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diff --git a/old/14589.txt b/old/14589.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3fafb0f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14589.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10165 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Certain Success, by Norval A. Hawkins + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Certain Success + +Author: Norval A. Hawkins + +Release Date: January 4, 2005 [EBook #14589] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CERTAIN SUCCESS *** + + + + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Karina Aleksandrova and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + +[Illustration] + +CERTAIN SUCCESS + +_by_ + +Norval A. Hawkins + +_Author of "The Selling Process"_ + + + +THIRD EDITION + +1920 +DETROIT, MICHIGAN + + + + +Contents + +CHAPTER PAGE + + TO BEGIN WITH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 + HOW TO STUDY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 + I. THE UNIVERSAL NEED FOR SALES KNOWLEDGE. . 29 + II. THE MAN-STUFF YOU HAVE FOR SALE . . . . . 63 + III. SKILL IN SELLING YOUR BEST SELF . . . . . 108 + IV. PREPARING TO MAKE YOUR SUCCESS CERTAIN. . 137 + V. YOUR PROSPECTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 + VI. GAINING YOUR CHANCE . . . . . . . . . . . 179 + VII. KNOWLEDGE OF OTHER MEN. . . . . . . . . . 209 +VIII. THE KNOCK AT THE DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY + AND THE INVITATION TO COME IN . . . . . 239 + IX. GETTING YOURSELF WANTED . . . . . . . . . 270 + X. OBSTACLES IN YOUR WAY . . . . . . . . . . 298 + XI. THE GOAL OF SUCCESS . . . . . . . . . . . 332 + XII. THE CELEBRATION STAGE . . . . . . . . . . 368 + + + + +_To Begin With--_ + + +[Sidenote: Salesmanship Essential to Assure Success] + +There are particular characteristics one can have, and particular things +one can do, that will make _failure_ in life _certain_. + +Why, then, should not the possession of particular opposite +characteristics, and the doing of particular opposite things, result as +_certainly_ in _success_, which is the antithesis of failure? + +That is a logical, common-sense question. The purpose of this book and +its companion volume, "The Selling Process," is to answer it +convincingly for you. + +Success _can_ be made certain; not, however, by the mere _possession_ of +particular characteristics, nor by just _doing_ particular things. + +_Your_ success in life can be _assured_; but only if you supplement your +qualifications and make everything you do most effective _by using +continually, whatever your vocation, the art of salesmanship_. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Why Are Some Men Failures Who Deserve to Succeed?] + +Life can hold nothing but _failure_ for the ill-natured, unsociable, +disgusting tramp who is known to be ignorant, lazy, shiftless, a +spendthrift, a liar, and an all-around crook. Such a worthless man will +make a complete failure of life because he is so _dis_-qualified to +succeed. + +On the other hand certain success ought to be achieved by the +good-natured, intelligent, reliable man who continually wins friends; +the truthful man who has a fine reputation for thrift, honesty, +neatness, and love for his work. He seems entirely worthy of success. +Yet for reasons that baffle himself and his friends it sometimes happens +that such a man is unsuccessful. + +The defeat in life of one who appears so deserving of victory seems to +prove that success cannot be _assured_ by the development of individual +characteristics and by doing specific things. But such a wholly negative +conclusion would be wrong. When a worthy man fails, he loses out because +he lacks an essential _positive_ factor of certain success--the ability +to _sell_ his capabilities. _By mastering the selling process this +failure can turn himself into a success_. + +[Sidenote: Self-advertised Disqualifications Unrecognized Capabilities] + +We are sure of the failure of the man who is utterly disqualified to +succeed; not because he _has_ particular faults, but because they +_self-advertise and sell the idea_ of his disqualifications for success. +His characteristics and actions make on our minds an impression of his +general worthlessness. Defects are apt to attract attention, while +perfection often passes unnoticed. + +Millions of worthy men, otherwise qualified for success, have failed +solely because their merits were not appreciated and rewarded as they +would have been if recognized. Capabilities, like goods, are +_profitless_ until they are _sold_. Therefore the man who deserves to +win out in life can make his victory _sure_ only by learning and +practicing with skill the certain success methods of the master +salesman. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: The Duty to Succeed] + +Down through all the ages has come the _duty_ to succeed. It was +enjoined in the Parable of the Talents. No one has the right to do less +than his best. Then only can he claim full justification for his +existence. The Creator accepts no excuses for failure. Every personal +quality, and every opportunity to succeed that a man has, must be used, +to entitle him to the rewards of success. He owes not only to himself +and to his fellows, but also to God, the obligation of developing his +_utmost capability_. If he does not pay dividends on the divine +investment in him, his dereliction is justly punished by failure in +life. Sometimes he even forfeits the right to live. + +[Sidenote: Success Cannot be Copied] + +Many ambitious people, who recognize their duty to succeed but do not +know how to go about it, make a common mistake in thinking. They believe +the secret of certain success can be learned from _examples_; that +success can be _copied_. So men who have succeeded conspicuously are +often asked to state and explain their rules, for the benefit of other +men who regard them as oracles. + +[Sidenote: Other Men's Formulas] + +Doubtless you have read much about Marshall Field, J. Pierpont Morgan, +Charles M. Schwab, and similar outstanding business men. You have +studied their principles of success. You have tried to practice their +methods. But somehow the most careful following of their directions has +not made you a multi-millionaire, nor can you see riches as a prospect. +Naturally you are both disappointed and puzzled. Perhaps you have tested +faithfully for years various formulas of success extracted from the +advice of successful men. Yet _you_ have failed, or have achieved only +partial and unsatisfying success. You have been unable to solve the +problem that you once felt so sure could be worked out by the rules you +mastered. + +Maybe you have become discouraged and have given up, in disgust, your +ambition for achievement. Very likely you have said to yourself, +"Success is so much a matter of luck and circumstances, there's no way +to make sure of it. I've done everything that Marshall Field, J. +Pierpont Morgan, and Charles M. Schwab have counseled; but I'm still +plugging along on an ordinary salary. Rules for certain success are +bunk. Luck has to break right for a man." + +[Sidenote: The Element of Luck] + +Unquestionably good luck _has_ brought success to some men who would +have failed without its aid. It is equally beyond doubt that bad luck +has prevented other men from achieving their ambitions. Of course _such_ +successes and failures do not fall within any rules. They are altogether +exceptional, and neither prove nor disprove general principles. + +Eliminating the factor of luck, good or bad, the success of any normal, +deserving man _can_ be made certain _to the extent of his individual +capacity_. Some men have different or bigger capacities than others; +hence not all successes will be of the same kind, or alike in extent. +But any normal, deserving man can assure himself as great a success as +he is fitted to achieve. It is necessary, however, that he do more than +_develop his utmost capability_. He must learn to employ skillful +salesmanship, in order to _market_ his "goods of sale," or personal +qualifications, _most profitably_. + +[Sidenote: Sales Skill Necessary] + +Each of us has to make _his own pattern_ of success. "The individual +should develop his individuality," instead of attempting to imitate +anybody else. It is even more necessary for him to _use_ most +effectively all the natural powers he builds up. + +A man can assure his success only if he learns how to utilize his +personal qualifications _so as to create and control his opportunities_ +to succeed. He should be able to _bring himself to good luck_, and not +expect anybody or any event to bring good luck to him. + +One cannot make the most effective use of his capabilities, he cannot +create and control his chances to succeed, until he develops skill in +salesmanship, which is necessary to market his qualifications +profitably. He must practice "selling himself" until the habit of using +sales skill in everything he does and says becomes second nature to him. +Sales skill is the _dynamic_ factor of success. It transforms potential +powers into actual accomplishments. It enables the qualified man to turn +his individual capabilities to best account. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Opportunity A Constant Companion] + +Sometimes a man says, as an excuse for his failure, "I never had a +chance." The truth is that Opportunity is a constant companion to every +man. Each of us has _within himself_ limitless wealth. All normal people +are rich in ability. It is possible for anyone to become more +prosperous. _He need only turn his possibilities into realities._ When a +man capable of accumulating riches continues poor, he is like the +shipwrecked discoverer of a bonanza gold mine on an uncharted island. He +cannot exchange his potential wealth for the things he desires; because +he is unable to market his raw gold. + +Similarly you who have not yet succeeded are _potentially_ rich. If you +possess the generally recognized fundamentals of success; such as +characteristic honesty, intelligence, energy, etc., you are not +handicapped for want of a market. Even though you now may seem to lack +some of the essential qualifications, you are capable of succeeding. +Every necessary characteristic of the successful man is _latent_ in your +nature and can be brought out by development. You have not yet done your +utmost with the best that is in you. + +[Sidenote: Your Market Not Lacking] + +First you should resolve to make yourself completely _worthy_ to +succeed. Meanwhile you should be learning how to sell your "goods." On +every hand there are markets in which qualities like yours are being +sold successfully by other men. Undoubtedly there will be a purchaser +for the best that is in you when you bring it out; provided you present +your "goods of sale" in the most skillful way. All about you are highly +prosperous people with no more innate merits than you have. Certainly +the market for your particular abilities is within reach. Golden +opportunities of which you have not taken the fullest advantage surround +you and touch your daily activities. If you have not grasped your +chance, it was because you did not _know how_ to reach out with all your +capabilities. In other words, possessing the fundamental qualifications +for success, you have stood in the midst of the world's need for such +capabilities as yours, _but you have not gone through the selling +process_. + +You have failed thus far to achieve your ambition, simply because _you +have been an unsuccessful salesman of yourself_ to the world. + +Perhaps you never have thought of yourself as a salesman. You may not +have realized the importance _to you_ of knowing and practicing the +principles of skillful selling. Only one per cent of the people in the +United States _call_ themselves salesmen or saleswomen. Yet in order to +succeed, each of us must sell his or her particular qualifications. Your +knowledge and use of the selling process are essential to assure your +success in life. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Master Salesmen Made, Not Born] + +The best commercial executives agree that the most effective selling +representative of a house is not the "natural born" salesman, but the +salesman who is _made_ highly efficient by training. So every big, +successful business conducts a course in salesmanship. Thorough tests +have proved that particular principles and methods of selling are sure +to produce the highest average of orders. Therefore these principles and +methods are followed as _standard practice_ in the sales department. + +That is, in order to _assure_ the success of an individual salesman, he +is required and aided to develop particular qualifications and to do +certain things that master executives have learned will get the orders +and hold the trade of buyers. The qualified professional salesman is +drilled thoroughly in tested principles and methods of selling. He is +trained to use this standard sales knowledge skillfully. As a result he +works in the field with complete confidence. + +Why should he doubt that he will succeed? He knows his own limitations +and capabilities; knows the true worth of his line; knows there is a +market in his territory; knows how to sell in the ways that have been +proved most effective; and knows that practice of right salesmanship +will make him skillful in getting and holding business. Verily such +"knowledge is power." + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Certain Success With the Selling Process] + +_Your_ success in selling _yourself_ can be made as certain as is a +successful career to the first-class professional salesman. This book +and its companion volume will explain in detail salesmanship ways to +develop your best capabilities most effectively. You will be given the +principles and methods employed by the expert salesman in marketing any +kind of right goods. You will also be shown how to sell yourself by +adapting his practices to your "goods of sale." + +When you comprehend, and employ as second nature, the usages of the +finest sales art, your success in life, like that of the master +professional salesman, will be _certain_. + +[Sidenote: Ideas of Goods Not the Goods Themselves Are Sold] + +If you have not _called_ yourself a salesman, perhaps you doubt the +value to you of skill in selling. All you have to market is the best +that is in yourself. Your ambition may be to succeed as a doctor, or +lawyer, or preacher, or clerk, or mechanic, or farmer, or banker. You do +not see how salesmanship could assure _your_ success, however much it +might help some one with commercial ambitions. + +If you think it would not be worth while for you to master the selling +process, since you do not expect to engage in the _profession_ of +selling, you misconceive the functions and work of the salesman. You +have thought he sells "_goods_;" and that as you do not deal in +commodities, you would have no practical use for the selling process he +employs to assure his success. But even the shoe salesman, or grocery +salesman, or real estate salesman, or insurance salesman does not really +sell _goods_. He sells _ideas about_ goods. Similarly you sell ideas +about yourself in order to succeed. + +[Sidenote: When the Goods and the Ideas Are Different] + +A sale is often completed in business without any inspection of the +actual "goods" by the purchaser; as when a quantity of standard sheet +copper is specified, or when the salesman describes a piece of machinery +or shows a picture of it with a catalogue number. The "goods" are to be +delivered later. However, the _selling process is finished;_ though only +the mind's eye of the buyer has seen what he anticipates getting on his +order. The salesman has presented nothing except _certain ideas_ to the +mental vision of the prospect. But these ideas have been sold so +realistically to the imagination of the purchaser that he gives his +order for what he _expects_. + +Suppose the goods delivered later do not correspond with the particular +ideas about them that have been sold. For example, the sheet copper +furnished is not as specified in the contract, or the machine shipped is +not the same as the salesman pictured when he got the order for it. Then +there has been _no sale_ of the different "goods." The intending +purchaser bought _particular ideas_. He will not accept the delivery of +_goods unlike the ideas sold_ to him. + +[Sidenote: Know Your Prospect's Idea] + +Another illustration. A real estate salesman describes a bungalow to a +prospect for a home. He shows plans and specifications, with accurate +dimensions; there is no misrepresentation of any detail. The salesman +especially emphasizes, what is his own belief, that the bungalow would +make a "cozy" home. The prospect decides to buy the property. He says, +"If it is as you describe it, I'll take that place." _The sale to his +mind has been completed._ All that remains is delivery of a bungalow +corresponding to the ideas sold. The delighted salesman escorts the +buyer to the "cozy home." But the empty rooms do not confirm the idea +emphasized to the prospect. The salesman cannot furnish them +convincingly with his imaginative "cozy" word pictures. He has made the +mistake of omitting to learn the other man's conception of a cozy home +before selling the expectation of coziness. He is shocked when the sale +is declared annulled with the prospect's contradiction of his +description, "There's nothing cozy about this place." The intending +buyer of a home feels there has been a misrepresentation; though the +bungalow is exactly like the plans and specifications shown to him. He +was sold an idea that "the goods" have not delivered; so he declares the +sale off. A sale is a success only when _true ideas_ are sold, and +afterward are delivered by _the goods_. + +[Sidenote: Selling Ideas About Yourself] + +If you "have the goods" and would succeed _certainly_ in your chosen +vocation, you must _sell_ to the world or to individual buyers _true +ideas_ about your particular qualifications for success--true ideas +regarding _your best capabilities_ and the _value_ of your services. +Your "goods of sale" may be your muscular power; your brain energy; your +talents, skill, integrity, and knowledge in this capacity or in that. +Whatever qualities you possess, it is necessary that some one be sold +the idea of their full worth, or you cannot succeed. No matter how +valuable your services _might_ be, they have only potential worth until +another man, or some business, or the world at large _perceives +desirable possibilities in you and buys the expectation that you will +"deliver the goods_." + +Probably you have said to yourself, "If I had the chance, I know I could +deliver the goods." We will grant that you are able to make delivery. +However, _before you will be given a chance_ you must get across to the +mind of some prospective buyer of muscular power, or brain energy, or +other capabilities such as you could supply, the true idea that _you +have_ "the goods" he needs and that your qualifications would be a +satisfactory purchase _for him_. + +In other words, it is necessary that you use _the selling process_ +effectively, with thorough scientific knowledge and a high degree of +art, _in order to make certain of gaining your opportunity_ for success. +You have no doubt that you can succeed if you get the chance. But you +have not realized, perhaps, that _you can make yourself the master of +your own destiny by first learning and then practicing until it becomes +second nature to you the sure, salesmanship way to gain the +opportunities you deserve_. After you _comprehend_ the sure process, you +can soon develop _skill in actually selling_ to other men true ideas of +the best that is in you. + +[Sidenote: The Secret of Certain Success] + +The secret of _certain success_ in life for you, then, _whatever your +vocation or ambition_, lies in knowing HOW to sell true ideas of your +best capability in the right market or field of service. The chapters of +the present book, supplemented by the contents of the companion volume, +"The Selling Process," should reveal to you clearly every principal +detail of this secret. + +[Sidenote: No 100% Salesmen] + +Before you proceed further with the study of successful salesmanship as +analyzed in these pages, avoid a possible misconception of masterly +selling. Even the most efficient salesman does not get _all_ the orders +for which he tries. By his knowledge and skill his average of failures +is minimized; therefore everybody recognizes him as a great success. + +So, however well you comprehend the selling process, and however +skillfully you use it in your career, you will not _always_ accomplish +the particular purpose to which you apply your salesmanship. But you +will markedly lessen the number and importance of your failures to do +the things you attempt. You will also increase to an extraordinary +degree the quantity, quality, and profitable results of your successful +efforts. You will make a grand average so high that you will feel you +are a real success. Others, too, will so regard you. + +[Sidenote: The Master Key] + +Therefore, whatever your life ambition, study the selling process until +you understand it thoroughly; then perfect your skill by daily practice +in selling your ideas, and ideas about yourself, to other people. When +you know HOW to sell true ideas of your best capability in your chosen +market or field of service, and have become expert in _applying_ what +you have learned, you can use salesmanship continually in your everyday +work. You should feel _absolute assurance_ that with its aid you can +open the treasure house of your desires. + +_This universal master key that fits all locks now between you and +success can be made by your own hands and head. You have begun to shape +it for your future use._ + + + + +_How to Study Certain Success with The Selling Process_ + + +[Sidenote: Suggestion To Salesmen] + +The professional salesman or saleswoman who undertakes the thorough +study of both this book and its companion volume, might better read +first "The Selling Process," the chapters of which apply especially to +his or her vocation. + +If you are a "salesman," therefore, begin your study with the +introduction to that book. When you have read "The Selling Process" +once, start "Certain Success" and master it. Then re-read the other book +in the light of the new ideas that will have been shed upon its contents +by the present text. + +The practical value of "Certain Success" and "The Selling Process" to +you as a salesman will be multiplied a hundredfold if both are kept +handy for _continual reference_. The marginal index should enable you to +find quickly any point regarding which you want to refresh your +recollection. This set of books was not written to collect dust on a +library shelf. No salesman can get the full worth out of the pages +unless he _uses_ "Certain Success" and "The Selling Process" _as working +tools_. + +[Sidenote: If Your Vocation Is Not Selling] + +If you are not engaged in selling as a vocation, and have not realized +before that you must be a good salesman or saleswoman in order to +achieve your life ambition, commence mastering the secret of certain +success with the selling process by reading thoroughly the book now in +your hands. This preliminary study will increase your ability to read +intelligently the more technical contents of "The Selling Process." Do +not skip or slight any portion of either book. You cannot afford to miss +a single bit of information regarding the sure way to succeed. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Purpose and Scope of the Two Books] + +This is the first publication of "Certain Success," but five large +editions of "The Selling Process" were required in 1919 and 1920 to +supply the demand from all over the world. The two books, each complete +in itself, now are issued together under the double title, CERTAIN +SUCCESS WITH THE SELLING PROCESS; though either "Certain Success" or +"The Selling Process" may be ordered alone. + +My chief purpose in preparing this set has been to stimulate each +reader's comprehension of the value of skillful salesmanship _to him_. +All of us who are ambitious to make the most of the best that is in us +need to be first-class salesmen, whether we market "goods" or our +personal capabilities. As has been emphasized repeatedly in this +preface, _every one who would succeed in life must know HOW to sell his +qualifications to the highest advantage_. Poor salesmanship is +responsible for most of the failures of people who really _deserve_ to +succeed. It is almost surely fatal to ambitious hopes in any trade, +profession, or business. + +CERTAIN SUCCESS WITH THE SELLING PROCESS covers in outline the whole +subject of Salesmanship. But the scope of this set does not afford room +to give here a minutely detailed exposition of the special processes of +making sales in particular businesses. I have compiled for you, rather, +the _general principles_ of effective selling that may be _universally +applied_. "Certain Success" and "The Selling Process" are handbooks of +fundamental ideas which each reader, by his individual thinking, should +amplify and fit to his own work or ambition. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Real Study Required] + +The fine art of successful salesmanship cannot be mastered in a few +hours of casual reading. You will not be able, immediately after +glancing through these books, to unlock every long-desired golden +opportunity with absolute assurance. CERTAIN SUCCESS WITH THE SELLING +PROCESS must be _studied out_. You should keep them always at hand like +your bank books, and draw on the contents for your salesmanship needs +from day to day. + +You will get only a smattering of the secret of certain success if you +just skim over the chapters, and skip whatever requires you to think +hard in order to comprehend it all. But if you dig into the meaning of +each sentence for the full idea, you will enrich yourself with +constantly increasing power and skill in selling. _So you will surely +become a real success_. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Tested Working Tools] + +The principles and methods of successful salesmanship summarized in +these companion books, though they will be new to most readers, are not +mere personal theories. They all have been demonstrated and tested in +actual practice during my twelve years experience as Commercial and +General Sales Manager of the Ford Motor Company. Under my direction in +the course of that period Ford sales were multiplied one hundred +thirty-two times--from 6,181 to 815,912 cars a year. The fundamental +principles and methods that I have tested and proved to be most +successful in selling automobiles and good will should work equally well +in any profession, or business, or trade; and for any normal, +intelligent man or woman who uses them continually. + +[Sidenote: Dollars and Cents Value] + +Since the first publication of "The Selling Process" thousands of +enthusiastic readers of the book have voluntarily borne witness to its +practical, dollars-and-cents value to them in their daily work. +Preachers, doctors, lawyers, bank officials, clerks, book-keepers, +mechanics, laborers; as well as business executives and sales managers +and salesmen--men and women in scores of widely different +vocations--unite in testifying to their increased earning power and +fuller satisfaction in living and working. They credit these results to +their study and continued use of "The Selling Process." The value of +that book will be at least doubled by the supplemental reading of +"Certain Success." Therefore the two are now published as a set of +working tools for any ambitious man or woman who is resolved to _earn_ +success. + +NORVAL A. HAWKINS + +Majestic Building, +Detroit, Michigan. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +_The Universal Need For Sales Knowledge_ + + +[Sidenote: Analysis of Secret of Certain Success] + +The Secret of Certain Success has four principal elements. It comprises: + +(1) Knowing how to sell + +(2) The true idea + +(3) Of one's best capabilities + +(4) In the right market or field of service. + +_Your_ success will be in direct proportion to your thorough knowledge +and continual use of _all four parts_ of the whole secret. No matter how +great your effort, an entire lack of one or more of these principal +elements of Certain Success will cause partial or utter failure in your +life ambition. You will be like a man who tries to open a safe with a +four-combination lock, though he knows only two or three of the numbers. + +No one, however well fitted for success elsewhere, can succeed in the +_wrong field_, or in rendering services for which _he_ is not qualified. +Nor is complete success attainable by a man unless he develops the +_best_ that is in him. Even if he brings to the right market his utmost +ability, he may fail miserably by making a _false impression_ that he +is unfitted for the opportunity he wants. Or he may be overlooked +because he does not make the _true_ impression of his fitness. + +Evidently, in order to gain a _chance_ to succeed, anyone must first +_sell_ to the fullest advantage the idea that he is _the_ man for the +opportunity already waiting or for the new opening he makes for himself. +Of course he cannot do this _surely_ unless he _knows how_. Therefore +sales knowledge is _universally needed_ to complement the three other +principal elements of the complete secret of certain success. + +[Sidenote: Reasons for Failures] + +When we try to explain the failure of any man who seems worthy to have +succeeded, we nearly always say, in substance, one of three things about +his case: + +"He is a square peg in a round hole;" by which we usually mean he is a +right man in the wrong place. + +Or, "He is capable of filling a better position;" a more polite way of +saying that a man has outgrown his present job but has not developed +ability to get a bigger one. + +Oftenest, probably, we declare, "He isn't appreciated." + +Very rarely is a worthy man's failure in life ascribed to the commonest +cause--_his personal inefficiency in selling_ to the world comprehension +of his especial qualifications for success. + +[Sidenote: What Failures Realize] + +If a man is a square peg in a round hole, he should realize that his +particular qualities must be fitted into the right field for them before +he can succeed. A natural "organizer" cannot achieve his ambitions if he +works alone at a routine task. + +No sensible man would aspire to fill a better position than he holds, +unless he had developed a capacity beyond the limitations of his present +work. The shipping clerk who craves the higher salary of a correspondent +knows he cannot hope for the desired promotion if he has not learned to +write good business letters. + +However deserving of advancement a man may be, he realizes he has but a +slim chance to succeed if his worth is unrecognized. So he wants +appreciation from his chief. He knows that unless his worth is perceived +and truly valued, some one else, who may be less qualified, is apt to be +selected for the "Manager's" job he desires. Such "injustices" have +poisoned countless disappointed hopes with bitterest resentment. + +The deserving man who fails because he is a misfit in his particular +position, the worthy man who is limited to a small career because the +work he does lacks scope for the use of all his ability; the third good +man who has been kept down for the reason that his chief is blind to his +qualifications for promotion--all three of these failures understand +pretty clearly the reasons for their non-success. + +[Sidenote: When Lack of Salesmanship Causes Failure] + +It is very different in the case of the capable man who fails because he +has been _inefficient in selling true impressions_ of his qualifications +for success. A private secretary, for illustration, might be thoroughly +competent for managerial duties; but by his self-effacement in his +present job he might make the false impression that he was wanting in +executive capacity. He would be given a chance as manager if he were +effective in creating a true impression of his administrative ability. +Such a capable man, if he has little or no scientific knowledge of the +selling _process_ is apt also to lack comprehension of the value _to +him_ of knowing _how to sell ideas_. He does not happen to call himself +a salesman. Therefore he has never studied with personal interest the +fine art of selling. He does not realize that _ignorance of +salesmanship_, and _consequent non-use of the selling process, almost +always are responsible for the merely partial success or the downright +failure in life of the man who deserves to win, but who loses out_. + +[Sidenote: Who Is To Blame for Failure] + +One may feel able to "deliver the goods," were he given the chance. He +may know where his best capability is greatly needed and would be highly +appreciated if recognized. Yet the door of opportunity may not open to +his deserving hand, however hard he tries to win his way in. His failure +seems to him altogether unfair, the rankest injustice from Fortune. + +If a man knows he is completely fitted to fill a higher position, he +feels considerable self-confidence when he first applies for it. But his +real ability may not be recognized by his chief. The ambitious man may +be denied the coveted chance to take the step upward to the bigger +opportunities for which he rightly believes himself qualified. If his +deserts and his utmost efforts do not win the promotion he desires, he +grows discouraged. He loses the taste of zest for his work. His earlier +optimism oozes away. After awhile his ambition slumps. Then he resigns +himself sullenly to the conviction that he is a failure _but is not to +blame_. + +[Sidenote: Dynamic Quality Lacking] + +Leaving out of consideration most exceptional, unpreventable bad luck, +the worthy man who fails in life _is_ to blame. He is not, as he thinks, +a victim of circumstances or ill-fate. His failure is due to his +ignorance of the first of the four principal factors of the secret of +certain success. _Potentially_ qualified to succeed, he does not have +the absolutely necessary _dynamic_ element. He lacks an essential +characteristic of the self-made successful man, a characteristic which +any one of intelligence can learn how to develop--_a high degree of +capability in gaining his own opportunities to succeed_. + +He does not know _how to sell true ideas about himself_; though he may +realize the importance of making the best impression possible. So, +however, he tries, he cannot get his deserved chances to succeed. He +could secure them _easily_ if he comprehended the selling process of the +master salesman, and used it with skill. This process of masterly +selling is the key to certain success for the fully qualified man in any +vocation. + +[Sidenote: Making and Governing One's Own Good Luck] + +A capable applicant will invariably be given a chance to succeed, if he +takes the best that is in him to a man who has need of such services as +he could render, and then _sells the true idea of his ability_. He has +mastered _all four principal elements of the complete secret of certain +success_. Consequently he is able to create and to control his +opportunities to succeed. He makes and governs his own good luck. + +Everywhere the most desirable positions in the business world are in +need of men who can fill them. Only the poorer jobs are crowded. But +when Opportunity has to seek the man, the _right_ one is often +overlooked. The golden chance is gained by another--less qualified and +less worthy, perhaps; but _a better salesman of himself_. The fully +competent man, however, can _assure_ his success by becoming proficient +in selling true ideas of his best capability in the right market or +field of service. The master salesman of himself makes his own chances +to succeed, and therefore runs no risk of being overlooked by +Opportunity. + +[Sidenote: Success Way Is Charted] + +Master salesmen of ideas about "goods" use _particular selling +processes_ to get their ideas across _surely_ to the minds of +prospective buyers. The professional salesman, therefore, has plainly +charted the way to certain success in any vocation, for the man who has +developed the best that is in him. If you are a candidate for a +position, do not let a prospective employer _buy_ your services at _his_ +valuation, for he is certain to under-estimate you. _Sell_ him true +ideas of your merits. Set a fair price on your _worth_, and _get_ across +to his mind the true idea that you would be worth that much _to him_. +Such skillful salesmanship used by an applicant for a position can be +depended on to make the best possible impression of his desirability; +just as the practiced art of the professional salesman enables him to +present the qualities and values of his goods in the most favorable +light. The _masterly selling process_ is not very difficult to learn. +Proficiency in its use can be gained gradually by any one who practices +consciously every day the actual sale of ideas in the artistic way. + +[Sidenote: Knowledge of Salesmanship Develops Confidence] + +As was stated in the Introduction to this book, it has been proved +conclusively in business that particular principles and methods of +selling are certain to produce the highest average of closed orders. In +other words, success for the professional salesman is _assured_ if he +develops certain qualifications, and if he does certain things; all +within the capacity of any normal, intelligent man. Scientific sales +executives know positively, as the result of comparative tests, that the +salesman who develops these personal qualifications, and who does these +things, should get his quota of business and hold it. Hence, as has been +said, specific training is given in the sales schools of the most +successful businesses, along the lines of best selling practice. + +[Sidenote: Practical Principles] + +When the individual salesman who has been so trained commences work in +his territory, he learns in his experiences with buyers that the +principles and methods he has been taught are actually _most effective_. +Assuming that he has developed his _best capabilities_ pretty fully, and +that he has become fairly _skillful_ in using what he knows about how to +sell his line, he works with continually growing confidence that he will +succeed. Why should he doubt his complete selling power? He knows there +is a _field for his goods_ in this territory. He knows clearly and +vividly _what ideas_ he wants to get across to the minds of prospective +buyers. He knows--most important of all--_just how_ to make convincing +and attractive impressions of the desirability and true value of what he +presents for purchase. He comprehends the _most effective ways_ to show +prospects both their _need_ for his goods and that he has come, with a +real purpose of service, to _satisfy_ that need. + +You, the non-professional salesman of yourself, will sell _your_ "goods +of sale" with similar complete confidence in your power to gain and to +control your opportunities for success--if you, too, use the right +selling process. + +This set of books explains and demonstrates in detail the principles and +methods of _the successful salesman of ideas_. The Introduction and +twelve Chapters of the present series apply the selling process +especially to _the sale of ideas about one's self_, with particular +relation to _self-advancement_ in the world. "The Selling Process," +companion book to "Certain Success," shows the master _professional_ +salesman at work, getting orders with _assurance_. + +[Sidenote: Hard Study Necessary] + +The fact that you have proceeded thus far in reading "Certain Success" +proves you have an earnest purpose to make the most of your present +opportunity to learn _how_ to succeed with certainty. We will assume +that you have developed your individual ability pretty fully, and that +you know where there is a field for such services as you are sure you +could render if afforded the chance. Surely, then, your ambition in +life, whatever it may be, is a sufficient incentive to the most thorough +study of the principles and methods of successful salesmanship. Do not +merely _read_ this set of books. MASTER "Certain Success" and "The +Selling Process" to make yourself the master of your own destiny. + +Again and again, lest at any time while you study you might fall below +100% in _absolute assurance_, you will read in these chapters the +assertion that your success can be made _certain_. This statement is not +an exaggeration. It is necessary that you accept it literally throughout +your reading of this set of books. Do not take it "with a grain of +salt." The taste of the declaration that the selling process makes +success sure will become familiar after these many repetitions. Realize +when you come upon the repeated idea as you proceed with your study that +your continued reading should frequently be reenforced by a steadily +growing conviction that you _are_ mastering the sure way to succeed. You +believe in yourself more than you did when you began to read this book. +This increasing faith should develop to complete confidence when you +have dug _into_ the text of both "Certain Success" and "The Selling +Process," and have dug _out_ every idea in the twenty-four chapters. + +[Sidenote: Salesmanship Not a Science But an Art] + +At the outset of your present study comprehend that salesmanship is not +a _science_. Rather, it is an _art_. Like every other art, however, it +has a _related_ science. Selling is a _process. Knowledge about the +principles and methods_ that make the process most effective is the +related _science_. But such knowledge supplies only the best foundation +for building success by the _actual practice_ of most effective +salesmanship. The master salesman practices the scientific principles +and methods he has learned until the _skillful use_ of his knowledge in +every-day selling becomes _second nature_ to him. Thus, and thus only, +is his _art_ perfected. + +You will gain _knowledge_ from these books about _how_ to sell with +assurance the true idea of your best capabilities--about _how_ to sell +any "goods of sale" unfailingly. But you can develop the _skill_ +necessary to the _actual achievement_ of certain success only if you +_continually use_ what you learn about the selling process. You must +perfect your selling _art_ by the intelligent employment of every _word_ +and _tone_ and _act_ of your life to attract other men to you, and to +impress on them convincingly true ideas of your particular ability. + +[Sidenote: Be a Salesman Every Minute] + +The master professional salesman is "always on the job" with his three +means of self-expression, to get across to prospects true ideas of the +desirability and value of his goods. He is a salesman _every minute_, +and in _everything_ he does or says. You can become as efficient as he, +in selling ideas about _your_ "goods of sale," if your proficiency +becomes as _easy and natural_ as his. Such ease is the _sure_ result of +sufficient right practice. + +You have countless opportunities daily to make use of the selling +process. In each expression of yourself--in your every word, tone, and +act--you convey _some_ idea of your particular character and ability. +You should _know how_ to make _true, attractive_ impressions of your +_best_ self; and how to avoid making _untrue_ and _unfavorable_ +impressions by what you do and say. Then, when you have _learned_ the +most effective _way_ to sell ideas about yourself that you want other +people to have, it is necessary that you _use_ the selling process +consciously all the time until you grow into the habit of using it +unconsciously, as your second nature. Once you are accustomed to _acting +the salesman continually_, it will be no more difficult for _you_ to be +"always on the job" selling right ideas of your qualifications for +success, than it is for the _professional_ user of the selling process +to be a salesman "every minute." + +[Sidenote: Your "Goods of Sale"] + +As already has been emphasized, "the goods of sale" in your case are +your _best_ capabilities. You need first of all to _know_ your true +self, before you can sell true ideas about your qualifications for +success. Your _true_ self is your _best_ self. You are untrue to +yourself, you balk your own ambition to succeed, unless you develop to +the _utmost of your capacity_ your particular salable qualities. + +You do not need qualities _you_ now wholly lack. You should not attempt +to "salt" the gold mine in yourself with the characteristics of _other_ +men who have succeeded by the development and use of capabilities that +were natural to _them_, but that would be unnatural to _you_. It is +worse than futile--it is foolish for you to imitate anybody else. Just +be _your_ best self. Make the most of what _you_ have that is salable. +You require no more to assure your success. + +[Sidenote: Selling the Truth About Your Best Self] + +Every individual has distinct characteristics, and is capable of doing +particular things, of which he may be genuinely proud if he fully +develops and uses his personal qualifications. _When all the truth about +his best possible self is skillfully made known to others_, chances for +success are certain to be opened to the ambitious man. If he lacks the +salesmanship key, the doors of opportunity may always remain closed, +however well he deserves to be welcomed. + +_You_ possess "goods of sale" that have real _quality_, that are +_durable_, that will render _service_ and afford pleasurable +satisfaction to others. _Your_ goods can be sold as _surely_ as quality +phonographs, durable automobile tires, serviceable clothes, or pleasing +books. + +Maybe you can "deliver the goods" with smiles, or hearty tones, or ready +acts of kindness. Any one can easily be friendly. But have you developed +_all your ability_ to smile genuinely? Have you cultivated the hearty +tone of real kindness so that now it is _unnatural_ for you ever to +speak in any other way? Do you perform friendly acts of consideration +for others on _every_ occasion, as second nature? + +If your honest answers to such questions must be negative, you are not +a good salesman of your best self all the time. + +[Sidenote: Your Salable Qualities] + +Your most salable quality may be dependability, rather than quick +thinking. If this is the case, concentrate your salesmanship on making +impressions of the true idea of _your reliability_. Your greatest +success will be achieved in some field of service where dependableness +is a primary essential. You may be _naturally unfitted_ to make a star +reporter, but _peculiarly qualified_ to develop into the cashier of a +bank. + +Should you happen to be unattractive in features, your job is to +transform your homeliness into a _likable_ quality--not to try to make +yourself appear handsome. If you are wholly inexperienced, that need not +be a detriment to your success in the field you want to enter. When you +have mastered the selling process, your very greenness can be presented +before the mind of a prospective employer as the best of reasons for +engaging you. You will be able to make yourself appear desirable because +you _are_ green in that field, and therefore have no wrong ideas to +"unlearn." + +[Sidenote: Know All of Yourself] + +You can greatly improve your chances to get the job for which you are +best adapted, if you use the reciprocal selling process employed by the +professional salesman when he sells his services to a house. He meets +the head of the concern as his man-equal, and does not just offer +himself "for hire." Such a consciousness of your man-equality when you +are face to face with a prospective employer can result only from +certain, analytical _knowledge of your best self_, complemented by +_knowing how to sell_ the true idea of your particular desirability and +worth. + +Very likely you think you are seriously _handicapped_ in many ways. +Having made no detailed analysis of yourself from a salesman's +view-point, you do not appreciate fully the number and the market value +of the _advantages_ you might have. Probably some of your best, most +salable qualities are latent or but partly developed. + +[Sidenote: Chart Necessary] + +List _your_ particular "goods of sale." Put down on a chart, not only +the qualities you have now, but all the additional ones you feel +_capable of developing_. Then you will realize vividly that you possess +many abilities, some undeveloped yet, which are always needed in the +world. You know that such qualities _should_ be readily salable, to the +mutual benefit of yourself and of buyers. You are learning the selling +process in order to make certain that _you can_ sell the best that is in +_you_, as other men are selling themselves successfully. + +Complete your chart by listing your various _defects_. Then study out +ways to use even _your particular faults_ differently than you have been +handling them; so that they will help you, instead of being hindrances +to your success. Think of some people you know, and of how they have +turned their physical "liabilities" into "assets" of popularity. + +The very first sales knowledge you need is of exactly what _you_ have to +sell. You cannot see _all_ of yourself, your good and bad +points--yourself as you _are_, and as you _might be_--unless you make a +detailed chart of your "goods of sale." One of the most important +immediate effects of such a self-analysis will be increased +self-respect. Your handicaps will shrink, and the peculiar advantages +you have will grow before your eyes. You should feel new confidence in +your own ability. + +[Sidenote: Man-Equality] + +With this confidence will come a feeling that you are not the inferior +of another man who has achieved a larger measure of success than you +have gained. When you start the sale of true ideas of your best self to +an employer-buyer of such services as you are capable of rendering, you +will have an innate consciousness of your man-equality with him. You +should realize that this sale of yourself, like all other true sales, is +to be a transaction of reciprocal benefits, and should be conducted on +the basis of mutual respect. + +It is your right to take pains that the prospective buyer of your +services shall sell himself to you as the boss you want to work with. +Expect him to sell himself to you as a desirable employer just as +thoroughly and satisfyingly as you intend to sell yourself to him as a +worthy applicant for an opportunity in his business. When you have +definite, sure knowledge of your capability and service value, you +certainly should not be willing to take "any old job." + +There is no better way to make the impression of _your desirability_ as +an employee than to demonstrate that you are _choosing_ your employment +intelligently. In explaining your choice, give specific reasons for your +selection of this particular opening. Show that you comprehend _what is +to be done_. Give some indication of your ability to do it _efficiently_ +and _satisfactorily_. Suggest the _worth_ of your services when you +shall have proved your fitness. + +[Sidenote: Require Employer to Sell You the Job] + +The ordinary man who applies for a job in the ordinary way is accepted +or turned down wholly at the discretion of the employer. If you use the +selling process skillfully, you will suggest that _you_ are out of the +ordinary class. Of course, you should demonstrate in your salesmanship +that you are not over-rating your ability. The other man must be made to +feel you have sound reasons for your bearing of equality and +self-confidence when you seek to make sure that in his business you will +have your best chance to succeed. By showing him that you are taking +intelligent precautions against making a mistake in your employment, you +indicate conclusively that you are not merely a "floater," but that you +have a purpose "to stick and make good." + +In the same measure that you require proof of a desirable personality in +an employer, you should make sure that the work is exactly what you +expect. See that your prospective "new boss" sells you the job at the +same time you are selling him your services. If he perceives in you the +one man who best fits his needs, he will put forth every effort to buy +your services. Every employer will respect the man who states, with +salesmanship, a sound reason for selecting and seeking connection with a +business house; since such a man gives promise of making the sort of +dependable, loyal worker that every business values and appreciates. + +[Sidenote: Sell to Satisfy Real Needs] + +The true salesman sells to satisfy _a real need_ of the buyer. +Therefore, when you have charted your salable qualities, select the +field of service in which such capability as you possess is needed. +That, you may be sure, is _your_ right market--the field where you are +_certain_ to succeed. Enter it, and no other field. Apply there for a +place of opportunity to serve; with the absolute confidence of a good +salesman come to satisfy a want, and conscious of his individual fitness +"to deliver the goods." + +You may not get just what you desire at the first attempt. The best +professional salesman often has to make _repeated_ efforts to close +orders. But in the end, if you "have the goods," that are needed where +you bring them, _and you know how to sell true ideas of your best self_ +(as you _will_ know after mastering the selling process) you will be +sure of getting sufficient opportunities to succeed. You will be as +certain about getting enough chances as the first-class professional +salesman is certain of attaining his full quota of business despite some +turn-downs. _Success is a matter of making a good batting average_. + +[Sidenote: Parts of Complete Process] + +Remember as you read that you are studying _a completed process_. An +unfinished sales effort is not _a sale_ at all. You will not be a +_certainly successful_ salesman until you perfect your knowledge and +skill in _all the steps_ of salesmanship. You can learn only a single +part of sales efficiency at a time. The relative significance of each +point, its full importance in the entire selling process, will not be +comprehended until you have read at least once all there is in this set +of books. When you re-study the successive chapters, the details you may +at first understand but vaguely in a disconnected way will be clear. You +will comprehend them as various elements of salesmanship which must be +fitted together to complete the process of selling. + +Thus far in the present chapter we have been considering principally the +"goods of sale." We have been looking at our subject from the +_material_ aspect. Now let us turn our attention to the mental view of +sales. + +[Sidenote: Mental Nature of Selling Process] + +In the effective selling process the skilled salesman is able to be the +_controlling_ party. _He makes the other man think as he thinks_. As has +been stated repeatedly, he sells _ideas_, not goods. So the _real +nature_ of any sale is mental, not material. You must "deliver the +goods" to the _mind_ of the man to whom you wish to sell your best +capabilities. You should use the same process as the professional +salesman, who works to control the _thoughts_ of his prospect regarding +the line of goods presented. Hence when you plan to make sure of getting +a desired position, it is necessary that you know _exactly how_ to put +true ideas about yourself into the head of the person whom you have +chosen as your prospective employer. Further, you need to know +_precisely what_ psychological effects you can secure with certainty by +using skillful salesmanship. + +[Sidenote: Three Sales Mediums] + +Ideas of your best capability may be sold through three +mediums--advertising, correspondence, and personal selling. Take +advantage of all three, wherever and whenever possible, to gain your +chance for success. Use these mediums with _real salesmanship_. + +[Sidenote: Advertising] + +If you advertise for a position, think out in detail the impression of +your true best self that you wish to make on the minds of readers. Put +_your personality_ into the advertising medium in such carefully +selected language as will reach _the needs of particular employers_, and +will not appear to be just a broadside of words shot into the air +without aim. Indicate clearly that _you_ are not seeking "any old job so +long as the salary is good." Analyze and know _just what_ you suggest +about yourself in print. Many a successful business man has sold himself +through the door of his initial big opportunity by real salesmanship in +his advertisement of his capabilities. + +[Sidenote: Correspondence] + +Each letter you write should be regarded as "a sales letter." It makes +an impression, true or false, of _you_. Take the greatest pains to have +that impression what you want it to be. Never be slovenly or careless in +writing to _anyone on any subject_. Put genuine salesmanship into all +your letters _consciously_; instead of conveying ideas unwittingly, +without realizing what the reader is likely to think of you and the +things you write. You can scatter impressions of your best self +broadcast over the earth by using your ordinary correspondence as a +medium of salesmanship. So you can open both nearby and far distant +opportunities for the future; even while you still are training yourself +to make the most of these chances you hope to gain. + +Good sales letters are so rare that the ability to write them has +erroneously been called "a gift." It is not. Any one of educated +intelligence can write his ideas; _provided he has clear, definite +thought-images in his own mind_. But cloudy thinking reflects only a +blur on paper. + +[Sidenote: Using Sales Letters] + +A letter that plainly conveys true ideas is a sales letter; for it gets +across to the mind of the recipient a clear, definite mental impression +of the writer's real personality and thoughts. + +In all your correspondence, throughout the period of preparation for +your chosen life career, send out true ideas of your best capability. If +you do, you doubtless will find the door of your desired opportunity +open by the time you are fully prepared to knock. Successful business is +always ready in advance to welcome "comers;" whenever and wherever they +are sighted. Therefore project your personality far and wide through +your letters. Employ the medium of correspondence, with salesmanship +knowledge and skill, even when you write the most ordinary messages to +your acquaintances or to strangers. That is, _think out certain ways to +sell particular ideas about yourself_; then incorporate these bits of +salesmanship in your letters. + +A young man in his senior year at college selected a large corporation +as his prospective employer. He did not know any of the executives of +the company, but he worked out a plan to get acquainted through letters. +He was especially desirous of entering the field of foreign trade, and +had made a fairly comprehensive study of the export business. He wrote +to the president of the corporation, gave a brief outline of articles +and books he had read; then complimented the great company by declaring +that he realized the knowledge he had acquired was theoretical and +abstract, and that he wished to gain practical, concrete ideas by +studying the methods of the corporation. He enclosed with his letter ten +cents in postage stamps, and requested that he be sent any forms, +instruction sheets, sales bulletins, etc., the president was willing to +let him have for study. + +[Sidenote: Getting A Future Chance] + +His letter was referred to the vice-president in charge of sales, who in +turn passed it on to a department manager with instructions to supply +the matter requested. In the course of a week the college student +received a bulky package. Meanwhile a letter had been sent from the +department head which stated that the vice-president in charge of sales +had referred to him the request for forms, instruction sheets, etc., and +that they would be forwarded under separate cover. + +The student took advantage of the three opportunities opened to conduct +correspondence with the executives of the corporation. He first wrote +courteous, carefully worded "thank-you" letters to the president, +vice-president, and department head. These were all in his own hand, so +that his good penmanship might make an individual impression. After +these letters were dispatched the student mastered the material that +had been sent to him. Then he wrote three supplemental letters of +appreciation, and made concise comments on some of the methods of the +corporation, with comparisons from his previous reading of books and +articles on foreign trade. He stated that he intended to make further +investigation along these particular lines and that if he learned +anything he thought might be interesting to the company he would write +what he found out. In the course of a month he sent a letter which +detailed his investigations. This he addressed to the department head +only. But he also penned brief letters to the president and +vice-president, in which he informed them that he had written in detail +to the department head. + +[Sidenote: Effect of Follow-up Letters] + +The correspondence continued throughout the remainder of the student's +senior year at college. The letters from the business men soon evidenced +more than formal courtesy. They grew personal and indicated real +interest. A month before his graduation the student was invited to call +at the company's office after Commencement. He went, made an excellent +impression in interviews with the vice-president in charge of sales and +the department head, and though the ink on his sheepskin was not yet +dry, he gained his object. He was engaged by the corporation and began +training as a prospective representative of the company in foreign +territory. + +Thus through the correspondence medium of salesmanship a young man who +had no advantage of personal influence or acquaintance secured exactly +the chance he wanted. Similar opportunities are open to any one. + +[Sidenote: Personal Selling] + +_Every moment of your life when you are in the presence of other people, +you have chances to sell true ideas about the best that is in you._ You +will not need to seek such opportunities for personal salesmanship. +Chances come to you continually to make good impressions on the minds of +the men and women you meet from day to day. + +Be a skillful salesman of true ideas about yourself always, even in the +most casual relations you have with other people. Sell the best possible +impressions of yourself to passers-by on the street, to your fellow +riders in cars, to clerks and customers of stores you visit, to your +home and business associates. Put selling skill, as second nature, into +each word, tone, and action of your social and business life. + +Realize that in whatever you do or say, consciously or unconsciously, +you _are_ selling ideas about your capability or your incapacity. You +are making more or less definite impressions--you are affecting your +opportunities to succeed, and are forming good or bad habits--all the +time. _Control the effects of your words, tones, and acts by saying and +doing, consciously and intelligently, only what will aid in selling +true ideas of your best capabilities._. + +[Sidenote: Practical Psychology] + +Of course you already know that each word and tone and act of your life +makes _some_ impression on the people who hear or see you. But probably +you have not realized fully that _particular ways_ of saying and doing +things have _distinct and different effects_, each governed by an exact +law of psychology. You perhaps do not know now _just what_ impression is +made by a certain word, or tone, or act. To be a master salesman of +yourself you need to study the science of mind sufficiently to acquire +_working knowledge_ of common mental actions and reactions. Familiarity +with at least the general principles of psychology is of the utmost +importance in using the selling process effectively. + +Do not shy from study of the science of mind because it is an "ology" +and therefore may seem hard. _You are a psychologist already_. You know +that certain things you do and say make agreeable or unfavorable +impressions on other people. In a _general_ way you know _why_. It is +necessary only that you analyze _specifically_ what you realize now +rather indefinitely. If you do not care to study a _book_ on psychology, +just use your own mind as your psychological laboratory for continual +self-analysis. + +Answer for yourself such questions as, "Exactly what effect will this +particular word, or tone, or act have--and just why?" You can work out +pretty well the _practical knowledge of psychology_ you must have in +order to sell ideas about your capabilities most effectively. You simply +need to apply _purposeful intelligence_ in everything you do and say; +instead of making impressions without comprehending that by each word +and tone and act of daily living you are influencing, favorably or +adversely, your chances to succeed. + +[Sidenote: Three Factors of Selling Process] + +Think of yourself as one of the _three factors_ of the selling process. +The _goods of sale_ are your best capabilities, of course. The second +factor is the _prospective buyer_, the man who has need of such +qualities or services as you could supply. The _agent of sale_, or third +factor, is yourself. If you will keep in mind always the conception of +yourself as _the uniting link_ between your "goods of sale" and the +prospective buyer, you can be a salesman of yourself every minute. At +any moment except when you are alone you may encounter and influence a +possible buyer of your best capabilities. You are continually within +sight and hearing of people whose impressions of you might affect your +chances to succeed in life. Therefore always be alert to grasp every +sales opportunity within your reach. + +[Sidenote: Twelve Steps] + +It will be essential, also, that you have knowledge of the successive +_steps_ of the selling process, as well as knowledge of your goods of +sale and knowledge of practical mind science. Otherwise you might omit +inadvertently to use some round of the ladder to certain success, and +tumble to failure. These steps are so important to understand that the +last nine chapters of the companion book are devoted to them +exclusively. It will suffice here just to state what they are. + + 1. Preparation For Selling; + 2. Prospecting; + 3. The Plan Of Approach; + 4. Securing An Audience; + 5. Sizing Up The Buyer; + 6. Gaining Attention; + 7. Awakening Interest; + 8. The Creation Of Desire; + 9. Handling Objections; +10. The Process Of Decision; +11. Obtaining Signature or Assent; +12. The Get-Away That Leads To Future Orders. + +[Sidenote: Five Degrees of Effort] + +Another element of necessary knowledge about the selling process is the +classification of sales according to the five degrees of effort required +to close them. + +1. A sale completed by response to the mere demand of the buyer. + +_Example_--While a street car strike is on you are driving, an +automobile down town. A man in a hurry to catch a train stops you and +says, "I'll give you two dollars to take me to the station." You +transport him in response to his call for your services. + +[Sidenote: Distinguish Degrees of Effort] + +2. A sale completed by the buyer's acceptance on presentation only. + +_Example_--A man is walking along a country road in the summer time. He +sees a sign in the door-yard of a farmhouse; BERRY PICKERS WANTED. He +presents himself as a candidate and the farmer at once engages his +services. + +3. A sale completed immediately after a desire of the buyer has been +created by a definite, intentional effort of the salesman. + +_Example_--A man out of work wants a job that will employ his physical +strength. He encounters three men who are struggling to load a very +heavy box onto a truck. He takes off his coat and proves his strength by +the ease with which the box is lifted when he helps. He inquires which +of the three men is the truck boss; and asks for a job. He is hired +because he has made the boss want the aid of his strength in handling +heavy loads. + +4. A sale completed only after persuasion of the buyer. + +_Example_--Assume that the truck boss in the next preceding illustration +refuses at first to hire the applicant who has demonstrated his +strength. It is necessary then for the man out of a job to talk his +prospective boss into the idea that he needs a fourth man in his gang. + +5. A sale completed only after a decision by the buyer as to the +comparative benefits of purchasing or of not buying. + +_Example_--You and another candidate apply for the same position in an +office. You appear to be about equal in capability. The employer "weighs +you in the balance" against the other applicant. This is a sale +requiring the fifth degree of effort. Manifestly you will need to use a +very high quality of skill to get into the mind of the prospective buyer +of services the idea that you are likely to be of more value as an +employee than your competitor for the place. Then you must skillfully +prompt him to accept your application. + +[Sidenote: Difficult Sales Most Worth Making] + +When you appreciate exactly how sales differ in the degrees of effort +necessary to close them, you will realize the wisdom of preparing to +sell your particular qualities and services _with full comprehension of +all the difficulties commonly met_ by candidates for desirable +positions. + +Countless men have died failures because they used throughout their +lives only the first or second degrees of effort. Consequently all their +attempts to get good jobs were futile. The non-success of millions of +other worthy men has been due to their use of no more than the third or +fourth degrees of selling effort. + +[Sidenote: Sales of The Fifth Degree of Difficulty] + +Sales of the fifth degree of difficulty sometimes demand knowledge and +skillful use of the entire selling process. _They are the sales most +worth making._ The applicant for a new position or for a promotion is +_certain to succeed_ in his purpose if he knows how to complete a sale +of the true idea of his best capabilities. In order to do this he must +control the _weighing process_ of the buyer; and be skillful in +_prompting acceptance_ of his "goods of sale." + +When you _master_ and reduce to _every-day practice_ the fundamental +principles you can learn from this set of books, you will be assured of +making a successful average in handling sales of the fifth degree of +effort. + +They are sales of the kind the _professional_ salesman makes with +complete confidence every day. _His_ methods, applied to the marketing +of _your_ goods of sale, will work such wonders for you that you soon +should build up self-confidence equal to the matter-of-fact assurance of +the master salesman of clothing, insurance, and other _materials_ of +sale. He _knows_ when he begins a season or starts on a trip that he +will make a good batting average. + +[Sidenote: Desired Results In Selling] + +Comprehend, further, exactly what _results_ are desired by the skilled +salesman whose work is based on scientific principles. + +The _immediate_ results desired are: + +First, _confidence_; + +Second, _acceptance_ of the ideas brought by the salesman. + +One who is unfamiliar with the scientific principles underlying the +skillful practice of the right selling process is unlikely to realize +that the _first_ sales effort should be concentrated on _winning the +prospective buyer's confidence in the salesman and in the goods of +sale_. Failures in selling are often due to the fault of the salesman +who works primarily for but the _second_ of the immediate results to be +desired; the acceptance of his proposition--the acceptance of his +personal capabilities and services, for instance. He neglects, as a +_preliminary_ to securing acceptance, to gain the _confidence_ of the +other man. When you undertake to sell your particular good qualities and +your services to a prospective employer, do not make the mistake in +salesmanship of omitting the process of first winning his _belief_ in +you. + +[Sidenote: Repeat Sales] + +Besides the two _immediate_ results desired by the skillful salesman, +there is a _permanent_ result to be worked for--an enduring consequence +desired from the present gains made. That permanent result wanted is +_the opening of other opportunities for future sales_. + +_Complete success in life_ is not assured when the _original_ sale of +one's best capabilities is closed successfully. Gaining the _initial_ +desired chance does not make it certain that one will succeed in his +_entire career_. The first sale is faulty if it does not include a lead +to future opportunities "to deliver the goods." + +The right selling process is continuous. Where one sale ends, another +should be already started. A great many failures of capable men can be +ascribed to short-sighted concentration on immediate chances. _One who +would make certain of the success of his whole life must ever look ahead +to the next possible opportunity for the sale of the true idea of his +best capabilities, meanwhile making the most of his present chance._ + +[Sidenote: Service Purpose In Selling] + +In order to get the right viewpoint for further study of the selling +process, you, _the salesman of yourself_, need to comprehend clearly the +fundamental _purpose_ of all true salesmanship. _It should be the +service of the buyer in satisfying his real needs._ + +Few salesmen _know_ what sales service _is_, and _how_ it should be +rendered. Service is the very soul of the certain success selling +process. Service must be studied _as a purpose_ until the principles +underlying the fullest satisfaction of the buyer's real needs are +mastered, and all false misconceptions of service are cleared away from +the salesman's idea of his obligation to the purchaser of his goods of +sale. + +[Sidenote: Sales Knowledge Universally Needed] + +This brief summary of the principal essentials of sales knowledge has +been outlined in order to impress on you the practically _universal need +for a better understanding of the selling process_. Certainly you are +convinced now that it will pay _you_ to know HOW to sell. Then let us +look next at _yourself_ in a different light--as a subject of study in +sales-_man_-ship. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +_The Man-Stuff You Have For Sale_ + + +[Sidenote: The Man Sales-Man Ship] + +Your _knowledge_ of sales principles and methods, and your _skill_ in +selling ideas must be combined with right sales-_manhood_ if your +_complete_ success in sales-man-ship is to be made certain. Particular +_man_ qualities are necessary to make you a master _salesman_ in your +chosen field. "A good man obtaineth favor." So we will study now the +elements of character required for the most effective sales-_man_-ship, +and how to develop them. + +We shall not consider "Man" in the abstract, nor exceptional ideals of +manhood. Our thought of the sales _man_ will be concentrated on +qualities _you_ have or can develop, that are necessary to make _you_ +most efficient in selling ideas about _yourself_. + +Some radical _changes_ in your present character may be required. But +you will need principally to _grow_ in order to attain the full stature +of sales manhood that is necessary to gain complete success. If your +manliness is dwarfed now, you cannot succeed largely in selling true +ideas of your best and biggest capabilities, until you rid yourself of +the character faults that are stunting your growth as a sales _man_. + +[Sidenote: The Little Man Out-of-Date] + +Realize at the outset that the time has passed forever when the _little_ +man, with the narrowly selfish outlook for "Number One," might succeed. +The demand of the future will be, however, not so much for BIG men as +for big MEN. The world no longer looks up to Kaisers and Czars. Success +has ceased to be merely a towering figure. Hereafter the one sure way to +succeed will lead through the door of _brotherly understanding of the +other fellow_, into the _common heart of mankind_. Only sales_man_ship +can open that door with certainty. + +We are entering a new business era, where the old individualistic +methods of attaining so-called "success" will be worse than useless. +Many of them even now are forbidden by law. All the practices of the +"profiteer" and his ilk are discountenanced by far-seeing people. Men of +vision perceive that the size of To-morrow's Success will be measured in +direct proportion to its quality of _human service_. + +"SERVICE" is the motto of the highest salesmanship. Therefore, in +shaping your plans to succeed, start with the resolve to make yourself a +truly big sales MAN. Do not copy the little, selfish models of +Yesterday. Study the signs of the times. To be out-of-date is equivalent +to being a failure. + +[Sidenote: Pint and Bushel Men] + +You will need to be big in ability, in imagination, in energy, in your +ideals--but most of all you must be big in MANHOOD. If you are little +and selfish in your life purpose, you cannot be certain of success in +selling to a truly BIG man the idea that you are fully qualified for his +service. Before making any attempt to sell yourself into a desirable +position, take pains to develop as much _man quality_ as characterizes +your prospective employer. You cannot comprehend him if you fall short +of his standard of manhood. To-day the biggest buyers of brains and +brawn recognize their obligations of human brotherhood. If you are +little and self-centered, how can you reach into the mind and heart and +soul of another man who is genuinely BIG? How can you impel him to think +as you wish? + +The little man even doubts the existence of big manhood. He cannot +comprehend such size. A pint measure, however much it is stretched, is +utterly unable to contain a bushel. But the larger measure easily holds +either a pint or a bushel. Similarly if you are big in _manhood_, you +can comprehend alike the little man and the big man. You will be able to +deal successfully with both. + +[Sidenote: The Clothing Of Manhood] + +It is not sufficient, however, that you grow to the full stature of your +biggest man possibilities. It is necessary also that you be _clothed in +the characteristics of manhood_ in order to be _recognized_ as a man. +When you were only an infant, you were safety-pinned into a square of +cloth once doubled triangularly. You graduated to rompers at a year and +a half or two. Then you put on knee-pants, and afterward youth's long +trousers. Now you wear the clothes of a full-grown man. You would not +think of dressing in knickerbockers, or rompers, or--something younger, +to present your qualities and services for sale. Yet your outer garb is +much less important to the success of your salesmanship than is your +_clothing of manhood._ + +[Sidenote: What is Your Man Power?] + +If you hope to assure yourself of man's-size success in life, plan that +wherever you are you will make the instant impression that you are +"every inch a man," not just an overgrown baby or boy. Follow the +example of Paul, that incomparably great salesman of the new ideas of +Christianity. He wrote in his powerful first sales letter to the +Corinthian field, "When I became a man, I put away childish things." +_Compel respect_ by your sound virility. Have a well-founded +consciousness that in manhood you are the equal of any other man, and +you can make everybody you meet feel you are a man _all through_. + +What is your size as a sales _man_ now? + +Ask yourself this question, and answer it frankly. In order to make sure +of selling yourself into the opportunities you want, you must take your +own measure and fit your manhood to the selling process you have begun +to learn. Beyond a doubt you are now a sales man of _some_ size. You are +selling your physical or mental powers, your services of this kind or +that, with a degree of efficiency directly proportionate to your +man-power. + +[Sidenote: The 1/4 m.p. Man] + +If you are only a 1/4 m.p. salesman at present, you lack three-fourths of +the man capacity needed to handle with certain success all the +opportunities of full-size manhood. You were not limited by Nature to 1/4 +m.p. size. You were born with _full man capacity_. You are like a +gasoline motor developing but a quarter of the power it was designed to +produce--not because of any structural fault in the engine, but simply +for the reason that it does not function _now_ as it was intended to +operate, and as it can be made to work _in the future_ if it is +overhauled and put in perfect condition. The full power capacity +originally built _into_ the motor needs to be brought _out_. Likewise +_your_ man-power plant requires to be made as efficient as possible, in +order to assure you of full man-capability for achieving success. + +Maybe your chief fault is poor fuel, and what you most need is good +"gas." You have not been filling up your mind with the right ideas. Or, +perhaps, your piston rings leak; and you lack the high compression of +determined persistence. Another fault might be in your carburetor--you +are not a good "mixer." Or your spark of enthusiasm may be weak. It is +possible, too, that your fine points are caked over by the carbon of +accumulated bad habits. Maybe you have a cracked cylinder--your health +is partly broken down. The fault is in your timer, perhaps. You are not +"on the job" when you should be. + +[Sidenote: Your Manhood Can Be Re-built] + +No matter what ails your particular engine, _it can be repaired or +rebuilt into a full one-manpower motor of efficiency_. If you limp and +pound along with but a quarter of your capability, it is your own fault +for not overhauling your power plant. Don't continue as a 1/4 m.p. man and +blame anybody else, or curse your bad luck because you can't make speed +and carry the load necessary to succeed. _Stop trying to go on crippled +or clogged in manhood_. Run yourself into the repair shop right away and +"get fixed." + +You can make your manhood over. + +There is full-man capability in you. You can get it all out and put it +to work for your success. + +You have the ability to re-make your _character_ entirely, without +changing _your individual nature_. + +You must accomplish transformation into _your best self_ before you can +make the most of your opportunities to sell your abilities and services. +It will not suffice that you just are _willing_, or _desire,_ to become +a first-class salesman of your particular "goods of sale." Merely +acquiring information or _knowledge_ of the selling process is not +enough to assure your success in life. Even the most skillful _practice_ +of all the sales principles and methods you learn will be insufficient +to guarantee your success--if you do not develop your full _man +capacity_ for sales-man-ship. + +[Sidenote: Essentials of the Master Sales Man] + +The result of the necessary changes and growth in _your_ manhood will be +an enlarged conception of _all_ men--your greater capacity to understand +and to handle _any one else_ successfully. + +It is entirely possible for you to develop and cultivate every essential +quality of the master sales-_man_, and still to be just _yourself_. + +[Sidenote: Good Appearance] + +The high grade professional salesman makes the best _appearance_ of +which he is capable. Surely you can do that, too. You can train yourself +to grace and ease in your bearing. However unsatisfactory your features +may be, you certainly are capable of looking pleasant, and therefore of +being attractive. It is possible for you to have well-kept hands and +hair; to wear suitable, clean clothes; to be neat. + +[Sidenote: Physical Capacity] + +First-class salesmanship requires, too, a high degree of _physical +capacity_ for the most effective performance of the selling process. You +need health, virility, energy, liveliness, and endurance, in order to +sell effectively _the idea that you are physically able_ to fill the job +you want most. Physical incapacity is a handicap in almost any vocation. +It can be remedied. It _must_ be remedied as fully as possible in your +case. You may not be very robust naturally, _but you can make the most +of the constitution you have_, with certain success as the incentive +for your fullest possible physical development. Few of us are as well as +we _might_ be. + +[Sidenote: Mental Equipment] + +Whatever your physical shortcomings, there can be no doubt that you are +capable of developing all the essential _mental_ equipment of the +successful salesman. You only need to comprehend a few elemental laws of +mind science; and then to _train_ yourself to the utmost of your +particular ability--in perceptive power, alertness, accuracy, +punctuality, memory, imagination, concentration, adaptability to +circumstances, stability, self-control, determination, tact, diplomacy, +and good judgment. + +Does this seem like a long list of difficult accomplishments? Examine +the items, and realize how easy it is to develop these mental qualities +of masterly sales_man_ship. + +Perception is simply looking at things with your mind as well as with +your eyes. + +Alertness is no more than mental sharp ears. + +Accuracy results from taking pains to be right. + +Punctuality is a habit of mind that anyone can develop. + +Memory is acquired by practice in remembering things. + +You use _some_ imagination every day--use _all_ your imaginative power. + +Likewise you occasionally concentrate your thoughts. More exercise in +concentration will develop this mental characteristic. + +You adapt yourself to circumstances when necessary, or when you choose. +You can train yourself so that you will be prepared to meet anything +that may happen. + +You have a degree of stability of character, otherwise you never would +accomplish anything. Increase your steadfastness by sticking to more +purposes. + +Similarly determination, self-control, tact, diplomacy, and good +judgment are merely the natural results of _continual practice_ to +develop these mental qualities. + +[Sidenote: Emotional Qualities] + +The principal _emotional_ or _heart_ qualities required in masterly +selling are ambition, hopefulness, optimism, enthusiasm, cheerfulness, +self-confidence, courage, persistence, patience, earnestness, sympathy, +frankness, expressiveness, humor, loyalty, and love of others. Think of +these one by one, and realize how many of them you already possess to a +considerable degree. + +You may not be optimistic; perhaps you lack self-confidence, or maybe +you are wanting in courage. But with the possible exception of these +three "heart" qualities of the master salesman, you are not deficient +now in the emotional essentials of successful salesmanship. You need +only a _higher degree_ of each. + +Develop all your capability in the other qualities, and you will find +you have become an optimist. Your self-confidence, too, will grow as +fast as you increase your ability. When you are full of optimism and +self-confidence, you will not find it difficult to create courage within +yourself. _Then you will have the complete emotional equipment of a +master salesman._ The exact way to develop courage with certainty is +explained in the second chapter of "The Selling Process," with especial +reference to the professional salesman, who _must_ meet his prospects +courageously in all circumstances if he would succeed. + +[Sidenote: Ethical Essentials] + +Nor is it hard for you to qualify yourself _ethically_ for mastery of +the selling process. Surely your intentions are right. You mean to be +honest and truthful. You can be of good moral character. You expect to +be reliable. It should be easy for you to love your chosen work. + +[Sidenote: Spiritual Capacity] + +There remains, finally, the essential of _spiritual capacity_ for +selling. It comprises idealism, vision, faith, desire to serve, ability +to understand other men. Perhaps you are deficient in some of these +spiritual qualities now. But with idealism all about you in the spirit +of the world cannot you, too, lift your eyes to higher purposes than the +satisfaction of merely selfish desires? Are you not able to look +broadly, instead of narrowly at life? You know you must have faith--that +you cannot make sure of success if you doubt. Your mission as a true +salesman of yourself should be to serve your prospects by satisfying +their real needs for the abilities you have. Love of others results from +serving them with what you can supply that they lack. + +In no respect, then, from personal good appearance to spiritual +capacity, need you be other than _your best possible self_ to qualify +for certain success with the selling process. + +[Sidenote: Change and Growth Necessary] + +Reference has been made repeatedly in these pages to the necessity for +_change_ and _growth_ in your man character before you can become a +master salesman of your full capability for success. Of course you +cannot change your _nature_ into a different _nature_; any more than one +form of life can be transformed into an entirely distinct form of life. +It is impossible to develop a carrot into a calla, or to make a dog of a +pig. But the _elements_ of any particular form of life may be altered, +most radically. + +[Sidenote: Develop Use, Activity and Quality Of Elements] + +So you can develop: (1) the _use_; (2) the _degree of activity_; (3) the +_quality_, of any element in your present salesman equipment. + +For example, it is generally recognized that suitable clothes help to +create a good impression. Therefore you should _use_ to the _highest +degree of activity_ and of _quality_ what you know about the effect of +dress in helping to create a good impression. But, to particularize, do +you (_use_ your knowledge) polish your shoes, even if it is no more than +flicking off the dust with your handkerchief, every chance (_highest +degree of activity_) you get when they need it? And when you polish your +shoes in the morning preparatory to starting your day's work, do you +just give them "a lick and a promise," or do you "make 'em shine?" +(Highest degree of _quality_.) + +[Sidenote: Animal Training] + +The "stupid" pig can be taught to do as phenomenal tricks as the +"intelligent" dog. It is possible to train a pig so that he will appear +to be able to discriminate among colors, to tell time, even to perform +simple operations in arithmetic. At the circus or vaudeville we sit in +wonder while the "educated" stupid pig, alertly afraid of the trainer's +whip, performs stunts of seeming _intelligence_. Under the stimulus of +fear he acts like a quick-thinking dog. In truth he _has_ been changed +by training, from the _pig characteristic_ of utter stupidity to the +_dog characteristic_ of rudimentary intelligence. But in _nature and +form_ he remains just a pig. If you should see him among other pigs in a +pen, you never would mistake the "educated" pig for a fat puppy. + +In the trained pig the _use_ of his pig mind is developed to an unusual +degree of _activity_ and of _quality_ to save himself from punishment +and to gain the tidbits that reward his performance of tricks. The +purpose of the trainer is accomplished by changing and developing the +_mind functioning_ of the pig. No trainer would attempt to change the +_nature_ of a pig--to develop a pig into an elephant, a different +_creature_. Only _characteristics_ can be changed or developed. + +[Sidenote: Plant Development] + +Luther Burbank has accomplished with plants even more extraordinary +changes and developments in characteristics than have been achieved by +the most expert trainers of animals. He could not make a carrot into a +calla; but he did take the dwarf natural calla plant and develop it into +a splendid lily that bears flowers measuring a foot across the petal. He +also multiplied the characteristic colors of the natural calla and has +evolved great blossoms of a score of shades, from pure white to jet +black. + +The noted plant wizard developed, too, the naturally small, hard, dry, +sour prune and transformed it into a juicy, sweet fruit that is bigger +and more delicious than our common plum. + +He also succeeded in altering radically an element of the natural +walnut, which had a characteristic covering skin of bitter tannin over +the meat inside the nut shell. For countless centuries walnut trees had +been in the habit of covering the meat of their nuts with this tannin +skin. Luther Burbank trained selected walnut trees to give up this fixed +bad habit, and to produce nuts the meats of which were not enveloped in +bitter coverings. + +[Sidenote: Man Making] + +Since expert trainers have been able to accomplish such marvelous +changes and developments in the characteristics of lower animals and +plants--not changes in the form of life, but alterations so nearly +miraculous that they seem almost to be changes in nature--is there the +least doubt that you, a _man_, excelling every other animal, and every +plant in consciousness and intelligence, are capable of the most +radical, elemental changes in your present self? + +Cannot _you_, then, certainly develop and _use_ to a much higher degree +of _activity_ and _quality_ the MAN characteristics you now possess? Of +course you can! You need but to learn the _science of yourself_--to get +full knowledge of what you are and of what you might be--by studying the +_big, best qualities in you_. After that you will need _to make the +most_ of what you learn about your true self. Intensive self-study will +reveal to you all the possibilities of your enlarged and bettered +personality. When you know you have developed your biggest, best +manhood, you certainly will feel increased power to sell your "goods." + +Of all living creatures, Man is the most adaptable, is capable of the +greatest development, and responsive in the highest degree to desires +from within and to influences from outside himself. Only a stupidly +ignorant man would hold to the belief that the elements of his character +cannot be radically changed and developed. At present you may be +handicapped with what you have considered "natural disqualifications" +for success. Then _study_ yourself thoroughly, _one detail at a time_. +Follow this self-analysis by intelligent practice in the active use of +your best qualities, and determine to _change_ your "disqualifications" +into _salable characteristics_ that will help you to succeed. + +[Sidenote: No Normal Man Lacks Qualifications For Success] + +Certainly a slouch can straighten up, wash his dirty hands and face, +dress neatly, and suggest proper regard for his appearance. The physical +weakling is able to build considerable strength into himself. Dullards, +unless their brains are stunted, may develop surprising intellectual +keenness. Careless men can train themselves to painstaking accuracy. +Individuals who are habitually late may become models of punctuality. +The man of flighty thoughts can concentrate. It is possible to control a +quick, bad temper. Tact, diplomacy, and good judgment can be learned and +used efficiently by the countless thousands of people who now are +tactless, undiplomatic, and characterized by poor judgment. + +So it is with the principal emotional, ethical, and spiritual qualities +of the master salesman. _You_ have them _all_, elementally. _Certainly +you can develop any selected element to higher activity and use it_ to +help you sell true ideas of your best capabilities. + +Maybe you have fought long and vainly for self-confidence, for courage, +for will power. Perhaps you have realized for years that you are slow in +perception, and have struggled to make yourself take mental snap-shots +of details and conditions. You have wished and willed and worked to be +agreeable and courteous; yet perhaps you lose friends by your +characteristic disagreeableness and lack of courtesy. If, in spite of +all you so far have done to improve yourself, you have been unable to +get rid of your faults and defects, you are apt to question the +statement that you _certainly can_ develop such qualities as you most +desire. + +[Sidenote: Decision Will Power Hard Work Insufficient] + +No doubt you have _decided_, probably you have _willed_, very likely you +have made a _persistent struggle_ to change your characteristics. You +honestly have tried hard to grow, and to increase your man capacity. +Consequently your failure may have left you rather hopeless about ever +succeeding as you once expected to succeed. Perhaps you have given up +your case as "too tough a job." We will assume that you are not so young +as you wish you were, and that you have committed to memory the +fatalistic, hoary lie, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." But +recall the fixed habit of bitterness the walnut had for centuries, the +color and size of the natural calla, the sour taste of the little wild +prune, which the plant wizard changed most radically without using any +"wizardry" at all. He just _applied scientific knowledge_ in his +training of walnut trees and callas and prunes and other forms of +vegetable life. Have you tried his method of development? Do you know +exactly what he did? + +If Luther Burbank had merely _desired_ and _willed_ that the walnut +should give up its old bad habit, he never could have accomplished the +job of development. He might have _insisted persistently_ for a +life-time that the little, sour, dry prune should become more luscious +and larger than the plum; but it would have remained the same in size +and other characteristics as it always had been, despite his continued +determination. Desire, will, and persistence were but preliminary steps +toward the complete accomplishment of his purpose with the prune. + +[Sidenote: Luther Burbank's Method] + +Burbank worked out in his mind and by actual experiments _distinctive +methods_ of development--_development and changes along particular, +definite lines._ He selected for the prune he _wanted to produce,_ (an +imagined, ideal prune) certain desirable qualities of the plum--the best +plum characteristics. He studied _what produced these particular +qualities in plums_. Then with his exact, scientific knowledge of the +_similarity in nature_ of the plum and the prune, and his equally +definite knowledge of the _differences in their characteristics_, +supplemented by his knowledge of _exactly what produced_ the difference +in the two fruits, he started his experiments with natural prune trees. + +He led specimens through a pre-determined scientific process of +training. He succeeded in getting his experimental prune trees to +develop discriminatively, almost as if they had the power of choice, +_particular plum qualities in preference to others._ But the result was +not a transformation of the prune trees into plum trees. The fruit of +the tree he evolved was just a _perfected_ prune. He simply developed +_all the capability_ the prune had originally to be _like_ a plum in +deliciousness. + +[Sidenote: Natural Growth Without Struggle] + +Note just here one very important feature of the Burbank method of plant +development and change. It did not involve any _struggle_ or _hard work_ +on the part of his trees. He merely provided _natural_, but +scientifically _selected_ conditions and food; knowing that his prunes +then would grow naturally in the particular ways he wanted them to +develop, and in no other ways at variance with his plan. + +Perhaps the primary fault in your ineffective effort to develop yourself +into the man you want to be, is that it has been a _struggle_. _Natural_ +growth always is _easy_. Growth involves a struggle only when one or +more of the _means_ of natural growth are lacking. Luther Burbank wished +his prune trees to develop certain selected qualities of the plum. +Therefore he provided his wild prunes with the same means he had used +effectively _with plums_ to increase _their_ lusciousness. He knew these +means should have a _similar_ effect on _prunes_. When he had provided +the natural means of discriminative development, he left the rest to the +_natural growth_ of his prune trees. They began to develop the selected +plum qualities _easily_, and generation after generation became more and +more like plums. + +[Sidenote: Two Bases Of Growth Mind and Body] + +Now let us consider briefly: first, the _bases_ of natural, easy growth +of selected man qualities; second, the _processes_ that take place in +the development of desired man qualities, some of which may not have +seemed to exist previous to the evolutionary training; third, the +training _methods_ that should be employed to make these processes most +effective and to produce the particular results wanted and no others. + +There are _two bases of development in every one_--the inner and the +outer man. The _real himself_ is the inner man, which psychologists call +the "Ego." But there is something else in the make-up of every man, his +_body_. Each of us recognizes his body--not as _himself_, not as his +ego--but as _belonging to_ the real, or inner himself. A man thinks and +says, "_my_ body" just as he considers and refers to anything else that +is his. + +The discrimination between the two parts of "_You_" must be understood +at the very start of your self-development. All your plans for the +growth of the characteristics you need to assure your success should be +based on comprehension of your _duality_. The two "You's" in yourself +not only are distinctly _different_, but they are also very intimately +_related_ in all their functions. Neither your "ego" nor your body is +independent of the other part of your duality. So, of course, both must +co-operate fully in every _process_ of your self-development; and your +_training methods_ should be planned for the bettered growth of your +inner and outer man _as a team_. + +[Sidenote: Team-work Processes] + +You understand now that your growth should be on a dual basis; that you +have two different men to develop, not just one; and that they must be +handled _discriminatively_, but _together_. + +Next it is necessary that you know in _exactly what ways_ the activities +of the mind man, or ego, are related to the activities of his body, or +the physical man. Otherwise you cannot comprehend the team-work +processes by which any desired qualities of manhood can be developed +from their rudiments. Perhaps the reason you have not yet succeeded +fully is that you have been a "one-horse" man and have not trained your +dual self to be an effective _mind-and-body_ team pulling together. It +takes both mind and body to bring to market successfully all the "best +capability" of a man. + +[Sidenote: Training Methods] + +Evidently, as a pre-requisite to self-development, one should have +knowledge of the particular processes that result _surely_ in natural, +easy, rapid growth. Otherwise he would be more than likely to employ a +wrong or only partly right _method of training_. So as a student of +yourself you need to start with comprehension of your two _bases_ of +development, mind and body. It is necessary next that you acquire +scientific knowledge of the distinct but related _processes_ of +developing your two selves severally to work together as a team. Then +you must learn the particular _methods_ of cooeperative mental and +physical training that are most effective in accomplishing the man +growth you desire. + +[Sidenote: Neither Mind Nor Body A Unit] + +Not only have you two selves, but neither "You" is a _single unit_. Your +mind, as well as your body, is made up of distinctly different but very +intimately related and associated _parts_. Your "mind" cannot be +developed as a _whole_. Its parts must be severally bettered and +strengthened in coordination, just as the physical man is developed by +training his various muscles. + +You know you have _distinct sets of muscles_ which all together make up +your _composite body_. Perhaps, however, you have not realized before +that your _mind_ is not a _unit_, but is made up of innumerable distinct +"mind centers," each of which functions as independently of the others +as your set of eye muscles operates independently of the set of muscles +governing the movements of one of your fingers. And possibly you do not +know that each _mind_ center has a distinct _brain_ center, which +functions for that _particular part alone_ of your whole mind. _Each +associated mind-and-brain center_ also has direct, distinct nerve +connections _with only one set of muscles_. + +In fact, you are "a many-minded, many-bodied" man--a collection of +mental and physical _parts_, a composite man rather than a man unit. +These several parts are in large measure practically _independent_ of +one another. One set of body parts "belongs to" only its particular +associated set of mind parts, or mind center. + +[Sidenote: Independent Mind and Body Centers] + +If you were constituted otherwise, your life would be very precarious; +for the injury or destruction of even a minor part of your body would be +fatal to the whole unit. As it is, you can lose a finger without +affecting your eye-sight in the least. So you might suffer a localized +brain injury that would completely paralyze a finger, without impairing +your sight at all. Either the mind center that governs a finger, or the +set of muscles in that finger can be affected without necessarily +reacting upon any _other_ mind center or any _other_ set of muscles. + +[Sidenote: Interrelation Of the Ego And Physical Man] + +_But if the mind center that governs a certain set of muscles is +affected, that set of muscles also is directly affected and at once. +Likewise if anything happens to a particular set of muscles, the +reaction is instantly transmitted to its associated mind center through +the "direct wire" nerves and brain center which particularly serve that +part of the mind_. + +Great scientists have studied mental and physical phenomena in +inter-relation and have learned certain facts. For example, it is known +that "the mind" not only affects the general functions of "the body," +but also the rate of bodily activity and the chemistry of body tissues. +Long-continued hard thinking actually does "wear a man out." It consumes +blood and brain tissue. It "slows him up." It may impair his digestion +and appetite. We all know these things, but the scientists know just +_why_ we feel _physically_ tired after using only our _minds_. + +They have learned also that every activity of the _mind_ has a direct +effect on the _brain substance._ That is, each mind operation _through_ +the brain _changes_ its physical structure in some degree. Mental effort +or relaxation increases or decreases the amount of blood in the brain. +When you have been using your mind very hard, your head "feels heavy," +and it _is_ unusually heavy then on account of the extra amount of blood +weight. Even the temperature of the brain, particularly of that portion +of the brain which is especially functioning at a given moment, is +changed with every mental effort. + +[Sidenote: Slow Muscles Slow Mind] + +There is abundant scientific proof that the quality and quantity of +muscle, brain, and nerve (_physical_) activity in a particular +individual are accompanied by corresponding qualities and quantities of +_mental_ activity. That is, when a person's muscle action, nerve +response, and brain action are sluggish, his _mind_ also develops a +characteristic of slow action. And vice versa. + +We say of a certain acquaintance that he has an alert mind. But his +"ego," or mental self, could not act quickly and alertly if his _brain_, +the physical instrument of his _mind_, did not receive and transmit +impressions swiftly to his mentality. The _brain_ does not _think_. It +is as purely physical as any other part of the body. It just _handles_, +or transmits in and out, to and from the _mind_, the various impressions +sent _in_ by different sense muscles, and the mental reflexes or +impulses sent _out_ by the innumerable mind centers. Your mind works +_through_ your brain. Of course, therefore, the quality and quantity of +mental work _you_ are capable of doing are limited by the degree of +handling-or-transmitting _efficiency_ characteristic of _your_ +particular brain structure. + +[Sidenote: Value of Practical Psychology] + +Any interference with the _brain_ quality or quantity of an individual +naturally interferes with his normal _mental_ functioning. If a +particular part of a man's brain is injured, the associated mind center +is harmed likewise and his mental _quality_ is affected in proportion. +Should a certain portion of his brain be cut out, the total _quantity_ +of his mental powers would be correspondingly reduced. We all know these +things about