To Sell Is Human Summary for Solopreneurs

   By Daniel Pink

10 Key Takeaways

Ideal for entrepreneurs who don't identify as salespeople. Reframes persuasion as service and helps people make decisions in their best interest.

  • As a solopreneur, coach, or consultant, you are in the "non-sales selling" business every day, you're persuading, influencing, and moving others.

  • The power has shifted to the buyer (Caveat Venditor - Let the Seller Beware); your greatest assets are now transparency and true expertise.

    The new ABCs of selling are: Attunement (understanding your client's view), Buoyancy (staying positive after rejection), and Clarity (helping clients understand their problem).

    Don't just be a problem solver; be a problem finder. Use your discovery calls to help prospects identify needs they couldn't even name.

    Your goal is not to sell coaching; your goal is to serve the prospect. If you help them, the sale will be a natural byproduct.

    Use the Yes, and... improv rule on sales calls: Acknowledge a prospect's objection and build on it, don't just argue against it.

    Ditch the 30-second elevator pitch. Instead, develop versatile pitches like a question pitch or a compelling email subject line pitch.

    Your job isn't to overwhelm a prospect with options; it's to provide clarity, helping them feel confident in their decision to hire you.

    Use a Pixar Pitch (Once upon a time... Every day... Until one day... Because of that... Until finally...) to tell the story of your client's transformation.

    Selling is a transfer of your authentic enthusiasm and your calm confidence. If you believe in your service, they will too.

The Solopreneur's Guide to Ethical Selling

Daniel Pink proves that selling is a human-centered act of service. Our coaching program helps you build this mindset into a practical system, with scripts and frameworks that feel authentic, not salesy, so you can get clients by genuinely helping them. See how we guide founders in our AI coaching &  mentorship program.

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