Lenghty book with a few solid tips on persuation

I had very high expectations for Daniel Pink, maybe that's the problem.

The first section of the book is all bout why we are all in sales. It could have been done in 2 minutes. Big waste of time. People who don't value sales and the need for persuation would not buy this book in the first place. You can skip those chapters.

The second part is more interesting. The whole premise is centered in ABC selling: atunement, buoyancy and connection. Good concepts. Daniel could have said: listening, optiimsm/passion and connection. Much simpler.

Some discussions are lenghty: you could listen to a whole chapter to get one nugget of knowledge of varying levels of usefulness. Still, it's a good book, but not at the top of my list.

The narration is clear, although after a while it feels a bit too stron (like the author is yelling at you), but it's not a major concern. If you can find a 5 page summary of this book, you would probably get 90% of its value.

61 people found this helpful

Great content, perhaps better in print

Once upon a time I read Drive by Daniel Pink

Every day after that, I thought about his concepts around workplace motivation

One day I realized I needed to know more I don't know much about sales even though I've been in a "sales-adjacent" industry my entire career

Because of that I downloaded the audiobook "to sell is human"

Because of that I learned quite a bit about sales and non-sales selling, and even more about motivating and moving others

Until finally I felt compelled to share my love of the book with you all in the form of a Pixar pitch.

Ok, so the pitch could use some work. But you should read this book. Even if you don't think you're in sales or care about motivating others.

He does a good job summarizing interesting social science research about optimism, disposition, extra/intro/ambiverts and much more.

I admire authors who read their own audiobooks, but Pink's delivery was flat and it took me a while to get used to his narration. He's a dynamic speaker, but his presentation skills did not come across in this performance.

The other downfall of the audiobook format is in the "sample case" exercises after each section. These are better suited to print or ebook format. Listening to an author spell out URLs isn't especially helpful.

I found the content compelling and may end up buying a print copy so I can take advantage of some of the exercises.

28 people found this helpful

Not for salespeople!

What would have made To Sell Is Human better?

Motivation not stats! I don't think I will be able to finish this. It is boring!, This is not for salespeople or someone who understands that we are all in sales.

What could Daniel H. Pink have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

More motivational, more sales techniques

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He didn't, the content was just not what I was looking for.

28 people found this helpful

Evolutionary Assertions codified form the 2010s

Pink’s central premise is that most people sell in one way or another and that many of our conceptions about selling are not true or only barely so. For example, extroverts do not make the best sales people – ambiverts do. If you want to know what an ambivert is, you’ll have to listen to the book yourself. I have read dozens of business books and most of them can be condensed down to two or three central ideas and the rest of the work is really window dressing. Pink’s book is not packed with antidotal evidence and arcnae stories supporting his points; rather he attempts to support his opinions with research and a smattering of statistics or at least hinting that statistical evidence exists.

I purchased a hardcopy so I could make notes in the margin. On balance, I think this and Drive, his previous book, are pretty good and worth the listen. I thought Drive was better but To Sell is Human has a number of good tips that if practiced may increase your sales effectiveness.

23 people found this helpful

90% inert filler. Author can do better

This is a smart guy, and somewhere in here is useful information. But _so_ much filler, so much is useless and repeated constantly. What would have been a brilliant essay is puffed up to a "business book". Try starting at Chapter 7 where the "useful" concentration goes a bit higher.

20 people found this helpful

Great Social Science Book

I'm 2/3rds through this book and I'm already ready to give it five stars. Daniel Pink has great insight into the social sciences, and he applies them superbly to selling in this audiobook.

His stories are engaging and his style brings the characters he introduces to life.

When he explained why you need to link selling to experiences instead of product features, I could feel the light bulb above my head.

Great audiobook.

9 people found this helpful

As a seller, I appreciated this book

It made me feel empowered. It made me feel capable. It made me feel invigorated and excited to put it's principals to work. I listened at 1.5X speed and Daniel Pink's narration was flawless. I enjoyed it thoroughly and highly recommend it.

8 people found this helpful

Interesting Perspective

Overall, this book provided only a handful of fresh insights that aren't expounded in much greater detail in other popular sales books like those of Jeff Gitomer. The first part added little value and spent a great deal of time getting to a punchline that could have been reached in a paragraph or two. Part 2 was slightly more engaging, but only Part 3 actually achieved the practicality level needed for salesmen who require pointed, actionable, and insightful advice. If you don't mind hearing several hours of studies and background prior to these insights then listen to the whole thing. Otherwise, skip to part 3 and listen to it 3 times instead so you can actually own the important concepts.

6 people found this helpful

I was given this book and I hate selling

This book is changing my mindset.

With actionable ways of changing how I think and believe about selling, this book will be read and re-read.

Thank you, Daniel H. Pink, for writing this book and sending it to the world.

4 people found this helpful

Yet another excellent insight by Daniel Pink

I have been taking a sales training course once a week for a year, and the principles in this book are very close to the same foundation for that training. Very helpful insights and material is easy to apply!

4 people found this helpful