the brain and the mind. But only a few scientists are +familiar with many _details_ of the _inter-relation of mind and brain +and muscles_, which should be known to all people who want to make the +most of themselves. The salesman of himself needs to understand his +"goods" thoroughly; so as we study the selling process that completes +the secret of certain success, we dig into _practical psychology_ a +little way now in order to stimulate in you a desire for further +exploration of that gold mine of opportunities. + +[Sidenote: Physical Manifestations of Ideas] + +The mind depends on the brain, in coordination with the nerves and +muscles, to _express_ thoughts. That is how your _inner_ or "ego" +sales-man gets his ideas _out_ of your physical salesman, and _shows +them_ to the minds of prospective buyers. You can make another person +conscious of your thoughts only by some _perceptible physical +manifestation_ of the idea you wish to convey to him. Evidently, then, +in order to succeed in developing your big sales manhood and in making +effective impressions of it on others, you must learn both _how to +think the ideas of big manhood into your own mind_ most effectively and +how to _show them outwardly_ with masterly skill. The first process is +man development; the second is sales-_man_-ship, or _manhood +self-expression for the purpose of controlling the ideas of other men_. + +[Sidenote: Selling A Thought] + +There is but one way to indicate or express what is going on in your +mind. Your thoughts can be physically shown only by _muscular action_ of +some kind. Brain and nerve action are hidden, but muscle action can be +perceived. If your _muscular action_ expresses exactly the _idea_ you +desire and will and use it to manifest, your mind is able to get its +_thought_ across to another mind--_to sell_ the idea. + +Conversely, if your muscle action--your outer, perceptible +self--expresses something _different_ from your thought intention, your +mind has failed to make the true impression of your idea. It may be that +an impression directly contradictory to your thought has been made by +your muscles working at cross purposes. So the truth in your mind won't +get across to the other man's mind--not because your _idea_ was untrue, +but because it has not been _physically interpreted_ by your muscles as +you _intended_. For example, you might stand so much in awe of a man you +greatly admire that you would avoid speaking to him, and in consequence +would appear to him indifferent or cold. Your physical appearance would +belie your intentions. + +Perhaps, if you have failed in life or have only partially succeeded, +despite the qualifications you possess for complete success, your +_muscles_ may be principally to blame. The parts of your idea-selling +equipment that _can be perceived in action_ probably have not "delivered +the goods" of sale correctly. + +[Sidenote: How Knowledge is Accumulated] + +Not only is your mind absolutely dependent on the muscular system of +your body for any true _expression_ of the real _you_ inside; it +likewise must depend on the activity of your various sets of muscles to +get all the _incoming_ sense impressions that make up whatever +_knowledge_ you have. + +Have you realized how your present fund of information was accumulated? +Everything you know came into your conscious mind originally through +impressions first made on your various "sense" muscles, and then +transmitted by nerve telegraph to directly connected brain centers, +which in turn passed on to their associated mind centers these original +impressions of new ideas. Many repetitions of similar sense impressions +were needed to register permanently in your mind your first conceptions +of different colors, scents, etc. Thus you learned to think. The process +was _started_--not by your _mind_--but by your various "sense" muscles. +These received from your environment impressions of heat, cold, +softness, hardness, etc., and passed them in to associated brain-mind +centers, which thus commenced to collect knowledge about the world which +you entered with a mind _absolutely empty of_ ideas. + +If a child might be born with a good brain, but with his general +muscular system completely paralyzed, _he could learn nothing at all_ +regarding the world. He would have no conscious mind. No sense +impression of smell, light, taste, sound, or feeling could be received +by the brain of such a child; for no original perceptions of any kind +could be taken in. He would be like a complete telegraph system with +every branch office closed. No intelligence would be transmitted; since +no message could be even filed for sending. Because of the paralysis of +the sensory muscles, the child's conscious mind would remain blank. + +[Sidenote: Each Mind-Center Must Be Developed Specifically] + +Recall now that you have a _multiplex_, not a single brain. That is, +your so-called "brain" is made up of innumerable, distinct "brain +centers" which function quite independently of one another. No +particular unit requires help from any of the others in order to do its +especial work with full efficiency. _Each center attends only to its +specific business in your life_. It rests, or relaxes from activity, +when it has nothing to do; or when the particular muscles it governs are +not in use. And, of course, when a certain _brain_ center rests or is +inactive, its associated _mind_ center also rests or is inactive. + +As already has been stated, the mind of a man is built up, _through_ the +brain instrument, by the _sense impressions_ transmitted to his +consciousness. In other words, _all he knows with his mind first came +into his mental capacity from outside impressions of things and ideas_. +The fewer the impressions that come into the mind through the brain, the +less does a man know. And only the impressions that come into a +_particular_ mind center develop _that_ center. (For example, the +development of keenest eyesight by many _optical_ impressions would not +affect at all a man's ability to discriminate among the tones of music, +would not give him "a good _ear_.") + +[Sidenote: Weak or Undeveloped Centers] + +It is evident, therefore, that if a _particular brain center_ +temporarily or permanently is deprived of right and sufficient exercise +in transmitting sense impressions, _its coordinated mind center_ will be +stunted in its growth or starved for lack of mental food. This is why a +man is awkward in using his native tongue when he returns to the country +of his birth after a long residence among people of a different nation +where that language was not spoken. But a little exercise of his brain +in transmitting again the sound of his native tongue will quickly +stimulate his mind with the renewed supply of this particular mental +food to which it formerly was accustomed. In a few weeks he will use +the old language naturally; whereas another man, who never had spoken +it, would require years to build up such full knowledge from a start of +complete ignorance of the language. + +Evidently, too, a _weak_, undeveloped brain center would be incapable of +receiving _strong_ mental impulses from its coordinated mind center, and +of transmitting them in full strength to the particular muscles governed +by that mind center. This is why, if a man's _brain center_ of courage +is undeveloped, even the most courageous _thoughts_ will not make his +body _act_ bravely. His legs may run away against his will to fight. The +physical instrument of his mind (his brain), and also certain associated +sets of muscles, must be sufficiently exercised in the _action_ of +courage to build up within him the _physical structure_ of fearlessness +that will be instantly responsive to a _mental attitude_ of bravery. + +[Sidenote: Right Exercise for Development] + +If for any reason the brain instrument is weak or undeveloped, it can +handle only weakly either in-coming messages to the ego from the senses, +or out-going impulses from the mind to the muscles. So, because of this +undeveloped brain instrument, the full capability of neither the inner +nor the outer man can be built up and put to use. Obviously, therefore, +if one is ambitious to succeed, he needs to know and to practice the +_coordinated mind-brain-muscle exercises_ that will increase the +quantity and better the quality of his man capacity. Since he is a +"many-minded, many-bodied" man, _general_ physical and mental exercise +will not develop the _particular_ qualities required to assure his +success. Each and every mind-brain-muscle set must be built up +individually by _specific_ exercises which strengthen _that particular +unit_ of the multiplex man. Then, of course, all his units should be +taught to work _together_ to make his success certain with his +all-around capability fully developed and coordinated. + +[Sidenote: The Discriminative-Restrictive Method] + +Luther Burbank worked out "discriminative-restrictive" methods of growth +that may be applied as successfully to men as to plants. He could not +have built up the ability of a prune tree to produce _delicious_ fruit +if he had not fed into the tree structure, or instrument of production, +a sufficient quantity and high quality of the _particular plant foods of +deliciousness_. He restricted his experimental prune trees to the +development of specific delicious qualities, by giving them no food +except that _discriminatively_ selected for his purpose. That is, he +made them develop in one way and in one way only, when he was making a +particular test. + +Similarly, as has been stated before, you can develop the specific _man_ +qualities you need to succeed. You must _feed_ to a particular mind +center, through the related brain center, _selected sense impressions_. +These can come only from the coordinated set of _muscles_ governed by +that mind-brain center. Then you should _exercise_ the specific brain +center and set of muscles in the production of mental reflexes, or the +mind fruit. Acts of courage, for example, are the fruit of brave +thoughts. + +[Sidenote: Brain Development] + +A particular brain center, of course, will be strengthened both by the +_food_ of sense impressions it is given, and by the _exercise_ of +handling messages to and from the mind. The brain, or physical +instrument of the mind, is like an intermediary or go-between of the ego +and the body. It is of the utmost importance that it should do its work +efficiently. Otherwise the full capability of neither the outer nor the +inner man can be utilized. + +If Brown passes something to Jones, who passes it along to Smith; then +Smith passes it back to Jones to be re-passed to Brown--Jones, the +middle agent of transmission or handling instrument, whom we are +comparing to the brain, might be so awkward, slow, and inefficient as a +go-between that the possible ability of Brown and Smith in passing would +be nullified or greatly hampered. But if the inefficiency of Jones is +blamable to his inexperience, it evidently can be changed to efficiency +by _sufficient right exercise_ in passing. The more of that sort of work +he does, in either direction, the better passer will Jones become. + +His exercise, however, must be _in passing_ things, if _passing_ +capability is to be developed. He would not become a better and quicker +_passer_ by any amount of exercise in taking things apart, or in +inspecting things--wholly dissimilar functions. + +[Sidenote: Training in Passing] + +Moreover, Jones would not become an expert passer of _glassware_ as a +result of practice in passing _bricks_, for the two kinds of things are +not handled alike. Indeed, the man accustomed to passing bricks might be +more likely to break glassware than another man who previously had no +particular skill in passing anything. The expert brick-passer would be +apt to forget sometimes that he was passing glass. His muscles might +treat the fragile ware with the rough habit acquired in passing bricks. + +Plainly, discriminative-restrictive methods of training are required to +perfect capability in any _particular_ kind of physical passing; however +much skill in _general_ passing may have been developed. If Jones should +become expert in passing pails of liquid, he would nevertheless need to +train himself anew in order to pass frozen liquid efficiently in the +form of cakes of ice. And, to particularize still more, it would be +necessary for him to learn how to pass different liquids. Water and +thick molasses in pails should not be handled alike. + +Similarly the various brain centers, as passers of different sense +impressions and mental reflexes in and out, require, each of them--like +Jones--the _specific_ exercises that will develop _their several +particular_ abilities. The _individual brain unit_ (as of courage, +memory, judgment, etc.) is strengthened only by handling the in and out +business of _its_ coordinated muscles and mind center. Also, while a +particular set of muscles and coordinate mind center are strengthening +their brain center by the exercise they give _it_, they are both being +developed by the same exercise of passing along sense impressions and +thoughts to each other through the brain--like Smith and Brown. + +[Sidenote: The Process Of Growth] + +Returning to the comparison of Burbank's methods with man development, +we perceive again how the principle of discriminative-selective training +is applied to accomplish the growth of certain characteristics needed +to assure a man's success. The plant wizard in his initial tests gave +to his undeveloped prune trees particular food and conditions and +treatment selected for the purpose of imparting specific qualities of +deliciousness. A prune _somewhat improved_ in deliciousness was +the first result. Then from the product of that _improved_ prune +he started _another_ cycle of development. He fed the selected food +of deliciousness to the improved prune tree, and a fruit _more_ +delicious resulted. His work was simply plant breeding by the +discriminative-restrictive method. Brain breeding is a similar process +of _particularized, cumulative_ development. + +[Sidenote: Begin With Specific Training of The Outer Man] + +All the foregoing rather complicated explanation of "psychological +processes" has seemed necessary to make a clear impression of the _right +training methods_ for building within you any quality you need to assure +your success. You must begin by training your _outer_ man. + +You can develop a particular mind-brain center (such as the center of +courage) only by the discriminative-restrictive training of those +portions of your _body_ which are directly related in activity and +responsiveness to that mind-brain unit of the multiplex YOU. Training of +_any other_ set of muscles will not develop the particular mind-brain +center you want to build up, and would be a wrong procedure. + +You should _begin_ with specific training of particular sets of _sensory +muscles_ because, as we have seen, that is the _natural_ order of the +process of growth. It is how you began to learn everything you know. You +can increase and improve your present limited, conscious knowledge most +effectively by taking into your mind from your _trained_ particular +senses _more and better_ impressions than you ever have taken in before. + +[Sidenote: Developing Persistence] + +Suppose your success has been hindered by your lack of persistence. You +need to develop _that quality_ in particular. Let us see how the +discriminative-restrictive principle should be applied specifically to +assure you of building _persistence_ within yourself. + +First it is necessary that you discriminate between _this one_ quality +and _all others_; especially between it and the quality of +_determination_. Very _different_ training methods are required to +develop persistence and determination respectively. When you are just +"determined" to do a thing, your jaw muscles, your arm and back muscles, +perhaps all your commonly known muscles, will be hardened _as long as +you remain determined, but no longer_. They will relax when the occasion +for determination has passed. The habit of instantly tensing your +muscles temporarily whenever you need to be determined will very greatly +strengthen and improve the efficiency of your brain-mind center of +_determination._ But that _temporary_ hardening of your muscles will +only slightly affect the development in you of _characteristic +persistence_. + +[Sidenote: Developing Determination] + +Hence the training of your muscles for building the habit of +determination within you should be concentrated on exercise in _changing +swiftly_ from comparative laxity to _muscular tension_. That is, in +order to accustom your _mind_ to hardening with _determined thoughts_ +whenever determination is needed, you should train your _muscles_ to +harden _in coordination_, and thus to support your mental determination +by the complementary _physical suggestion_ of the same quality. + +You do not need to use determination _all the time_; so it will be +sufficient if your muscles are taught to be _quickly responsive_ to +determination of mind on any occasion. (You know it helps you to carry +out a resolution if you stiffen your body at the moment you make up your +mind to do a thing, but _continued_ stiffness of the body in +determination would be a strain likely to weaken your power of action +unless backed by a tremendous, stored-up reserve strength of muscles.) +Begin your practice for the development of determination, then, by +training your muscles to tauten the instant you think determinedly. Your +brain-mind center of determination will also be strengthened by the +exercise that builds up the supporting habit of muscle action in +coordination. Millions of men have failed in life because their +determined thoughts were not reenforced by stiffened backbones. + +[Sidenote: Discrimination Between Determination and Persistence] + +Now let us discriminate between muscle training to develop the +characteristic of _persistence_ and the training already described for +the building of determination. In order to strengthen your persistence, +you must transmit through the distinct brain center of persistence to +the corresponding mind center, the impression of muscles _permanently +developed in firmness_, not just capable of temporary hardening on +occasion. + +The _characteristically persistent_ man has gradually developed his +lax-muscled, sagging, baby chin into a jaw that is habitually firm, +whether or not he happens to be determined to do anything at a given +moment. His muscles do not sag utterly, even when he is asleep. He +probably wakes up in the morning with his teeth clenched. So, whenever +his coordinated brain-mind center perceives that the quality of +persistence is required, and starts to apply it, the _mental impulse_ to +persist is backed by a _permanent firm muscle structure_ that can stand +up as long as the mind needs the physical support. + +[Sidenote: A Slump in Determination] + +In contrast, the man who is only characteristically _determined_, but +who lacks _persistence_ in his determination, has developed just the +habit of hardening his muscles _for the time_ he is determined on doing +a particular thing. That does not exercise his muscles sufficiently to +make them firm _all_ the time, whether under tension or not. +Consequently his determination is likely to slump if his resolution is +subjected to a long strain. He does not possess muscular structure +sufficiently strong to support persistence in his determination. + +_Habitual lack_ of firmness in the jaw muscles, as you know, results in +a sagging chin; which detrimentally affects the brain-mind center of +persistence. A man whose jaw habitually hangs loose may be capable of +great _determination_ for a while, but he is not _persistent in +character_. He might clench his teeth, stiffen his body, and plunge into +the surf to rescue a drowning person; but his first resolution to +effect the rescue would be weakened by the cold water and by fear. He +lacks the quality of the bulldog that will die rather than loose its +teeth from another dog's throat. + +[Sidenote: Muscles Express and Impress Ideas] + +The coordinated muscles _express_ the mental attitude, as we have +perceived; and equally they _impress_ the mind with _their_ attitude. If +you have a sagging chin, you are incapable of the mental bulldog grip of +persistence. So _tighten up your jaw muscles, and never let them hang +utterly loose_, if you are resolved to develop the characteristic of +"stick-to-it-iveness." _Begin_ with _muscle_ training, for your muscles +must be utilized to start the process of building up your brain-mind +center of persistence. + +[Sidenote: Developing Perception] + +When you train the particular sense muscles that transmit external +_impressions_ to a particular brain-mind unit (the same muscles that +reflexively _express_ the ideas of that one part of your multiplex ego) +you may be absolutely _sure_ of developing a particular related +characteristic. For example, if you want to sharpen your _perceptive_ +faculties so that you will see with the _eyes of your mind_ much more +than the _ordinary_ man perceives, exercise your _physical_ eyes in +taking snap-shots that you can see clearly in detail _with your +imagination_ when you look away from an object after a glance at it. Try +glancing at the furnishings of your room, then shut your eyes and +construct a mental picture. When this is definitely clear to you, open +your eyes. The reality will be very different from your imagined +picture. But _sharpen your perceptive faculties_, develop a "camera +eye;" then the reality will be exactly impressed on your mind. Witnesses +in court often contradict one another, in all honesty, simply because +their ability to perceive actualities is not highly developed. In +consequence, they get false mental impressions of happenings or things +they severally have seen. + +[Sidenote: Three Processes Of Mental Development] + +There are but three _processes_ of mental development: + +The first process comprises _getting information_ from a _sense_ to its +associated _brain center_, which then makes the _mind_ center conscious +that particular information has been transmitted to it. + +The second process is _organizing_ the information in the mind center, +with relation to _other_ information _previously_ brought to the mind. + +In the third process the mind center directs its co-related brain center +to send out certain _impulses of action_ to the corresponding muscular +structure. + +Let us analyze an illustration of these three processes of mental +development. Suppose first you _hear_ something that concerns a +particular prospect for your "goods of sale." Second, you comprehend the +_significance_ to you of what you have heard. Third, your mind directs +your muscles to make a particular _use_ of what you have comprehended. +The original mental impression has been _fully developed_ because you +employed all three processes. If you had not completed the cycle of +development, you would have given your mind only partial exercise with +what you heard. + +In order to become a master salesman, you must _take in_ many +impressions, perceive their _significance to you_ and how you can make +use of them, then _act_ on your comprehension of what you have learned. +There are countless failures in the world who might have been successes +if they had not stopped their possible mental development at the first +or second stages. + +A man might know an encyclopedia of facts, but be a failure. + +He might comprehend how to use his knowledge, and still be a failure. + +_Success comes only to the man who acts most effectively on what he +knows_. + +[Sidenote: Right Practice Of the Three Processes] + +In order to secure quick and effective results, the _practice_ of the +three necessary processes of development should be: + +First, _definitely conscious_. You need to _know just what_ quality you +want to develop in yourself. + +Second, _discriminative_. You must learn the _differences_ between what +you _want_, and what you _don't want_ to develop in particular. + +Third, _restrictive_. It is necessary that in your training to develop a +certain quality, you _concentrate_ your practice on the respects in +which this particular quality differs from other qualities. + +Most of us are pretty _definitely conscious_ of what we want. We know +just the qualities we would like to have. But very few people employ +most effectively the _discriminative-restrictive methods of training_ in +their processes of development. + +[Sidenote: Importance of Differentiation] + +It is impossible to develop a particular quality fully if you only +recognize its _likenesses_ to other qualities. _Real mental development +is accomplished only as a result of the recognition of differences_. +After studying twins for a year, you still might be unable to tell them +apart if you were impressed solely with their remarkable similarity to +each other. Another man, with a mind discriminatively and restrictively +trained to recognize differences, would learn in five minutes to +distinguish the individualities of the twins. + +Almost phenomenal development can be attained by use of the +discriminative-restrictive training method. The minutest distinctions +can be perceived if one concentrates his practice for mental growth on +the recognition of _differences only_. Individuals who have lost one +or more senses become extraordinarily adept in detecting contrasts with +their other senses. A normal man, possessed of all his senses, is +capable of even greater development of his powers of differentiation. + +You know how remarkably a blind man learns to "see" with his fingers +and ears. But need you lose the sense of sight before you can comprehend +the lesson of his example to you? You realize that you appear to lack +many essential qualities of success. Know now that these are all merely +_dormant_ in you. They can be awakened and developed to an +extraordinary degree if you train yourself consciously in the +discriminative-restrictive use of all your sense tools. You would do it +if you were blind. It certainly should be much easier to accomplish the +desired transformation with your eyes open to aid your other senses. + +[Sidenote: Whatever You Lack Now You Can Develop] + +The significance of all this is that you need not be permanently +handicapped in your sales-_man_-ship by any present lack of particular +qualifications for success. _It makes no difference what you happen to +be short of now_. By properly coordinating your brain-mind-muscle sets +or centers, and by using all three in the processes of your development, +_you can make yourself over almost miraculously_. Will power, courage, +exact and wise judgment, persistence, patience, rapid thinking, +constructive imagination--_any and all qualities you want_ CAN be +developed in you, even though they now seem not to exist. + +Your development is limited only by the practically limitless number of +unawakened cells in your brain. Most of your potential mind centers are +asleep yet. _You can wake up the slumberers with your various sense +muscles, and vigorously exercise them into activity for your success_. +You have been handicapped because you have been carrying so many +"dead-heads" that ought to be working or paying their way. + +_Remember that growth of any brain-mind center can be begun and +continued only by the exercise of the coordinated set of sense muscles +in transmitting impressions from outside yourself and in expressing your +thoughts_. + +[Sidenote: Your Limitless Brain Capacity] + +The number of cells in the human brain has been estimated at from six +hundred millions to two billions. The greatest genius who ever lived +doubtless had scores of millions of brain cells that remained more or +less idle, if not sound asleep, all his life. Nature has furnished you +with a plentiful surplus of grey matter in your head. Do not be afraid +that you will exhaust or tire out your brains by your self-development. +_Put into your work all the brains you can waken with your various +senses. And keep the alarm clocks wound up_. + +William James, the great psychologist, wrote, "Compared with what we +ought to be, we are only half awake. Our fires are damped; our drafts +are checked. We are making use of only a small part of our physical and +mental resources. There are in every one potential forms of activity +that actually are shunted from use. Part of the imperfect vitality under +which we labor can thus be easily explained. One part of our mind dams +up--even damns up--the other part." + +[Sidenote: Growth Can Be Assured And Success Made Certain] + +Can you become a big sales MAN? Of course! You have all the necessary +tools to make yourself over in any way you will--your muscles, nerves, +brain, and mind. Use them cooperatively, as they were meant to be used, +_in their respective sets_--not as if you were a mental-physical unit. +_To develop your sales manhood you need only to apply real thinking in +the processes of your daily life_. Study out the reasons and effects of +all your acts and expressions. Your experimental psychological +laboratory should be yourself, undergoing at your hands the +transformation from what you are to what it is possible for you to +become. Begin making your man-stuff over. Each successive step will be +easier to take. _Your growth, when you employ the right processes and +methods, is certain_. Therefore your success in making yourself a big +sales man can be _assured_. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +_Skill In Selling Your Best Self_ + + +[Sidenote: Practice Of the Art] + +If you have developed real capability and first-class manhood, you have +"the goods" that are always salable. But you realize now that the mere +_possession_ of these basic qualifications for success will not insure +you against failure in life. You cannot be _certain_ of succeeding +unless you _know how to sell_ true ideas of your best self in the right +market or field of service, and until you develop _sales skill_ by +continual correct practice. + +We will assume that you have had little or no selling experience. You +are conscious that you entirely lack sales art. Therefore, though in +other ways you feel qualified to succeed in life, you may be dubious +about your future. Perhaps you realize that _skill in selling_ true +ideas of your best capabilities is all you need to make your success +certain. But you question, "Can I be _sure_ of becoming a skillful +salesman of myself?" You have no doubt of your ability to _learn_ the +selling process, but very likely you do not believe you ever could +_practice_ it with the art of a master salesman. Consequently you are +not yet convinced of the certainty of your success. + +[Sidenote: Success Proportionate To Sales Skill] + +Of course success cannot be absolutely assured in advance unless _every +element_ of the secret we have analyzed can be mastered. Hence it is +necessary that you now be shown _certain ways_ to sell ideas--ways that +_cannot fail_, that are adaptable to the sale of _any_ right "goods," +and that _you_ surely can master. You need to feel absolutely confident +that _if you follow specific principles and use particular methods, you +can impress on any other man true ideas of your best capabilities_. When +you become skillful in making good impressions, you certainly will be +able to sell yourself into such chances to succeed as fit your +individual qualifications. + +_Your success with the best that is in you can be made directly +proportionate to your skill as a salesman of "your goods_." Mastery of +the art of selling will enable you to cut down to the minimum the +possibilities of failure in whatever you undertake. Remember that +_success does not demand perfection._ There never was a 100% salesman. +To be a success, you need only _make a good batting average in your +opportunities_ to sell. It is not necessary to hit 1000 to be a champion +batsman in the game of life. Ty Cobb led his league a dozen years with +an average under .400. + +[Sidenote: Technique And Tools] + +The _foundation_ of sales art is _knowledge of selling technique_. So +the first step in the process of developing your skill as a salesman of +yourself is the study of the _right tools_ for making impressions of +"true ideas of your best capabilities." You must know, also, the +scientific rules that govern the _most effective use_ of these right +tools. Technique, however, is only the _basic element_ of salesmanship. +On the foundation of your sales _knowledge_ it is necessary to build +sales _skill_ that will completely cover up your technique. Your +perfected sales art should seem, and really be _second nature_ to you. + +Your salesmanship probably will be crude until you overcome the +awkwardness of handling unfamiliar tools, or familiar tools in ways that +are new to you. But "practice makes perfect." The use of the right +technique in selling true ideas about your best self will soon become +natural. + +[Sidenote: Making Success Easy] + +The _skillful_ sale of ideas is accomplished _without waste of time or +energy in the selling process_. The unskillful, would-be salesman not +only fritters away his own time and effort, he also wastes the patience +and power of the man to whom he wants to sell his "goods." The sales +artist, however, gets his ideas into the mind of a prospect _quickly_, +with the least possible _wear and tear_ on either party to the sale. No +one appreciates a fine salesman so thoroughly as the best buyer. Skill +in selling true ideas about your particular qualifications will not only +_assure_ your success, but will make it _easy_ for you to succeed. + +[Sidenote: Docking Your Sales-man-ship] + +The skillful salesman is the captain of his own sales-man-ship. But in +order to make certain of landing his cargo of right impressions he takes +aboard the pilot Science to begin with, and then concentrates on four +factors of the art of selling ideas: + +First, _discovering and traversing_ the best channel into the prospect's +mind; + +Second, _locating the particular point of interest_ upon which the +salesman's cargo can be most effectively unloaded; + +Third, _maneuvering alongside_ this center of the buyer's interest; + +Fourth, _securely tying to_ the interest pier so that the shipload of +ideas may be fully discharged. + +The primary aim of the skillful salesman _when making port_ is to get +safely to the right landing place as soon as possible and with the least +danger of failure in his _ultimate purpose_ of completing the sale. At +this initial stage of the selling process, however, he concentrates his +thoughts on the _skillful docking_ of his sales-man-ship. The _nature of +the cargo_ a sailor ship captain brings to port has little or nothing to +do with the art of reaching and tying up to the pier. Similarly, +whatever his "goods of sale," the skillful _salesman_ uses the same +principles and methods to dock his salesman-shipload of ideas most +effectively in the harbor of the prospect's mind. So the _art_ you are +studying is _standardized_. When you master it, you can apply it +successfully to the sale of your best self or any other "goods of sale." + +[Sidenote: Reasoning And Argument Are Wrong] + +Before considering the methods of selling that are most effective, it +will be well to get rid of a mistaken idea that is all too common. A +great many people regard reasoning power, or the force of pure logic, as +an important selling tool. There are so-called salesmen who attempt to +"argue" prospects into buying. Unthinking sales executives sometimes +instruct their representatives to employ certain "selling arguments." +But the methods and language of the debater have no place in the +repertory of a _truly artistic_ salesman or sales manager. + +One debater never _convinces_ the other. At best he only can _defeat_ +his antagonist. In a skillfully finished sale, however, there should be +neither victor nor vanquished. The selling process is not a battle of +minds. There is no room in it for any spirit of antagonism on the part +of the salesman. So in your self-training to sell true ideas of your +best capabilities, do not emphasize especially the value of logic and +reasoning. If you use them at all in selling yourself, disguise their +character most skillfully. _Never suggest that you are debating or +arguing your qualifications_ with prospective buyers of your mental or +physical capacity for service. You cannot browbeat your way into +opportunities to succeed. + +Most employers buy the expected services of men and women in order to +satisfy their own _desires_ for particular capabilities. Few will buy +against their wishes. In order to sell your qualifications with certain +success, you first must make the other man genuinely _want_ what you +offer. Almost always _mind vision_ and _heart hunger_ must be stimulated +to produce desire. Therefore the most skillful salesman of himself does +not use the words, tones, and actions of argument. In preference to cold +reason and logic he employs the arts of _mental suggestion_ and +_emotional persuasion_. + +[Sidenote: The Force of Suggestion] + +Suggestion is especially effective in producing desire; because an idea +that is merely _suggested_, and not stated, is unlikely to provoke +antagonism or resistance. A suggestion is given ready access to the mind +of the other man. Usually it gets in without his realizing that a +_strange_ thought has entered his head from outside. When he becomes +conscious of the presence in his mind of an idea that has been only +_suggested_ to him, he is apt to treat it _as one of his own family of +ideas_ and not as an intruder. Naturally he is little inclined to oppose +a desire that he thinks is _prompted by his own thoughts_. However, he +would be disposed to resist the same wish if he realized it had been +_injected_ into his consciousness. + +All of us know the great force of suggestion; but there are very few +people who so use words, tones, and movements as to make the _most_ of +their power of _suggesting_ ideas in preference to _stating_ them. +Probably no tool of salesmanship will be of more help in _assuring_ your +success than fully developed ability in suggestion, which is the +skillful process of getting your ideas into the minds of others +_unawares_. + +[Sidenote: Words Are Doubted] + +The _words_ we use are intended to convey pretty definite meanings to +listeners. If we are entirely honest in our words, we expect whatever we +say to be taken at its face value as the truth. Yet each of us knows +that his own mind seldom accepts without question the statements of +other men, however well informed and honest they are reputed to be. You +and I mentally reserve the right to believe or to doubt the written or +spoken _words_ of someone else; because they always enter our minds +_consciously_. We know that the words we hear or read come from _outside +ourselves_. + +The skillful salesman proceeds on the assumption that his words will be +stopped at the door of the prospect's mind and examined with more or +less suspicion of their sincerity and truth. Therefore the selling +artist employs words principally for one purpose--to communicate to the +other man information about such _facts_ as cannot be introduced to his +consciousness otherwise. Some facts can be told only in words. But a +master of the selling process uses as few words as possible to convey +his meaning. He depends on his _suggestive tones_ more than on what he +says. He reenforces his speech with accompanying _movements_ and +muscular _expressions_, to get into the mind of the other man by +_suggestive action_ the true _ideas behind the words_ used. + +Similarly when you bring your full capability to the market of your +choice, you should not rely upon a mere _declaration_ of your +qualifications; and upon _word_ proof, written or spoken, that you are +_the_ man for the job. Your words are unlikely to be taken at their face +value. Any claims you have a right to make will be discounted heavily if +you _say_ very much about your own ability. You run the risk of being +judged a braggart and egotist when you _talk_ up your good points; +though you may be telling no more than the plain truth. + +[Sidenote: Tones and Acts Are Believed] + +However, if your _tones_ of sincerity and self-confidence denote really +big manhood; and if your every _act and expression_ indicate to a +prospective employer that you are entirely capable of filling the job +for which you apply, he probably will consider himself very shrewd in +sizing you up. Really _you_ have suggested to him every idea he has +about you, but he will think _he_ has _found_ in you the very +qualifications he desires in an employee. You can do more to sell +yourself by the way you walk into a man's office than you could +accomplish by bringing him the finest letters of introduction or by +"giving him the smoothest line of talk about yourself." He is able to +read the principal characteristics of the real You in your poise and +movements and in the manner of your speech. _He will believe absolutely +any characteristic he himself finds in you_. _What_ you say to him may +have little real influence on his judgment of you. But be sure that he +will note _how_ you speak; and will make up his mind about you from your +tones and actions, rather than from your words. He will think the ideas +you suggest to him are _his own original discoveries_. + +[Sidenote: Suggestion By Tones And Acts] + +Evidently, before you attempt to achieve success, it is very important +that you study the _art of suggestion_ by tones and actions. When you +know the principles, you should practice this art until you make +yourself a master of skillful suggestion. + +You need to know precisely the _effects_ of tone _variations_, the exact +_significance_ of the _various_ tones you can use. It is necessary also +for you to comprehend not only that "Every little movement has a meaning +all its own," but _just what that meaning is_. When you are equipped +with thorough knowledge of _how_ to suggest particular ideas through +tones and motions, you should practice using the principles and methods +of suggestive expression you have learned, until it becomes second +nature _always to speak and act with selling art_. Then you will be a +skillful salesman, sure of your power to sell true ideas of your best +capability wherever you are. Your success will have been made certain +through your sales _art_ built on the foundation of your sales +_knowledge_ by your fully developed sales _manhood_. + +[Sidenote: Discriminative Selective Method] + +Your increased selling _skill_ will result _naturally_, just as we have +seen that you will _grow_ naturally in sales _manhood_, if you employ +the discriminative-selective method when training your human nature in +the art of suggesting your best self. You need first to recognize the +exact _differences_ of significance among the various tones and +movements at your command. Then your self-training in suggestive +expression should be concentrated on the _particular ways_ of speaking +and acting that will best demonstrate your qualifications for success. +Of course it is equally important to _eliminate all tones and movements +that might suggest unfavorable ideas_ about you. To make sure of your +success, be certain that everything you do and say tells "the truth, the +whole truth, and nothing but the truth" about your capabilities. It is +necessary to make sure no word, tone, or movement carries the least +suggestion that might possibly leave a false impression of the real You. + +Let us make a brief analysis now of words, tones, and acts--_the three +means of suggestive expression which are the natural equipment of every +man for conveying his ideas to the minds of others_. You cannot employ +the discriminative-restrictive method to develop your selling skill +unless you know very definitely just _what_ your different tools of +expression are, and the almost infinite variety of _uses_ to which they +can be put. + +[Sidenote: Four Rules About Words] + +For the reasons already explained, words are of much less value than +tones and movements in suggesting ideas the other man will admit to his +mind unawares. But the sales efficiency of words can be very much +increased if they are chosen with intelligent _discrimination_, and if +the choice is _restricted_ to words that have four qualifications. + +First, they should be _common_ words. + +Second, _short_ words are more forceful than long words. + +Third, words of _definite meanings_ are preferable to mere +generalizations. + +Fourth, words that make _vivid_ impressions are most effective in +suggesting ideas. + +[Sidenote: Common Words] + +When you employ words to sell true ideas of your best capability, choose +words that everybody understands. Do not "air your knowledge" in +uncommon language. Unless you are seeking a position as a philologist in +a college, restrict yourself to every-day common speech when selling +your personal qualifications. An important element in the skillful sale +of ideas is making them as _easy_ as possible for the other man to +comprehend. If you use unfamiliar words, it sometimes will be hard for +him to understand what you mean. _The truly artistic salesman avoids +introducing any unnecessary element of difficulty into the selling +process_. So you should discriminate against all unusual expressions and +restrict yourself to the _common_ words that are easy for any man to +comprehend. + +[Sidenote: Short Words] + +A long word or phrase may convey your idea clearly, but _force_ is lost +in the drawn-out process. Remember that your _words_ will meet the +intuitive resistance of the other man's mind before they are admitted to +his full belief. You cannot afford to sacrifice the driving-in power of +the _short_ word. Therefore, when your opinion is asked, it will be +better salesmanship to say, "I think" so and so than "It is my +impression--" + +[Sidenote: Definite Words] + +The _definite_ word conveys a _particular meaning_ to the mind of the +other man, not merely a vague or general idea. Never say, when you apply +for a position, "I can do anything." That tells the prospective employer +simply _nothing_ about your ability. Particularize. + +[Sidenote: Vivid Words] + +It is of the utmost importance to make _vivid impressions_ with your +speech. You should employ words skillfully to produce in the mind of the +other man _distinct and lifelike_ mental images. He may not credit the +words themselves, taken literally and alone. But he will believe in _the +pictures the words paint in his mind_; because he will think he himself +is the mental artist. He will not be suspicious of his own work. If you +apply for a situation in a bank, and the cashier seeks to learn whether +or not you are safely conservative in your views, you can suggest in +vivid words that you have the qualification he requires. You will make +the desired impression if you say to him, "I always carry an umbrella +when it looks like rain." + +[Sidenote: Tone Meanings] + +Our analysis of the three means of self-expression turns now to _tones_. +Rightly selected words are tremendously augmented in selling power when +they are _rightly spoken_. Most men employ but a small part of their +complete tonal equipment, and are ignorant of the _full sales value_ of +the portion they use. The master salesman, however, practices the gamut +of his natural tones, and utilizes each to produce particular effects. +Thus he supplements his mere statements with _suggestive shades of +meaning_. The _way_ he says a thing has more effect than the words +themselves. + +Conversely tone _faults_ may have a disastrous effect on one's chances +to succeed. For illustration, ideas of mind, of feeling, and of power +can be correctly expressed by the discriminative use of particular +_pitches_ of tone. But a wrong pitch, though the words employed might be +identical, would convey a directly opposite and false impression. + +[Sidenote: Mental Pitch] + +Suppose you are appealing only to the _mind_ of your prospective +employer--as when you quote figures to him--you should restrict your +tone temporarily to the mental pitch. You are just conveying facts now. +Therefore the "matter-of-fact" tone best suits the ideas expressed. +Since it fits what you are saying, the way you speak impresses the other +man with the suggestion that _your tone and words are consistent_. +Therefore his mind has no inclination to resist the mental pitch on this +occasion. He admits your figures to his conscious belief more readily +than he would credit them if spoken in an emotive or power tone. Such +tone pitches would strike him as out of place in a mere statement of +fact. + +[Sidenote: Tone Faults] + +If your prospective employer asks how old you are, and how many years of +experience you have had, and you reply in a tone vibrant with emotion or +in a deep tone of sternness, the wrong pitch certainly will make a bad +impression on him. By employing an inconsistent pitch when stating +facts, you might "queer" your chances for the position you most desire. +The tone fault in your salesmanship would lie about your real character. +The man addressed would think you were foolish to use such a pitch in +merely imparting a bit of _information_ to his mind. He would expect you +to employ for _that_ purpose simply a _head_ tone, not a chest tone nor +an abdominal tone. The head tone, when used to convey matters of _fact_, +aids in convincing the _mind_ of the other man because _it is the pitch +that fits bare facts_--the tone of pure mentality. + +[Sidenote: When Mental Tone Should Be Used] + +This mental, or head tone, is most effective in gaining _attention_, in +conveying _information_, in arousing the _perceptive faculties_ of +another mind. _Restrict its use to these purposes only._ The mental tone +is not pleasing to the ear. It is pitched high. It suggests arguments +and disputes. It is the provocative tone of quarrels. So it should be +employed most carefully, with every precaution against giving offense by +its _insistence_. + +Avoid its use for long at a time. Its very monotony is apt to irritate. +The high pitch suggests a mental challenge to the mind of the other man, +and hence arouses his mental tendency to opposition. The unskillful +_over-use_ of head tones may ruin a salesman's best opportunity to gain +a coveted object. + +There are times, however, when it is necessary that you should +insist--briefly. If you do so _artistically_, and do not persist in the +high, mental, rasping tone; but change to the lower, emotive, chest tone +very soon after your insistence on the other man's attention, you will +not hurt your chances. It is the _continued_ use of the head tone that +is to be avoided. + +[Sidenote: Emotive Pitch] + +The _emotive_ (chest or heart) pitch dissipates opposition as naturally +as the mind tone provokes a quarrel. Even a hot argument can be ended +without any lasting ill-feeling if the disputants conclude with hearty +expressions of good will for one another. The same words spoken in head +tones would increase the antagonism by suggesting sarcasm or +insincerity. The resonant chest tone suggests that it comes from the +speaker's heart. The _hearer's_ heart makes _his_ mind believe the heart +message conveyed by the emotional pitch of the other man's voice. + +Therefore if you want your ideas to penetrate a man's _heart_, don't aim +your tone _high_ at his head. _Lower_ it to the pitch of true +friendliness, of comradeship, of human brotherhood. Aim at _his_ breast +with _your_ breast tone. Do not fawn or plead, however, when selling +ideas of yourself. You can persuade best by suggesting that you have +brought all your manhood to render the other man a real service. This +suggestion will induce a feeling of _respect_ for you, which will +certainly be followed by willingness of the prospect to let you show him +you are able "to deliver the goods." + +[Sidenote: Danger of Over-using Head Tone] + +Some people suggest by the over-use of head tones that they depend +altogether on what they _know_ to achieve success. They make the +impression that they expect their high degree of _mentality_ to open +chances for them to succeed. "They know they know" their business; so +when they secure opportunities to demonstrate their capabilities, they +emphasize too much what they _know_. They are apt to use the mental tone +continually. Perhaps the prospective employer needs a man of exactly +such knowledge as is possessed by the candidate he is interviewing. But +if when presenting his qualifications the applicant rasps the ears of +his hearer for a long time with high-pitched head tones, the listener +intuitively becomes prejudiced. He is impressed with the suggestion that +the speaker is a "know-it-all" fellow. The employer is likely to turn +down his application because of the unskilled tone pitch in which it is +made. + +[Sidenote: Sing-Song Parrot Talk] + +When a man has talked glibly and fast about superior qualifications he +knows he possesses, it dazes him if his exceptional capabilities fail to +win him the job for which he is particularly fitted. He cannot +comprehend why another applicant who plainly is not so well qualified +should be chosen. But his voice has suggested to the employer that +everything he said was just "parrot talk." Thousands of bright "parrots" +remain failures all their lives for no other reason than their utter +inability to get inside the _hearts_ of other men. The ordinary +canvasser who trudges from house to house with his "sing-song" patter +has grown into the bad habit of using head tones almost exclusively. As +a natural reflex of the unpleasant impression he makes with his voice, +it is a common experience to have a door slammed in his face. + +[Sidenote: Getting Around Mental Barrier] + +The master salesman comprehends that the _mentality_ of a prospect is a +barrier to his _emotional_ expression. That is, the mind is an alert +sentinel on guard to protect the _heart_ from its own impulses to +unthinking action. So the skillful salesman when making his "approach" +_goes around_ the mind side of the prospect to the emotional side, where +there is no hostile guard. He knows that "the hearts of all men are +akin," and that "the hardest heart has soft spots." He realizes it is +bad salesmanship to challenge the sentinel mind of the prospect in a +mental tone. So the salesman artist makes _his_ tone resonant with chest +vibrations that stimulate the direct response of the _other_ man's +heart. _He