We're all in sales now ... so let's get better at selling

“To sell is human” as Dan Pink illustrates in his book by the same title.

Selling can be a helpful way to frame a lot of what we do at work—the persuading, convincing, and influencing we do in the everyday responsibilities of our jobs. 

If that notion is uncomfortable, it’s likely because of an outdated mental model that sales = smarmy salesman. So we need a better one. Because successful selling can’t be smarmy.

So that’s what I’m writing about today.

Pink gives us a different way to think about selling: the new ABCs of sales, where the gist is to get proactive in order to make our “sale”.

• Attunement is perspective taking. It’s far too easy to see, and then become grounded in, what we want as an outcome of a sale (a cool new project, a promotion, some budget dollars). Better instead to view the situation from your “buyer’s” point of view. 

• Buoyancy is staying afloat in the ocean of sales rejection. The dreaded “no"—it’s common to all selling; so preparing for, dealing with, and explaining away rejection is necessary to the next selling attempt.

• Clarity is helping to reveal and identify problems undiscovered until now. It’s a focus on problem finding even over problem solving. Helping to uncover a problem often takes care of the sale itself. 

Attunement is another way to talk about empathy. Seeing a problem from your buyer’s perspective is a choice and these (previously shared) questions from Seth can get us most of the way there.

Our proximity to the day-to-day work naturally enhances clarity: being closer to the actual work means we're better positioned than anyone up the hierarchy to both identify problems and understand their nuances.

But it’s B, buoyancy, that gives us non-sales sellers the heebie-jeebies in those moments of yes or no: the pitch. We all pitch at work. Meetings. Proposals. Interviews(!). And the heebie-jeebies arrive on account of wanting a yes, and even more-so because we fear the no. 

Good news from Adam Grant: "When you make a pitch, it's often not the idea that leads to rejection, it's how you present it." So he offers some research-backed advice to maximize your chances of a yes. 

Lead with the problem before the solution.

The audience doesn't care about the future until you can convince them there's something wrong with the right now ... so highlight the important problem (with some proof!). (PS: it's easy to forget that people don't understand the problem nearly as well as you.)

Signal preparedness over passion.

Think: thoughtful, logical, and fact-based over excitement/passion/energy. Know your stuff about your stuff. And be open to admitting the stuff you don't know—people care just as much about whether you're collaborative as you are capable. 

Show receptivity along with confidence.

Reid Hoffman: "Confidence in your ability to learn." Signal receptivity (asking questions, admitting uncertainty, acknowledging mistakes) ... and it's okay to admit that you haven't figured everything out in the pitch ... if there are things that you don't know yet.

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Whether we're proposing ideas in meetings or interviewing for new roles, pitching and selling are already part of our professional toolkit, out of necessity. These skills directly impact our ability to create change, so why not make an effort to shake our outdated sales-is-smarmy mental model and improve them?

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As for handling rejection, my “real” sales friends emphasize that selling is fundamentally a numbers game—more attempts lead to more successes. This aligns with Carol Dweck's growth mindset principle: seeing each 'no' as a stepping stone to eventual success rather than a final verdict.

And let’s close this edition out with tips from Grant for reviving pitches ... because not everyone is going to get your great ideas the first time around ...

• Reconceive - Rework your pitch with a fresh perspective on the idea

• Recontextualize - Watch for changes in circumstances that might make your idea more relevant now 

• Amplify - Build credibility by gathering support from others who believe in your idea (And amplify the ideas of others when you believe in theirs)

Around The Water Cooler ⛲

“One of my frustrations with the emphasis on AI is a belief that the world’s problems are down to a failure of comprehension, rather than a failure of will and imagination.” Adam Curtis: The Map No Longer Matches the Terrain

Breaking the Command-and-Control Reflex (HBR)

“Half the anxiety of having “too much to do” stems from not seeing that there will always be too much to do – so you can stop struggling to get on top of it all.” Too Many Problems? Maybe Coping Isn’t the Answer

“A Jungian analyst, Hollis looks squarely at the loss, disruption, and anxiety that often arrives in the middle of one’s life and asks what it can teach us. Among his assertions is that the midlife crisis should be welcomed in rather than avoided: it’s an invitation to get down to the real act of living, before our time runs out.” The Middle Passage

Thanks for reading. Hit reply and let me know your thoughts.

How To Work is healthcare-focused work design inspiration (from the experts!) to nudge your perspectives and practices into better alignment with the world of work as it is, and away from what it was. Here’s my take on what we’re working through.