CONCLUSION

Traditionally it was believed that only some people were in sales. They set out to sell things and provide services, and their buyers relied on them. In this age of information symmetry, where the balance of power has equalized, the business world has been reshaped, calling for flexible skill sets and making sellers of almost everybody. Sales changed from a world of caveat emptor to caveat venditor. Pink says that because of this shift in the dynamics of sales, there needs to be a new set of sales rules, and offers his ABC of sales—attunement, buoyancy, and clarity. To master these ABCs, new skills need to be honed—the ability to pitch, to improvise, and to serve.

In place of the once ubiquitous elevator pitch, people now use six replacement pitches more suited to the shorter attention spans of the age of technology. Instead of following scripts and pushing a sale, people use improvisation to listen better and maintain positive forward movement. And rather than following self-centered goals, people move others as a service to improve their lives and to make the world a better place.

“Finally, at every opportunity you have to move someone . . . be sure you can answer the two questions at the core of genuine service.

1. If the person you’re selling to agrees to buy, will his or her life improve?

2. When your interaction is over, will the world be a better place than when you began?

If the answer to either of these questions is no, you’re doing something wrong.”

– Daniel H. Pink, To Sell Is Human