To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others

We often understand something better when we see it in comparison with something else than when we see it in isolation.

One of the most effective ways of moving others is to uncover challenges they may not know they have.

“defensive pessimism.” Her work has shown that thinking through gloom-and-doom scenarios and mentally preparing for the very worst that can occur helps some people effectively manage their anxieties.

One of the most effective ways of moving others is to uncover challenges they may not know they have.

But today, these salespeople told me, believing leads to a deeper understanding of your offering, which allows sellers to better match what they have with what others need.

means trying to elicit from people what their goals are for themselves and having the flexibility to frame what we do in that context.”

Ask people to describe your invisible pitch in three words. We don’t always realize it, but what we do and how we do it are themselves pitches. We’re conveying a message about ourselves, our work, or our organization—and other people are interpreting it. Take some time to find out what they think you’re saying. Recruit ten people—a combination of c

He projects that middle-class employment of the future won’t be employees of large organizations, but self-sufficient “artisans.”6

In other words, the salespeople with an optimistic explanatory style—who saw rejections as temporary rather than permanent, specific rather than universal, and external rather than personal—sold more insurance and survived in their jobs much longer.