works at first to draw out fellow feeling, not to drive his +ideas into the head of the prospect._ + +[Sidenote: Talking Like a Brother] + +The mere presentation of _thoughts_, or _mental pictures_ of goods, is +not enough to induce a prospect to buy. The master salesman comprehends +that he has to deal with the _dual personality_ of the individual he +plans to sell. Therefore from the very beginning of his interview he +works to open the mind of the other man by first establishing a unity of +human feeling between his own heart and the heart of his prospect. He +uses the _emotive_ tone. He "talks like a brother." Of course he is +careful not to exaggerate this show of fellow feeling. He uses a +"hearty" tone without appearing in the least degree hypocritical. When +their _hearts_ are in accord, the other man is prepared to agree +_mentally_ with the salesman. + +[Sidenote: Power Pitch] + +The third pitch of your voice as a salesman is the _power_ tone. It can +be used skillfully to suggest that you have the force required to +succeed. It is the pitch that comes from deep down and that calls into +play the powerful abdominal muscles. It is not necessarily a loud tone, +however. Often it is low, with a suggestion of immense reserve strength +behind it. With the power pitch you can _command_ in a simple request +which, spoken in a higher tone, might be refused because it would lack +the suggestion of force. In order to succeed, you sometimes must employ +power. When a situation requires a demonstration of your strong +personality, augment the force of your words and acts by using the tone +pitch that suggests the power of the big muscles of your waist. + +[Sidenote: When to Use Power Tone] + +Employ the emotive tone to convey ideas of your truthfulness and honor. +Show your courtesy and kindness with the heart pitch; use it to manifest +your real desire to be of service to your prospect. But suggest your +solidity and capacity for good judgment by employing the pitch of power. +With its aid you can convince your prospect of the enduring quality of +your best characteristics; you can deny disparagement or doubt of your +ability; you will be able to brush aside unfounded objections; you can +compel respect. + +[Sidenote: Tone Units] + +The discriminative use of various _units_ of tone is as helpful in +making suggestive impressions as is the employment of character pitches. +The one-tone voice does not augment the force of words. "Yes" said with +but one tonal unit is not nearly so powerful as "Y-es" in two tones, the +second pitched low. A two-tone "Y-es" with the second unit high-pitched +suggests the very opposite of plain "Yes." It implies "No," or a +question instead of an affirmation. Sometimes it is advisable to suggest +"No" when the word itself if spoken bluntly would give offense. You can +convey the idea of skepticism or denial by using two tone units +skillfully pitched in saying "Y-es." + +While you ordinarily can double the effectiveness of your tone by using +two units, and you may treble the effect if you employ three (as in the +exclamation A-ha-a!), if you attempted to use more than three units of +tone in any ordinary circumstances you would be likely to appear odd or +fantastic, if not foolish. So be careful not to over-do the employment +of multiple tone units to stress your meaning. + +[Sidenote: Placing Tones] + +There is selling value, too, in the _placing_ of tones in your mouth. A +tone placed far forward indicates lack of thought and instability. It is +the tone we associate with "lip judgments." On the contrary, hidden +thoughts, unwillingness to tell all you know, are suggested by tones +placed far back in your mouth. The middle-of-the-mouth tone makes the +impression that the voice is properly balanced, and suggests the +associated idea of mind balance. Avoid the extremes in placing your +tones, if you would make certain of the most effective use of your voice +in selling ideas. Convince and persuade by employing the secure, +trustworthy tone of the "happy medium." + +[Sidenote: Bad Habits] + +_Undoubtedly you have little bad habits that tell lies about +you_--habits in the use of words, habits of tone, and especially habits +of action. When you fully understand the significance of _what_ you say, +and of _how_ you say it, and of the things you _do_--the effects +produced on other men--you will _start changing your bad characteristics +into good factors_ that will certainly help you to succeed. So study +yourself most carefully, in order to learn what your habits are, and +their meanings. + +[Sidenote: Significance Of Movements] + +Ordinarily a man is conscious of his words and tones, but he often +_does_ things unconsciously. Probably you realize only vaguely or not at +all just what your various _actions_ suggest to people who observe you. +Therefore it is of the greatest importance that you study the +significance of _discriminated movements, gestures, and facial +expressions_ as aids or hindrances to the making of true impressions of +your best capabilities. You should _restrict yourself to acts that make +the best impressions._ + +Movements, and their results, may be analyzed under three heads: _Poise, +Pose_, and _Action_. + +[Sidenote: Poise] + +It is a phenomenon of psychology that the balancing of the body suggests +mental balance. Conversely, if the body is out of balance, there is the +suggestion that the mind is no better poised. That is, if a man cannot +keep his balance physically, we have an intuition that he is mentally +off his equilibrium. Correct poise of course involves correct body +support, and suggests a rightly supported mind. _Hence you can make the +impression, merely by the way you stand and walk, that you are a person +of well-poised judgment_. You may hurt your chances very much if it +seems necessary for you to prop your body with your legs. The man who +stands with his feet wide apart is out of balance, and is easily tipped +over. The impression made by the incorrect poise is that such a man must +be unable to stand by himself like normal men. The law of the +association of ideas then immediately suggests that his thoughts are +similarly unable to stand unless propped. + +Incorrect poise of the body has another bad effect in the sale of ideas. +It makes the impression of _abnormality_. Being unusual, it distracts +attention from the salesman and his capabilities, and turns it to his +lack of balance. You realize that in order to sell your ideas +effectively you need the _concentrated attention_ of your prospect. It +will help you to succeed in life if you perfect yourself in the +skillful poising of your body and its members so that you will be able +to appear perfectly balanced in any normal position. + +If you teeter from side to side, or rock back and forth on your heels +when you are talking to a man whom you want to impress with your +stability of character, you will undermine everything you _say_ by what +you _do_. Of course you should not stand stiffly. Your leg posts are +designed to serve as a flexible pedestal for your body. Your ability to +shift your weight from one foot to the other easily without losing your +balance suggests associated capability of your mind to keep your +judgment in balance. If you have a correctly poised mind, it _can_ +balance your body. + +[Sidenote: Pose] + +The _poses_ of your body, too, are suggestive of ideas about your mental +make-up. The quiet pose aids in making impressions of the qualities of +solidity of purpose, of calmness, of confidence, etc. The active pose is +suggestive of enthusiasm, force, hustling, and the like. Your pose +should be suited to the vocation you have chosen. In a bank, for +instance, the quiet pose of assured efficiency perfectly suits the +atmosphere of safety and security. In a factory, on the other hand, you +are likely to make a better impression with a much more active pose that +matches the energy and speed of manufacturing operations. + +You should not, however, take any pose as a _pretense_. Whatever poses +you employ to augment the things you say should be used as _means for +the better communication of truth, not to falsify_ in any degree. And +you will need to be extremely careful lest you over-do a particular pose +and suggest affectation. Doubtless you have characteristic poses. +Analyze yourself. _Determine what your habits of pose mean to other +people_. Then make such changes in your characteristic poses as will +signify only the best traits you have. + +[Sidenote: Action] + +Next we will make a brief study of _actions_ from four viewpoints. + +First, the _lines_ of action; + +Second, the _directions_ of action; + +Third, the _planes_ of action; + +Fourth, the _tension_ or the _laxity_ of action. + +[Sidenote: Lines of Action] + +All movements are in straight, single curved, or multiple curved _lines +of action_. Each of these classes of movements creates a _particular +impression_ when it is perceived--an impression very different from that +produced by movements of either of the other classes. It will help you +greatly in your ambition to succeed if you understand the _exact +significance_ of your every action along the various lines, and if you +employ intelligently the right movements to suggest the particular ideas +you wish to convey. + +The straight gesture always indicates an appeal to mentality. Use it to +aim ideas at the other man's _mind_. + +The single curve, or wave movement, invariably denotes feeling. Employ +it to reach into the breast of the other man and influence his _heart_. + +The gesture of double curves signifies power. It should be employed to +_dominate_ both the mind and actions of the prospect--to _make_ him +_think_ and _do_ the things you will. + +[Sidenote: Directions Of Actions] + +The different _directions_ of actions also suggest various ideas. Your +selling purpose is to get ideas over from your mind to the mind of the +other man. It is especially important that the direction of your +gestures should conform to your sales intention. Every movement you make +to aid your purpose should suggest your mental action _toward_ the +prospect, or _away from_ yourself. It should signify that you are taking +something out of your mind and offering it to his. Of course you don't +_break into_ his head with your idea and force him to receive it. You +just bring it to the front porch of his mind. Then, if you have been +skillful in your salesmanship, _he_ will open the door of interest after +_you_ ring the bell of attention, and will permit your idea to enter his +thoughts. But he is unlikely to admit it unless by some indication +_from_ you _to_ him he knows what is expected of him. + +If you gesture toward yourself when expressing your thoughts, you do not +suggest to the other man that he take in your ideas. Instead you +concentrate his attention on your selfishness and your individual +opinion. The characteristic gestures of the typical old peddler are +displeasing because they are made in the wrong _direction_. He holds his +arms close to his body and gesticulates toward himself. He makes the +impression that he does not have your interest at heart in the least, +but only his own. + +[Sidenote: Affirmation And Denial] + +An up-and-down movement suggests something standing. It has the +associated significance of vitality or life. Conversely, a side-to-side +gesture suggests similarity to things lying down, lack of vitality, or +the death of ideas. By holding yourself erect you make a very different +impression of your energy than would be made were you to lean to one +side. You can affirm a statement by an up-and-down movement of your hand +or by a nod of your head. You deny suggestively with a horizontal +gesture or by shaking your head from side to side. + +[Sidenote: Levels of Action] + +The significance of action on different _planes_ or _levels_ is seldom +appreciated. The level of eye action is of especial importance in +suggesting particular ideas. + +When you look another person in the eye, you convey to him the idea of +direct mental energy. You suggest the straight action of your mind in +team-work with his. Your eye action on the same level indicates to him +that you are thinking on the _practical_ plane. + +[Sidenote: Lifting Prospect's Thoughts] + +But if your eyes repeatedly focus above the level of the other man's +eyes, you make the impression that you are an _idealist_ rather than a +practical person. What you say will not seem to him to apply directly to +his case. He will not feel the personal, or man-to-man contact of your +thoughts. Sometimes, however, it is important to lift your eyes when +talking to a prospect, in order to suggest that he lift his thoughts +from the level of mere selfishness. By your suggestive eye action on the +upper plane you may stimulate in him a higher vision of possibilities or +an insight into the future, if he seems inclined to take a strictly +practical view of his present needs only. + +When you look below the eye level of the other man, you indicate (1) +modesty, if the movement is directly down; (2) shame, if the movement is +a little to one side and downward; (3) disgust, if your eyes look far +down and far to the side. + +[Sidenote: Tensity and Laxness] + +The _tensity_ or _laxness_ of your muscles when you are in the presence +of a prospect will suggest to him very diverse ideas. Both tensity and +laxity of muscles can be used to good effect in selling. Your muscles +should appear somewhat tense when you are _presenting_ ideas, in order +to make the impression that your mind is fully active. Conversely, by +normal relaxation of your muscles when you are _listening_, you suggest +the receptivity of your mind and your entire readiness to take in ideas +from outside. When you show your muscles are relaxed, you also indicate +that you are perfectly at ease and unafraid of objections or criticism. +If you were to sit tense under criticism, you would suggest that you +felt the necessity of fighting back. But you disarm disparagement of +your capabilities when you appear entirely at ease while you listen. + +[Sidenote: Introduction To Study of Sales Art] + +The brief outline in this chapter of fundamental principles of selling +_skill_, and of the methods by which ideas may be conveyed through +artistic suggestion, is just an introduction to your study and +comprehension of the successive steps of salesmanship practice which are +to be analyzed in the remaining chapters of this book. The limitations +of our present space have made it impossible to do more than summarize +here the chief factors of art in selling ideas. You will need to master +the remainder of the book in order to amplify and to apply most +effectively in practice the general principles and methods that have +been outlined. + +Surely you now are convinced that skill in selling is not a vague +mystery, not a natural gift, not something impossible for _you_ to +attain. Every element of sales art can be analyzed in detail. You are +learning _exactly how_ to sell the true ideas of your best capability. +Practice of what you learn will perfect your salesmanship. + +[Sidenote: Success Certain] + +There is absolutely no doubt that you can master the right principles +and methods. By continual practice you surely can become skillful in +their daily use. When you make yourself adept in the art, you +_certainly_ will be able to sell your particular qualifications +successfully. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +_Preparing to Make Your Success Certain_ + + +[Sidenote: Be Ready When Your Chance Comes] + +Thousands of men have failed in life because they were not ready when +their best chances for success came. Some of these golden opportunities +slipped away unrecognized. Others, though perceived, could not be +grasped. The men to whom they were presented had not prepared to hold +and use such chances whenever they might arrive. + +_If you would make your success a certainty, you must get all ready for +it in advance_. Then you will not be taken unawares when you find your +big chance. If you are thoroughly prepared, you will sight it quickly, +realize its full value, and seize it with complete confidence in your +ability to make the most of it. + +Before you seek it, be sure of your entire readiness for the opportunity +you especially want. You can much better afford to wait a little while +for _certain_ success than to rush, unready, into the field of your +choice, risking the likelihood of failure that could be guarded against +by intelligent preparation to succeed. + +[Sidenote: Do Not Start Unprepared] + +A young man was offered a position of fine opportunity with a great +banking house. His ambition was to build his career in that particular +organization. But when the duties of the proffered situation were +explained to him, he declined to undertake them at once; though he +risked the chance that he might not get another such opportunity for +employment by the financial institution of his choice. + +"I am sorry," he said to the cashier, "but I do not know enough about +accounting to fill that job now. It will take six months of hard work +evenings to train myself to fit your needs. Please give me other +employment in the bank meanwhile, so I'll be able to study the job at +close range while getting ready for it." + +This was excellent salesmanship. The candidate suggested in his words, +tones, and actions that he recognized a real opportunity, that he +comprehended all it involved, that he was willing to prepare himself +adequately, and that he felt certain of his ability to fill the place +after completing the necessary preparation. + +The bank, however, was in immediate need of his services in the position +offered to him. So the cashier, who had been very well impressed by the +young man's attitude, told him to take the place, and offered to supply +him with an accountant aide for six months. + +[Sidenote: Keeping the Opportunity Open] + +"I would rather not," the applicant persisted in declining. "I mean to +keep on climbing toward the top in this bank, once I get started; and I +don't want to begin as a cripple. I couldn't give thorough satisfaction +now, even with an assistant on the accounting. It is not good business +for me to start by making a poor impression. I'd prefer that you do not +think of me as a man for whom excuses need to be made. I wish to +commence my work in that job, when I am ready, with your complete +confidence that I can handle it--not as a weak sister." He smiled +winningly. + +The failure of so skillful a salesman of ideas was simply _impossible_. +There is no getting away from such a high quality of salesmanship. The +cashier bought the present and prospective services of the young man who +had demonstrated _at the outset_ his comprehension of the _first +importance of preparation._ The opportunity was kept open six months for +the applicant in training, while he fitted himself for his future job. +This successful salesman of true ideas of his best capabilities is now a +vice-president of the great financial institution. + +"But," you say, "suppose the cashier had been unable to wait, would not +the young man's over-emphasis of his attitude on preparation have +_prevented_ him from succeeding in his ambition?" + +No! A single turn-down cannot cause the failure of a successful +salesman. If that cashier had not appreciated the worth of the +candidate, an officer of some other bank certainly would have had a +clearer vision of his value. The applicant might have been balked +temporarily in his ambition. The best salesman occasionally has to try +and try again. But a successful career for that young man was assured in +advance. From the very start he was "certain to get there." + +On the other hand, if he had risked making a disappointing impression in +his new job, he might have taken the first step toward failure. Suppose +he had begun the work for which he was unprepared, and then had made +serious mistakes due to his unfitness. His record would have been +blemished. His ability might have been questioned. He prevented such +possibilities by _making sure his preparation was adequate_ before he +accepted his big chance. + +[Sidenote: Preparation Should Be Two-fold] + +Your preparation for certain success must be two-fold. You need to +prepare yourself in ability first _to perceive_; then _to appreciate the +full value_ of what you see. Golden opportunities are all about you. If +you do not recognize them, or if you perceive but slight value in the +signs of rich chances to succeed, you will fail because of your +unreadiness. + +Many a farmer in Oklahoma cursed his "bad luck" after he sold a farm on +which a gusher was later discovered. But the oil had been there all the +time. The "luckless" farmer simply did not _perceive_ the indications of +wealth under his plodding feet; or, if he saw signs of oil, he did not +realize that they _denoted_ the possibility of millions. + +[Sidenote: Developing Perception] + +Perception can be broadened almost immeasurably. The physical eye, if +normal and thoroughly trained, is fitted to be "all seeing." _So can +your mind be made capable of widest vision over all the fields of +possible opportunity_. Some are within your present mental view, others +you can see only after going farther or climbing higher in knowledge. +The biggest possibilities of success cannot be comprehended in their +entirety by narrowed mental sight. + +The first essential of preparation to succeed is that you _open your +eyes fully, and look all around you_ for the opportunities within range +of your vision. There are so many _close at hand_ that your search would +better begin right where you are. Even if eventually you seek far for +the best chance to succeed, do so with thorough knowledge of what is +near by. Before you leave your present environment, have an intelligent +conviction that you are capable of a bigger or different success than is +to be found within your immediate reach. + +Also see and comprehend the especial _difficulties_ you will find close +at hand. It does not always pay to remain in "the old home town." Often +a young man needs to go to a community of strangers to gain +appreciation of his ability. It is likely to be hard for him to win +success among people who knew him as a boy and who still regard him as +immature. He may find it much easier to succeed in a neighboring town. + +It is possible to make the greatest success turn aside from beaten +paths, leave the accustomed haunts of the successful, and go to a place +where no such success ever before has been established. The Mayo +brothers compelled their success as world renowned surgeons to come to +them at the little city of Rochester, Minnesota. Elbert Hubbard brought +fame to East Aurora, New York, by founding there his school of +philosophy and the Roycrofters. + +[Sidenote: Over-specialized Preparation] + +Almost as common as the mistake of first looking far afield for success +opportunities, is the error of _over-particularizing_ one's original +preparation. If you think now that you want to be a lawyer, you should +prepare yourself especially by studying law, of course. But you should +not exclude preparation for other vocations. Judge Gary was thoroughly +prepared for legal practice. Doubtless when he began his studies of law +he expected to continue in his chosen profession. But he did not neglect +to prepare himself in general business capability. So when his biggest +chance came, he was ready to step out of his law practice and into a +manufacturing industry. There he fitted himself for the position of +chief executive in the immense United States Steel Corporation. + +The ability of a _master_ salesman is not limited to getting orders for +just one line of goods, or to selling only to certain buyers. He has +_all-around_ sales knowledge and skill. Though he naturally sells to +better advantage in some fields than in others, he can attain a high +degree of efficiency in selling anything meritorious, because of his +_broad and diversified preparation_. + +[Sidenote: Varied and Adaptable Preparation] + +Your preparation for all the possibilities of success you may be able to +reach hereafter should be similarly _varied_ and _adaptable_; though you +will be wise to specialize, in addition, by making more detailed +preparation for the vocation of your choice. At twenty the average man +cannot _know_ for what he is best fitted. He may not be sure even at +thirty. The start toward eventual success has often been delayed until +middle life. To cite my own case, I prepared myself especially for the +career of a certified public accountant, but found my greatest success +in the profession of selling. I was able to grasp my biggest opportunity +in the sales field because, though I had been devoting my time and +energies chiefly to accountancy, I had studied and practiced +salesmanship for years in order to market my own services most +effectively. + +_While preparing yourself for success, keep your mental eyes wide open_. +Perceive any and all chances about you, however much you specialize in +your preparation for a selected career. + +[Sidenote: Preparation In Salesmanship] + +Comprehend that preparation in _salesmanship_ is necessary, whatever +vocation you choose. Mastery of the selling process is absolutely +essential if you would assure your success in _any_ field of ambition. +Not only must you _perceive_ opportunities to succeed, but you also must +know how to _sell yourself into the chances_ you see. No matter how much +particularized knowledge you may acquire in preparation for a selected +career, your success will not be _assured_ until you are able to sell +your capabilities to the best advantage. You can neither perceive all +your possible selling opportunities, nor make the most of them when +seen, unless you learn the selling process and develop skill in the +actual sale of the best that is in you. + +Broad, varied knowledge is required as the foundation for certain +success. It cannot be built on a narrow or limited base. Evidently, +however, exactly the same amount of knowledge possessed by two men would +not make them equally successful. As already has been emphasized, +success is not assured by the mere possession of knowledge, _but by the +effective ways in which elements of knowledge are fitted to +opportunities_. + +[Sidenote: Abstract And Applied Knowledge] + +Your abstract knowledge may be valueless. In order to succeed certainly +_you must connect the things you have learned with particular people in +particular fields of activity_. When you have developed the power of +relating your individual ability to every imaginable _use_, your mental +eyes will be opened to many opportunities for success that you otherwise +might never perceive. Such an association of _what you know and can do_ +with the various ways your capabilities might be utilized will +tremendously augment your self-confidence. When you realize in how many +ways it is possible to use your especial talents, you will not be likely +to doubt your own _worth_. You will offer your qualifications for sale +with complete faith in their value to prospective buyers. + +[Sidenote: Insurance Against Undervaluation] + +Thorough preparation in _comprehension of values_ is the salesman's best +protection against a personal inclination, or an outside temptation, to +cut prices. If your preparation for your chosen career has been limited +to _gaining knowledge_, and you have not studied its true _worth_ to +every imaginable prospective buyer, you will be apt often to offer your +services for far less than their full value. Conversely sometimes you +will be likely to think your services are worth more than they really +are. You may fail to close sales because your price is too high. A +pre-requisite of good salesmanship is the _right_ price. _If your +preparation for selling your services has been thorough, you will +realize the exact worth of your knowledge and skill_. You will neither +suggest inferior value by quoting a cut price on your capabilities, nor +demand so much as to indicate the characteristics of displeasing egotism +or greed. _If you know what you are truly worth, you will make the right +price on your real value._ Then your self-confidence in your worth will +lend you power to convince the other man that your services would be a +good "buy" for him. + +[Sidenote: Seeing Into Opportunities] + +If you can imagine _all the various uses to which your ability might be +put_, you will appreciate the full value of every opportunity you +perceive. Not only will you see the chances for success that are all +about you, but you will _see into_ them. When your mind _catches sight_ +of success chances, they will look _familiar_ to you because of their +similarity to opportunities you _previously had thought about_ and +connected with your own qualifications. If you are prepared to perceive +and to appreciate fully each indication of a success opportunity that +comes within the range of your mental vision, you will promptly begin +working a chance "for all it is worth," as if it were a newly discovered +gold mine. + +[Sidenote: Service Purpose In Preparation] + +Possibly what you have read has unduly impressed you with the idea that +the salesman's motive in his preparation is selfish. So perhaps it is +well to pause here for the reminder that your primary salesmanship +purpose should be true _service_. You are preparing yourself thoroughly +in knowledge of your full sales value, _as a measure of success +insurance and self-protection._ It is not true sales service to give a +buyer value greatly in excess of the price quoted. It is right for you +to make sure in advance about your full worth. However, the obligation +to render service is the principal element of right salesmanship, and +should come before the objective of a good price. _Prepare then +primarily to serve your prospect._ Demonstrate your true service +purpose, and he will give secondary consideration to the cost of +engaging your qualifications for his business. + +[Sidenote: Pleasing Character] + +You can serve best if you _please_ in rendering service. Therefore +prepare your _self_, your _knowledge_, and all your _methods_ so that +from the moment you make your first impression on a prospective +employer, you will please him. Do not prepare for the interview with the +purpose of pleasing yourself. What _you_ like may be distasteful to the +man you want to impress. + +Since you cannot tell in advance when or where you may encounter a +prospective buyer of your services, you will not be safeguarding every +possible chance to succeed unless you wear your "company manners" all +the time. You always should dress carefully, act with painstaking +courtesy, and conduct yourself as if you might meet a rich relation at +any moment. You certainly can expect more wealth from "making yourself +solid" with Opportunity than you ever are likely to be willed by a +millionaire uncle. It will pay you much better to please Opportunity in +general than to ingratiate yourself with any person in particular. + +[Sidenote: Please Everybody Everywhere Always] + +"Company manners" that are just "put on" temporarily may be left off on +the very occasion when you would want to appear at your best if you only +knew that "The Golden Chance" was to be met. Therefore prepare to be +_characteristically_ pleasing to _everybody, everywhere, and all the +time._ Then, no matter where or when or in what guise you come upon +Opportunity, you will be sure to please with your _genuineness_. + +Innumerable great successes have begun with the making of a pleasing +impression on some one whose presence and notice were unknown. You +realize that your success is practically impossible if you displease. +Preparation to please is of first importance in getting ready to +succeed. Your success in the field of your especial ambition will be +assured if you win your first chance there by making an _initial_ +pleasing impression and then _keep right on pleasing_. + +Cultivate grace in your movements--for grace is pleasing to everyone. +Carry your body naturally, especially your head; with such a bearing +that total strangers will feel pleasure when they look at you. _Be a +person who pleases at sight._ It is not difficult. No matter what sort +of face you have, if it expresses habitually your pleasure in living, it +will look pleasant. A look of pleasure is pleasing to others. You like +to see some one else enjoying himself thoroughly. Everybody feels the +same way. Our own faces brighten when we come upon radiant happiness +anywhere. + +[Sidenote: Details That Please] + +Please others with your smile. It should not be just an affected smirk, +but a smile of _genuine friendliness for all the world_. Please by +wearing inconspicuous clothes that are faultless in taste, fit, and +cleanliness; and of a quality suited to your vocation. Show also that +you take good care of what you wear, for that makes a pleasing +impression. _You can please in your dress without arraying yourself in +expensive clothes._ Indeed, an over-dressed man is more displeasing to +Opportunity than is one poorly dressed. There can be no excuse for +foppishness, but a shabby neat appearance may be due to a good reason. +Please with the suggestion in your manner that you are getting along +well. Do not pretend false prosperity, of course; but _indicate that you +feel successful_. Any one finds it unpleasant to be in the company of a +failure. _If you would succeed hereafter, avoid making the impression +that you have not already succeeded._ "Success breeds success." + +[Sidenote: Courtesy And Politeness] + +Be courteous invariably. Learn and observe the rules of politeness. +Please by acting the gentleman always. Practice courtesy and politeness +in your own home to perfect yourself in these pleasing characteristics. +Then you will show them everywhere. Remember that the rest of the world +is made up of "somebody else's folks." Courtesy and politeness are not +natural attributes. In order to make yourself a master salesman you need +to _develop_ them to an unusually high degree. You may _intend_ to be +courteous and polite always, but only the development of the _fixed +habit_ will fully support your intention. + +You cannot be polite, however courteous you mean to be, unless you take +pains to prepare yourself with knowledge of the usages of polite people. +In order to be polite, it is necessary that you do not only the +courteous thing, but the _correct thing_. Your courtesy might displease +if it were unsuited to the circumstances. It would not be polite, for +example, to invite an orthodox Jew to dinner and then to serve him with +a pork tenderloin. Your intention to be a courteous host would not +lessen your offense against good manners. Your guest would be incensed +by your impoliteness, not pleased by your courteous intention. + +[Sidenote: Virility Pleases] + +No quality you have is more generally pleasing than virility--_your man +stuff_. Therefore on all occasions show yourself "every inch a man." +Moreover, act like a _he_-man. Never appear "sissyfied" in even the +slightest degree. Swing your legs from the hips when you walk; don't +mince along. The stride of a he-man is strong and free. If yours lacks +the qualities of virility, change your habit of walking. + +When you make gestures, move your whole arm. A wrist movement suggests +effeminacy. It is important, too, that you _train your voice to ring +with manliness_. Even a squeaky, weak tone can be made to suggest man +stuff if the words are spoken crisply, and the sentences are cleanly +cut. Do things with the _ease_ that indicates a man's strength, not with +evident effort. Perhaps you have not realized that by cultivating grace +in your movements you can make impressions of your man power. _Grace +means the least possible expenditure of energy in efficient action._ A +man can accomplish things with ease and grace that a child or a woman +would make hard work of and do awkwardly. + +[Sidenote: Pleasing Tones] + +A pleasing tone helps to assure one's success. You may think your voice +is a heavy handicap. Perhaps it is high pitched and squeaky; or, on the +other hand, a "growly" bass suggestive of ill-nature. Again it may be +faltering or hoarse. Such faults are not serious to a master salesman. +_If your vocal equipment is physically normal, your voice can be made +pleasing._ In order to make your tones agreeable, learn to vibrate them +naturally through your _nose_. A mouth tone is displeasing. The +so-called "nasal twang" that sounds so unpleasant is a mouth tone +_prevented_ from free vibration through the nose. Humming, as you know, +both _indicates_ pleasure and is a pleasant _sound_. It is produced with +the mouth closed, by a vibration of the bone structure of the face and +of the nasal cavities. Certainly, even if you have a disagreeable voice, +you can make your tones _hum_, and thereby render them more pleasing. +Adenoids that could be removed--even failure to keep the nose clean--may +prevent a man from succeeding. _Whatever hinders the free vibration of +tones makes displeasing impressions of the speaker_. When a man has a +bad cold in his head that blocks the nasal passages, his voice rasps the +ears of a hearer. + +[Sidenote: Avoid Giving Displeasure] + +Not only please by _doing_ things that give _pleasure_; also _avoid_ +doing _displeasing_ things. For example, when you say or suggest +anything to another person you want to influence, remember to be a +_salesman_ of your ideas. Do not make the impression that you are +_teaching_. No adult human being really enjoys being _taught_. Any grown +person likes to be treated as an equal, and to have new thoughts +conveyed to him without that suggestion of superior intelligence which +is characteristic of many teachers when dealing with pupils. Perhaps you +have heard Burton Holmes lecture. His enunciation is a delight in its +perfection, but he talks "according to the dictionary" so naturally +that his correctness does not sound a bit affected. You feel at home +with him. His diction is attractive to you. Another speaker practicing +the same exactness of pronunciation, but less artistic in selling his +ideas with words, might displease you by his scholarly accents. + +[Sidenote: Tact] + +Sometimes it is tactful to speak incorrectly, as a courtesy to the other +man. If in the course of your interview with a prospective employer he +should mispronounce a word, you would be undiplomatic to emphasize the +correct pronunciation in speaking that word yourself. It is not +dishonest, but truly polite to reply "My ad'dress is"--instead of +pronouncing the word correctly. Do not suggest by over-emphasis of right +speech that you wish to pose as one who is _conscious_ of his +superiority, however well you may realize that you are on a higher plane +of intellectuality. We all like a genuinely great man who does not hold +himself aloof. + +[Sidenote: Prepare For All Kinds Of Men] + +Prepare to meet not only strong men, but weak men; cautious men; very +proud men; greedy men. Be ready for reckless men, humble men, men who +live to serve others. Be aware in advance of the differences in their +_buying motives_. They will not all have the same reasons for giving or +for refusing you a chance. _Hence be prepared to adapt your salesmanship +to the characteristics of the various kinds of men you are likely to +meet_. Though you never should pander to an unworthy motive, study +different types of character and _learn how to fit your ability to the +peculiar or distinctive traits of possible buyers_ of such services as +you have for sale. Perhaps an easy-going employer will appreciate your +"pep" as much as would a hustler, but he won't like it if you seem to +prod _him_ with your energy. On the other hand, the employer who is a +hustler himself might be keenly pleased should you keep him on the jump +to stay even with you. + +[Sidenote: Success Insurance] + +Be thorough in _preparing_ to sell your capabilities; so that your +success may be _insured_. You ride on a first-class railroad with +confidence, feeling that every precaution for your safety has been +taken. You are at ease when you begin your trip; for you know that +track, train, and men in charge all are dependable. Because of the +complete readiness of the railroad for your journey, you count on +arriving safely at your destination. You have no fears that you may be +wrecked en route. + +Similarly you should make the most thorough preparation before starting +out as a salesman of the best that is in you. You have to grade your own +roadbed, and must yourself lay the rails over which your ideas in trains +of thought will be carried to the minds of other men. You are fireman, +engineer, brakeman, and conductor of this Twentieth Century Limited. +_Your destiny as a salesman of yourself is in the hands of no one +else_. Before you travel any farther, take all practicable measures to +assure your safe arrival, without delay, at the station of Success. + +[Sidenote: Start Confidently] + +When you are thoroughly prepared to sell true ideas of your best +capabilities, you should start with confidence that you will reach the +end of the line safely and on time. Don't attempt to "get there" before +making adequate preparation for success. Remember that a railroad does +not commence operating through trains until the track is finished. + +If you are prepared now for the actual start in salesmanship--if you are +packed up and ready to leave for your field of opportunity--ALL ABOARD! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +_Your Prospects_ + + +[Sidenote: Meaning of "Prospects"] + +If you were to be asked, "What are your prospects for success?" you +probably would answer by stating the things you _expect_ or _hope may +happen_. We commonly say that a certain man isn't rich, but he has +"prospects;" because he has a wealthy aunt who is very fond of him, or +he is employed by a business that is growing fast, or he owns property +which seems sure to increase in value, or some other good fortune is +likely to befall him. The literal meaning of "prospect" is "looking +forward." So most of us have come to think of our prospects as just +possible occurrences in the future, to the happening of which we may +look ahead with considerable hopefulness. + +"Prospects," in salesmanship has a very different meaning. The master +salesman does not regard himself as merely a "prospect_ee_," but as a +prospect_or_. He thinks of "prospecting" as the gold miner uses the word +to describe his activities when he searches for valuable mineral +deposits. "Prospects" do not just "happen" in the selling process of +achieving success. They do not result from circumstances merely, but +_must be accumulated by the activity of the salesman_. + +[Sidenote: Making Good Luck] + +"Your Prospects," as the subject of this chapter, does not mean your +fondest _hopes_, or confident _expectations_. We are studying the _ways +to assure_ your success. If your prospects depended on mere happenings, +they would be highly uncertain; because what you hope and expect may +occur, may never take place in fact. The master salesman does not depend +on such prospects. _He makes his own luck_ to a very large extent by +skillful prospecting; as the trained prospector for gold tremendously +increases his chances of discovering a rich lode by thoroughly and +intelligently investigating a mining region. We are to consider now the +prospects you are capable of _controlling_, the opportunities you can +bring within reach by your own exploration of possible fields of +success. + +We will study _particular things you can do, and exactly how to do +them_, to increase the number and quality of your chances to succeed. A +trained prospector for gold has more chances to strike it rich than a +greenhorn because he knows the indications of valuable minerals, and is +skilled in the use of that knowledge. So your opportunities for success +will certainly be increased if you know how to search for, to discern, +and to make the right use of your prospects. + +[Sidenote: Prospecting Not Gambling] + +Do not think, because we have compared prospecting in mining and in +selling, that the success of the salesman prospector, _your_ success, +must be largely a "gamble" anyway, as is the case with the explorer for +gold. However experienced and skillful in prospecting the miner may be, +he is very uncertain of discovering a bonanza. He cannot be absolutely +sure there _is_ gold in the region he explores, in paying quantities and +practicable for mining. Though he has every reason to feel confident of +the richness of a particular field, he may nevertheless be so +unfortunate as not to discover the gold lode or profitable placer +deposit. He is helpless to control the _existence_ of the indications of +success. They are predetermined by nature. By no effort of his own is he +able to increase or decrease the fixed quantity and quality of the +golden chances about him. He can only increase his _likelihood of +discovering_ gold. Even the most intelligent, skillful prospecting will +not make a miner's success certain. + +You, the salesman prospector for opportunities to succeed, are not so +limited. There are particular things you can do, and particular ways of +doing them, that will _assure your finding chances_ to make sales of the +best that is in you. If you learn the scientific principles of +prospecting for opportunities, if you make yourself highly skillful in +looking for and digging into the success chances that surround you +always, there will be nothing uncertain about your prospects to succeed. +You will know _surely_ that you _have_ prospects, just _what_ and +_where_ they are, and their _full worth_ to you. + +Of course, prospecting is only _part_ of the selling process; so your +knowledge and skill as a prospector will not suffice to guarantee your +_complete_ success. However, at this preliminary stage you can be +certain that your search for rich chances to succeed will not be a +barren quest. + +The present chapter will help you to make sure of gaining for yourself +such opportunities as lead to complete success in the field of your +choice. We will observe and understand how the skillful salesman +prospects for the purpose of increasing his sales efficiency. We will +study the principles and methods of prospecting he uses successfully; +for his practices, applied to your job of selling yourself, will +certainly improve your chances to succeed. We will see also how your +very best prospects can be _created_ by masterly salesmanship. + +[Sidenote: Hard Work Necessary] + +At the outset comprehend that no other step in the selling process +involves so much _hard work_ as you will need to do in order to find all +your possible chances of success and to make the most of them. It is +necessary that you look _intelligently_, most _earnestly_, and +_constantly_. You must expect to spend a great deal of time and energy +in your quest for prospects. So it is essential to your success as a +prospector that the investigation of your field of opportunity be +carefully _planned_ in order to make the most effective use of the time +you spend prospecting. It is vitally important, too, that you develop +sufficient physical stamina to do a tremendous amount of hard work. The +gold miner has little chance to discover the bonanza he seeks if he +searches only a few days or weeks, or if he lacks the strength and +endurance required for making a thorough exploration of the mineral +region. Similarly it may take a master salesman months of unremitting +toil to prospect a sale that he then is able to close in an hour or two. + +[Sidenote: The Food of Salesmanship] + +_Prospecting supplies the food of salesmanship._ The salesman thrives if +his prospecting is sufficient and good. He grows thin and weak to the +point of failure if it is bad, or inadequate in quantity. Every salesman +should realize that prospecting furnishes the nourishment for +salesmanship, but some so-called salesmen do practically nothing to +ensure themselves an abundant food supply. They merely absorb the tips +that come their way. Like sponges they sop up the limited quantity of +selling chances they happen to get. That is not the way to feed one's +ambition with opportunities. + +Comprehend that you must _seek actively_ for your best prospects. You +should not stop searching until you find what you are looking for. +Myriads of men have failed because they did not make _an earnest, hard +effort to discover chances_ to succeed, or because they _did not persist +in the exploration_ of their fields of opportunity. You know that other +men no more capable than you are succeeding all about you. Certainly, +then, _your_ chance _exists_. Seek it in your own thoughts and in the +circumstances of your every-day living. Put a great deal of time and +toil into your search. You cannot afford to loaf on this preliminary +job. + +[Sidenote: Prospect Continually Act Quickly] + +_Every moment you are awake should be used in prospecting_; unless it is +required for some other part of the process of assuring your success. +There is no keener pleasure than the eager, continual search of a miner +for gold and of a master salesman for possible big buyers. It is +necessary that you feel their thrilling zest for discovery; that you +develop their unflagging energy; that you be fired by their ardor for +the quest. In order to be a highly successful prospector you will need +especially a quality they have in common--"pep." + +How eagerly the miner prospector drinks in every bit of news he hears +about a new strike! How alertly the master salesman listens to casual +gossip that holds a clue which may lead to a sale! But the miner and the +salesman prospectors would not benefit in any degree by what they learn +through their perception of prospects if they did not then _act_ +intelligently upon the clues secured. Not only should you keep your +eyes and ears open for indications of opportunities to succeed, but you +should be ready in advance _to take instant advantage_ of any you may +discover. What a fool a miner would be if, after finding rich prospects +of gold, he were to lose his chance to someone else because he did not +know how to file a mining claim! Could there be a greater failure in +salesmanship than learning about a big contract to be let, and being +unprepared to bid on it? Before doing any _outside_ prospecting, be sure +you know what you have _in you_. Make certain of your ability to take +full advantage of your chances to succeed when you come upon them. + +[Sidenote: Little Doors To Big Success] + +Prospects that seem at first glance to be hardly worth following may +lead to other prospects. Merely because your ambitions are _big_, do not +neglect a chance to make a _little_ success. Investigate completely +every minor prospect you find. Until you look into it thoroughly, you +cannot be sure of all that a clue holds. The indication of an +opportunity that seems of slight importance may possibly lead straight +to the bonanza lode. + +An elevator boy in an office building made up his mind to rise +permanently in the world; to get out of the vocation in which he was +just going up and down all the time without arriving anywhere in +particular. He prospected the tenants of the building, learned all he +could about them, and determined who were the biggest men. He studied +the directory, asked questions, and finally selected the one big +business man to whom he was resolved to sell his capabilities. + +[Sidenote: Persistent Effort After Prospecting] + +This man was known to be unapproachable. So, instead of attempting to +interview him, the elevator boy prospected to discover his +characteristics. He found out exactly what qualities were most likely to +please his intended employer. Then he cultivated the tone, manner, and +habits of action that he felt certain would impress the difficult +prospect most favorably. It took the resolute elevator boy nearly a year +of continual, skillful work to make the big business man notice him and +distinguish him from the other elevator boys. Six months more were +required to develop the big man's attention into thorough interest. But +at the end of a year and a half of faithful prospecting, the ambitious +youth gained his selected, self-created opportunity to succeed. There +was no stopping him after he got his start. In less than a decade he had +sold his qualifications so successfully to a group of powerful +financiers that he, too, had become a multi-millionaire. + +This illustration of persistent effort to gain a desired chance should +help to keep you from becoming discouraged about your prospects for +success. Bear in mind the old, familiar motto, "If at first you don't +succeed, try, try again." Stick to your prospecting when you know you +are on the right lead. It has been estimated that the busy bee inserts +its proboscis into flowers 3,600,000 times to obtain a single pound of +honey. But the bee is the only insect, remember, that _lives on honey_. + +[Sidenote: No Poor Territory For Success] + +The poor salesman is apt to complain that his territory is poor. _The +good salesman makes any territory good._ So in prospecting your field of +immediate opportunities, make the best, not the worst, of your present +circumstances. The star base-ball player does not refuse to play on the +small-town team because it isn't good enough for him. The great Ty Cobb +first made them "sit up and take notice" in a bush league. Undoubtedly +he felt then that he was fit for better company, but he put in his best +licks and played big-city ball on the small-town team. That was +excellent prospecting for the chance he wanted with the best clubs. From +the very beginning of his career, Ty Cobb has used masterly salesmanship +to get across to the world true ideas of his best capabilities in his +chosen field. + +_To-day there is no poor territory for success._ Telegraph and telephone +and wireless methods of communication, electric light and power, +railroads and inter-urban car service, farm tractors, passenger +automobiles, motor trucks, and the airplane have so revolutionized the +inter-relations of men that all the former great distances of different +locations and view-points have been shortened almost to nothingness. +The whole world lives now in a single community of interest. The great +war has taught us that each individual is close to everyone else. In +your prospecting for success you are not limited by any narrow boundary +of opportunities. Wherever you are, newspapers and magazines