Ahh, my favorite topic sales. There were so many choices for the Learn to Sell chapter of Not Taught. I’m a sales guy, so I seriously consider naming myself the first Taught Leader for this chapter, but I figure Nah, give it someone else. Ha ha!
Don’t fret, I will be highlighting multiple Taught Leaders for all the chapters, so there will be more brilliant sales minds to come.
With that said, when it comes to learning how to sell my boy Daniel Pink offers a laymen’s insight on motivating people and what it takes to get folks to “move,” and that’s why I chose to go with him first.
As I argue in the book, selling is critical to success in the 21st-century. We’re living in a hyper-connected world with information coming at us at breakneck speed. Our attention spans are being overworked. We’re blocking out more and more. Therefore, those who can get our attention and, more importantly, influence our actions wins.
Ladies and gentleman, I hate to break it to you, but selling is the ability to influence people. It’s not some nasty 4-letter word to be avoided.
Sales is just another word for influencing change.
Not Taught Chapter 7
If you want to be successful in the new economy, if you want to elevate your game and be able to compete in the 21st-century, you have to accept that selling isn’t a profession, but a skill — a skill you need to know!
Meet Daniel Pink
Daniel is a badass, and the author of many books, including; To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others.
I read To Sell is Human a few years ago, and I liked it. What I liked is Daniel he was on of the first to call out what I’m telling you in Chapter 7. That selling is now for everyone. Selling isn’t a just a profession, but a skill. It’s a skill required for anyone and everyone to master if success is on their radar.
Daniel isn’t just some pontificating, airbag, who found a nice little niche and decided to tell us all to sell, he stumbled upon this realization after a bit personal reflection.
In the introduction of To Sell Is Human Pink summarizes his journey in discovering he’s a “salesperson.”
Yes! Yes! Yes!
We sell all day long. All of us and those of us who understand that win. Pink calls it “coaxing others to part with resources.” In Not Taught, I call it influencing change, but either way, the point is the same. We spend the majority of our lives selling. Therefore, we better get good at it.
To Sell is Human is a must FIRST read for non-salespeople, people who don’t sell for a living. If you sell for a living, it’s still an excellent book, but you might find some of his premises remedial. Read it and absorb it. Embrace the ideas and the tips. Learn how to sell, influence and serve it’s the key to success in today’s world.
Pink is your resource for turning up your selling skills.
Learning how to sell can not be underestimated. You will need to influence people if you want to be successful in anything you do. You will need to get people to change their mind, to stop doing something, to start doing something, to keep doing something. You will need people to follow you, help you, support you, and take over for you. You are going to need to influence change at some level, and the only way to do that is through selling, and Pink is your guy to help you do that.
Check out his stuff:
Books:
Website:
His website is a geat “hub.” You’ll find everything you need there.
Ted Talk
Dan gives a great talk on motivation here:
Twitter:
As you progress in your journey through Not Taught, Pink becomes a powerful resource. Learning how to sell is transformational. It creates unparalleled opportunities. It opens doors. It prevents doors from being shut. It creates change.
Get Daniels book and follow up EVERYWHERE.
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The Taught Leader series is a weekly series highlighting those who exemplify the tools and skills discussed in
my new book Not Taught. Each week I highlight a different chapter and share the killer stories of the people who have become experts in the area. I provide readers with all the wonderful goodness these early adopters and 21st-century success stories have to offer. The goal, to help you learn the new rules to success and crush it in the 21st-century.
What, you haven’t read Not Taught? Then get it here. Hurry up, you’re already late.