Around 2 months ago, an American Express rep reached out to me in the office for a quick chat. Expecting another hard sell, I braced myself to reject the proposal after 5 minutes.

The sales rep, instead of jumping into a sales pitch, spent time understanding my business. Slowly, he steered the conversation to why a corporate card rather than my card for my company expenses.

Over the next few weeks, he shared information to help me decide, never resorting to usual cringe-worthy sales tactics. Finally, I did make the switch to a corporate card - not because of aggressive tactics, but because his focus was to guide me in the entire process.

As I was reading to Sell is Human” by Daniel Pink last week, this experience kept replaying in my mind. Pink argues that selling has evolved beyond the “Always Be Closing” mindset. Now, it’s about:

• Asking powerful questions 💬
• Truly listening for cues 👂
• Finding shared interests to build consensus 🤝

The book highlights a simple truth: Whether we realise it or not, we’re all in the business of influencing others - at work, at home, and everywhere in between. As the way we purchase new products has evolved, salespeople now need to shift from the old-school sales mentality.

Overall the book was an interesting read and recommended to anyone looking to pick up new insights into how to frame our sales pitch moving forward

You can refer to my list of books I recommended for reading if you are keen to explore interesting books to read