bring to +your door chances for big success. If you search for prospects in +everything you read you should be able to reach out all over the earth +with your capability. An ambitious man I never had heard of before wrote +to me at one time from South Africa to secure a selected territory for +the sale of automobiles in a western city of the United States. From a +distance of nearly half the circumference of the earth he got his chance +to succeed. + +[Sidenote: The Fields of Opportunity Are Broad] + +A clerk in a Los Angeles real estate office received a letter from an +acquaintance in Chicago who had spent his summer vacation in Michigan. +The Chicago man wrote that the farmers of the Traverse Bay region were +made rich by a bumper crop of potatoes just harvested. The Californian +saw a chance for success in this bit of information. He worked out his +idea and talked it over with his employers. He sold them on it. They +sent him East loaded with facts about "the glorious West" and brim-full +of Los Angeles peptimism. Aided by cold weather in Michigan that winter, +the western real estate man eventually sold California irrigated +ranches to a score of Michigan farmers who suddenly had made sufficient +money to retire from potato raising, and who were old enough to be +strongly attracted by the idea of owning and cultivating land in a more +genial climate. Thus a sentence in a letter led straight to the success +of the clerk who perceived his prospects and knew how to make the most +of them. + +[Sidenote: Know Local Conditions] + +While distances have been bridged by modern swift means of communication +and transportation, every locality has opportunities for success that +are peculiar to it alone. Conversely every locality is handicapped in +certain ways. Therefore in your prospecting for success _study the +conditions in your especial field_. As a salesman of yourself, you +should know your "territory," its advantages and disadvantages in +particular respects. Men are doing business in your town. There is no +better way to gain a prospect to succeed with a house in your home +community than to demonstrate to the head of the concern that you +comprehend just what he is "up against" on the one hand, and on the +other what "edge" he has on businesses in the same line located +elsewhere. You could make no worse mistake, you could injure your own +prospects no more, than by showing ignorance of local conditions, or +inappreciation of the circumstances in which your prospect's business is +being conducted. + +[Sidenote: Turn to Account What You Learn] + +Not only should you know as many facts as possible regarding +opportunities in your chosen field; it is even more important that, by +the use of your _imagination_ you relate these facts to _practical ways +of turning them to account_ for your benefit. In order to derive the +maximum of benefit from your prospecting, you must make the _best use_ +of every item of knowledge you gain. Sometimes the mere _possession_ of +particular knowledge will increase your chances to succeed. But almost +invariably you can multiply the value of what you learn if you _prospect +in your own mind for ideas_ about putting the facts to the most +profitable use. + +Do not forget that the primary object of true salesmanship is service to +the other fellow. Therefore _prospect your own thoughts with the purpose +of making what you know especially valuable to some one else_, your +intended employer for instance. In every step of the selling process you +should think first of how you can serve your prospect with something +that he lacks and needs. + +[Sidenote: Prospect Needs] + +Surprisingly few young men who go into business prospect their fields of +opportunity to learn what is most wanted there. The great majority take +up special professions or enter selected industries just because _they_ +wish to do chosen things. The master salesman, however, _adapts himself +to the circumstances and requirements of his customers_, even at the +sacrifice of his personal inclinations. He could not succeed if he sold +only what he wanted to sell, or if he confined his salesmanship efforts +to a limited number of buyers because he liked them and disliked others. +In order to assure your success, _you must learn to like to do what is +most needed to be done, and learn to like to serve whoever lacks what +you can supply_. Therefore prospect your fields of opportunity to learn +what capabilities are principally needed. If you would make your success +as easy as possible, look about you first to determine the demand for +such services as you are able to render. + +[Sidenote: Sometimes Go The Round-About Way] + +Perhaps your prospecting will indicate that it is advisable for you to +go a round-about way to your goal of ambition; because the direct route +is beset with great difficulties. A young doctor wished to specialize in +bacteriology. He realized that it would take the savings of a great many +years of general medical practice to equip a complete laboratory of his +own. Accordingly he discontinued the practice of his profession; though +he went on with his studies. He engaged in business for five years. Thus +in a comparatively short time he earned the money he needed to enable +him to devote the rest of his life to bacteriological research. + +[Sidenote: Racial Characteristics] + +Different territories or fields of opportunity have _various +characters_, like different people. It is important to study especially +the racial types you are likely to encounter. Many a man has attained +success by accumulating discriminative knowledge regarding the national +peculiarities of the Latin peoples, Slavs, Teutons, Anglo-Saxons, +Magyars, etc. + +The Italian has strong likes and dislikes in colors and patterns of +goods. To be a good salesman in dealing with him, you should know his +preferences and prejudices. If you learn what colors and patterns are +most favored in the "Little Italy" of your city, you may be able to +employ this bit of knowledge to help you very much in influencing your +fellow-residents of Italian descent. + +You are aware of the effect produced on the majority of Irishmen by the +color green. But take care to learn whether the Irishmen whose political +help you would like to win are from the South or the North of the +Emerald Isle. They may be Orangemen, and you might "queer" your +prospects by going among them wearing a green necktie. + +_Learn your facts with discrimination; then use them restrictively in +the circumstances where they will be most effective in promoting your +success._ + +[Sidenote: Temporary Conditions] + +Prospect to learn not only permanent conditions in your field of +opportunity, but also any _temporary_ conditions that might affect your +chances to succeed. Mental and emotional "waves" sweep over the country +and over local communities at times. Billy Sunday's revivals in various +great cities brought success opportunities to particular businesses, +but had injurious effects on others. You should take such factors into +account when studying your prospects. + +The manufacturers of that successful innovation, the "Service Flag," +took advantage of the sudden demand for such an emblem. When war came, +they saw into the future and perceived a new lack. But the need for +Service Flags was temporary. Before the war ended they were displayed +everywhere. To-day none are seen. + +Now there has come into existence The American Legion, which seems +certain to be a great political and social power in the United States +for generations, as was the G.A.R. after the civil war. Any man who +hopes for political success in the course of the next thirty or forty +years must prospect the thoughts and feelings of the veterans of +1917-18. + +[Sidenote: Analyze Individuals] + +You will have _specific_ as well as general prospects. Hence it is +essential that you supplement your study of conditions with the +_analysis of individuals_. Study men with the greatest care, especially +the one man or group of men upon whom you want to impress ideas of your +capabilities. Learn all you can regarding the personal characteristics +of the individual to whom you hope to sell your services or "goods." +Your knowledge of his traits and peculiarities, your familiarity with +his life purposes and hobbies, may assure you a chance to succeed with +him that otherwise you could not get. A friend of mine is the president +of a big ice company, but he is not so much interested in cooling +people's food as in warming their hearts with his genuine brotherhood +for all men. There isn't much prospect for anybody to sell him "a cold +business proposition," even though he is a dealer in ice. + +[Sidenote: Hobbies] + +Do not, however, make a "hobby of hobbies." Only the _big_ hobbies of +your man are worth especial study. Never harp on any of his little +idiosyncracies. He may be sensitive about being eccentric. It is bad +salesmanship to _pretend_ an interest in another person's whims. You +cannot use his hobbies to help your prospects _unless you share his +feelings_ to a considerable degree. My friend who believes and practices +the doctrine that all men are brothers would be sure to detect quickly a +false humanitarian bent on a selfish purpose to exploit his hobby. + +As already has been emphasized, the object of the good salesman when +prospecting is to discover the lacks of men who might benefit from the +things he has to sell. If you are looking for your prospects with that +_service_ purpose, you have taken a long preparatory step in the process +of selling your qualifications. Find the employer who _needs_ your best +ability, and your success will be assured the moment you get into his +mind the true idea that you are the man he has been looking for. + +[Sidenote: Prospect Lacks] + +Undoubtedly you know men to whom success has come because they made +other men realize they fitted into particular needs. A young +acquaintance of mine foresaw that a manufacturer would want an assistant +within a year or two; though the executive himself was unaware that he +was developing such a need. My acquaintance got a minor job under him in +order to make a good impression in advance. Long before the head of the +business realized that he was breaking in a confidential assistant, the +young man had qualified for the position he had perceived in prospect. + +Your chosen employer may not know of the lack that you have prospected +in his business. He may not have the least idea that he wants you. +Prospecting his needs is part of _your_ job as a salesman of yourself. + +An expert accountant sold himself into a fine position as the auditor of +a great corporation by anticipating that the Company would need to have +its system of book-keeping revolutionized in order to prepare for the +Federal income tax. He prospected what was coming to that business; then +sold the president comprehension that he lacked an expert accountant he +was going to need badly before long. + +One of my own experiences as an accountant illustrates the value of +specific prospecting. When I was studying accountancy, I bought every +authoritative publication on the subject. For one set of forty books I +had to send to London. Each volume related to the peculiar accounts, +terms, etc. of one business. There was a book on brewery accounting, +another on commission house accounting, and so on through the list of +forty businesses. To each volume I afterward owed at least one client. +For instance, I got a commission to make a cost survey for a tobacco +company, largely because I was able to convince the president that I +knew a good deal about the tobacco business. I talked intelligently to +him regarding the processes of his industry. + +[Sidenote: Reasons Behind Habits] + +When you prospect an individual's personal qualities, traits, or +hobbies, do not stop after learning the facts. Study out the _reasons +behind_ habits and opinions. It may help you only a little to know that +your intended employer is a Republican or a Democrat; that he is +conservative or radical in his social opinions. But your chances of +success in dealing with him will be greatly increased if you know +exactly _why_ he belongs to one or the other political party, and the +_reason_ he is a "stand-patter" or a "progressive." Use knowledge of +why's and wherefore's with the skill of a salesman bent on securing an +order from a prospective buyer. But be sure you get the _fundamental +facts_, for often "appearances are deceiving." + +[Sidenote: Your Personal Responsibility] + +When you look for prospects in your selected field of +service-opportunities recognize your _personal responsibility_ for the +successful development of the chances you find. Before you begin +prospecting, realize that _what you make of your opportunities is solely +up to you_. Assume all the responsibility for your own success; then you +will have no excuse to blame any one else if you fail. Should things not +go as you wish, say "It's my own fault," and feel that way. _The true +salesman never apologizes to himself._ So if you have not found your +prospects, or if you have not made the best use of the chances you have +discovered, kick at the man who is responsible. Don't get sore on the +world at large. + +[Sidenote: Follow-ups] + +Perhaps what has been said thus far has over-emphasized the process of +prospecting for the _first_ chance to succeed. Maybe it suggests to you +that if one can get an opening, the hardest part of the effort to assure +success will have been accomplished. But a successful career in +salesmanship is not built on single orders closed. The master salesman +keeps on selling the same buyer and develops him into a steady customer. +He continues all the while to prospect the needs of that buyer, just as +thoroughly as if he were planning his first approach. + +_Your initial success should be completed by after-service._ In order to +continue progressing toward your goal, you must "deliver the goods" +right along. You cannot keep your success growing unless you prospect +unremittingly for more and better opportunities to render service. Give +satisfaction in larger amount and improved quality from month to month, +and year after year. If you would continue to succeed, look ahead always +for more prospects and _seek in each of them new chances to broaden your +usefulness_. + +[Sidenote: The Art of Prospecting] + +If you prospect _skillfully_ (with art), your chances to find what you +seek will be remarkably increased. So look for your prospects +_cheerily_. Be _frank_ and _expressive_ in your quest. Show your +_sympathetic_ side, and thus appeal to the _kinder_ tendencies of other +people. The best way to avoid the world's coldness is by _warming_ +everybody you meet with your own cordiality. Be _courteous_. Especially +cultivate the art of talking _with_ people instead of _at_ them. Use +_tact_ and _judgment_ in dealing with your prospects. + +Thousands of men are shut away from the open minds and hearts of others +by doors of concealment and reserve. You need to open such doors. You +can do it only by frankness on your own part, which will induce people +to feel like telling you their secrets. Frank expression of your +opinion, provided it has a sound foundation, will often draw out the +hidden opinions of others and reveal to you prospects that you might +never discover unaided. Do not, however, be dogmatic or arbitrary in +saying what you think. Speak your beliefs casually. Then you will not +discourage those honest differences of opinion that enlighten one's own +ideas. + +Rid your face of sharpness if you would be a good prospector for your +best chances to succeed. Avoid "the cutting edge" in your voice and +manner when you make inquiries about opportunities you seek. You are +likely to be most effective in prospecting if you _cultivate an easy +attitude of friendliness_. The master salesman does not set his jaw when +prospecting. He uses curved, instead of straight line gestures to +supplement his words. He suggests a "ball-bearing" disposition, not +"corners." + +[Sidenote: Sympathetic Attitude] + +Be a good mixer when looking for your prospects. Learn the art of +_companionship_. The first essential is fellow feeling. Therefore do not +go about with a chip on your shoulder, but with your face a-smile and +your palms open to offer and to receive hand-clasps. Sympathize with the +ambitions of other men, with their hopes and dreams. Remember that each +part of every work of man, however substantial and enduring it now may +be, was once no more than a figment of the imagination of some one's +mind. So do not be altogether "practical" when prospecting. It is a +mistake to neglect to prospect visions. + +[Sidenote: Have a Leader] + +When the master salesman prospects, he uses very effectively a "leader" +idea. You know how aggressive stores advertise leaders that draw trade +in other things. Your prospecting of your various capabilities should +enable you to decide which of your qualifications will make the most +effective leader in the case of a certain employer. Do not expect him to +perceive _all_ your merits immediately. Concentrate his attention and +interest on _one or two elements_ of your fitness to fill his especial +needs. Prospect to make sure which of your possible leaders would be +most likely to influence him in your favor. Then _use these selected +elements of your character very prominently_ to open the door of your +initial chance. Countless successes have been founded on well chosen +leaders. + +A little bake shop in Chicago competes successfully to-day with a great +chain-store company that has an immense establishment directly across +the street. The shop sells as its leaders home-made English tarts that +no chain-store could supply. These draw buyers for groceries and other +goods the chain-store sells much cheaper, but which the purchasers of +tarts order with their pastry rather than cross the street and divide +their marketing. + +[Sidenote: Summary] + +Now let us summarize "Your Prospects." They are not far away nor far +ahead in time. They are in your own hands right now. You _cannot fail_ +in life if you recognize and use most effectively all the opportunities +available to you at present. You suffer from no lack of chances to +succeed. You only need to open your physical eyes and the eyes of your +mind to _see_ fine prospects every day. Then if you _imaginatively +relate your abilities to what you perceive, and plan how you can fit +yourself into a chosen place of real service_, you will have begun the +selling process successfully. At the outset of your career it is +possible for you to reduce difficult obstacles to temporary set-backs +that you can get around or overcome. + +[Sidenote: Success A Matter Of Fractions] + +There is only a narrow margin of difference between success and failure. +_Success is a matter of fractions and decimals, not of big units_. A few +thousand American soldiers and marines turned the tide of German victory +at Chateau Thierry. "It is the last straw that breaks the camel's back." + +If you _begin_ the selling process by the finest prospecting, and _keep +on_ with equal effectiveness throughout all the following steps of +salesmanship, you will gain so many more chances than you otherwise +could get that _your success in the end will be assured_. The master +salesman works with _certainty_ that he will secure his quota of orders. +He knows in advance that he will succeed; _because he knows sure ways to +sell_. + +Good prospecting is just a natural process, intelligently comprehended. +It is neither mysterious nor hard. It is one of the preliminary, +understandable ways to make success not only _sure_, but _easy_ to +attain. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +_Gaining Your Chance_ + + +[Sidenote: Getting Inside The Door] + +We will assume that you have qualified yourself to succeed; that you +have developed your best capabilities in knowledge, in manhood, and in +sales skill; that you have completed the general preparation necessary +to assure your success in marketing your particular qualifications; and +that you also have learned how to find and to make the most of your +prospects. After these preliminaries you are ready to take the next step +in the selling process, and to begin putting your capabilities, and what +you have learned from preparation and prospecting, to _specific use in +actual selling_. + +In order to succeed, you must not only be _qualified_ for some +_particular_ service work, but you also need _chances to demonstrate_ +your capabilities and preparedness for effective service. If you stand +all your life in complete readiness for success but outside the door of +opportunity, you will be a failure despite your exceptional +qualifications and preparations for handling chances to succeed. _It is +necessary that you get inside the door._ We will study now the _sure_ +ways and means of entrance. + +[Sidenote: The Salesman's Advantage Over the Buyer] + +One great advantage the skillful salesman has over even the best buyer +is that he can _plan_ completely _what_ he will do and _how_ he will do +it to accomplish his selling purpose. The prospect is unable to +anticipate who will call upon him next; so it is impossible for him to +avoid being taken _unawares_ by each salesman. He can make only general +and hasty preparations at the moment to deal with the particular +individual who comes intent on securing his order. + +The good salesman, however, works out in advance the most effective ways +and means to present his proposition. Each move in the process of +selling his ideas to a prospect is carefully studied and practiced +beforehand. The effects of different words and tones and acts are +exactly weighed. When the thoroughly prepared salesman calls on a +possible buyer, he has in mind a flexible program of procedure with +which he is perfectly familiar and which he can adapt skillfully to +various conditions that his imagination has enabled him to anticipate. +Hence the master salesman usually is able to _control the situation_, no +matter how shrewd the prospect may be; because the salesman's chance to +plan assures him a great advantage over the unprepared or incompletely +prepared other party to the sale. + +[Sidenote: Dominate The Interview with Confidence] + +If you would likewise "dominate" the man to whom you want to sell your +capabilities, prepare "plans of approach" to his interest before calling +on him; in order to make sure of presenting your qualifications most +strongly. He can oppose your salesmanship with but comparatively weak +resistance; because _he has had no such opportunity as you to get all +ready for this interview_. The skillful salesman is confident that he +can control the selling process he begins. When you seek a selected +chance for the success you desire, you should feel similar assurance of +ability to sell your services. You will possess this feeling if you +prepare your "plan of approach" as the master salesman gets ready for +his interview with a prospective buyer. + +[Sidenote: The Two Entrances] + +You have to make two distinct "entrances" in order to gain your desired +chance to succeed. You need to get _yourself_ into the _presence_ of the +employer you have selected. Then it is essential that you get the _true +idea_ of your capabilities and preparedness into his _mind_. Your +"approach" to his attention and interest, therefore, involves a _double_ +process. It is important that you plan intelligently the most skillful +ways and means of making the _two_ entrances; through the _physical_ and +the _mental_ closed doors that now shut you out from the opportunities +you have prospected and desire to gain. + +No master salesman would call on an important prospect before planning +in his own mind how to take the successive steps of the interview +expected. Nor would a master salesman neglect to think out in advance +several specific methods of getting past any physical barriers he might +encounter between the outer door of the general office and the inner +sanctum of the man he must meet face to face in order to close a sale. + +[Sidenote: Ordinary Way Of Getting Job] + +But when the _unskilled_ salesman of his own capabilities seeks a +situation, he usually neglects to make careful, detailed plans to reach +his prospect in the most effective way. He does not prepare to create +the particular impressions that would be most apt to assure him the +attention and interest of the employer upon whom he calls. Nearly always +when a man out of a job answers an advertisement or follows up a clue to +a possible opening for his services, he thinks the most important thing +is to "get there first." The only advantage he hopes to gain over other +applicants is a position at the head of the line. + +Have you ever stopped to analyze the mental attitude of an employer +toward the half dozen, dozen, or score of men who answer his +advertisement for the services of one man? He thinks, "Here are a lot of +fellows out of jobs. Probably most of them are no good, or they wouldn't +be out of jobs. They are competing for this place. Each sees there are +plenty of others who will be glad to have it. Therefore it is likely +that I can get a man without paying him much to start with, and he +probably won't be very independent for a while after I hire him. I'll +take my pick of the lot, and keep the names and addresses of two or +three others in case he doesn't make good." + +[Sidenote: Shearing The Sheep] + +Then the employer calls in the applicants as if they were so many sheep +to be sheared by sharp cross-examination. Practically every candidate +enters the private office with a considerable degree of sheepishness in +his feelings, whether he tries to appear at ease or not. The employer +first eyes him in keen appraisal. He then proceeds briskly to clip off +facts about him. The man sitting behind the desk absolutely dominates +the situation. He finishes his questioning, and disposes of the +applicant as he pleases. + +What chance to gain the desired opportunity for service does each +candidate have in such an uncontrolled process of getting a job? He has +one-sixth, or one-twelfth, or one-twentieth of a chance for success; +according to whether there are six or a dozen or a score of applicants. +Also, practically without exception, men who come seeking a position and +find that it has been filled make no further efforts to secure the +opportunity for which they have applied; though the successful candidate +may not make good and the position may soon be vacant again. Your own +experience and observation have made familiar to you this common way of +looking for jobs. You know that in such cases the employer has all the +advantage. Certainly the applicants who try to gain a chance to work by +this method use no _salesmanship_ at all. + +[Sidenote: The Salesman's Method] + +How would a "salesman" candidate for such a situation proceed? First, he +would avoid the mistake of presenting himself as _merely one of a crowd_ +of competing applicants. He would _make his particular personality stand +out_. Before calling, he would do some prospecting to discover just what +capabilities were needed to fill the position advertised. Then he would +plan different ways of tackling the prospective employer. When all +ready, but not before, he would go to the address. + +If he should find a crowd there, he would not merge with it. He would +avoid stating his business immediately in the outer office, rather than +identify himself with the other candidates waiting. He would have a plan +to get an interview later, after the dispersal of the crowd. If he +should be told then that the position had been filled, he would go right +ahead with his selling program regardless of the rebuff. He would +proceed to sell the boss the idea that _he_ was an especially well +fitted man for the job. He would assume that no one else could give such +satisfaction. + +Nevertheless the employer might feel that he had no place open for the +latest candidate. In this event the applicant would demonstrate with +salesmanship that he was the sort of person it is worth while for any +business man to keep track of. Such a real "salesman" of his own +capabilities, if put off for the time being, would be reasonably sure to +get his desired chance the next time that employer might require such +services as he could supply. + +[Sidenote: A Salesman Cost Clerk] + +A young acquaintance of mine wanted to secure a chance in the office of +a prominent manufacturing corporation, under a certain executive whom he +regarded as the most capable business man in the city. The company had +advertised for a minor clerk in the cost department, which was managed +by the particular executive. My acquaintance called, and found seven +other applicants waiting in the general office. He did not join them, +but sent in his card to the busy head of the cost department with the +penciled request, "May I see you for twenty seconds in order to make a +personal inquiry?" He was promptly admitted to the private office, and +then stated his purpose in calling. He was careful to be extremely +brief. + +"My name is James A. Ward. I believe, Mr. Blank, I am the man you want +for the clerkship in your cost section. In order to save your time, may +I have permission to make some inquiries of the chief clerk in that +department, to learn just what qualifications are required and what the +work is? Then when you talk with me, it will be unnecessary for you to +explain details." + +[Sidenote: Securing A Stand-in] + +Taken unawares, the executive was not prepared to refuse the courteous +request. Moreover, he was impressed with the distinctive attitude of the +young man. He instructed that the candidate be taken to the cost +department. There my acquaintance made an excellent impression on the +cost accountant and several clerks. Thus in advance of any other +applicant he secured a "stand-in" with a number of persons who might +influence the judgment of their chief in selecting a new man. When he +had learned the nature of the work to be done, Ward did not make the +mistake of thrusting himself again into the sanctum. Instead, he wrote a +note to the executive on whom he had called first. + + "Dear Mr. Blank: + + I know now exactly what the job in the cost department is, and that + I can fill it. But I should like to think over the best ways to + give you complete satisfaction, before talking with you about it. + Please telephone to me at Main 4683 when it will be convenient for + you to see me. + + Respectfully, + + James A. Ward." + +The young man sent his note into the private office and left at once. +There now were nine applicants on the anxious seat in the reception +room. Ward did not wish to be asked to wait his turn. He felt sure the +executive would inquire of the costs manager about him, and he got away +from the office quickly so that there would be an opportunity for his +chosen prospective employer to receive the full effect of the good +impression made in the cost department. + +[Sidenote: Giving Opportunity A Chance to Catch Up] + +My acquaintance was not at all worried lest some other candidate be +chosen in his absence. The measures of salesmanship he had taken made it +practically certain that the executive would not employ any one else +before talking to him. Ward went to his room and waited for the +telephone call he was sure would come. While he sat expecting it, he +used the time to think out the best ways to approach the big man with +whom he wanted to work. + +The salesman candidate was summoned in about an hour. None of the +applicants ahead of him had come prepared with any definite plans. +Therefore my acquaintance, who knew in advance just what the conditions +were and who had decided exactly how he would present his particular +capabilities, found it easy to secure the chance he desired. He is +earning a salary of four thousand dollars a year now, and is on his way +up to a five-or-six-figure job. He will get there, "as sure as +shooting." A salesman like that cannot be kept down. + +[Sidenote: Turning Failure Into Success] + +I asked Ward one day what he would have done if the telephone call he +expected had not come. He replied that he would have gone to see the +executive next morning anyhow, and that he had planned carefully how he +would approach him. + +"I'd have sent in a note that I was ready to report some ideas I had +worked out regarding his cost-keeping as a result of the thinking I had +done since learning his system. He wouldn't have refused to see me, even +if he had hired some one else meanwhile. Then I'd have told him the very +things that got me the job. They would have assured me a chance in his +office, whether he had a place for me right then or not," Ward asserted +positively. "If that plan of mine hadn't succeeded," he amended, "I'd +have known he wasn't the kind of man I wanted to work for, after all. +But it turned out exactly as I knew it would," my friend ended with a +grin. + +Can you imagine a man of such sales ability failing to get a chance +almost anywhere? Yet Ward did only what any one, with a little +forethought, might have done in the circumstances. Analyze the selling +process he used, and you will perceive that there was nothing marvelous +about it--it was all perfectly natural. Is there any good reason why +_you_ cannot employ similar methods to gain the chance you want? + +[Sidenote: Service Purpose is Essence of Salesmanship] + +Let us dig into what Ward did, and find the "essence" of his +salesmanship in the ways and means he employed to assure his two +"entrances," to the presence and into the mind of the executive. _He was +successful principally because he made the impression that he had come +with a purpose of rendering real service to the other man._ His plan of +approach assured him the opportunity he wanted because it was designed +to serve the head of the department in his need for particular +capabilities. _Very rarely will any one refuse a needed service._ So, +coming with a purpose of service, Ward made certain in advance that he +would be welcomed to his opportunity. The essence of a successful plan +of approach to the mind of any prospect is _a carefully thought-out idea +of how to supply him with exactly what he lacks_. + +Just as the service purpose well planned is the key to the door of a +man's _mind_; so is it the "Open Sesame" to his _presence_. Plan how to +bring to the attention of a prospect your real service motive in coming +to him, and how at the same time you can indicate to him your +capabilities; then you will be as sure as was my ingenious acquaintance +that no office door will long remain closed to you. _You only need to +use the processes of the master salesman to gain any chance you want._ +You will succeed almost always in your immediate object; and if you are +unsuccessful in your first or second sales attempt you will be +absolutely certain to get some other good opportunity very soon. + +[Sidenote: Make a "Vacancy" For Yourself] + +It is not necessary to wait until the employer for whom you have chosen +to work advertises a job. You should plan ways and means of gaining an +entrance into his business organization, regardless of any "vacancy" he +may have in mind. Plan exactly how you can serve him. Prospect for a +need that he may not realize himself. Afterward work out a particular +method of showing him clearly _what he lacks_, and that _you are the +man_ to fill the vacancy you yourself have discovered and revealed to +him. + +An elderly man who was down on his luck and who, on account of his grey +hair, had been unable to get various kinds of work he had sought, +devised a novel plan of approach that gained him a coveted chance in a +big department store. He came to the main office and reached the sales +manager without difficulty by appearing to be just a customer of the +store. Then he whisked from under his coat a pasteboard sign on which he +had printed, PORTER WANTED--TO KEEP SIDEWALK CLEAN. + +"I'm after that job, sir," he explained his presence. + +The sales manager waved the old man away. + +"You're in the wrong place," he said curtly. "Employment office is on +the top floor." + +"I made the sign myself," the applicant declared, standing his ground. +"The employment manager--you--no one in this store has realized, I +think, how filthy your sidewalk is. If you will come down with me and +look at it, I'm sure you will want to have it cleaned and will instruct +that I be given the chance. It is hurting your sales, as it is now. Kept +clean, as I would keep it, it would be a fine advertisement of the +store's policies, and would help sales." + +The old man's plan of entrance gained him his initial opportunity. He +swept the sidewalk only two weeks. Then the sales manager made a place +for him behind a counter, where he is serving customers with +satisfaction to-day. + +[Sidenote: Distinguishing Characteristic Of Masterly Salesmanship] + +You will recall that in a previous chapter the _ability to discriminate_ +was stated as the _distinguishing characteristic_ of masterly +salesmanship. The ability to perceive differences, and skill in +emphasizing them, will _assure_ success in selling either ideas or +goods. + +The discriminative-restrictive study of anything is certain to give one +a much clearer and more definite understanding of it than could be +secured by a study of its likeness to something else. If, when +describing two people, you _compare_ their points of _resemblance_, you +do not paint a clear picture of either. But if you _restrict_ your +comments to the _differences_ in their features, you will portray a +pretty definite mental image of each. + +[Sidenote: "Different" Ways Win] + +You have been given several examples of ways and means to gain an +entrance into the presence and into the mind of an employer. You will +note that each applicant _restricted_ his plans of approach to +methods that were entirely _different_ from those ordinarily used +in getting a job. The purpose of the salesman in every case was to +bring out the difference between him and competing candidates for the +situation. The selling processes described were successful because +_discriminative-restrictive principles of skill were employed to bring +to the attention and interest of the prospect the service capabilities +of the one applicant, in distinction from all others_. + +When you plan to gain the chance you most want, you can assure yourself +of success if you will work out in your own mind how to do _something +effective that is different_ from the methods commonly used in attempts +to gain opportunities, and that will impress your _real service purpose_ +in applying for your chance. + +First think out clearly _what the other man needs_. Distinguish exactly +in your thoughts between what is _lacking_ in his organization, and what +he _already has_. Then when planning to gain an entrance to the presence +and the mind of your prospect, restrict your thoughts to ways and means +of indicating and suggesting that _you know precisely what service is +wanted_. Prepare to show him that you don't have merely a vague, +indefinite idea of a job _like_ other jobs. Plan to indicate that you +are not just about the _same_ as ordinary men who apply for positions. +Be ready to make the first impression that you are _a particular man +with individual ideas and distinctive capability_. If you can prove +that, you will be certain to gain your chance through good salesmanship +of the true idea of your qualifications. + +[Sidenote: Plan Approach To Fit the Particular Man] + +When planning his approach, the master salesman combines his earlier +work of preparation and his prospecting. He re-organizes in his mind all +the information he previously has gained for his own benefit. Now he +reviews his knowledge _from the standpoint of the prospect_. He plans to +use what he has learned in the ways that seem to him most likely to fit +the mentality, impulses, feelings, conditions, and real needs of the man +he wants to influence to accept his proposition. + +Having thus planned to _fit his knowledge to an individual prospect_, +the skillful salesman arranges constructively in his own mind +_particular, definite points of contact_ with the mind of this one other +man. He plans restrictively. That is, he works out only the approach +ideas that are likely to fit the characteristics of the certain man on +whom he intends to call. He also discards ways and means that are not +_especially adapted_ to this prospect. + +[Sidenote: Different Effects on Different People] + +Of course the master salesman purposes to make the best possible +impression always; but he recognizes that words, tones, and actions +which would create a favorable impression on one prospect might make an +opposite impression on another. For instance, a jolly manner and +expression help in gaining an entrance to the friendly consideration of +a good-natured man, but would be likely to affect a cynical dyspeptic +disagreeably. + +The intelligence and skill used by the master professional salesman of +goods in planning ways and means to gain his sales chances, can be used +in the same way just as effectively by _you_ when planning _your_ +approach to the presence and mind of any one related to your +opportunities for success. Before you apply for the job you want, or +before you present your qualifications for promotion or an increased +salary, _make in advance a discriminative selection of ideas that will +be likely to prove most effective in accomplishing your purpose_ with +your employer prospect. Then, when you interview him, _restrict_ your +presentation of your case to these discriminatively selected strong +points of your particular capability. + +[Sidenote: Contrast Selfish and Service Purposes] + +You should suggest contrasts between yourself and ordinary job seekers +or employees. When you present your qualifications for a promotion or +for a raise, you will be _sure_ of succeeding if you are able to get +across to your employer's mind the true idea that your services in the +future may be _different and deserving of more reward_ than the services +for which you have previously been paid. + +When an employee asks for more money because other men are being paid +higher wages in the same office, or because he has prospects of better +pay elsewhere, or even because of increased costs of living, he makes an +_unfavorable_ impression on the man from whom he requests a raise. His +purpose in presenting his claims is evidently selfish. He appears to be +looking out only for Number One, and the employer naturally looks out +for _his_ Number One when responding. By using methods that suggest a +wholly selfish purpose, the applicant decreases his chances of gaining +what he desires. Yet most employees ask for raises in just this way. + +[Sidenote: The Quid Pro Quo] + +Contrast the impression made when an employee approaches the boss with a +carefully planned demonstration of his _capability for increased +service_, as the basis of a proposal that he be promoted or given a +higher salary. He comes into "the old man's" office with an attitude +that produces a _favorable_ impression. When he explains exactly what he +is doing, or can do if permitted, that is deserving of more reward than +he has been receiving, he presents the idea of a "quid pro quo" to his +"prospect," just as the salesman of goods presents the idea of _value_ +in fair exchange for _price_. + +If the service now being rendered by the employee, or the new service he +wishes permission to render, is really worth more money to the employer, +the applicant for a raise is practically certain to get it, provided he +has chosen a fair boss. And, of course, a good salesman of himself does +not go to work in the first place until he has prospected the squareness +and fair-mindedness of the employer. + +[Sidenote: The Saleswoman Secretary] + +A young woman was employed in a secretarial capacity shortly before the +world war began. In the course of the next two years her salary was +voluntarily doubled by her employer. But her necessary expenses +increased in proportion; so she was able to save no more money (in +purchasing power) than it would have been possible for her to put in the +bank if there had been no increase either in her earnings or in the cost +of living. That is, if the war had not happened, and she had continued +at work for two years without any raise at all, she would have been +practically as well off at the end of that time as she actually found +herself with her doubled pay. + +As the months of her employment passed, she had made herself +progressively much more valuable to her employer. She was rendering +him now a very large amount of high-grade service. But in effect she +was being paid no more money than when she was engaged. The young +woman knew her employer intended to be fair with her. Undoubtedly he +felt he had treated her well by voluntarily doubling her salary in two +years. If she had gone to him and had asked for more pay in the manner +of the ordinary applicant for a raise; if she had stated her request +without skillfully showing the difference between actual conditions and +his misconception of the facts; she likely would have made an unfavorable +impression. But she was a good saleswoman of her ideas. She made a +discriminative-restrictive plan of approach to gain her object, and used +first-class selling skill to get into her employer's mind a true +conception of her worth to him. + +[Sidenote: Opening the Boss's Eyes] + +She compiled from her budget the exact amount of increased living costs. +The comparative figures of two years showed that her necessary expenses +were approximately double what they had been before the war. Then she +used the percentage ratio to demonstrate in neat typewriting that +approximately all of her salary increases had gone to some one else, and +had not remained in her hands. On another sheet she typed a summary of +the most important business responsibilities she carried for her +employer at present, but which she had not been qualified nor trusted to +bear when she was first engaged. The secretary brought the two exhibits +to the desk of the business man, laid them before him with brief +explanations of what they represented, and concluded with a simple +personal statement which she worded most carefully. + +[Sidenote: The Approach That Commands Respect] + +"Mr. Blank, I know you mean to be perfectly square with me. So I want +you to realize what has been the actual purchasing power of the salary I +have received, and what I have done with it. This percentage slip shows +that my additional pay was all used for additional expenses. I have been +unable to increase my savings. I really have been paid only for the same +kind of services I was able to render when you employed me. Now I know +how to do all these additional things." She pointed to the list typed on +the second sheet of paper. "In effect, I haven't been paid anything for +them, you see. I am sure you have not appreciated the difference between +the increased service I have rendered, and the buying power of the +raises you have meant to give me but which have all gone to some one +else. Please study these lists. I believe you will feel that I am +earning a larger salary and really am worth more to you than two years +ago." + +Her "different" approach gained the secretary not only an immediate +increase of fifty per cent in her salary; but five hundred dollars back +pay that her fair-minded employer was convinced she should have +received. + +Such an approach commands the respect of the prospect. It is the +approach of an equal, not of an inferior. _So greatly does it reduce the +chances of failure that the salesman is practically certain to succeed +in his purpose._ + +[Sidenote: Initiative Is Yours] + +Recognize that the _initiative_ in gaining your chance should be in your +own hands. Do not wait for any opportunity to come to you. "Go to it." +Go prepared to control the situation you have planned to create, but be +ready also to meet _unexpected possibilities_. The object of the master +salesman in his preparation is not only to make the selling process +_easy_, but also to meet any _difficulties_ he can foresee that may +arise to block him. He is ready to take full advantage of favorable +conditions he has planned to meet, and is equally ready for turn-downs. +If you use the discriminative-restrictive method to gain admission to +the presence and into the mind of your prospect, it is altogether +unlikely that you will be denied the chance you seek. Nevertheless _go +loaded for refusals_. Be ready with the quick come-back to every +turn-down you can imagine. + +A clerk in a real estate office wanted an opportunity to prove that he +was capable of selling. Times were very hard, and the firm had flatly +announced that it would not promote anybody or grant any raises. But +this clerk, who had made up his mind to secure a salesman's job, +carefully prepared a plan of approach before he went to the president's +office. His ostensible purpose was to get a raise; so he had worked out +an ingenious reply to every objection he could imagine his employer +might make to paying him more money. But he really wanted a different +job, not just a larger salary. + +[Sidenote: Come-backs To Turn Downs] + +He tackled the "old man" at a selected time when he knew the president +would not be busy. One after another, in quick succession, he came back +at every reason given for turning him down on his application for +additional pay. Finally the cornered employer stated frankly that the +clerk was entitled to a raise, but as frankly said it could not be +granted because of general business conditions. The applicant, having +gained his immediate object by proving his worth, then switched to the +second part of his plan of approach. + +"I didn't expect more money for my clerical work, but haven't I proved +to you by the way I handle turn-downs that I possess the qualifications +of a salesman? It would be just as hard for a prospect to say 'No' to me +as it has been for you. I don't want a raise. I want a chance at selling +real estate. Give me a drawing account equal to my present salary, and +I'll earn it in commissions. I'm going to make it hard for anybody to +get away from me after I tackle him to buy a lot or a house." + +Of course the clerk got his chance. + +[Sidenote: Touch Tender Spots] + +Another important detail of good salesmanship in planning to approach +opportunities to succeed, is _touching the tender spots of the +subordinates_ in the office of the big man you want to reach. Also plan +to touch tender spots in _him_. You can do it with a courteous bow, or +with the tone of respect. Employ the _personal appeal_--that is, make +_contact_ between _your personality_ and the personality of the _other +party_ you desire to influence. There is no better way than by +manifesting your _real friendliness_. One who comes as a friend is able +to feel and to appear _at ease_. The bearing of perfect ease makes the +excellent impression of _true equality in manhood_, and helps very +greatly in gaining for one a chance to succeed. + +[Sidenote: Strength and Resourcefulness] + +Sometimes self-respect will require you to use very forceful methods to +secure the opportunity you desire. A snippy clerk may refuse you +admittance to the private office. The big man himself may send out word +that he will not receive you, or perhaps he will attempt to dismiss you +brusquely after you are granted an audience. So be prepared to manifest +your _strength_, as well as your _resourcefulness_, should such _force_ +of personality be needed in any imaginable situation. If you have +planned exactly how you will show your strength, you will make the +impression when you manifest it actually that you are strong in fact, +and not just a bluffer. Often you can prove your strength by looking +another person fearlessly in the eye. + +[Sidenote: Four Essentials of Good Approach] + +It is evident from what has already been outlined that to make a +successful approach one needs particular qualifications. There are four +essentials: First, _mental alertness in perceiving_; Second, _good +memory for retaining the impressions received_; Third, _constructive +imagination_ in planning the approach; Fourth, _friendly courage_ in +securing an audience and in making the actual approach to the mind of +the other man. + +All your senses must be _wide awake_ if you are to _perceive every point +of difference_ that can be used effectively to sell your particular +ideas in contrast with ordinary ideas. + +It is necessary not only that you _see_ distinctions clearly, but that +you be able to _remember them instantly_, when you need to use them in +selling your ideas. + +You cannot make any certainly successful plan to deal with a future +possible chance unless you _cultivate your power of imagination by +working out in advance every conceivable situation that may be +anticipated_. + +And all your other capabilities in gaining your chance will be of no +avail if your purpose meets resistance; unless you are equipped +beforehand with friendly courage, the _kind of real bravery that is +likable_. + +[Sidenote: Genius] + +It is highly important to your success that you be able to make the +impression that you are a person of _genius_. Genius, analyzed, is no +more than the exceptional application of natural ability to doing work. +Application demands complete attention. Attention leads to +discrimination. Discrimination concentrates, of course, upon the +recognition of differences. And differentiation depends principally upon +sense training in alertness. Unless a sense is very keen, it cannot make +distinctions sharply. _So we get back to the primary necessity of +developing all your senses and of keeping them wide awake to perceive +and act upon chances for success_. + +[Sidenote: Memory] + +Your discriminative power of perception will be well-nigh valueless to +you, however, if you are unable to recall whenever needed, all the +points of difference possible to utilize in your salesmanship. Therefore +you should _train your memory_. We will not enlarge just now upon this +factor of the process of making success certain; because in previous +chapters and also in the companion book, "The Selling Process," the +right methods of developing a good memory are indicated. + +[Sidenote: Constructive Imagination] + +The value of _constructive imagination_, not only in planning your +entrance to the physical presence and into the mind of the prospect, but +all through your salesmanship, cannot be over emphasized. If you are to +gain your chance with another man, _you must be able to see imaginary +future situations, through his eyes_. In advance of your interview it is +necessary that you imagine yourself in his place when a caller like +yourself is received. + +Some so-called "realists" condemn imagination. They say it is apt to +make men visionary and unable to recognize and meet successfully the +every-day problems of life. But the _big_ men of finance, industry, and +politics have become pre-eminent because of the fertility and +productiveness of their imaginations. What the "hard-headed" man +condemns is not imagination, but _inability to use it constructively_. +He deprecates imagination not carried into _action_. Constructive +imagination, however, has always been man's greatest aid in making +progress. + +[Sidenote: Four Ways to Re-construct Ideas] + +In order to develop your constructive imagination most effectively you +must follow certain laws with regard to the re-adjustment of parts, +qualities, or attributes of things you know. You can re-construct an +idea; (1) by merely _enlarging_ an old mental image; or (2) by +_diminishing_ the size of the previous image; or (3) by _separating_ a +composite image into its parts; or (4) by imaging _each part as a +whole_. + +Let us illustrate how these laws of constructive imagination might be +applied effectively in planning the approach to a prospective employer. + +[Sidenote: Using Constructive Imagination] + +He perhaps has an idea that the possibilities of the job you want are +limited. You should plan to _enlarge_ the picture of your possible +service and to show that you could do more things than he is likely to +expect of you. + +So you can _diminish_ his idea of the salary you want, by planning to +show him that in proportion to the enlarged service you purpose to +render, the pay you ask is not really big. + +In order to make him appreciate better just what your contemplated job +means, you can _separate_ it into the different functions you will +perform. The mere fact that the job has a great many parts will be +effective in impressing him with the idea that it is worth more pay. + +Then you can take each part or function of your job and show it as a +_whole_ opportunity. For instance, if you are a correspondent, you might +demonstrate just how letters of different length could be spaced on the +stationery to develop a uniformly artistic impression that would help to +get more business by mail. + +All your imaginative powers can be made to work _together_ to accomplish +the one certain result you desire. "Constructive imagination is always +characterized by a definite purpose, which never is lost sight of until +the image is complete." + +[Sidenote: Friendly Courage] + +Thousands of men have failed, after getting right up to the door of +opportunity, because they had to turn away in order to screw up their +_courage_. No one can hope to succeed if he lacks _the quality of +bravery necessary to gain chances_. + +True bravery is not cockiness or swaggering. It is simply a _kindly +self-confidence_ that makes no impression of a threat to others, and +gives no suggestion that the man who has it feels there is the slightest +reason for being afraid of anybody else. + +[Sidenote: No One To Fear] + +Really, if you have planned just how to approach each prospect with a +true service purpose, there is no one in the world you need to fear. +Lack of courage is usually due to lack of preparation for what might be +anticipated. Sometimes a man is fearful of another because of his own +consciousness that he has come to that other man principally for the +purpose of _taking something away from him_. This consciousness causes a +guilty feeling, which undermines courage. If through imaginative +planning you know in advance about what to expect, and if you feel your +intentions toward your prospect are absolutely square, you will not be +afraid to seek your chance anywhere. Your courage will not ooze. + +[Sidenote: "Right is Might"] + +True courage is based on a _permanent consciousness of right feeling and +thinking, coupled with the sense of power_ that is expressed in the +maxim, "Right is might." Such courage can be developed by the +discriminative-restrictive process with absolute certainty, as is +explained in the companion book, "The Selling Process." + +[Sidenote: Big Mental Outlook] + +Our study of plans of approach would be incomplete without emphasizing +the prime necessity for a _big mental outlook_. To assure your success +in gaining the chances you want it is necessary that you vision +imaginary situations of the future and fit into them the facts you know +now or may be able to learn. + +However, you cannot develop maximum skill in gaining your chances if you +are unable to learn anything except through personal experience. +Personal experience is valuable, no doubt. But you must develop the +ability to _think out the significance of other men's experiences_, and +must be capable of _applying what you learn to your own imaginary use_. + +The big view-point, the ability to learn from observation as well as +from experience, will develop in you broad and varied conceptions of +other men. It will make you tolerant of characteristics that differ +widely from your own. You will respect the view-point of the other +fellow, and will recognize that he may be perfectly fair in his attitude +and opinions, however widely he may differ from your ideas. Your big +mental outlook should make you feel friendly toward him as your +prospect, and you can make the approach of _courage that is friendly_. + +[Sidenote: The Sentry And the Password] + +Perhaps you will meet opposition to your entrance when you come to gain +your chance. It is likely that some sentry in the outer office of your +prospect, or the sentry of his own mind when you reach his presence, may +halt you at the portal of opportunity with the challenge, "Who goes +there?" + +Your answer should be spoken confidently, "A friend." + +The test will then be made by the sentry, "Advance, friend, and give the +countersign." + +_The secret pass-word to Opportunity is, "Service."