Daniel H. Pink is the author of the new book, “Selling is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others.” Pink wrote the bestsellers “Drive” and “A Whole New Mind.”

Pink declares that it is time to forget the old ABC of sales (“Always be closing”) and embrace the new ABC: Attunement, Buoyancy and Clarity. The new ABC tells you how to be. Perfecting your tone, learning to improvise, and serving will show you what to do.

Servant leadership is a popular concept and now Pink is introducing servant selling to help you move others.

Sales and non-sales sales ultimately refer to service that exceeds cursory customer greetings in stores or 30-minute pizza delivery, although both are important.

It is a broader, deeper and more transcendent definition of service that improves the lives of others and the world. Many people can achieve something greater and more lasting than simply exchanging resources; And it is likely to happen if we apply two key concepts: make it personal and have a purpose.

1. Make it personal. Radiologists lead solitary professional lives, often sitting alone in dimly lit rooms or hunched over computers reading X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs. Isolation can hinder your job interest and ultimately decrease your performance when you feel impersonal and mechanical.

Three hundred patients consented to a study that allowed their photo to accompany their CT scan. Radiologists who viewed the CT scans with an image of the face reported feeling more empathy towards those patients and being more thorough when examining the CT scan.

Leading radiologists are able to identify “incidental findings”; abnormalities on a scan that the doctor was not looking for and that are not related to the target condition for treatment.

Three months later, the researchers resubmitted eighty-one of the CT scans to radiologists who had discovered incidental findings; this time, however, without photos of the patients’ faces (the radiologists did not realize that they had already seen the same scan due to the volume of scans they read on a daily basis).

The results showed that 80 percent of the incidental findings were not reported when the photos were removed from the archives.

The study showed that, for healthcare professionals, a determined reliance on processes and algorithms that hide the human being on the other side of a transaction is similar to clinical error.

Every time we try to move others, it involves another human being; Yet often, in the name of professionalism, we neglect the human element and take an abstract and distant stance.

The value of making it personal in serving others is twofold. First, you recognize the person as a human being. Second, you personally put yourself behind whatever it is you are trying to sell.

Pink describes her experience eating at a well-known Italian restaurant in Washington, DC While waiting in the lobby, she noticed a photo of the store owner along with his cell phone number; invite customers to call you directly with feedback on the service. He communicated to a person behind the restaurant that he cares about the happiness of his customers.

“Many of us like to say, ‘I’m responsible’ or ‘I care,’ says Pink.” Few of us are so deeply committed to serving others that we are willing to say “Call my cell.”

2. Make it useful. Hospitals are conducive to infection, and the best way for healthcare professionals to reduce their occurrence is to wash their hands. Surprisingly, the frequency of hand washing among US hospital staff is low.

The researchers experimented with hospital staff, providing three different approaches to the non-handwashing sales challenge.

They were allowed to post signs next to the hospital’s soap and hand sanitizer dispensers for two weeks. A third of the signs appealed to the personal interest of health professionals: “Hand hygiene protects you from contracting diseases.”

A third of the signage emphasized the consequences for the patient: “Hand hygiene prevents patients from contracting diseases.”

The final third used a catchy slogan and served as a control: “Gel In, Gel Out.”

The results showed that the most effective sign was the second, which appealed to the purpose (to protect patients).

Pink says that emphasizing purpose is powerful, but it’s often overlooked when we’re trying to move others. We often assume that human beings are motivated primarily by their own self-interest. However, research shows that we also do things for prosocial or self-transcendent reasons.

We should not only serve, but also tap into others’ innate desire to serve. Making it personal works best when we also do it with a purpose.

“Servant leadership” is a popular practice based on the premise that leaders are subordinate to their followers. Many companies adopt the practice, including Starbucks and Southwest Airlines.

Pink says it’s time to sell servants; based on serving first and then selling. To move others today, it is important to ask if the person who is selling agrees to buy; Will it improve your life? When your interaction ends, will the world be a better place than when it started?

On New Years Day, author Dan Pink hosted an exclusive webinar for first responders on “Selling is Human.” He endorsed the next book, “Give and Take,” by Adam Grant. The book highlights donors, recipients and equalizers. Donors are by far the most successful. Grant is the youngest full professor and the highest-rated professor at the Wharton School of Business. “Give and Take” will be released on April 9, 2013. For more information, visit: http://www.giveandtake.com/