourselves on Facebook, Twitter and in Match.com profiles. What businesses, politicians and academics don't seem to have realised yet is that we're all in sales now. In this new book from the bestselling author of Drive, Daniel Pink explores the ways in which we can all improve our sales acumen in every area of our lives and identifies the three personal qualities and three essential skills necessary to move people. Relying on science rather than platitudes and analysis instead of exhortation, Pink shows that sales isn't what it used to be, that the low road of deceit and trickery is no longer a viable option, and that success in any kind of persuasion or influence now depends on being more human. Brimming with new and inspiring ideas on peddling, pitching and persuading, this book presents us with the tools and the tips to change the way we sell our products, our ideas and ourselves.

About the Author :
Daniel H. Pink is the author of the long-running New York Times and BusinessWeek bestseller A Whole New Mind. He has written for the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Wired, wherehe is a contributing editor. He has provided analysis for CNN, CNBC,ABC, NPR and other networks in the U.S. and abroad. Pink lectures on economic transformation and the new workplace at corporations, associations and universities around the world, and was a keynote speaker at TED's 2009 Global Conference in Oxford. He lives in Washington DC, with his family.

Review :
Pink is rapidly acquiring international guru status . . . He is an engaging writer, who challenges and provokes Provocative and fascinating A gifted writer who turns even the heaviest scientific study into something digestible - and often amusing - without losing his intellectual punch Pink's ideas deserve a wide hearing. Corporate boards, in fact, could do well by kicking out their pay consultants for an hour and reading Pink's conclusions instead Daniel Pink has issued a bold and persuasive call to bring our understanding of human motivation out of the realm of folklore and into the realm of science ... Drive will make you rethink everything you do to motivate yourself and those around you Less a book about the conniving tricks of this slippery trade, and more of a human guide to how sales might work and be successful in the 21st century Pink is clear and thoughtful - he sells his arguments beautifully Daniel H. Pink has adapted a raft of salesmanship techniques and strategies that can work in everyday life Pink is clear and thoughtful - as you might expect, he sells his argument beautifully