_ + +Prove you know the countersign, speak it with courage, and you will find +yourself no longer an object of suspicion, no longer regarded as a +possible enemy. + +_You have nothing to fear if you plan to approach your prospect as a +true friend who has come with a carefully thought out, intelligent offer +of service that he lacks._ + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +_Knowledge of Other Men_ + + +[Sidenote: Unlocking The Other Man's Heart And Mind] + +We have seen how you can make certain of _gaining_ your introductory +chance. Now we are to consider the first step in the _most effective +use_ of this opportunity to begin building your own success. + +Let us say that you have chosen a particular man as the sort of employer +with whom you want to work. Your prospecting has convinced you that in +his business you have found the right market for your present services +and a promising field for the future big success you are ambitious to +achieve. Therefore you wish to sell him a true idea of your best +capabilities. We will assume that you have passed the threshold of his +private office, but your object in calling upon him has not yet entered +_his thoughts and feelings_. + +Before you state the ideas and service intention you have brought, make +certain of the best possible reception from him. You need to take every +practicable precaution against being rebuffed. You want to assure +yourself of a welcome. Having gained this chance to start the sale of +your capabilities, it is of vital importance not to take the next step +in the selling process _blindly_, lest you stumble. Hence you should +_size up_ the other man before you announce your purpose in calling. +What you may learn from reading his character correctly will help you to +gain admittance into his mind for your ideas. It should assure a welcome +from his heart for your sincere desire to serve him. + +[Sidenote: Skeleton Key Unavailing] + +Golden opportunities to succeed in a particular business cannot be +unlocked with a skeleton key of knowledge about human nature. Knowledge +of _all_ men supplies merely the shaft and general shape of the key +blank, which must then be notched and filed to fit the characteristics +of the individual whose mind and heart you wish to open for the +admission of your ideas and feelings. Unless you can get into that _one_ +mind and that _one_ heart with your service purpose, you will be shut +out from the opportunity you want. It is important that you know the +traits of men in general, of course. Such knowledge, however, should be +supplemented by a _specific_ and true conception of the particular man +through whom you hope to reach your chance to succeed. + +Do not confuse in your present thoughts the process of _prospecting_ the +characteristics of a man _before_ meeting him, with the later process of +_sizing him up at the time of the interview_. It is highly important to +accumulate in advance as much knowledge as possible of your prospect's +individual traits. But what you learned about your chosen future +employer before you gained the chance to present your ideas to him in +his office should be used _merely as a guide_ in sizing him up on the +spot. + +[Sidenote: Stop, Look, Listen] + +Take nothing for granted now. Through your personal, specific +observation either confirm or disprove every item of information that +has come to you from other people previous to meeting this man face to +face. Your informants may or may not have had correct conceptions of his +characteristics. It would be unwise, even unsafe, for you to rely +implicitly on _their_ judgment of him. You need to _be certain you know +him as he really is_; so that you can present your purpose with the +confidence a skilled salesman feels when he is sure he understands the +principal traits of the prospect he is addressing. In reaching this man +you have gained your first chance. You cannot afford to risk losing it +by haste. _Do not advance farther in the selling process until you have +made certain of the ground you are to tread._ It is very bad +salesmanship to begin introducing ideas and feelings to a mind and heart +that are unknown to you except from hearsay. + +"But," you say, "I'm not a mind reader. And I can't look into another +man's heart." + +True. Yet you should be able to read the _signs_ of his thoughts; which +he manifests in his words, tones, and acts. And you need not see into +_his_ heart to know what it contains; since fundamentally _all_ men are +much alike at heart. Just look clearly into your own heart at its best. +You will find there the basic emotions and feelings that civilized men +have in common everywhere. + +[Sidenote: Character Analysis by Types Not Reliable] + +Character analysis by "types" is unreliable. I believe as little in +phrenology as in palm-reading. I have directed thousands of men in +business. Personal experience has proved to me that the _permanent_ +structure of a particular human body is not an invariably true index to +the characteristics of the inner, or ego man who owns that body. + +He has had no control over the color of his hair or eyes. He cannot +reshape the bones of his face, nor alter the bumps on his head. To +believe that such permanent structural details of the "natural" _outer_ +man determine or denote the peculiar aptitudes of the _inner_ man is to +credit the exploded doctrine of fore-ordination. + +Therefore, when you have gained the chance to present your capabilities +for sale to a chosen prospect with whom you believe you will have the +best opportunities to succeed, and when you are swiftly shaping your +presentation plans to fit his personality, don't size up merely the +factors of his make-up with which he was born. You will be apt to +mistake his true character if you have come to his office with the +delusion that the blonde type of man is fundamentally different _in +nature_ from the brunette type. Get out of your head any misconception +that a man is foredoomed to practically certain failure in a particular +career because he has a big nose, sloping brow, and receding chin; and +that another man with a snub nose, bulging forehead, and protruding jaw +is destined almost surely to succeed if he selects a certain vocation. +No "mind man" with a normal, healthy body is limited in his +possibilities of success by being born with red, or black, or tow hair; +or because the bones of his head happen to be shaped in a particular +way. The ego is the master, not the slave, of the body. + +[Sidenote: True Signs of Character] + +_The true signs of character are to be read only in the words, tones, +and movements_ of a man--and in his muscle structure _as he has +developed it_ or has left it _undeveloped_. We already have seen in a +previous chapter how a mind center and its co-ordinated set of muscles +develop each other. So the positive characteristics of the inner man are +revealed clearly by the muscle structure built up by his habits of +thinking and feeling and action. On the other hand, his deficiency in +certain mental and emotional development is indicated negatively by his +lack of the muscle structure that naturally would be co-ordinate with +such development. + +The relation of muscular development to mental development, as explained +in an earlier chapter, suggests the one _sure_ way to judge a man's +habits of thinking. _Observe discriminatingly his various muscle +structures, and his muscle activities in detail._ The development of +certain sets of _muscles_ proves a co-ordinate development of the _mind +centers_ most directly connected with these muscle structures. +Similarly the _mental action_ of a man is indicated by his _physical +manifestations_ with his muscles in movements. + +Hence if you learn to read the _mental significance of particular muscle +structures and of particular muscle actions_, you will be able to size +up both the _habits_ of thought (individual characteristics) of a man, +and what he happens to be thinking _at the time_ you come to present +your services or ideas for sale. + +[Sidenote: Recapitulation] + +Before going on with our study of the subject of this chapter, let us +summarize the preceding pages to make sure that we know thoroughly the +somewhat difficult but very important ground we have gone over thus far. + +You chose a certain man as your prospective employer because you believe +that if you succeed in associating yourself with him you will have the +best opportunities to achieve your ambition. You are now standing in his +presence. You need to size up his true character quickly in order that +you may be sure of presenting your capabilities in the particular way +that is likely to be most effective with him. You wish to impress this +one man with right ideas of your qualities and their value. You want him +to perceive that he lacks and requires just such services as you purpose +to offer for sale. You realize it is unsafe for you to jump at +conclusions about his characteristics. You pause briefly to size him up +before presenting your proposition, rather than to proceed blindly in +ignorance of his habits of thought, and with no clue to what he happens +to be thinking at the time you call. You must know all it is possible to +find out on the spot regarding him. + +[Sidenote: What Has He Done with His Birthright?] + +You cannot be certain of his characteristics if you judge him solely by +what Nature forced on him. But you can be absolutely sure if you size +him up by observing _what he has done with his birthright_, and if you +are then able to _interpret_ correctly what you _perceive_. Your +prospect has had nothing to do with the shape and size of his head. His +fair or dark complexion is inherited. He is utterly unable to control +the color of his hair or eyes. His _muscle structure_, however, is a +_development_ that he has accomplished himself. If he has a firm jaw, +the jaw _muscles_, not the jaw _bone_, signify the characteristics of a +firm mentality. _Judge the physical man he has made by his habits of +living under the government of his mind._ Disregard such physical +details of his appearance as he cannot help. The _made_ man is the true +image of the ego. It is this _ego_ of your prospective employer you need +to know, for your chance to succeed in your purpose with him depends on +the _inner_ man you must convince and persuade. Therefore restrict your +size-up to the discriminative observation of the _muscle signs of his +mind habits and mind actions_. + +[Sidenote: Recall Burbank Method] + +Recall now, or re-read the second chapter of this book. There you +studied the principles of restrictive-discriminative growth--the Burbank +method of developing selected qualities of manhood. That chapter related +to your cultivation of particular characteristics within _yourself_. The +same principles will guide you with equal certainty in acquiring +knowledge of _other men_. + +Every _mental_ characteristic of your prospect about which you need to +know has _physical indications that can be perceived, and translated +into certain knowledge of details of his character_. You have studied +the co-relation of _your_ mind and body in mutual development. You may +be sure that similar processes of development have produced like effects +in the case of the man you have come to see. You know exactly how to +grow particular qualities within yourself, by using your muscles to +develop corresponding mind centers and vice versa. You can read another +man's mind by observing _his_ muscle structure and muscle action, and by +then interpreting the mental significance of what you perceive. + +[Sidenote: Men are Alike At Heart, But Differ in Mind] + +To repeat and emphasize again what already has been said about knowing +the _heart_ of another man--you need but look into your own breast to +find there the finest basic characteristics of the human heart in +general. As Kipling wrote, "The Colonel's lady and Judy O'Grady are +sisters under their skins." All men are fundamentally alike at the +bottoms of their hearts, however much they may differ in the individual +traits they have grafted upon their common root of human nature. + +So when you are sizing up your prospect, you should comprehend that _the +most effective way to get to his heart is through such an appeal as +would reach the heart of every man_. Know your own heart surely, then, +in order to be certain of knowing his. All human hearts respond +similarly to manifestations of courage, nobility, love, faith, honor, +and the like. We laugh and cry at the same humor and pathos. Our +_feelings_ are closely akin. We differ from one another only in our +_minds_. Our individual, acquired habits of thought affect but the +_degrees_ of our several heart responses to the gamut of fundamental +emotional appeals. + +[Sidenote: Exhaustive Prolonged Analysis Unnecessary] + +Knowledge of another man, then, involves first, comprehension that he is +_like_ every other man in his _emotions_, and _unlike_ all other men in +the way he _thinks_. To a trained observer his habits of thought are +clearly indicated by his muscle structure and muscle action. Exhaustive +prolonged analysis is unnecessary. You can learn to read quickly the +mental significance of the comparatively small number of details of +muscle structure and action that constitute a fairly complete index to +his character. Then you will be able to judge with certainty practically +all the traits of which you need to be sure in order to make the most +effective presentation of your services for sale to this particular +man. + +[Sidenote: Value of Size-up] + +The value of such a dependable size-up can scarcely be over-estimated. +It is not easy to gain the _initial_ chance to present your capabilities +to the one man with whom you have chosen to be associated. But it would +be tremendously harder to win a _second_ opportunity to sell your +services after _failing_ the first time. By sizing him up aright while +you are presenting your qualifications for his consideration, you will +be able to _avoid making unfavorable impressions_. You can also adapt +your salesmanship to _creating the best possible impression_ of your +capabilities and their fitness to his *especial needs*. + +[Sidenote: The Gruff Reception] + +Sometimes a man seeking to gain the big chance that he believes would +open the door to success fails to secure his opportunity because he is +disconcerted by a gruff reception that he misconstrues as personal to +him. He wrongly interprets _natural_ self-defense as a sign of habitual +crabbedness. + +A big man often thinks he is "hunted" by people who want to make him the +prey of their own purposes. The employer you have chosen as the means of +reaching the goal of your ambition may feel suspicious of your object in +approaching him. He is likely to assume an attitude of extreme reserve, +or even of icy indifference. Possibly his manner will be curt and sharp. +Size up such a reception as just his way of protecting himself against +impositions. His treatment of you is merely a superficial manifestation +of the instinct for self-preservation. It indicates nothing more than +that he is wary of any one who calls on him with an unknown purpose. + +His object in being cold or brusque is to get rid of people who might +annoy him or waste his time. He would not assume his repelling pose if +he knew _you_ had come with a purpose of _true service_, after full +preparation of yourself and your selling plans to interest him. Though +he does not realize it yet, you will neither pester him nor fritter away +his precious minutes. + +[Sidenote: Melting Ice And Smoothing Roughness] + +Therefore if your size-up convinces you that the cold, brusque manner +is only _assumed_, you need not deal with it as if it were +_characteristic_. It indicates no more than the habit of wariness. You +should proceed confidently with your selling process, undeterred by the +bearing of your prospect. Do not attempt to mollify his assumed +harshness. It will take but a few moments for you to _sell him the idea +that you have brought him something he really needs_. When he first +glimpses your service purpose, his icy pose will begin to melt and his +rough tones will be smoothed. + +A great public-utility corporation with thousands of branch offices +throughout the United States had as its purchasing agent for many years +an old gorgon. He was "a holy terror" to new salesmen, but became a +staunch customer when once his confidence was deservedly gained. And +every employee in the office of this tartar loved him for his true +kindness of heart. + +[Sidenote: Don't Flinch Or Retreat] + +You may have occasion to call on such an eccentric big man. If you are +rebuffed fiercely, don't let it "get your goat." He can have no possible +reason for disliking you personally, especially before he comprehends +your purpose in coming to him. So disregard his ferocious pose. Though +he may treat you as an unwelcome intruder, proceed calmly to the +statement of your business. You know that your intention to render him a +true service justifies you in taking his time. Therefore his assumed +fierce manner should be powerless to disconcert you. + +_Do not retreat_ from a chosen prospective employer; _do not even +flinch_ from him, however ill-tempered and repellant he may appear. You +cannot possibly lose so much by standing your ground as you would +forfeit by running away from this chance to demonstrate your +salesmanship. Countless thousands of men have failed because at the +first sign of antagonism they surrendered even more than they might have +lost if they had been utterly beaten after the hardest kind of a fight +for victory. _They gave up without a struggle, not only all their +chances for success, but their self-respect as well._ + +Suppose the man you have selected as your future employer does snap at +you viciously when you call on him; his ferocity signifies no more than +that you must approach and handle him carefully. Your prospecting and +your size-up should have convinced you that he is not in fact the crab +he tries to appear. Real, thorough cranks are so rare they can be +considered as non-existent. It is safe to conclude that any man who acts +as if he were sore all the way through all the time is just _acting_. +Ignore the irrascibility of the "Everett Trues" you meet. _Superficial_, +_assumed_ indications will not help you to comprehend the _inner_ man +you want to influence. _Restrict your size-up to the signs of that inner +man._ While the old gorgon you face is brow-beating you, he may be +planning in the back of his head an act of gentle kindness to some one. +If he is _habitually_ kind, there will be physical indications of that +characteristic; in his _tones_ and _acts_ if not in his _words_. Look +for these signs beneath his harsh manner, which is merely a disguise he +has put on. "Everett True" behaves like a domineering tyrant, but he +really is characterized by an acute sensitiveness to what is right and +just. + +[Sidenote: Judge By Unconscious Appearance And Actions] + +When sizing up a man, depend principally upon details of his +_appearance_ and _actions_. Translate whatever you see or hear into +definite discriminative judgments regarding him. His muscle structure +and movements indicate certain traits. Of course you should also observe +and size up the significance of the words and tones he uses. But a man +employs his speech with the conscious intention of making impressions. +Therefore it is not safe to rely on a size-up based on what he says. +Your prospect may be using his words and tones to hide, rather than to +reveal, his inner self. + +However, if you know how to separate and classify _details of muscle +structure and action_, you can depend safely on specific conclusions +based on these indications. The muscle structure of a man is the result +of his habits of living, or of his predominant characteristics. He +builds it up unconsciously and is unable to disguise it. It can be +interpreted as certain proof that he has particular traits. Most of his +movements, too, are made without his realizing exactly what they denote +of his character and present thoughts. He just "acts natural." Therefore +if you read indications of the inner man by analytically observing his +_physique_ and _actions_, you will gain reliable information about him. +He will not know that he is revealing his traits and what he is +thinking. + +[Sidenote: Your Opinions About People] + +From your earliest childhood to this moment you have been forming +first-hand opinions of other people by observing and interpreting their +words, tones, and movements. Sizing up men is not a new process to you. +But in order to be a certainly successful salesman of yourself you +should _observe more intelligently and discriminatively_ hereafter. +Instead of making up your mind about people without knowing just how or +why you arrive at your judgments, classify your intuitions +scientifically. Know the reasons for your opinions. You can be sure +about the conclusions you reach as a result of your _specific, exact +observation of details_. The study and analysis of words, tones, and +acts, coupled with a little painstaking practice, will make you an +expert judge of other men. + +[Sidenote: Study Character Unobserved] + +Do not seem to make an effort to observe the person you are sizing up, +for that would impress him disagreeably. Without indicating that you are +watching him, mentally note and interpret his muscle structure, his +manner of speaking, his gestures, the rate of his physical activity, the +way his actions respond to his ideas, the type and tensity of his +movements. _Each item you analyze and translate should indicate to you +clearly some fact about the inner man._ + +Of course you will not be able to read your prospect thoroughly in the +first few moments after you meet him. It is possible to make only a +partial size-up then. No one would reveal _all_ his characteristics in +such a brief time. _But each indication you perceive and interpret +correctly will aid you to attribute to him certain other, related +traits._ For instance, if the actions of a man indicate the +characteristic of evasion, you may judge safely that he lacks courage, +the highest sense of honor, some of the elements of perfect squareness +and trustworthiness. If he has a habit of under-estimating or +"knocking," and manifests this characteristic in something he says or +does, you may feel certain he is not an idealist. He is likely to be +pretty "practical" in his views, and cannot be won by appeals to rosy +visions. + +[Sidenote: Elements of Character are Consistent] + +Analysis of a man's true character usually shows that its elements are +thoroughly consistent. A human being is not a bundle of contradictions, +but an aggregation of likenesses. Every man differs from every _other_ +man; yet, generally speaking, one element of his character is not apt to +differ radically from another detail of _himself_. There are exceptions, +but in most cases the seeming contradictions in an individual are only +apparent opposites. Supposed inconsistencies cause surprise because the +true fundamental traits of the person observed are not discerned. The +_outer_ man often seems to contradict himself. But nearly always the +_inner_ man is consistent in his various characteristics. This is the +reason why your size-up should be _restricted to discriminative +observation of indications of the ego_. + +[Sidenote: Application of Theory] + +Perhaps you have been thinking, "The _theory_ seems to be all right, but +exactly how is it _applied?_" So we shall turn our attention next to +specific details of sizing up the characteristics of the inner man. We +shall see just how his thoughts and feelings may be discerned at a +particular time. + +We assumed previously that you have called upon the man to whom you want +to sell your services. You believe the way to your success lies through +association with him. _Your faculties of observation should be trained +to size up at a glance whatever traits are suggested by his bearing, +his clothes, his manner, his actions, his surroundings_. Whether he is +standing or sitting, it is possible for you to perceive and interpret +his pose and poise. You can learn much from his walk if he steps forward +to greet you. His handshake may tell volumes about his true character. +The different ways that men clasp palms are especially significant of +their individual traits. You should have a scientific knowledge of +handshakes. + +[Sidenote: Traits Suggested By Nods] + +Should your prospect merely nod on your entrance, note discriminatively +the movement he makes. There are many kinds of nods. The quick, sharp +tipping of the head indicates unhesitating, clean-cut decisions. Such +judgments on the spur of the moment are not always right, but they are +apt to be pretty conclusive. Irregular, jerky nods are signs of +irritability, of rash or very impulsive decisions, and often of +unreasoning prejudice. The nod made directly forward signifies +frankness, dignity, and straight thinking. The tilting of the head a +little to one side suggests a habit of indirectness and a tendency to +"stall." + +[Sidenote: Learn to Analyze Smiles] + +How much of a man's character is illumined by his smile! Ability to +analyze smiles _correctly_ will enable you to size up the dissembled +traits of character behind the _false_ smile. Such analytical ability +will also show you how to turn to your best advantage the smile of +_true_ friendliness. + +It is possible to judge from the physical aspect, from the facial +expressions, from the movements, and from the voice of a man whether he +is nervous or phlegmatic, active or passive, healthy or lacking in vigor +and strength. A skillful size-up will determine that he is either +eccentric or well balanced mentally, that he is thrifty or extravagant, +that he is disposed to take comprehensive views or is inclined to give +undue attention to trifles and details. He will indicate to a keen +observer real intellect or mere intelligence. His emotions also may be +read. He reveals himself as generous or selfish; as an optimist or as a +skeptic. He shows that he is responsive to heart appeals or is hard +hearted, moral or immoral, artistic or lacking in appreciation of art, +cultured or boorish. + +[Sidenote: Discriminative Restrictive Process] + +To know the significance of your prospect's different _words, tones, and +movements--the only means he has for the expression of his ideas and +feelings_, just apply to _his_ case whatever you have learned in +studying _yourself_. Adapt your previous discriminative knowledge to the +prospect you are sizing up. Restrict your conclusions about him to the +significance of details you observe in his appearance, actions, and +speech. + +After considerable practice in sizing up you will become familiar with +the indications of many different traits. _But in most cases it will be +sufficient if you can observe swiftly and interpret in a flash only a +few of the commonest character signs_. We will touch briefly upon some +of these. + +[Sidenote: Facial Muscles] + +Tense jaw muscles, whether large or small, denote the characteristic of +persistence. But loose, flabby cheek muscles do not necessarily prove +the habit of over-eating, or of sensuality. They may mean that the man +who has them does not habitually allow his feelings to show in his face. +When the muscles of facial expression are flabby they prove only that +they are slightly used. Therefore when you encounter a man with loose +cheeks read his characteristics from other muscle-structure signs, and +from his actions. Do not misjudge the heavy face as a sign of grossness. + +[Sidenote: Courage And Bluff] + +If a man holds his head up easily, and moves it in this upright position +without stiffness or effort, you may be sure his back neck and shoulder +muscles are strongly developed. Such strong development suggests that he +is courageous, for these muscles are directly co-ordinated with the mind +center of bravery. Therefore the head and shoulders easily held back and +up; not a high chest, signify courage. The bulging chest often indicates +no more than pouter-pigeon bluff temporarily put on. + +[Sidenote: Indications Of Intellect And Power] + +A man's high chest, however, is a sign that his predominant +characteristics are intellectual; because his chest has been developed +by the student's habit of upper-lung breathing. The nerves running from +the upper part of the lungs are directly connected with the brain +centers of _intellect_. On the contrary the nerves that lead from the +lower portions of the lungs center first in the plexus through which are +manifested the _vital emotions_ and the emotions of _sex_. Hence the man +who breathes deeply by habit indicates a great deal of vitality and has +marked "he-man" traits. He is not of the intellectual type so markedly +as he is a man of _power_. The man who breathes only from the upper part +of his lungs is not a man of power, but may have a fine intellect. + +[Sidenote: Significance Of Postures] + +The postures of the body are significant of characteristics. If your +prospect stands with his feet wide apart and his arms folded +conspicuously across his high-held chest, he probably has a habit of +bluffing. His widely spread feet indicate that he has to prop himself in +that physical posture; so it is unnatural to him. Similarly he has had +to prop himself in his mental posture. _Push your ideas hard and he will +lose his mental balance;_ just as he would lose his physical balance if +you were to jolt him. He is obliged to prop himself. He is bluffing. You +can make him quit. The folded arms and expanded chest of the bluffer +mean no more than the high-arched back of a cat. Stroke "Tom" +soothingly, and he stops bristling. Stroke the human bluffer tactfully +with persuasion, and he will not act pugnacious for long. + +[Sidenote: The Balanced Body] + +But if, when making a statement, your prospect stands or walks about +easily with his feet close together; if he balances his body without +difficulty or artificial postures--it is certain that he has a good +deal of determination in his make-up. You cannot influence him to change +his mind by making emotional appeals to him. In order to secure the +favorable decision of such a man, you will need to use the most +conclusive, solid evidence of your capabilities. + +[Sidenote: Wavering Minds] + +Suppose your prospect shifts his feet continually and rather jerkily. +While you are talking with him, he frequently changes his weight from +one foot to the other. He is suggesting that he has little confidence in +his own judgment, that he is not sure of his own thoughts. _Take the +lead strongly with such a man._ Do his thinking for him. It is up to you +to bring his vacillating mind to definite conclusions, following your +lead. First make it clear to him that your proposal is really to his +interest. Then proceed with a manner of absolute assurance, as if you +did not question his doing what you wish. With your skillful +salesmanship you can stop his wavering and induce him to act as you +indicate. + +[Sidenote: Quick Thinkers] + +The _rate_ of one's _muscular_ activity is directly associated with the +rate of one's _mental_ activity. The man who _moves_ slowly by habit is +also a plodder in his _thoughts_. On the contrary, quick actions +indicate quick thinking; which, however, may be mistaken. Only the quick +motion that is _under perfect control_ suggests an _unerring_ conclusion +reached swiftly. The man who snatches up a pencil with sure fingers, +and without fumbling it begins to write at once, demonstrates that he +has an electrically fast mind perfectly harnessed to his purpose. When +another man reaches swiftly for a pencil but misses his sure grasp at +the first attempt; or when the dash of his hand to the paper is followed +by a momentary delay for adjustment of the pencil in his fingers or by +hesitation before he begins to write, he denotes mere impulsiveness. + +[Sidenote: Self-Control] + +Sometimes a quick thinker will purposely develop the habit of making +very deliberate motions. This trait is the result of his determined +repression of a recognized inclination to act on impulse. He has +accomplished perfect self-control in order to guard against the danger +of making up his mind too quickly on his first thoughts. But his +slowed-down movements will be so _precise_ and _certain_ as to indicate +his characteristic of self-control and that his mind has moved in +advance of his acts. + +If you have occasion to size up such a man, you should perceive that the +movements of his muscles do not correspond with the rate of his mental +activity, as a superficial observer might mistakenly conclude. If your +prospect sits or stands immobile; or if his actions give no indication +of what he is thinking, watch his eyes and his facial muscles of +expression. Eyes that fairly dart from one object to another, +expressions that flash on and off the face; prove swift mental activity, +no matter how quietly the body may be held. For instance, a strong, +quick thinker may have his muscles under such perfect control that he +will pick up a pencil very deliberately because he has trained himself +to repress his impulses. But when he has finished using the pencil, he +will drop it cleanly and not let it slip slowly from his fingers. His +self-training in precaution applies only to what he does _before_ acting +on a purpose. The moment he is done writing, he also is done with the +pencil. His hand does not linger with it over the paper. Unconsciously +his characteristic quickness manifests itself in his inclination to get +rid at once of the tool he has finished using. + +[Sidenote: Tightened Thoughts] + +Any indication of _muscular tensity_ suggests a _tightening of the mind_ +on thoughts. It is often a sign of mental resistance or of persistency. +If, when talking to a man you observe that his muscles seem taut, avoid +forcing the idea you want him to accept, for his mind is opposing it +strongly just then. Perhaps he has a persistent thought of his own, at +variance with yours. Either give him a chance to express his idea in +words, so you can dispose of it, or switch him away from it by changing +the trend of the conversation. When you perceive that his muscles are +normally relaxed, you may safely return to the postponed point. You will +encounter lessened mental resistance. Very likely he will then have no +impulse to persist in the thought he previously had fixed in his mind. + +[Sidenote: What a Man's Walk Shows] + +Note how your prospect walks forward to meet you, or how he moves about +his office. If his stride is long and free and easy, it proves that the +back muscles of his thighs are strong. Those muscles function in direct +co-ordination with the mental action of _willing_. Therefore when a man +walks easily with a long, free stride he indicates that he has a strong +will. He may be sized up confidently as a fighter for his rights, as a +man with a great deal of resolution once he makes up his mind. + +[Sidenote: Determine Mental Speed] + +It is very important when sizing up a man to determine the _degree of +his mental speed_. If you have brought your best capabilities for sale +to a prospective employer, you need to know whether or not he is getting +clearly all the ideas you present. It is necessary for you to make sure +on the one hand that you are not presenting ideas too fast for his mind +to comprehend each point fully. On the other hand, you wish to avoid +harping on details after he understands them. It will aid you very much +in your salesmanship if you know _just how quickly_ the mind of your +prospect acts. There is no better way to find out than by noting the +speed of his _muscle_ response to test ideas. Since the rate of _muscle_ +activity is directly indicative of the rate of _mental_ activity, you +can often learn from observing the _movements_ of your prospect _how +quickly his mind takes in_ points you state or suggest. + +You might test him by asking that he write a name or set down some +figures you give him. If without hesitation he reaches for a pencil, you +may be sure his mind responds quickly to your ideas. But should there be +a moment or two of delay before he picks up the pencil, his _slower +physical response_ to your request is to be read as an _indication that +his mind does not grasp ideas at once_. + +[Sidenote: Keep Mental Pace] + +After making your size-up of the degree of his mental speed, you can +govern your presentation by what you have learned. If you are dealing +with a mind that acts slowly, give your prospect plenty of time to get +each idea you want to impress upon him. But proceed briskly from point +to point with the man whose mind grasps ideas instantly. You would make +a poor impression on him were you to go at a lagging pace. + +It is not necessary, however, to make special or artificial tests to +learn how quickly your ideas are being grasped. Observe the facial +expressions of your prospect, which will indicate how soon your thought +is appreciated after it is presented. Should you say something with a +touch of humor, the time it takes him to smile or twinkle his eyes will +measure the speed of his mind in catching ideas. + +[Sidenote: Head and Eye Movements] + +The movements of the head and of the eyes, according to which are +predominant in the case of an individual, tell much of his character. +The villain on the stage habitually looks out of the corners of his +eyes. So does the mischievous ingenue. But the hero turns his whole head +when he looks about. And the look of innocence in the eyes of the +heroine is straightforward; her head is pointed directly in line with +her gaze. _Apply the principle in your salesmanship._ When you observe a +man who turns his head freely and easily for a square look at a person +who comes into his presence, size him up as one who is not afraid to +face either facts or people. If you note that another prospect glances +obliquely at persons or objects, or that he habitually turns his eyes to +one side or the other while keeping his head still, judge him to lack +the characteristic of frankness. He is likely to be evasive and shifty +in his dealings. Perhaps the sign you have perceived indicates no more +than that your prospect is "stalling." It is evidence, nevertheless, +that his mind is not meeting your ideas squarely. You will need to +compel his attention to come back to your point, time and again perhaps. + +[Sidenote: Strength Of Mind] + +The full-arm movement denotes strength, and bigness of conceptions. A +mere wrist gesture suggests littleness, flippancy, weak traits. +Similarly if a man walks from his hips, he suggests the characteristic +of strong personal opinion. If he walks principally from the knees, or +over-uses his ankles and minces along, he indicates that his mind is not +certain and that he holds his opinions weakly. + +A straight gesture denotes pure _mentality_. A single-curved movement +indicates some _emotion_, rather than only a thought. Action in a double +curve suggests _power_ behind the expression. + +[Sidenote: Honor and Straightforwardness] + +A gesture outward from the chest and on the _same level_ denotes the +qualities of honor and straightforwardness. If your prospect makes such +a motion in response to some idea you present, he is thinking on the +same man-level as yourself--he is treating you as his equal. + +A characteristic movement of the arm _above_ the shoulders signifies +vivid imagination, or impracticability. It may be read as an indication +of lightness of character or of a tendency to go off on a tangent. +Conversely, gestures outward from the _lower_ part of the body denote +power, or an inclination to depreciate values. + +[Sidenote: Selfishness] + +If a man gestures _toward_ himself, he indicates limited conceptions, or +selfishness, with a tendency to materialize everything. Movements in any +direction _away from_ the trunk of the body and on its level denote +assertiveness, sincerity, creative ability, or willingness to cooperate +in thought. + +[Sidenote: Affirmation And Denial] + +_Vertical_ movements suggest the _life_ of ideas, and symbolize +_affirmation_. _Horizontal_ gestures accompany the _denial_ of ideas and +the _death_ of interest. The _diagonal upward_ curve indicates +_idealism_. A similar curve _downward_ is a sign that an idea presented +to the imagination is _concretely realized_. + +[Sidenote: Frankness and Dodging] + +The person who gestures _directly in front_ of himself proves he is +_willing to meet you face to face_ regarding the idea presented. But +when a man gestures _slightly_ to one side or the other, he is not +dodging. His movement denotes only that he is _thinking seriously_. +However, if you present ideas to a man who gestures _far_ to the right +or left, you may feel certain that he is not giving his thoughts in +harmony with yours, but probably is trying to get your ideas out of his +mind. + +[Sidenote: Study Tones] + +While we have emphasized that "muscular indications" are of principal +importance in making a certain size-up, the tones and words of the +prospect should not be altogether neglected. Often a man will +unintentionally reveal in his tones the very things he means his words +to conceal. You would not depend on the words of a person if they were +contradicted by his acts and tones. + +Mental, emotive, and power characteristics are signified by various tone +pitches. _The degree of a man's determination_ and his _persistence in +thought_ are denoted by the _number of tone units_ he habitually employs +when speaking. The _genuineness_ of a statement is suggested or +disproved by the tone _intervals_ in the statement. "Yes" spoken in one +unit without inflection means unqualified assent. "Y-es" in two tones +may mean doubtful assent, or false agreement, or even a contradiction. +The _middle-of-the-mouth_ tone proves a _well balanced_ mind, in +contrast with the _unreliable_ mind that is denoted by the _lip_ tone, +and the _secretive_ mind which is suggested by the tone that comes from +_far back_ in the mouth. + +In a five minute conversation an alert observer who has studied a few of +the elemental principles of tone analysis can size up a great many of +the most pronounced characteristics of a prospect. + +[Sidenote: Don't Offend By Scrutiny] + +It is better to make no size-up at all than to _strain_ in observing the +other man and make him aware of your close scrutiny. Such an inartistic +size-up impresses a prospect disagreeably. He feels that you are prying +into his personal characteristics. Therefore _teach yourself to observe +without seeming to look closely at the object of your size-up_. Learn to +observe unobserved; especially to perceive details without looking +_sharply_. Your eyes and ears can take in specific points about your +prospect without making their keen activity apparent. + +[Sidenote: Two Parts of Sizing-up Process] + +When you have learned how to see and hear many details clearly at the +same time, _unsuspected by your prospect_, you will be a master of the +first essential of skillful character reading. The second necessary +element of proficiency in sizing up men is the _relation or association +of each detail observed, with the particular characteristic it denotes_. +To begin with, _perceive points_ about your prospect. Then ask yourself +about each, "_What does this mean?_" + +[Sidenote: Practice Makes Perfect] + +Of course you will not become an expert judge of other men at once. But +get the habit of seeing and hearing _specific indications of +characteristics_ wherever you go. You will soon find that your mind has +been opened to new, clear ideas of people. + +It is possible for anyone to become a mind reader. It is necessary only +to _note_ and _think out_ the meaning of character signs and thoughts. +Trained specific observation will read and interpret these signs. When +you become skillful in sizing up other men, this art will help you very +much in gaining the best possible receptions everywhere you go. Also, if +you are able to read your prospect's thoughts and character, you can +avoid antagonizing his ideas. + +[Sidenote: Remove Unnecessary Difficulties] + +Gain knowledge of other men in order to make it easy to sell them true +ideas of your best capabilities. It is not _hard_ to succeed if you take +the _unnecessary_ difficulties out of the process of gaining your +chances. