Dan Pink, Author of To Sell is Human, has been getting a lot of well-deserved exposure.  He wrote a terrific book and most who have read it, really like it.  I don’t have a problem with his book because read in its entirety, it makes sense.  I do have an issue with the people who write about his book and take the concept, that everyone can sell, out of context.  The context is that everyone can sell their ideas.  Agreed.  But out of context, it is suggested that everyone can be a salesperson.  I strongly disagree.

Forget for a moment all of the data from Objective Management Group showing that 74% of all professional salespeople suck.  When we take the concept from selling an idea (at home, at church, in the neighborhood or internally to coworkers) to professional selling, 10 things change: