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"To Sell is Human" Review 4

9/26/2013

As Dan Pink continues in "To Sell is Human" he shifts now to the actions we need to take in order to sell to someone. He says that the first action that we need to take is to Pitch. He says the pitch is the ability to distill one's point to a persuasive essence. He says that the pitch is not only dependent on the one who is pitching but also on the one who is catching. The one who is catching needs to feel like they are invited in to collaborate with the pitcher. Once they feel like a collaborator their odds of rejection diminish.

Therefore the purpose of the pitch, according to Pink, is to offer something so compelling that it begins a conversation, brings the other person in as a participant, and eventually arrives at an outcome that appeals to both. He says that originally it used to be the elevator pitch was the hallmark of pitches, but given that access to people is much easier as is the glut of information that that person is receiving, there are six new promising pitch types:

The one-word pitch - Pink says this comes in part from Maurice Saatchi of Saatchi & Saatchi advertising. He touted "one word equity" or to "define the one characteristic they most wanted associated with their brand." For example "search" can signify Google and "priceless" for Mastercard. What is your one simple word?
The question pitch - He says the question can often outperform statements in persuading others. But you have to have a question which has a strong underlying premise otherwise it will be weak. He gives the example of Ronald Reagan using the pitch, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago." This work because people did not believe that they were better off than when Carter started his term. When Mitt Romney used the same question, however, it did not resonate with a great number of people who did not believe that to be true. What question can you use to pitch yourself?
The rhyming pitch - although I am not sold on using this for myself, Pink says that rhymes boost "processing fluency" or the ease with which our minds slice, dice and make sense of stimuli. He uses the one liner from Johnnie Cochran in defending OJ Simpson - "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit" when talking about the white glove not fitting on OJ's hand.
The subject-line pitch - here Pink is referring to email subject messages. He says the two that are most effective are the utility or curiosity subject lines. Utility works better when the recipient has a lot of emails and curiosity works under conditions of low demand.
The Twitter pitch - this pitch uses Twitter as the platform and its 140 character count as a limit for length. A good Twitter pitch he says engages recipients and encourages them to take the conversation further.
The Pixar pitch - this is the type of story line that Pixar uses in their Oscar award winning movies - Once upon a time _______. Every day, ____________. One day___________. Because of that, __________. Because of that, ___________. Until finally, ______________. He says this six sentence pitch is appealing in that it uses story telling that is concise and disciplined.

So what pitch is right for you? When you are out during the day doing your daily business what pitch can you begin to practice? I often use the question pitch, but I am going to try the Pixar one today! Let me know how it works!

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"To Sell is Human" Review 3

9/5/2013

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Dan Pink continues with the third quality that is needed to move others: Clarity, or the capacity to help others see their situations in fresh and more revealing ways and to identify problems they didn't realize they had. Since information is readily available these days, if people know what their problem is they are likely to be able to determine a solution for it. The real opportunity, according to Pink is to help people who are mistaken or confused about what their problem or need really is.

So how do you find the right problems to solve or how do you switch from problem solving to problem finding (e.g. - offering a frame for which people can think about the problem)?

Framing people's options in a way that restricts or compares their choices can help them to see choices more clearly instead of overwhelming them. He gave two examples: one is offering 24 types of jams at a local upscale grocery store producing less sales (more tastings!) than a table offering only six varieties. The other example is of shifting a blind man's sign that he was using to collect money from "I am blind" to "It is springtime and I am blind," which ultimately collected a lot more money than the original sign.
Framing in experiential terms - people derive much more pleasure from experiences than goods (e.g. - climbing the Canadian Rockies as they can talk about the experience and share the story over and over again)
Framing with a blemish - being honest about the existence of a small blemish can enhance your offering's true beauty. (e.g. - listing all of the great qualities of hiking boots, but then saying that they are only available in two colors)
Framing the potential - the potential to be good at something can be preferred over actually being good at something (e.g. - rookie salaries in the NBA can often be higher than a more established player who has proven himself).

While offering people clarity on how to think about things is a strong motivator to move others, Pink says that you also need to provide them with how to take action once they are moved to do so. We will cover that in the next blog post. In the meantime how can you begin to frame people's problems in the ways identified above so that they are moved to buy?

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"To Sell is Human" Review 4

"To Sell is Human" Review 3

Monica Thakrar

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