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +_The Knock At The Door Of Opportunity and The Invitation To Come In_ + + +[Sidenote: Selling is Not a Mechanical Process] + +The process of selling ideas comprises several steps, part or all of +which the salesman may need to take in order to close a particular sale +successfully. In our study we are considering step after step in regular +order, but the actual selling process cannot be reduced to such +exactitude and routine. Before we begin our analysis of this +"presentation" step, it should be clearly understood that success in +selling ideas is not achieved by going through a _machine-like_ process. +We follow a regular sequence in these chapters, but it is unlikely that +you will ever complete a sale of your services by taking the various +steps of the selling process in the precise order of our study. + +[Sidenote: Be a Fully Equipped Salesman] + +You may need to use them all in order to succeed in a specific instance. +Again, without taking many of the steps here analyzed, you might be able +to gain the success opportunity you most desire. _The object of this +book is to fit you for any and every condition you are likely to meet_ +in your efforts to gain opportunities for your ambition. It is +improbable that in order to get your desired chance and to make the +most of it you will have to _use_ all you learn of the secret of certain +success. You cannot afford, however, to run an _avoidable risk_ of being +at a loss regarding what to do at any stage of the process of selling to +a selected prospect true ideas of your best capability. You need to know +the most effective ways to deal with situations that may never happen, +but which, on the contrary, _might_ be encountered. You cannot start +_confidently_ on your quest for success unless you are _fully_ equipped. + +[Sidenote: Reducing the Odds Against You] + +If you believed it would be necessary for you to do everything contained +in this book in order to gain the opportunities you desire, you likely +would feel very skeptical about succeeding. You might think, "A single +little slip and I'd lose out. It's a thousand to one against me." The +fact is that the odds on the side of failure are very heavy in the case +of an _ordinary_ man. If you can _reduce_ them only a little _in your +own case_, you will get a start towards success because of the slight +lessening of your handicap. + +[Sidenote: Value of Knowing a Single Step] + +I recall a man who mastered but three principles of _prospecting needs_. +With this limited knowledge of salesmanship he was able to induce a +great financier to open the door of opportunity and take him into a +field of rich chances to earn a fortune. Another friend of mine got his +start solely from knowledge of a manufacturer's principal hobby. What +he knew about the "single tax" enabled him to plan a sure approach to +the mind of the factory owner. A young lawyer in Chicago seized upon a +chance for fame and wealth in his first meeting with a poor, seemingly +unsuccessful inventor. In each of these instances a single step of the +selling process, taken correctly, carried the salesman through the door +of opportunity and brought him within reach of the beginnings of +success. + +[Sidenote: Get Ready for Imaginable Happenings] + +_You_ may not need to knock at that door, nor wait for an invitation to +come in. In _your_ case, perhaps, the door stands open, with a "Welcome" +mat just outside. Yet if you _do need_ to knock with your ideas for +admittance to another man's mind, and if it ever becomes _necessary_ for +you to win a welcome, this chapter will prove valuable reading. You will +be helped to gain your desired chance, and the danger of your failure +will be minimized, if you _know how_ to knock and exactly _what to do_ +to assure your welcome. + +Even the master salesman can never be absolutely certain of the +reception he will have from any prospect. Therefore he "goes loaded" for +all imaginable contingencies. You, the salesman of yourself, should be +likewise prepared with knowledge of how each and every step in the +selling process may be taken most effectively. Whatever emergency +arises, you must be ready to take the fullest advantage of a favorable +turn, and equally ready to reduce as much as possible any disadvantage +you encounter. + +[Sidenote: Knocking and Getting In] + +Of course it will avail you nothing if you succeed only in _reaching_ +the particular man through whom you have planned to gain success. And +after you meet him it will do you no material good to _size him up_ +correctly; if you are then unable to hold his _attention_ to your +presentation of ideas. Your preliminary skillful salesmanship would all +be wasted. Evidently, in order that you may continue the process of +gaining your chance, it is necessary that you should know how to knock +on the door of his mind in such an _agreeable but compelling_ way that +he will be _forced_ to let his attention come out _pleasantly_ to you +and your purpose. Hence right knocking at the door of opportunity +immediately follows the size-up as an essential part of the process of +making success certain. + +It is necessary next for you to know how to prevent a turn-down on the +front porch of your prospect's mind, and how to insure _the admission of +your ideas to his thoughts_. You can compel your prospect to open the +door of his attention, but in order to get _inside_ his mind and secure +his _interest_ in your purpose, you must win his _willing invitation_ +for your ideas to enter his thoughts and make themselves at home there. + +[Sidenote: Certain Success Methods] + +We have seen how you can make certain of gaining your chance to reach +the door of opportunity. You can size up surely your prospect's dominant +characteristics and what he is thinking. Likewise you can guarantee to +yourself, first the attention, and second the interest of the man you +have come to see. It is necessary only that you use the methods of the +master salesman to _compel_ the opening of the door and to _induce_ the +extension of welcome to your ideas. + +[Sidenote: Our Old Acquaintance Again] + +Here again we meet our old acquaintance, the discriminative-restrictive +method. You must _discriminate_ between the process of knocking at the +door of opportunity and the process of securing the invitation to come +in. Then, in _practicing_ these related but different steps of the +selling process, it is necessary that when you knock you _restrict_ +yourself to the use of the methods that are most effective in gaining +_attention_. Similarly you should restrict yourself to using the very +_different_ methods of securing _interest_, when you work to get an +invitation for your ideas to come inside the other man's mind and make +themselves at home there. + +[Sidenote: Process of Compelling Attention] + +Psychologists define "Attention" as "that act of the mind which holds to +a given object perceived by one or more senses, to the _exclusion_ of +all other objects that might be perceived at that time by the same or +other senses." A knock at a door attracts attention because it +temporarily diverts the previous attentiveness of the mind to other +things, and concentrates it on a new object of attention. The sense of +hearing is _struck_. Whether or not the mind is _willing_ to hear, it +_cannot help perceiving_ the sudden new sound. Its attention is +_forced_. The instant the knock is heard, the mind is compelled to drop +or suspend what it has been thinking about; though this _exclusive_ new +attention to the knock may last but a fraction of a second. + +Our _senses_ function under the control of the sub-conscious mind. It is +futile for us to _will_ that we _won't_ hear, or see, or taste, etc. We +_have_ to take in sense impressions, whether we want to do so or not. +Therefore, if you employ restrictively the _sense-hitting_ method, you +can force the man upon whom you call to give his _attention_ to you or +to the presentation of your ideas. + +[Sidenote: Inducing Interest] + +It is necessary to discriminate, however, between the use of the avenues +to reach the mind center of _attention_, and the use of very _different_ +ways into the mind center of _interest_. If you start wrong, there is +very little chance that you will arrive at the right destination. The +center of interest is wholly under the control of the _conscious_ mind. +Your prospect can refuse to be interested, if he chooses, despite your +determination to interest him. _His interest must be induced_. Any +attempt to _compel_ it is apt to have a fatal result. Nearly always +such an effort to force interest develops antagonism, instead. + +But there are methods of _inducing_ interest that are just as sure to +succeed as are the sense-hitting methods by which attention may be +compelled. This _double step_ in the process of selling the true idea of +your best capabilities in the right market can be taken with absolute +_certainty_ of success if you know and practice the principles in +accordance with which the master salesman sells his ideas of goods to +prospects. We are to study these principles now, as applied to the sale +of your qualifications for success in the field you have selected. + +[Sidenote: Exclusive Agreeable Attention] + +When you enter the office of your prospect--your chosen future employer, +for example--he will be giving his attention to _something_. No one, +while he is awake, can be wholly _non_-attentive. Your function, at this +stage of the selling process, is to compel him to stop paying attention +to something or somebody _else_, and to give _you and your ideas_ his +exclusive attention. + +[Sidenote: Avoid Making Unfavorable Impressions] + +Of course good salesmanship makes it advisable also to avoid creating a +_disagreeable_ impression while forcing yourself and your ideas upon the +attention of your prospect. The _conscious_ mind governs a man's likes +and dislikes. So if you knock compellingly at the door of _that_ mind to +gain attention, you may arouse very _unfavorable_ attention. For +illustration, a boisterous greeting of your prospect, or a very noisy +entrance into his office, would doubtless compel his attention by the +direct hammering on his senses. But the attraction of his attention to +you would affect the operations of both his conscious and sub-conscious +minds, and his conscious mind would be disagreeably impressed. His +compelled attention, therefore, might result in your being thrown out. + +[Sidenote: Gaining Both Attention And Interest] + +However, you can knock at the _sense_ doors of the _sub-conscious_ mind +with such unobjectionable sense-hitting methods that while agreeable +_attention_ will be _compelled_ thereby, you can also be sure that a +favorable impression on the conscious mind of the prospect will be +_induced_. For illustration, if your prospect is evidently busy at his +desk when you are admitted to his office, you might compel his attention +by entering very quietly and by standing in silence without interrupting +him until he has had an opportunity to finish what he is doing. His +sound sense would be struck, paradoxically, by your exceptional +quietness. His sense of equilibrium would also be affected by your +perfect poise while waiting. Your whole attitude would impress him so +favorably that his especial interest in you would be induced. His +greeting would be pleasant. + +Suppose your prospect looks up from his work when you enter his +presence, and you approach close to his desk; if you are immaculate in +dress and body, you will appeal agreeably to his olfactory sense. The +law of the association of ideas will then begin to work in your favor. +Your prospect will get subconsciously a conscious impression of your +clean character. + +You might wear a fresh flower in your buttonhole and so strike several +of his senses pleasantly. But unless the flower is inconspicuous and in +good taste it would make an unfavorable impression. + +[Sidenote: Good Impressions] + +Let us assume now that when you enter the office of your prospect, he is +disgruntled about something. You can take some of the heat out of his +ill temper by your appearance of cool self-confidence and good nature. + +There are many more such _favorable sense impressions_ which you could +make by simply standing in manly erectness while waiting to receive the +exclusive attention of your prospect. You might employ all the +sense-hitting features of bearing and manner referred to above. The +effect of the sum of these would be the _forced agreeable attention_ of +your prospect. He simply could not help noticing the various items that +would strike his different senses; nor could he help being agreeably +impressed; though he might not give you any indication of the effect you +had compelled. + +[Sidenote: Continual Attention Necessary] + +It is highly important that you should be able first to _gain_ the +favorable attention of your prospect, and second to _hold_ it until his +interest is aroused. It may also be necessary for you to _regain_ his +attention if it is temporarily lost and diverted to some other object. +The master salesman realizes it is essential to have the attention of +his prospect _continually centered_ upon the ideas presented, +_throughout the selling process_. Only a poor salesman of ideas would go +right on talking, even though it might be clearly evident that he did +not have the exclusive attention of the man addressed. + +[Sidenote: Regaining Attention] + +When you proffer your capabilities for purchase by a prospective +employer, do not make the mistake of continuing to present your best +selling points if you have any doubt that his attention is exclusively +yours. _Stop your selling process if his attention wanders or is +diverted_. Use the sense-hitting method to compel it to _come back_ to +you and your ideas. If some one should enter his office while you are +talking to him, or if his telephone should ring, stop short in your +presentation. (Your sudden silence, in itself, will be attention +compelling.) Do not go on with your sales presentation until the +interruption is over. Then use some sense-hitting method of making sure +that his attention is again concentrated on you and your ideas. + +[Sidenote: Sense Hitting] + +An acquaintance of mine who had especially fitted himself for business +correspondence, typed striking paragraphs taken from form letters he had +devised and pasted the slips of paper on stiff filing cards. He carried +with him to his interview with the president of a large corporation +about thirty-five or forty of these cards. His prospecting had indicated +that in the course of the half hour he had planned to take up with a +presentation of his capabilities this executive would be interrupted +often by telephone calls and the entrance of subordinates. The +salesman's size-up also revealed that his prospect's attention was +likely to wander to the things on his desk. From time to time when the +correspondent was presenting his ideas the president reached out his +hand and picked up a paper. Evidently he was inclined to give but +flighty attention to his caller. + +[Sidenote: Striking More Than One Sense] + +The salesman, however, had "come loaded" for exactly this situation. He +had worked out his selling plan in detail. As he developed idea after +idea, he used a device for regaining attention by hitting at the +prospect's senses of _sight_ and _hearing_. Just as soon as the +president's hand wandered to a paper, the salesman ruffled the cards he +held, quickly selected one, and clicked it down on the desk top before +his prospect. He had to do this perhaps a dozen times before he felt +confident he had clinched the interest of the executive. If the +salesman had used words merely, what, he said in presenting his ideas to +the prospect might have gone in one ear and out the other. But his +action of ruffling the cards struck the president's senses of sight and +hearing compellingly; as did the clicking of the card on the desk top +when it was presented for reading. Repeatedly the return of the +prospect's wandering attention was forced subconsciously; yet no +disagreeable impression was made on his conscious mind. In the course of +half an hour the correspondent succeeded in selling his services at a +very satisfactory salary. + +[Sidenote: "Come Loaded"] + +If you similarly "come loaded" for sense-hitting, you will be able to +get your prospect's attention originally, and to regain it whenever it +is temporarily lost. In advance of your call on the man to whom you want +to sell your services, think out things you can do that will strike one +or more of his senses forcibly, without making disagreeable impressions. +You can take with you to the interview specimens of your work, or +testimonials; and hold them in your hand where they will attract notice. +Or you might plan to use attention-compelling gestures. + +[Sidenote: Tone Variations] + +Changes of tone will make the other man "perk up his ears" if his +attention wanders; so plan to introduce variety into your manner of +speaking. Don't just open the spigot of your mind and let your ideas +run out in a monotone. Variety of voice is pleasing, as well as +attention-compelling. + +I know a salesman who is in the habit of using a spotlessly clean big +handkerchief to help him keep the prospect's mind concentrated on the +proposition being presented. Whenever the other man's attention is +diverted, this salesman whisks his handkerchief from his pocket and +touches his lips with it. The flash of white hits the sight-sense of the +prospect and brings back his wandering attention to the salesman. + +[Sidenote: Sense Hitting Should Help The Sale] + +But such devices are superficial. _The best sense-hitting means of +compelling attention, directly relates some sense effect to the +salesman's purpose._ + +The correspondent who ruffled his cards and clicked them down on the +prospect's desk would not have been so successful if on each card he had +not pasted a specimen of his work as an efficient letter writer. If he +had brought a pack of blank cards, for example, the repeated use of his +device for getting attention might have irritated the other man. To +analyze the illustration further; if the correspondent had brought the +specimens of his work on letter paper, not pasted on stiff cards, they +would have been much less effective. He could not have ruffled them, and +would have been unable to make the clicking sound he used to hit the +other man's ears. + +[Sidenote: Suggesting Capability] + +Suppose you apply for a situation as a bookkeeper or an accountant. One +of the best sense-hitting devices you could use to compel attention to +your ability would be a collection of complicated tabulations in your +handwriting, made neatly without a correction or an erasure. Such an +exhibit of painstaking workmanship, if complemented by a neat, +attractive personal appearance, would _force_ the employer to _notice_ +you and the proofs of your qualifications. You certainly would make a +most favorable impression. Your prospect would imagine his books and +records as you would keep them. When presenting the evidences of your +capability as an accountant, you could suggest other qualities than +those mentioned--such as the proper pride of a good workman, serious +earnestness, dignity, keen intelligence, etc. Such _suggestions made +with the aid of sense-hitting devices_ would help you to complete the +sale of your services. + +[Sidenote: Make Your Qualities Stand Out] + +Perhaps you wish particularly to impress your qualities of alertness, +energy, love of work, and physical stamina. Then sit or stand easily +erect when you call on your prospect. If you should slump or loll in +your chair, you would suggest that you lacked the very characteristics +on which you are depending to get the job. + +_Make your best qualities stand out noticeably_ in your bearing. Should +you apply for a position of great trust, requiring the exercise of the +finest discretion, be sure to look the other man frankly in the face and +let him see into your eyes. Also modulate your tones to the pitch of +discretion and confidence. Your manner, your expressions, your voice +will all draw attention to your fitness for the chance you want. + +[Sidenote: Original Methods] + +Such illustrations as have been given above should be understood as +merely suggestive of ways to use the sense-hitting method of compelling +attention. _Do not copy_ the suggestions offered. _Think out for your +individual use a collection of sense-hitting devices of your own._ Then +you will be able to select various ways to gain and to re-gain attention +when you are in the presence of a prospect. No matter what may be your +ability and ambition, _there are features of your character and your +service capacity that you can utilize to make direct sense appeals_. +Find out for yourself what they are, and plan how to use them most +effectively. If you cannot gain attention to your qualifications, or if +you are unable to recall wandering attention, you may lose the chance +you have succeeded in getting. _Insure yourself_ against the possibility +of such a disaster; so that your previous good salesmanship in securing +an interview will not all go for naught. + +[Sidenote: Out-of-the-Ordinary Things] + +If you do something _out of the ordinary_, the force of your +sense-hitting will be much greater than if you employ only common +devices for gaining attention. It is better to _do_ something that +compels attention to your recommendations than to _say_ "I want to call +your attention to these letters." + +[Sidenote: Danger of Distracting Attention] + +However, there is always the danger that in gaining attention by +_unusual_ means you may attract too much attention to the _device_ you +use, and so distract notice from the _proposition_ you are presenting +for sale. Therefore be sure that whatever extraordinary thing you do to +compel attention _contributes directly to your main purpose_ and does +not lead your prospect off on a _side track_ of thought. + +A business house once got out an advertising novelty and had samples +distributed by the salesmen as gifts to their principal customers. +The novelty was an ingenious mechanical device. It attracted so much +attention to itself that when a salesman put it on the desk of a +prospect before beginning his sales talk, the attention of the other +man was drawn from what the salesman was saying and was given to the +novelty. The prospect would pick up and examine the advertising device +while the salesman was presenting ideas regarding his standard line +of goods. As a result, many of the best points of the sales talks +were unnoticed. The advertising novelty was a detriment. The sales +volume fell off while it was being distributed. The slump was traced +directly to the mistake of having the _salesmen_ pass out the +attention-compelling device _which was not related to the staples of +the house line_. + +[Sidenote: The Remedy] + +The distribution was made by mail thereafter, in advance of the +salesman's call. It was effective then as an introduction for the +traveler; because by the time he came to see the prospect, the novelty +of the advertising device had worn off. It was no longer an +attention-distracter. + +[Sidenote: Three Ways To Compel Attention] + +Remember that the attention of your prospect is always given to +_something_. If another object of attention is more compelling than +_your_ means of forcing his notice, your attempt will fail. Therefore be +sure that your attention-getting device has at least one of three points +of superiority. + +(1) It can be _stronger_ than the other appeal to the same sense. If +your prospect's attention to what you are saying wanders because a +phonograph starts to play in the next room, you can recall it to your +presentation by slapping your hands together to emphasize a point, or +you can change your tone suddenly. His sense of hearing will be struck +compellingly by your device. + +(2) Your appeal for attention can be made to _more_ senses than are +being reached by the distraction. The phonograph music hits only the +ears of your prospect. Besides slapping your hands together or changing +your tone, you can supplement such appeals to his tone sense by an +appeal to his sense of sight. You can make a gesture, or display a +letter for him to read just at that moment. + +(3) Your appeal can hit the senses of your prospect more _insistently_ +than the other. If the phonograph music proves very attractive to him, +you will need to _keep hammering_ at him with forceful changes of voice, +with gestures, by touching him, or by doing something else to make his +attention to the music "let go." + +[Sidenote: Summary] + +To summarize the most effective method of gaining attention--_hit each +sense to which you appeal as strongly as you can, without making a +disagreeable impression, strike as many senses as possible, and keep on +using your sense-hitting device as long as necessary to get or to +recover exclusive favorable attention_. + +Many a man has gained success because he first gained attention. He +stood out from the crowd, or was able to make his qualities noticeable. +When one is fully qualified for success, he may need only to attract +attention to his capabilities; then he is likely to be given the chance +he wants. + +[Sidenote: "I'm Not Interested"] + +Often, however, the salesman is discomfited after he gains attention. +The prospect halts the selling process by declaring, "I'm not +interested." Suppose you are able to compel your prospective employer to +notice you favorably, but he balks there and shows no inclination to +buy your services. He has listened attentively to all you have said. He +has concentrated his mind upon you, and has not wandered in thought to +other subjects. Yet you perceive that he is inclined to put you off or +to turn you down. Evidently, in order to prevent such a contretemps, you +need to resort now to a _different selling step_, which you have not +taken previously. + +It is necessary that you have at your command a way to induce interest. +This interest-inducing means must be as _sure_ in its effects as the +sense-hitting method of compelling attention. Otherwise you could not be +certain of success with the selling process. If the effectiveness of +every step cannot be assured in advance, you will not rely confidently +on salesmanship to achieve your ambition. + +[Sidenote: Discriminate Between Attention And Interest] + +Probably you have never worked out in your mind exactly _the reasons why +you are interested_ in particular things and in certain people. Let us +make an analysis. Your _attention_ might be attracted so strongly to a +vicious criminal that for the time being you could think of no one else. +Yet his fate might be a matter of such indifference to you that you +would have absolutely no _interest_ in the man. But suppose you should +see in his face, or in an expression of his eyes, something that haunted +your memory appealingly. It would induce you to read the newspaper +accounts of his trial. You would feel a little sorry for him, on +learning that he had been sentenced to a long term in prison. Very +likely you would say to yourself, "I suppose he is a mighty tough +character, but I believe there is something in him that isn't altogether +bad." Your intuition would tell you he possessed undefined traits that +you like. In _your own liking_ for these characteristics that you +vaguely discerned in him when you saw him, _is the key to the interest +he induced_. + +[Sidenote: What and Whom We Like] + +What do we like? Whom do we like? + +Things that are _like_ our own ideas. People who are _like_ the ideas we +have about likable people. Interest is all a matter of recognizing +points of likeness. + +In order to draw your prospect beyond the attention stage of the selling +process, and to induce his interest in your "goods," you must impress on +him suggestions of the similarity of your ideas to ideas already in his +own mind. _He will like your ideas in proportion to their resemblance to +his own way of thinking_ on the same subjects. So you should express +yourself as nearly as possible in his terms, and attract his interest by +making him feel that your mind and his are much alike. + +[Sidenote: Non-Interest] + +One day I was sitting in the private office of a very wealthy +philanthropist. A salesman presented a letter of introduction to the +millionaire, who in turn introduced me to his caller. The newcomer +thereupon proceeded to present most attractively a business proposal. He +offered my friend an excellent opportunity to make a good deal of money +by joining an underwriting syndicate. The millionaire at once declared +he was not interested. "I have all the money I want," he said, and bowed +the salesman out. The ideas that had been presented to him were +altogether _different_ from his own financial motives. + +[Sidenote: Interest] + +That same afternoon another promoter called upon my friend with a +project for investment in a house-building corporation. This second +salesman evidently had prospected the philanthropist and had planned +just how to interest him. He did not stress the profits to be made from +investment in the stock of his corporation, but referred to them in a +minor key. He emphasized the need of the city for more homes, and cited +instances of distress due to the housing shortage. + +My friend was thoroughly interested. He took home the salesman's +prospectus for further study. Since he was a good business man, he +satisfied himself that the investment would be profitable. But he +subscribed for fifty thousand dollars worth of securities principally +because they represented a project _like his own ideas_ of the way money +should be put to work for human happiness. + +[Sidenote: Know Prospect's Likes and Dislikes] + +When you call on the man you have selected as your future employer, go +equipped with all the prospecting knowledge regarding him that you have +been able to get. Be sure you know his strongest likes and dislikes. +Size him up on the spot, for the purpose of supplementing what you have +previously learned about him. Hit his attention with sense-appeals +related to his peculiarities. Then, in order to make sure of his +interest, present some idea that is of the kind _he_ especially likes. +He will open his mind and welcome your idea at once. + +[Sidenote: The Man of Quick Decisions] + +Suppose he has a reputation for brusqueness and quick decisions, and is +impatient about any waste of time. You probably would help your cause by +looking him straight in the eye and saying bluntly something like this: + +"I want to work for you because you are my kind of a man. Ask me any +questions you want, now. You won't have to call me on the carpet for +information about my work after you hire me. Pay me two hundred dollars +a month, and I won't be back in this office to get a raise until you +send for me." + +I know a young man who secured a good job from an "old crab" in just +that way, within three minutes after they first met. + +Two men sought the position of office manager of an automobile company. +The owners of the business were thorough mechanics who had designed +their own car, but who were comparatively unfamiliar with office +operations. They were not at home outside their factory. + +[Sidenote: Mistake of Speaking Different Language] + +The first candidate for the vacant position brought the finest +recommendations of his qualifications for office management. The other +applicant had had much less experience, and was not nearly so well +qualified. But the first man was a poor salesman of his capabilities. He +failed to recognize, when he explained his ideas to the partners, that +he was talking to a pair of mechanics. They did not understand the +language he used. His presentation of his qualifications as an office +manager would have impressed an employer accustomed to sitting at a +desk. But the partners were intuitively prejudiced against the capable +candidate who was so very _unlike themselves_ in all respects. + +[Sidenote: Speaking the Same Language] + +The other applicant was shrewd. He used salesmanship in presenting his +lesser qualifications for the position. He talked in terms borrowed from +the language of shop practice. He compared the plans he suggested for +the office supplies stock room, with the "tool crib" in the factory. He +explained his idea of office organization by using as a model a chart of +the plant departments. He compared office expenses with factory +overhead. + +The owners of the business understood very little about the subjects he +discussed, but he used words and expressions that were familiar to them. +So his ideas, as he presented them, impressed the partners as _like +their own way of looking at things_. The better salesman, who knew how +to interest his prospects, got the five-figure job; though he was a less +capable office executive than the disappointed applicant. + +[Sidenote: Fitting Ideas To Prospect's Mind] + +Do not try to sell another man particular ideas because _you_ like them. +You are not the buyer. Sell him ideas that _he_ likes. Fit the ideas you +bring him to the characteristics of his mind. + +If you judge him to be a quick thinker, do not hesitate in indecision a +moment longer than is necessary for you to make up your mind +confidently. On the other hand, should he be a deliberate thinker, be +careful not to make an impression that you are rash or impulsive in your +decisions. + +[Sidenote: Clothes and Interest] + +If he is inclined to be finical about his dress, or over-particular +regarding orderliness, he will be interested if your garb is +punctiliously correct and if you suggest to him the habits of precision. +I read a little while ago the story of a young man who lost the chance +to become the confidential assistant of a noted financier. The young man +missed his opportunity because he made the mistake of wearing a soft +collar when he called for the final interview with the financier. + +[Sidenote: Avoid False Pretense of Interest] + +_Do not, of course, put on false pretenses_, to make your prospect like +you and your ideas. Remember that you must _live up_ to a first good +impression. So appear nothing, say nothing, do nothing that is untrue +to your best self. But without any dishonesty you can indicate that your +way of thinking has points of similarity to the slant of the other man's +mind. If he is a Republican, while you are a Democrat, and the subject +of politics comes up, do not pretend to be an elephant worshiper. Admit +your party allegiance casually, and remark that you are not hide-bound +in your political faith, but open-minded. Maybe he will employ you with +the hope of converting you to Republicanism. + +[Sidenote: Few Direct Opposites] + +There are few ideas regarding which honest men are diametrically opposed +on principle. You can suggest to your prospective employer the idea that +you are in accord with his way of thinking; though you may differ widely +in many respects. You need not emphasize the _degree_ of your likeness +in mind. Certainly it would be very poor policy to stress your +differences of opinion. + +[Sidenote: Like Breeds Like] + +_Any likeness of your suggestions to the ideas of the other man will +impress him agreeably._ He will be pleased to find the points of +resemblance, and they will help to gloss over a possible prejudice in +his mind against you. The association of your similar ideas on a subject +will suggest to him imaginative pictures of your association with him in +his business. "Like breeds like." He will place you mentally in a +situation where the likable qualities he has found in you might be +employed to his satisfaction. + +[Sidenote: Inside the Door] + +Then you will be safely _inside the door_ of his interest. Without +realizing it, your prospect would like to bring about the condition he +has imagined. He is beginning to want you in his employ; though as yet +he has no deep-seated desire for your services. Objections to you may +spring up in his mind, but you certainly have been successful throughout +the processes of getting his response to your knock, and of securing for +your ideas his invitation to come into his thoughts for a better +acquaintance with your purpose. + +[Sidenote: Unwelcome Guests] + +After admitting your ideas to his mind, he may wish he had not welcomed +them. He may find objectionable things in you or in your proposal. +Sometimes a man responds to a knock on his door, and becomes +sufficiently interested in the caller to invite him to enter the house; +but regrets afterward that he extended the welcome. This change of heart +and mind is usually due to something done by the visitor after his +admittance. However, we are not considering just now any step of the +selling process beyond winning a welcome. In later chapters we will +study how to make the most effective use of hospitality and the things +to avoid that might impress the host as abuses of the privileges of a +guest. + +[Sidenote: Furniture of The Mind] + +Ideas have been called "the furniture of the mind." We have already seen +that they are the developments of _repeated sense impressions_. A +particular mind center is partly or wholly furnished with ideas in +proportion to the man's use of his sense avenues to bring in ideas from +outside himself. The doors of the mind swing inward most readily when +the new mental furniture brought along a sense avenue matches the ideas +already in the mind center. Doubtless the young man who lost the +interest of a great financier by wearing a soft collar would have been +able to hold it if he had dressed according to his prospect's ideas. + +[Sidenote: One Likable Thing Helps] + +_If there is one thing about you that another man dislikes, it +disproportionately tinges his entire attitude of mind toward you. On the +other hand, if you have one especially likable feature, it tends to +lessen the disagreeable impression of things about you that the other +man does not like._ + +So, when you come to a prospect as a salesman of your best self and have +gained his attention, avoid making disagreeable suggestions to his mind, +and have at your command a number of sense appeals you are sure he will +like. You certainly will secure his interest if you follow this selling +process. + +To win his interest you need not induce your prospect to like you _all +through_ or in _every respect_. If he likes but one thing about you at +first, he will be interested enough to give you the chance to develop +more interest. _The interest that produces the fruit of acceptance is +often a growth from only one seed sown by the salesman of ideas_. + +[Sidenote: Avoid Over-Emphasis] + +At this stage of the selling process it is not wise to plunge ahead +fast. Do not go to the _extreme_ on any subject that you find is +interesting to your prospect. His interest may be mild, and he might be +prejudiced if you seem to display excessive concern about something that +he considers of minor importance. I recall the experience of a man who +was complimented on keeping an appointment to the minute. He +_over-emphasized_ the virtue of punctuality and irritated his prospect, +who was not always on time himself. The job went to another applicant. + +[Sidenote: Moderate Attitude] + +_Be moderate_ in your attitude when you work to secure the beginning of +interest, lest you raise an obstacle in your path. Until you are sure +you have won a considerable degree of interest, you cannot lead strongly +in any direction without running the risk of losing some of the +advantages you have gained. Therefore at the interest stage proceed +warily. "Watch your step." + +[Sidenote: Hobbies] + +Be especially careful not to gush over a hobby of your prospect, in +which his interest may not be so great as you suppose. _Hobbies are +dangerous_. Don't harp on one. It requires consummate art to show +enthusiasm about another man's hobby without arousing his suspicions +regarding your sincerity. + +[Sidenote: Art of Knocking and Winning a Welcome] + +Throughout the various steps of the selling process, salesmanship is an +_art_. The art of knocking at the door of opportunity and of winning the +invitation to come in lies in _making favorable out-of-the-ordinary +impressions in unusual ways_. The salesman himself, his methods of +presenting his services for sale, and his qualifications--all should +stand out distinctly, and make impressions of his individuality. He +should not seem like a common applicant for a position, but should +suggest to the prospective employer that he is a man of uncommon +characteristics and especial capability. + +[Sidenote: The Process And Effects] + +That is the way to make a good impression. Such an impression of an +extraordinary personality first affords pleasure, then excites a degree +of admiration, and next arouses a certain amount of curiosity that is +nearly akin to interest. If you please your prospect in your initial +impression on him, he will like you and begin to feel _personal concern_ +about your application. + +[Sidenote: Analyze, Discriminate, Restrict] + +In order to qualify yourself for taking this step of the selling process +effectively hereafter, analyze the impressions you make now. +Discriminatively select the good and bad details. Then restrict your +future practice in perfecting the art of inducing interest, to the +development and use of your pleasing qualities only. + +[Sidenote: The Interesting Opening] + +Most men begin an interview with a prospective employer indefinitely or +in merely general terms. Naturally they confront a wall of non-interest. +You have come, remember, on a mission of service. Please at once by +presenting the idea that you know a particular service which is lacking +and which you can supply. Break the ice of strangeness between you and +your prospect by an appeal first to his human side through a smile of +_genuine friendliness_ and by looking straight into his eyes so that he +can see into your heart. + +Then in a business-like way get right down to business without +hesitation. Show enthusiasm, which is contagious if not overdone. Base +your enthusiasm on real optimism. Indicate temperamental youthfulness in +vigor and courage. Say something original--something strong, maybe a +little startling; but it must be self-evidently true. By all means avoid +anything that suggests parrot talk or indefinite thought. Do not expect +the other man to listen with interest to a statement proceeding from +premise to conclusion. + +[Sidenote: Headlines] + +_Use headlines prominently and often_ to summarize the body of your +proposal. Headlines attract your attention and induce your interest in +particular newspaper items. Employ headline statements for the same +purpose in selling the idea of your capabilities; just as surely you +will get attention and interest. + +A noted sales manager who had been earning a large salary made up his +mind that satisfying success for him was to be gained only through a +business in which he would be partly an owner instead of just an +employee. He called together a group of financiers and introduced his +purpose by saying to them, "Gentlemen, I have an idea in which I have so +much confidence that I will resign my $75,000 a year job to develop it. +I want to explain it to you and to have your co-operation in financing a +project I have worked out." His headline statement secured instant +interest, of course. + +_There is something about yourself or your capabilities that you can put +into headlines._ In forcible, vivid language you can strike some senses +of your prospects. Think of headline statements about your services. +Write them out in advance. You may be certain they will produce the same +psychological effect as headlines in the newspapers. + +[Sidenote: Sense Doors Always Open] + +_Use the sense avenues_ to introduce agreeable suggestions into your +prospect's mind centers of attention and interest. Then you will be +employing the _unusual_ methods of a master salesman, who devises ways +of using every possible sense appeal. + +_The sense doors are always open. They are held open by the subconscious +mind. If you understand your way through them there will be no doubt +about the effectiveness of your knock at the door of opportunity, or +about getting an invitation for your ideas to enter the mind of the +other man._ + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +_Getting Yourself Wanted_ + + +[Sidenote: Show a Need For Your Services] + +A great many salesmen mistakenly believe that if they can interest a +prospect thoroughly in their goods, he is almost sure to buy. When this +stage is reached, they think they only need to keep his interest growing +to close the sale. If, instead, it drags on interminably, they are +utterly at a loss regarding what _more_ they should do to secure the +order. + +Do not fall into a similar error when selling true ideas of your best +capabilities. Not only is it necessary that you induce your prospective +employer's _interest_ in your personal qualifications, but you need to +make him realize there is a _present lack_ in his business which you can +fill to his satisfaction. _You must get yourself wanted._ + +You might make an excellent first impression on the man you have chosen +as your future chief. He might listen attentively to your presentation +of ideas, and question you so interestedly that you would expect him to +say at any moment, "All right. The job is yours." Then, instead of +engaging your services, he might remark, "I'll keep your name on file." +Or he might say, "I know a man who probably could use you. I'll give +you a note to him." You would win a cordial farewell handshake from your +prospect, but not an acceptance of your proposal to work with him. You +would leave without the job. _Your failure would be due to your +inability to get yourself sufficiently wanted_. + +[Sidenote: See Yourself Through Your Prospect's Eyes] + +Now imagine yourself in the place of this employer. See your application +through his eyes. Unless you can look at yourself from the prospect's +viewpoint, you may not comprehend your deficiency in salesmanship. + +The employer upon whom you called said to himself while you were trying +to sell your services, "Here is a very attractive man. He presents an +interesting proposition. But I have no real need for such an employee; +therefore it would be poor business for me to engage him, much as I +should like to do so. I am sorry that at present I have no place for him +in my organization. He's a man I'd like to keep track of, so I'll file +his name and address for possible future reference. Meanwhile I'll give +him a note to my friend Smith. I hate to turn him down cold; he's such a +fine man." + +Evidently the employer did not feel a _lack_ in his own business. You +failed to make him realize any _need_ for your services. + +[Sidenote: Proving A Need] + +Contrast with this illustration the case of an efficiency engineer who +secured his chance to overhaul a factory by demonstrating to a +manufacturer that he needed a new order-checking system. The engineer +"beat" the old system and brought to the manufacturer's office a lot of +goods he had secured that could not be checked. His salesmanship +compelled attention, induced thorough interest, and proved there was a +hole that should be filled. When the lack was shown convincingly, the +manufacturer wanted it satisfied. The sale of the engineer's services +was quickly closed. + +[Sidenote: Getting Yourself Wanted Is Only One Step Ahead] + +Do not jump to the conclusion that you are sure of the job you desire, +just as soon as you get yourself wanted. You are not yet at the end of +the selling process. The prospect has only been conducted successfully +another step forward toward your goal. _The moment after he realizes the +lack in his business, he is apt to question most critically your +qualifications for filling it._ + +[Sidenote: Analysis Naturally Follows Desire] + +_As soon as a man begins to feel a real tug of desire for anything, he +examines it with new, increased interest to make sure there isn't +something the matter with it._ The suit of clothes that only induces his +interest in a shop window is passed by after a look. However, if he says +to himself, "That's the kind of suit I want," he goes in and examines +the workmanship and the cloth, in search of faults. The salesman may +need to overcome certain objections of his prospect before the order can +be secured. + +But we have not reached the objections stage of the uncompleted sale. +That is the subject of the next chapter. Let us retrace our steps to +study the essence of the art of getting yourself wanted. + +[Sidenote: Two-part Process of Getting Yourself Wanted] + +There are two parts to the process. First, you must show the prospect +what he lacks; that in his business there is _an unoccupied opportunity +for such services as you believe you are capable of rendering to his +benefit and satisfaction_. Second, you need to _picture yourself filling +the place and giving the service_; to show him imaginatively _your +qualifications at work in his business_. + +[Sidenote: Sincerity Of Service Purpose] + +Of course it is primarily necessary that you believe in your own +capability, and in the value to the other man of the qualities you have +brought to him for sale. Unless you have this feeling yourself, you will +not be likely to draw out his reciprocating desire for your services. +You are not dealing now with his mind. _Desire proceeds from the heart. +It is emotional, not mental_. The least suspicion of your insincerity +would check your prospect's feeling that he wants you as an employee. +You must feel that you have come with a purpose of genuine service, and +you must draw out his similar feeling. + +[Sidenote: Desire Comes Out of the Heart] + +When you knocked at the door of your prospect's mind, and when you +sought to induce his welcome for your ideas, your object was to get him +to take your thoughts _into_ his head. The line of action is _reversed_ +at the desire stage of the selling process. Until now _you_ have been +the moving party. You have been getting yourself and your ideas into his +consciousness. But while attention and interest are _receptive_ +processes, the emotion of genuine desire starts with an _outward moving +impulse from the prospect_. It isn't enough that he open his heart and +let you enter, as he has admitted your ideas to his mind. _If he really +wants you, his feeling of desire will come out after you_. + +[Sidenote: Service Value is Appreciated] + +You have revealed to your prospect a lack in his business, and have +pictured yourself filling it to his satisfaction. You have done him a +double service. It is human nature to _appreciate_ such a genuine +service, and to _want more_ like it. The first service is accepted with +appreciation, but when the square man wants more _he makes a move to get +it, and expects to pay for it_. As soon as you have shown the lack and +your ability to fill it, and have pictured yourself "on the job," it +will be natural for your prospect to want you there in fact. + +The colored porter who washed the windows and scrubbed floors in the +general offices of a manufacturing corporation was ambitious to rise in +the social scale and to earn a larger salary. One evening he went to +the private office of the president, and presented for sale an idea of +his capability for a different job. + +[Sidenote: Official Welcomer Wanted] + +"Boss," he began, "You-all ain't got nobody dere to de front doah to +make folks feel welcome-like when dey comes in heah. Down in Virginny my +ol' gran-pap useter weah a dress suit ever' day an' jist Stan' in de +front hall of his ol' massa's house, a-waitin' to bow an' smile to +comp'ny whad'd come in. If you'll jist rent me one o' dem dar suits, +Boss, I could stan' out in the front office an' make folks feel we wuz +glad to see 'um, lak' mah gran'pap did. When ennybody comes heah now, +dey ain't nobody pays much 'tention to 'um. You'd orter git somebody on +dat job, Boss; an' I reckon I'm jist 'bout cut out foh it, suh." + +The colored man compelled attention by presenting himself at the door of +the sanctum. He induced interest in his proposal. Then, in addition, _he +pointed out a lack and that he could fill it_. Immediately the president +_visioned_ the old darkey as an official welcomer, and _wanted_ him. _He +reached right out for the service offered_. The sale was closed at once, +and the colored man shone in his new glories within a week. + +[Sidenote: Conflict of Heart and Mind] + +Often a man desires with his heart things that his mind does not +approve. Therefore when you work to get yourself wanted, _appeal to the +heart of your prospect, rather than to his mind_. Then if _his_ mind +raises objections to his desire for your services, _your_ mind at a +later stage of the selling process will overcome or get around his +mental opposition. When the time for that step arrives, _his heart_ will +already have been won as _your ally_, and will help you dispose of the +objections _his mind_ has raised. + +[Sidenote: Get Yourself Liked] + +As a preliminary to getting yourself wanted, get yourself _liked_. Make +such an impression, do and say such things, as will draw out of the +heart of your prospect _a friendly feeling_ for you. You know of people +who have been boosted to notable successes because influential men took +personal interest in their advancement. + +I recall an office boy who was always ready to perform little extra +services. He held his employer's overcoat one day, and the boss rather +absent-mindedly handed him a tip. The boy shook his head and declined +the dime. + +"I didn't do that for a tip. You always treat me fine, and I just like +to show you I appreciate it." + +The boy's _heart had spoken_, and the employer's _heart responded at +once with an especial liking_ for the lad. The seed of personal interest +having been planted in the heart of the president, his liking grew. The +boy was advanced to better and better positions. He made good on his +merits, but he was helped very much because his employer _wanted_ him to +succeed. + +[Sidenote: The Common Heart of Man] + +Reference has previously been made to the fundamental likeness of all +men at heart and to their differences in mind. Send out with your voice +an appeal to only the _minds_ of your audience--read a table of +statistics, for example--and it will affect all your hearers +_differently, depending on the mental characteristics of each +individual_. But tell a story of great courage, of self-sacrifice, of +love--_the same fundamental effect_ will be produced on all the _hearts_ +in the audience; though, of course, the various individuals will respond +with _different degrees of emotional intensity_. + +As has been said before, in order to look into the heart of another man +you need but see clearly into your own. There you will find all the +emotions of human nature, no matter how you may differ from other men in +mentality. Hence if you would prompt the heart of another man to want +your services, just _do the things he would need to do to win your +liking for him_. Imagine the cases reversed, and be guided in your +selling process by what you see. + +[Sidenote: Popular Men] + +To look at this step from another angle--_if you would be likable, you +must find other men likable_. If you like people only within a limited +range, you will similarly narrow your own likableness. If, however, you +genuinely like all men--like them for their faults and frailties as well +as for their merits--you will appeal to the intuitive heart of any other +man. You will draw out his liking for you because _the magnetic power +of your own heart will not be restricted_ to pulling your way the +friendly feelings of only a few people. Instead, you will be a "popular" +man, a man who is _generally_ well liked. + +You meet certain men whom you like at sight. You desire further +acquaintance, or friendship with them. But these men have not prepared +themselves to suit _you_ in particular. Most _other_ people who meet +them have the _same feeling_ toward them that you experience. The men +you like at sight, and who make friends wherever they go have developed +in themselves _feelings of friendliness for all men_. As like breeds +like, liking draws liking. + +[Sidenote: Artificial Methods Never Deceive The Heart] + +If you try to develop particular traits, only because you believe they +will attract other men to you, you will not make your nature likable. +Such _artificial methods_ of making yourself attractive _never deceive +heart intuitions_. You will not become popular by proceeding +_selfishly_. But if you develop within yourself a heartfelt interest in +your fellow men, if you are full of genuine desire to serve them with +your friendship, _you will attract the liking of nearly all the people +you meet_. They will want to know you better and to be your friends. + +[Sidenote: No Insulation Against Human Magnetism] + +There is "no sich critter" as a natural grouch. A man who has that +reputation is _repressing his natural emotions_--that is all. He does +not express his true feelings. He attempts to deny that he has them. +_But they are inside him, and you can pull them toward you_ if you bring +your likableness to bear upon his heart. He will feel the tug, and will +be drawn to you by your magnetic power. _There is no insulation that can +prevent the pull of human magnetism_. So treat the crab with a feeling +of real liking for the human nature inside, and don't be discouraged by +his shell. Be more than ordinarily likable when you have to deal with a +surly prospect. Exert all the magnetism you have. He will feel drawn to +you. You will get yourself wanted. + +J. Pierpont Morgan, Senior, was noted for being unapproachable. But it +is said that he took a great liking to a certain newsboy who never acted +afraid of him and who treated him as an ordinary mortal. This gamin +always had a cheery word for everybody. That he made no exception in Mr. +Morgan's case won the heart of the austere financier, who helped the boy +to get an education and to start in business. + +[Sidenote: Do Not Over-sell Likability] + +The emphasis placed on the importance of likableness as the _principal_ +factor in getting yourself wanted may have made you forget the _primary_ +necessity of