The time is ripe for the sales version of Greenleaf’s philosophy. Call it servant selling. It begins with the idea that those who move others aren’t manipulators but servants. They serve first and sell later. And the test — which, like Greenleaf’s, is the best and the most difficult to administer — is this: If the person you’re selling to agrees to buy, will his or her life improve? When your interaction is over, will the world be a better place than when you began? Servant selling is the essence of moving others today. But in some sense, it has always been present in those who’ve granted sales its proper respect.
— To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Daniel H. Pink