showing your prospect _a real lack in his business, and +that you are capable of filling it_. It is possible to attract an +employer's liking for you, whether he has a place for you or not. But +his liking will do you no good unless you can also make him see he has a +need for you. + +_Success is not to be won by getting in where you are not wanted, +however likable you may be_. You must sell the idea of your service +_value_ as well as the ideas that your services would be _liked_. You +_cannot over-develop_ the quality of likableness, but you _can +over-sell_ it, to the detriment of your own best interest. + +[Sidenote: A Winning Personality Sometimes Fails] + +One of the most conspicuous failures I know is a man who has "a winning +personality." Times without number his genuine agreeableness has won him +fine chances to succeed, but in the positions he has held he has never +studied the needs of his employers for other qualities than likability. +Consequently he has fallen down on all his big chances. Today he is just +a popular door man for a big department store. His intelligence and his +physical ability are so evident that he is an object of pity and wonder +as he smiles and bows to customers of the store. Undoubtedly if he had +studied the different opportunities he has had, and had fitted himself +into all the requirements of a particular situation, his winning +personality would have helped him higher and higher toward the mountain +peaks of success instead of leaving him on an ant hill. + +[Sidenote: Three Impressions Necessary] + +Of course the mind of your prospective employer acts in co-ordination +with his heart when you attract him so much that he really wants the +service you proffer. He imagines you rendering that service. He thinks +what "might be" if you were associated with his business. He paints +mental pictures that please him, and he wishes his vision to come true. +But when he begins to imagine you rendering service, the picture of your +agreeable personality will not be pleasant to him if he sees that he +doesn't really need you. _In order to get yourself wanted it is +necessary that you show him the lack, and that you can fill it, and that +you would be likable when filling it_. If you make these three +impressions on the mind and heart of your prospect, your success in your +purpose will be assured. You will not fail to get yourself wanted. + +[Sidenote: Desire is Turning Point Of the Sale] + +In salesmanship "desire is the determinant of the sale." By this is +meant that _when the salesman sufficiently stimulates a real desire in +his prospect, he has climbed the highest grade of difficulty_. If he is +skillful, the selling process from then on should be comparatively easy +sledding. You realize that if you can get yourself wanted by an +employer, the matter of landing a job in his business should not be +hard. We therefore are considering now _the turning point in the process +of selling the true idea of your best capabilities in the right field_. +After you get yourself wanted, the odds are no longer against you, but +grow increasingly in your favor. If, having succeeded in getting +yourself wanted, you then fail in your ultimate purpose, you should +blame no one but yourself. + +[Sidenote: The Use of Tactful Suggestion] + +A very skillful use of _tact and diplomacy_ is necessary to success in +pointing out to a prospect something that he lacks, and your capability +for filling that lack. A man is apt to resent your "picking flaws" in +his business. He is likely to regard you as an egotist if you _assert_ +that he needs you. You will not get yourself wanted if you make the +impression that you are a critical fault-finder with "the big-head." +Rather, you should pattern after the example of the professional +salesman of goods. In the processes of persuasion and creating desire he +employs the arts of _suggestion in preference to making direct +statements_. He is a tactful diplomat. Learn from his methods, as +explained in "The Selling Process." + +You have come to a chosen employer, with a real service purpose; but be +careful not to _offend_ in your presentation. Do not bring him your idea +for improving his business as if it were a great discovery you have +made. He won't like it if you open his eyes to his lacks in that +fashion. You might better suggest that while you have perceived what he +needs, you have no doubt he either has seen it already or would have +perceived it if his time and attention had not been engrossed by other +things. You will be liked if you so present a picture of the lack and of +yourself satisfying it. + +[Sidenote: Rubbing the Prospect the Wrong Way] + +_You are apt to get yourself cordially disliked if you rub your +prospect's pride in his business the wrong way_. + +An accountant sought an opportunity to become the auditor for a +manufacturing corporation. He had gained considerable "inside knowledge" +of the company's lax business methods. But when talking to the president +he exaggerated the relative importance of these defects. In his +eagerness to impress the executive with the need for an auditor, he +over-drew the danger from leaks in the company's accounting system. The +president was exasperated. His pride was stung. What had been said +reflected on his capability as an executive. So he turned savagely on +the accountant. + +"If we're so rotten as all that," he snarled, "how could we make money +and pay dividends? No doubt you are right in your criticisms of our +methods. But if I had a man like you around here, continually finding +fault and picking everybody and everything to pieces, the whole business +would be demoralized. The ideas you have brought to me are worth a +thousand dollars, and I'll give you my check for that, but no crepe +hanger can work for me." + +[Sidenote: Avoid Teaching] + +When you present your capabilities for sale, don't suggest that you +think your prospect's business will go to the "demnition bow-wows" if +your services are not engaged. _Understate the lack and your fitness to +fill it_. You may be sure the employer will appreciate fully the value +of the new ideas you bring, and the worth of your services. + +[Sidenote: Pope's Rule] + +None of us really like "teachers." Nowadays the most successful +educational methods follow the rule laid down by Alexander Pope, "Men +must be taught as if you taught them not; and things unknown proposed as +things forgot." Do not suggest that you are a "know it all." Much less +make the impression that the other man does not know. Communicate to him +the idea that you believe he has overlooked the lack to which you call +his attention. With modest confidence present your capabilities. You +need not assert in words that you will fill the bill. Your prospect can +see that. In everything you suggest and say, show that you genuinely +like him and his business. Manifest sincere admiration. _Make him feel +that you have come to his office because you especially want to work +there. That will make him want you in his service_. Use suggestion to +increase his desire for you. + +[Sidenote: Reduce Resistance By Suggestion] + +_Direct_ presentation of ideas indicates an intention to inform, to +teach, to direct the mind of the other man. Every human individual, +whether a child or a centenarian, _re-acts in opposition_ to such an +effort at instruction. There is something in all of us alike which makes +us wish to think and decide for ourselves. Hence the value of the art of +suggestion in getting yourself wanted. + +Ideas you _suggest_ enter the mind of the other man so unobtrusively +that _he does not realize you originated them_. He has no feeling that +you intend to influence his mind. Consequently he makes no resistance to +the suggested ideas. _It never pays to reason when selling an idea; +because reasoning invariably brings out a reaction of opposition_. You +will not create a desire for your services by presenting them +_logically_, or by making an _argument_ regarding your capabilities. One +of the greatest students of the human mind assures us that "most persons +never perform an act of pure reasoning; but all their acts are the +results of imitation, habit, suggestion, or some related form of +thinking." + +[Sidenote: Three Reasons For Using Suggestion] + +Suggestion is remarkably effective in persuading and in arousing desire +because: + +First, _every "suggested" idea is accepted as absolutely true unless it +is contradicted by other ideas already in the mind of the prospect_. +This is because the prospect thinks a _suggested_ idea is his. He adopts +it and makes it his own. That is, his mind takes the suggestion and +interprets it in terms of his own thoughts. Of course he believes what +he himself thinks. _Say_ to a prospective employer that you would +particularly like to work in association with him, and he may believe +you are "shooting hot air." He will have no such feeling if you tell him +details about his business that have especially interested you. _Show_ +him that you have been studying and observing his methods. Give him to +understand that you have also investigated other businesses. Thus +without _saying_ it, you _suggest_ to his mind that you have come to his +office because you really would prefer to be employed there. He will +believe the suggested idea; though he might have scoffed at the +statement. + +[Sidenote: Suggestion Avoids Contradiction] + +Second, _suggestion is effective in persuasion and in arousing desire +because suggested ideas which include no comparisons or criticisms very +seldom arouse contradictory attitudes of mind_. The suggested idea +enters the mind of the other man quietly, unaccompanied by a blare of +the trumpet "I Tell You." Opposing ideas are not aware of its presence +until it has supplanted them. _Suggest_ to a chosen employer that he +_means_ to be up-to-date, and he agrees. If you _say_ his methods are +behind the times, he will be apt to defend them instead of following +your lead along the line of suggested improvements. + +[Sidenote: Suggested Ideas Tend to Action] + +Third, _every suggested idea of action tends to result in the action +itself; whereas a direct attempt to secure action is almost sure to +result in opposition_. Human nature works that way. Your prospect, being +unconscious that a particular idea of action is suggested to him, does +not have his will stimulated to prevent that action. If you come to your +prospective employer and _ask_ for the job you want, he will be on the +_defensive_. But if you _suggest_ to him that he wants you--that he +lacks and needs such services as you present--_he will be impelled to +the affirmative action of offering you the job_. + +[Sidenote: Selling Henry Ford] + +When I was originally engaged by Henry Ford, it was in the capacity of a +public accountant, for an audit of the business of the Ford Motor +Company, and later for the installation of an accounting system that +would tell accurately every month "where they were at." Back in +1904-1905 the Ford Motor Company was not showing any more profits than +many other motor car manufacturers organized on similar lines. After I +completed my work as an accountant, Mr. Ford talked with me about taking +a permanent position with the Company in the capacity of "Commercial +Manager." That title covered responsibility for the distribution of +products, advertising, collections, selection of branch managers and +their corps of assistants, operation of branch houses, appointment and +direction of agents, employment and control of the entire sales force, +etc., etc. The position was much broader than that of Sales Manager, as +it included also the accounting and organizing of nearly every +department of the business. + +For several years prior to that time I had sold my services as a public +accountant and organizer to many large concerns throughout the country, +including twenty-eight different automobile companies. I believed in my +ability, not only to organize a selling and distributing force for +successfully marketing a standard product, but also to extend that force +over a world field and to control it in all the details of its +operations, from opening the mail to the declaration and payment of +dividends, more efficiently than the average sales or commercial +manager. So I had no hesitancy in undertaking the Ford job, which, even +at that early date, I visualized as culminating in a big one. + +When I finally engaged my services with the Ford Motor Company on a +permanent basis, the business was represented by only a few hundred +scattered, unorganized, uncontrolled, and non-directed dealers. My work +during the following twelve years was concentrated on developing and +enlarging yearly this small hit-or-miss distributing aggregation into a +compact force of thousands of well-trained, highly efficient sales and +service representatives of the Ford Motor Company. They were all Ford +"boosters," and by their loyalty and intensive co-operation they "put +across the Ford" in the big way that today makes the little car so +conspicuous everywhere throughout the world. + +[Sidenote: Statement Avoided Suggestion Used] + +Note that while my experience with the Ford Motor Company as a public +accountant convinced me that what the business needed then was a +commercial manager and sales organizer, and I believed myself fitted +for the position, I did not make that statement to Mr. Ford; because it +would have been poor salesmanship. He might have thought me entirely +qualified to deal with figures, but not so capable of handling sales +agents and dealers. + +So I never _said_ to him that I was the man he needed. But I _suggested_ +it by presenting my ideas of how the job should be done. He accepted my +ideas as good, and was influenced by the natural suggestion that +resulted from them. He told me that he wanted me to become Commercial +and Sales Manager. It was the opportunity for success that I most +desired. I got myself _wanted_ without having to overcome any +_resistance_ in the mind of the man with whom I had chosen to work. + +[Sidenote: Negative Suggestions] + +You recognize how true to human nature are incidents of this sort. You +know how powerful is the force of _affirmative_ suggestion. But have you +appreciated how surely desire is killed by _negative_ suggestions? If +you make _displeasing_ impressions, you will get yourself _not_ wanted. +Therefore you must _be careful to avoid certain things your prospect +would not like, just as you should be careful in doing things that are +likable_. + +[Sidenote: Speak the Prospect's Language] + +If your prospecting and sizing up of an employer indicate that he is +very painstaking, suggest to him how particular you have been to prepare +yourself in knowledge of his needs. If he is a man who weighs ideas +carefully, suggest to him your qualities of judgment and decision. +Perhaps he is characterized by a marked constructive imagination. +Suggest that you, too, have imaginative power. Bring out conspicuously +the particular elements of your qualifications that are most likely to +_suggest ideas akin to his own_. Speak those phrases of the language of +suggestion which he best understands, and that are most likely to +impress him with _the idea that you and he think alike_. + +[Sidenote: Deceptive Suggestions] + +A caution is necessary here. In any suggestion that you make, _convey +neither more nor less than the actual truth_ regarding your +capabilities. _Avoid any possibility of deception_. + +I recall the case of a young man who quite won the heart of a dignified +bank president whose tastes were very quiet. The young man studiously +avoided the slightest appearance of flashiness in his dress and manner. +He spoke in modulated tones. His movements were subdued. He had exactly +the quiet pose that suited his prospective employer. The banker stressed +his appreciation of the characteristics manifested by the applicant, and +the young man "overdid it" by suggesting that he was _always_ decorous +in his manner. + +The bank president had occasion to entertain a visiting financier who +wanted to go to the ball game. A few seats away the young man whose +application was being considered rooted boisterously for the home team, +unconscious of the contradiction he presented to the suggestions he had +made in the banker's private office. The new impression was made more +disagreeable because the boisterous behavior suggested to the banker +that the young man had not conveyed a true idea of himself previously. +When he came next morning for the answer to his application, he received +a cold "No." + +The young man really was not boisterous except on the rare occasions +when he let off steam, as at a ball game. If he had conveyed the +_truthful_ impression that he was _nearly always_ quiet, and had taken +pains to admit that _occasionally_ he "let loose," but only in proper +surroundings, he would not have killed his chances by the negative +suggestion of untruthfulness. + +[Sidenote: Motive of Suggestion] + +After all it is your _motive_ that determines the right or wrong use of +suggestion in getting yourself wanted. If you keep carefully in mind a +purpose to _suggest less instead of more than the truth_ about your +capabilities, you need not fear that you will offend by over-drawing the +picture of your real self. + +If _your_ motive is wrong, it will lower the quality of _your_ manhood. +If you suggest a wrong motive to the _other_ man, the effect is to lower +_his_ manhood qualities in considering you. _It is particularly +important not to stimulate a motive that may afterward operate to your +detriment_. + +[Sidenote: Over-Suggestion of Ability] + +I know a young man who was so eager to show his willingness to work that +he suggested absolute tirelessness. His employer, though he appreciated +what this young man did, kept overloading him. Finally the employee +broke down and made a serious mistake. He was unjustly dismissed from +service because _he had encouraged his employer to depend on him +altogether too much, and disappointment resulted_. + +Do not pretend a higher degree of ability than you possess. Attempt no +more than you can do well. You will succeed in getting yourself wanted +if you _manifest promise of growth_ in capability. If you are a sapling, +do not pose as a full grown tree of knowledge. + +[Sidenote: Selling Out To Competitor] + +Sometimes it happens that a man can present his capabilities for sale +and appear especially desirable to another man because he possesses +certain knowledge the employer would like to have. Maybe you have sought +to gain your chance by carrying to a competitor of your former employer +the latter's secrets. If you come with the suggestion that you will sell +out, you are offering a service that does not command full respect, and +you are appealing only to the _lower motives_ of your prospect. You do +not thereby get _yourself_ wanted. He wants _what you know_. What you +have learned fairly by working for one man, you have a right to sell +fairly to another man, of course. But do not suggest that this special +knowledge is the _principal element_ of your desirability. Suggest, +rather, that it is _only incidental to your all-around fitness_ for the +job you want. + +[Sidenote: Self-Respect] + +Use what you know without pandering to the lower motives of your new +employer. Impel him to like you for what you _are_, and not merely for +what you _bring_. Open his eyes to your _better_ nature, not to the +_worst_ side of you. _He will see in you the better qualities of himself +and appreciate them_. Have your own motives right; then there will be no +danger that you will appeal to the wrong motives of the other man. + +Of course you must have the highest respect for your own motives. This +necessitates high character. _You must be honest in the very structure +of your being_. You need, too, _absolute faith in yourself and in your +proposition_, and faith in the _desirability_ of your service to the +other man. Finally, you must be _consecrated_ to the motive of rendering +him _service_. + +[Sidenote: Postpone Criticism Until Desire Is Stimulated] + +It is poor salesmanship to let your prospect begin to analyze your +faults _until you have made yourself thoroughly pleasing_ to him. Before +you complete the selling process you should admit your own faults, +rather than let him discover them. _But skillfully postpone this step +until you get yourself wanted._ Then your prospect will be inclined to +_co-operate_ in disposing of objections to you; whereas _if criticisms +arise too soon in the selling process they may prevent him from liking +you thoroughly, and may check your purpose before you get yourself +wanted_. + +[Sidenote: Right Time to "Face The Music"] + +A merchant received an application for employment in his private office +from a young man who created so pleasing an impression that the employer +decided to make him his secretary. He outlined his ideas to the +applicant, who entered into them most enthusiastically; thereby +increasing the liking of his prospective employer for him. Then the +young man sat up straight in his chair, looked the merchant squarely in +the eye, and said, "No one in this city knows it, but when I was +eighteen years old I stole ten dollars and was sentenced to the reform +school. That was seven years ago. I never have done anything dishonest +since, and I never will again. But you have a right to know my whole +record before you employ me in a position of such trust." If the +candidate had confessed his blemished record _before_ making himself +thoroughly desirable, it is practically certain that he would not have +won the place. He got it because _he handled the objection after instead +of before creating the desire_ for his services. + +[Sidenote: Concentrate On Suggesting Qualifications] + +We shall consider in the next chapter how to meet and handle objections, +how to deal with your faults. But as we postpone our study of that step +in the selling process; so should you postpone consideration of your +faults and shortcomings, until you get yourself wanted. Do not dodge +direct questions, but courteously request that you be permitted to +answer them a little later. _At this stage_ of selling the true idea of +your best capabilities _concentrate upon the moderate, truthful +suggestion of your qualifications_. + +[Sidenote: Gaining Prospect's Confidence] + +The first result to be desired in selling is the _confidence of the +buyer_. Use all your manly qualities to win this confidence +_deservedly_. Then when you honestly admit your faults and shortcomings, +you will be aided to win out in the end by the confidence you have +already inspired in the other man. + +Very often the applicant for a position fails to get it because he +merely presents the _abstract_ idea that his services are for sale. _He +does not picture himself in actual service_. The presentation of +abstract ideas is an appeal only to the _interest_ or mind side of the +other man. The presentation to his imagination must go _beyond_ his +interest, if his _heart desire_ for the services is to be secured. +Therefore it is highly important to your success in getting yourself +wanted that you plan how you actually would serve on the job, and when +you are talking with your prospective employer, _speak as if you were at +work_. + +[Sidenote: Picture Yourself At Work] + +If you imagine yourself fitted into a particular job, and _show yourself +there to the mind's eye_ of your prospect, he will have to go through +the mental process of _getting you out_ of the imaginary job. That will +be much harder for him than it would have been to _keep you out_ in the +first place. If you merely present the services you _could_ render, and +don't picture yourself as _actually rendering_ them, you haven't won +even the imaginary job. _But if you do paint yourself into a chosen +place, and can make your prospect see you in that position, the +suggestion will impel him to copy imagination with actuality. He will +consider you as if you were on the job._ Evidently when you have won +this advantage, he will be inclined to want to keep you at work, unless +you do something or manifest some quality that makes you undesirable. + +[Sidenote: No Doubt About Success] + +_Getting yourself wanted is a process that can be brought to a +successful conclusion with absolute certainty._ It is not difficult to +understand human nature if you are willing to see clearly into yourself. +It is only necessary, then, that you subordinate your personality to the +personality of the other man. _Learn what he wants, and avoid showing +him that you want something from him. Show him instead that you can +supply what he lacks_. Complete and round out the process by suggesting +the particular qualities in yourself that your prospecting and size-up +have indicated to be the qualities _he especially likes_. He will want +you then. He can't help it. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +_Obstacles In Your Way_ + + +[Sidenote: Mountain Climbing] + +There is no great mountain in the world that has a natural, smooth road +with an easy grade all the way to the top. Mountain climbing requires +some hard work. It involves getting around, or going over, or removing +many obstacles that block the path upward. + +You will encounter similar difficulties, obstacles, and resistance on +your way to success. _If you cannot pass them, your ambition will be +defeated._ You will quit the climb, discouraged; or will be driven back, +a failure. In order to _assure_ your success you must now ascertain +dependable ways to conquer obstacles. This advance knowledge will make +them seem less formidable. Since you will have definite plans for +dealing with the difficulties that may obstruct your path, you will not +feel hopelessly blocked when you face them. + +[Sidenote: Knowing How] + +No great mountain has ever been scaled by a novice ignorant of the +science, and unskilled in the art of climbing to supreme heights. But an +expert mountaineer learns from mastering one peak something about how to +climb others. He develops ability to conquer any and all obstacles he +may meet. He proves repeatedly that what would be impossible to a +novice is a _certainty_ to him. He starts the most difficult ascent with +absolute confidence that he will gain the top. + +[Sidenote: Obstacles and Resistance] + +_You likewise can feel sure of your ability to reach the highest peaks +of success_. In preceding chapters you have been shown how to take +advantage of the _easiest_ way up by following the guide marks of +salesmanship at every step. Now we are to study the obstacles you will +encounter, in particular the objections the prospect may raise to +frustrate your purpose. At this stage of the selling process you will be +like a mountaineer fighting in the Alps. It will probably be necessary +that you overcome or evade considerable human resistance while you are +climbing toward your goal. + +Let us assume that you have already gained a chance to sell your +capabilities to the particular man through whom you expect to succeed. +He has heeded your knock and welcomed you into his interest. You have +made such a presentation of your desirability and service value that he +wants you to be associated with him. But now it will be natural for him +to begin a critical analysis, seeking whatever faults he can discover or +imagine in you or your proposition. _Your success or failure in your +ultimate purpose is likely to depend on how you handle the criticisms he +raises._ Therefore it is of vital importance that you learn in advance +_sure ways to gain your goal despite normal opposition._ + +[Sidenote: Objections Are Natural] + +Recognize first that it is _natural_ for your prospect to raise +objections, whether he is favorably impressed or not. His resistance to +your purpose may be only a _precaution_. Perhaps it does not indicate +_opposition_ at all. He may want you to convince him you are all right; +so that he will feel entire confidence in his own judgment when he +finally does as you wish. Or he may object for no other purpose than to +test you thoroughly. If this is the case, his sympathies will all be +with you while you are dealing with the obstacles he puts in your way. + +_Evidently objections of this sort should not be handled the same as the +objections of opposition._ It is necessary that you distinguish between +the two kinds and that _when dealing with each specific objection you +determine in your own mind what is its source_. There should be nothing +in your method of handling the obstacle that might _antagonize_ your +prospect. You should take fullest advantage of his every inclination to +_cooperate_ with you in his thoughts and feelings. He may be "pulling +for" you strongly when he seems to be "bucking" the hardest. + +[Sidenote: Objection is Favorable Sign] + +_An objection really is a favorable sign._ If you call upon a +prospective employer who, after hearing your presentation, begins to +find fault with it and with you, or tries to evade your proposal, you +may be sure that you have carried him along a considerable distance +toward the accomplishment of your purpose. _He objects or evades because +he is on the defensive._ "You have him going." He is wary, and so takes +measures for self-protection. _The moment your prospect begins to raise +objections in your way, he indicates that he is not entirely comfortable +in his own mind about escaping from your salesmanship._ He has felt the +tug of desire; but he does not feel sure yet that you deserve his +confidence, or else he has a pretty positive idea that in this matter of +your possible employment his interests and yours are different. He is +looking out for himself. + +[Sidenote: Welcome Opportunity To Strengthen Yourself] + +However, you have come with a _true service_ purpose. You believe he +_needs_ you; that you can _satisfy a lack_ in his business. You feel +your interests and his are alike, not different. You know that you have +no intention "to put anything over on him." You want your prospect to be +absolutely satisfied with what you propose. Therefore you should welcome +every chance to convince his mind and win his confidence. _An objection +affords you an opportunity to overcome it, and so both to strengthen +your proposition and to weaken his resistance._ + +[Sidenote: Don't Set Up Straw Men to Knock Down] + +_You_ should not, however, bring up objections that the _prospect_ has +not raised in his own mind. That would be putting up a straw man and +knocking him down, which is profitless and unconvincing. Of course you +must clear the path when there is no other way to proceed, but do not +block it yourself. Sometimes it will not be advisable to clear the path. +If you can get around a difficulty you see, without attracting your +prospect's attention to it, you will be wise to go some indirect way to +your goal. + +Suppose, for example, that you know the salary you want is higher than +your prospect has been accustomed to pay. It will be good salesmanship +for you not to refer to the amount you have in mind, until after you +have carried him along with you to consider the profits he will make +from engaging your services. Since you plan to show him that these +profits will pay your salary, you will be wise to avoid the matter of +your compensation until you have approached nearer to the successful +conclusion of your selling process. + +[Sidenote: Avoid Troubles by Forethought] + +_Almost every difficulty and opposition you are likely to encounter can +be anticipated._ Don't wait until you come face to face with an +obstruction in the way of success. Let forethought carry you +imaginatively into just such a situation. _Think yourself out of a +possible difficulty before you actually get into it._ Then you can win +the respect of your prospect by proving on the spot that you are not a +man who can be dodged or blocked, or cornered. _Every time you pass an +obstacle, you will be a long step nearer to success_ in selling your +services. + +Suppose an employer says to you, "You are too young. You have had no +experience in this line of work." You cannot _deny_ your youth and you +should not _defend_ it as if it were a fault. Nor can you claim +experience you have not had. But it is unnecessary for you to indicate +any feeling that inexperience is a demerit. An ordinary applicant might +be discomfited by such resistance to his purpose. If you are a skillful +salesman, you will be prepared to deal with this very obstacle and will +turn it to good account. You can say at once: + +[Sidenote: Value of Adaptability] + +"Because I am young, I am adaptable to your methods, instead of being +set in ways that might differ from yours. True, I am not experienced. +Therefore, I haven't any wrong ideas to unlearn. Think of me as raw +material that won't have to be re-made, and that can be easily shaped as +you want to form it. I realize it will take some work on your part, _but +the product will be satisfactory to you when it is done_. It seems to me +that the only question involved is whether or not I would make it worth +your while to do the work on me. The fact that I have come to you of my +own choice proves I really want to be employed here. I assure you now +that I will make my services worth any pains you take to teach me your +methods, and I will be just as eager to remain as I am to start." + +[Sidenote: Use Objection As a Sales Help] + +Analyze this method of dealing with any particular obstacle. _Plan to +get rid of the obstruction completely, leaving the way ahead smoothed._ +When the objection of the prospect is so skillfully disposed of, his +_desire_ for your services is stimulated. He _wants you more, because he +likes you better_ now that you have cleared away the obstacle. Thus you +have utilized the objection as a _help_ in selling yourself +successfully. Just so a mountain climber uses the rocks he encounters as +holding places to help him climb higher. + +Your prospect may say that he has no need for such services as you +offer. He may state reasons why you are not needed in his Business. _But +if you have prepared yourself thoroughly, each disclaimer of his lack, +every suggestion of an objection, will give you an opportunity to prove +in some specific way your service value to him._ + +The president of a manufacturing company had an ironclad rule that all +positions in his business were to be filled by promotion. He never hired +a new employee except to start at the bottom. A competent young office +man applied for a situation. He was turned down flatly. The company's +policy was quoted as the reason. He met this obstacle in a new way. + +[Sidenote: Making an Exception] + +"One of the principal reasons I came to you, Mr. Blank, is that I hope +to benefit from your rule myself. I want to get into a company where I +will know that the way to advancement is sure without going outside for +my chance. But by my experience in other employment I have developed +certain capabilities that would warrant you in making an exception to +your rule, in my case. + +"You do not audit your own books. Yet you have been self-auditing your +methods of office operation. Another thought I want to suggest. You know +that in the royal families of Europe the stock runs down because they +don't get in fresh blood. I would not advocate a change in your general +policy. But you have already made an exception to your rule in having +your books checked by a public accountant whom you engage by the year +for that purpose. + +"I propose to bring in the outside viewpoint for the study of your +office system, with the expectation of suggesting possible improvements. +I want to introduce fresh blood, and yet to become part of your +organization family. It is sound business for you to engage me because I +am from the outside. You need an auditor of your operations as much as +an auditor of your accounts." + +This view of the matter had never been presented before to the employer. +It won him over to the proposal. The new man broke in where every +preceding applicant had failed. + +[Sidenote: Apparent Objections] + +Thus far we have considered _actual_ obstructions, _real_ blocks in the +salesman's way. Now let us turn our attention briefly to obstacles that +are only _apparent_, to resistance that is but a _feint_. + +Your prospect may try to put you off. Or perhaps he will attempt to +evade uttering a downright refusal, and instead will make some sort of +an excuse for not doing what you wish. If you dignify these _artificial_ +or merely _apparent_ obstacles by treating them as _real obstructions_, +you will hinder your own progress toward success. + +[Sidenote: Danger of Losing Ground Gained] + +You have secured your chance to present your services for purchase. You +have made real progress toward the successful accomplishment of your +ultimate purpose. _Nearly always if you let yourself be put off for any +reason, without making a definite advance toward your final goal, you +will lose some of the ground already gained._ When your prospect +attempts to evade the issue by making an excuse or by postponing further +consideration of the subject, _he tacitly admits that your position is +strong_. But if you have to start the selling process all over again at +another time, if you let him put you off when your position is strong, +_you will be weaker when you attempt to resume your sale_. + +[Sidenote: Do One of Two Things] + +Should you be put off, do one of two things. _Either disregard the +evasion entirely and go straight ahead with your selling process_; or, +if you consent to the postponement or evasion, _take advantage of your +strategical position of strength to make a definite advance toward the +accomplishment of your purpose_. For examples of the two methods let us +consider suppositious cases. + +[Sidenote: Driving Ahead] + +Your prospective employer might say, "I'll think over your application. +Come in next week and I'll let you know my decision." You can handle +this evasion effectively by going directly ahead and proposing, "I am +perfectly willing that you should think over my usefulness to you, but +during the week you are considering me for future employment, let me +actually work on the job. If you decide that you don't want to keep me, +tell me so at the end of the week and there will be no charge for my +time." _You will be driving straight toward your goal, not even pausing +when he attempts to put you off._ + +[Sidenote: Strengthening Position] + +This effort at evasion or postponement might be handled in a different +way. You could say to the prospective employer, "Very well. I will +return in a week for your decision. Meanwhile I will submit some +additional references as to my character and energy. I ask also that you +permit me to save a week instead of wasting it. I should like your +permission to spend this next week in your office, studying the job. +Then if you decide to employ me, as I believe you will, I will be +already broken in." Such a proposal is hard to refuse. While you would +consent to the postponement or evasion of decision, _you would be +strengthening your own position_. + +[Sidenote: Make Progress] + +_In one way or the other you can make progress._ Either you can brush +the evasion aside and carry your prospect through to the closing stage +of the sale of your services, or you can close an intermediate sale on +the spot, as in the second illustration. + +[Sidenote: Forcing Real Objection] + +_Do not, therefore, treat evasions and postponements as real obstacles._ +Even in case you cannot induce your prospect to go ahead with you, or +close an intermediate sale, _you can avoid being blocked_ by his attempt +to put you off. When he sees that he cannot get rid of you by his +subterfuge, he will be forced to make a _real_ objection. He will not +give you another weak excuse after you have disposed of his first +attempt to evade. When he tries to block you by making a real objection, +after the failure of his excuse or postponement, he will fall right into +your plan of the sale. _You will be all ready for the objection he +states._ You will know exactly how to handle it and turn it to good +account so that his opposition will be weakened and you will add to your +strength. + +Let us suppose your prospect comes out with the flat statement, after +you prevent him from putting you off, "No, I have made up my mind not to +add any new employees for the present." He thinks that settles the +question. In reality it affords you a sales opening. You retort, "Your +attitude is perfectly right. You do not want to add to expense. I should +feel the same way myself, were I in your position. However, I am not +going to be an _expense_. I shall be a _money-maker._ I know you have no +objections to increasing your profits." His opposition would have given +you your lead. + +[Sidenote: Unsound Objection] + +A man applied for a position in a bank. Business in general was dull; so +the president tried to put him off. The position sought offered any one +filling it opportunities to develop increased business for the bank +along certain lines. Thus the objection of dull times was plainly +_unsound_. The applicant felt, however, that it would be a mistake to +urge very strongly his ideas about increasing the business. He believed +the president would not accept them if fully stated. So the young man +met the attempted evasion by drawing the banker on to a step that +committed him only to the _beginning_ of the program outlined. + +"I appreciate that business is not rushing at present," he said. +"Therefore you will have time to study how I propose to develop some +new business. If you were very busy, you would not be able to +investigate my plan thoroughly. You may not care to put it into effect +just now, but while you have comparative leisure let me give you an +illustration of ways in which my idea can be worked out. + +"It is unnecessary to discuss salary or a definite engagement at +present, if you prefer to wait awhile. But with your permission I should +like to come in here for a month and demonstrate a few of my ideas in +actual practice. At the end of that time I will show you a chart of the +results." + +[Sidenote: Evasion Turned to Selling Aid] + +_The evasion was turned into a selling aid_. The banker, naturally +desirous of making additional profits, could not very well turn down +such a proposal. He would have felt a little ashamed to accept services +without paying for them. Therefore he gave the applicant a chance and +agreed to pay him a moderate salary from the beginning. The new man went +to work immediately, and very soon demonstrated such value that his +compensation was increased to an entirely satisfactory amount. + +[Sidenote: Don't Fight Back] + +Already in this chapter you have been warned against handling an +objection in such a way that the natural antagonism of the man who makes +it will be increased by your method of dealing with his opposition. When +he resists you, or puts obstructions in your way, you of course must +take the measures that are necessary to enable you to proceed with your +purpose, notwithstanding the obstacles he raises. _But if he acts +antagonistic, be careful not to appear to fight back._ Avoid making the +impression that you regard him as an _opponent_. Your difficulty in +closing the sale will be lessened if you keep him from feeling at any +time that he needs to adopt measures of _self-protection_ against you. + +[Sidenote: Diplomacy And Tact] + +_When your progress is obstructed, it is necessary that you use a very +high degree of diplomacy and tact._ This will carry you much farther +toward your purpose than any manifestation of naked force. Of course you +must meet many objections squarely. You will encounter obstructions that +cannot be avoided, opposition that will not step aside. There will be +occasions when it will be necessary for you to employ force. But you can +always conceal "the iron hand in the velvet glove" if you exert your +force in _tones_ and with _gestures_ or _movements_, rather than by +making _word_ statements. _The art of suggestion can be employed as +effectively at the objection stage as at any other step of the selling +process._ + +Let us assume that you are a greenhorn. But you believe yourself capable +of filling a certain position. You apply for it. Your prospective +employer questions your capability because you lack experience. He +refuses your application, and declares he is unwilling to run the risk +of having you make mistakes that might be expensive to him. + +[Sidenote: Using Suggestion Instead of Statement] + +You know that you are very careful, and that you would not take any +important action on your own responsibility if you were in doubt whether +or not you were right. You feel that his objection is unsound; that he +is exaggerating caution. But it would certainly be a mistake for you to +say, "Nonsense!" That would make him bristle. + +Of course you want to show him that you do not take his objections +seriously. You can make the right impression by smiling at his +statement. You can reinforce the effect of your smile by making a +horizontal gesture with your hand. If you shake your head slightly, +force will be added to your denial of incapacity or rashness. It may not +be necessary for you to _say_ anything. Possibly your suggestion will be +stronger if you simply ignore the point he has raised against you. +Usually, however, in such a case it is best to employ a few quiet words +in disposing of the objection; _though chief reliance should be placed +on the suggested meaning behind the statement_. + +[Sidenote: Your Stake In Your Opportunities] + +I recall the case of a man who handled an objection of that sort by +first smiling while shaking his head and making a gesture of negation, +and then said, "I could not lose much for _you_, but if I were reckless +or irresponsible I certainly would lose for _myself_ this opportunity +that you see I want very much. I have a great deal more at stake than +you. You may be sure I shall not risk losing my chance to succeed, by +causing you any losses." The tone used was the heart pitch of sincerity, +with the final assurance in the deeper tones of power. The tone and the +manner of the applicant for the position indicated such strength that +the prospect felt the weakness of his objection and did not persist in +it. + +[Sidenote: Direct and Qualified Admissions] + +When you make a _direct admission_ of the point the prospect raises +against you, _have a strong answer ready and give it to him at once_. +Otherwise you will not rid his mind entirely of the objection. In most +cases it is preferable to make only an _indirect_ or _qualified_ +admission of the point raised. Then the objection, not having been +strengthened by your full confirmation, can be overcome without the use +of much force or power. + +[Sidenote: Straight-out Agreement With the Objection] + +If your prospective employer says to you, "We are not making any money. +I do not intend to put on a new man," diplomacy requires you to admit +unequivocally the truth of his assertion that his business is not +profitable. He may be exaggerating a temporary condition, but he would +take offense if you should question his blunt statement. Therefore agree +with him, and having prepared the opening with your tact, _introduce to +his mind agreeable ideas of satisfying his want for profits_. You might +say, "I realize business is poor. That is one of the reasons I come to +you just now. If you were making plenty of money, you would not +appreciate the value of my ideas for increasing your profits. The +results of the work I propose to do might not be sufficiently +conspicuous among other large earnings to attract your especial notice. +This period of depression gives me the very opportunity I need to prove +to you that I would be a money-maker, and not an expense to you. Surely +you would like to have me demonstrate that. All I ask is a chance to +convince you. Judge me by the results." + +Analyze this unequivocal admission of the validity of the objection. +Such cases can often be handled most effectively by granting the point +raised, directly and without any reservations, and then answering the +objection in such a way that it is completely removed as an obstruction. +This is good salesmanship. + +[Sidenote: Indirect Admission] + +Suppose, however, you feel the objection of poor business is unsound. +Let us assume that this prospective employer you are interviewing has a +dull season every year. Therefore the condition of which he complains is +simply normal, and his objection is put forward as an excuse for +rejecting your application. _In such a case you do not want to make the +obstruction more formidable by fully admitting its validity. Yet tact +forbids you to deny its soundness._ It will be better salesmanship to +recognize indirectly the point raised than it would be to give your full +agreement with the objection, as in the above example of an unequivocal +admission. You might use such an answer as this: + +[Sidenote: "That is True, But"] + +"I notice, Mr. Blank, that you are making some extensive repairs on your +factory. Though this involves additional expense in your dullest season, +you are having the work done now because this is your slackest time. +True, your profit showing at present will not be so good as it would be +if you did not make the repairs. But the earnings of your business will +be improved during your busiest season and you will avoid the extra +expense of interrupting your production when it is at the maximum. This, +of course, is the time to have your repair work done. It would not be +good business to put it off. + +"My proposal that you engage me now is directly along the line of your +own policies. What I would do in your office might be called repair +work. Your dull season is the time to have it done. I can introduce my +efficiency ideas now without disorganizing your operations. Then, when +you are busiest, the new system will be in perfect working order, for +your service." + +[Sidenote: Adapt Solutions To Your Own Problems] + +When you study illustrations of the application of basic principles, do +not give them merely superficial consideration. _Examples are of slight +value unless they suggest to you how you should use your imagination to +make illustrations of your own in actual practice of the principles._ +Whatever your need for help in selling your services, and whatever +difficulties you may have to overcome or get around, you will find in +the pages of these books _cues_ to the methods of certain success. +Evidently, however, the scope of the series of chapters must be somewhat +limited. None of the answers to the major problems of salesmanship are +omitted from the contents, _but you must apply and fit the given +solutions to your individual necessities_. + +[Sidenote: Two Bases of Objections] + +Turn your thought now to the different bases of objections. It is of the +utmost importance that you know whether the obstruction is raised by the +_mind_ or by the _heart_ of your prospect. _Mental_ resistance can be +met and overcome by _ideas_, by points introduced by _your_ mind into +the _mind_ of the _other_ man. His _heart_ may not be involved. But if +there is "feeling" in his opposition, it is necessary that you displace +it with a different _feeling_ toward you and your proposal. The heart of +your prospect must be turned from antagonism to friendliness, if it is +involved in an objection. Therefore when a point is made against you, +_decide from the evidence whether the obstacle raised has an emotional +or a mental basis_. Treat it accordingly. Use your own _mind_ +principally in dealing with the purely _mental_ objection of the +prospect. But depend on drawing out _his heart with yours if his +emotions are involved_ in his opposition. + +[Sidenote: Mental Basis] + +Suppose you have a plan about engaging in a certain business. You have +worked it out carefully and are confident that it is "a winner." But you +need financial backing. So you go to a man who has money, and apply to +him for a loan. He listens to your plan. When you finish explaining, he +refuses your request. He uses the mental tone of cold business when he +states his reason. "You offer me no security. I am not in the habit of +lending money without it." His words and manner indicate that he has +listened to your plan without the slightest feeling of sympathy for your +purpose. His _emotions_ have not been stirred. He is turning you down +simply because his _mind_ is opposed to the form of investment you +propose for his money. It would be futile for you to make an _emotional_ +appeal to this man, in the hope of getting rid of his _mental_ +objection. He would be disagreeably impressed were you to attempt to +stir his heart. You cannot offer him the security he has in mind, but +you need not be balked for that reason. It is possible for you to make +an appeal to his mind only, and to suggest to him ideas of security that +he has not considered. + +"Mr. J.P. Morgan," you might remind him, "when asked the basis upon +which he loaned money, replied, 'Character, principally.' I offer you +the security that Mr. Morgan considered most important. You know my +reputation is good. You perceive that my plan is sound, and that I have +thought it out thoroughly. You do not expect me to lose money. I have +proposed to protect you as fully as possible by agreeing in advance that +I will take no step until after your approval has been given. Therefore, +in addition to my character, I am offering you the security of your own +mature, sound judgment on all operations. + +[Sidenote: A New Idea Of Security] + +"Don't you believe that my squareness, guided by your advice, would +secure you? I have applied for a loan of only ten thousand dollars. You +will absolutely control the expenditure of the money. You know, +therefore, that at the worst I could not have a large loss. I have +offered you life insurance to protect you against the possibility of my +death within the next five years. It is altogether improbable that I +should have a loss of as much as a thousand dollars in the new business. +Certainly you have sufficient confidence in my ability and integrity to +believe that I could and would repay you a thousand dollars with +interest before the expiration of five years. I expect, and you expect, +that my venture will prove successful. I have planned a sound business +enterprise, free from the dangers of speculation. With the cooperation +of your judgment, your loan would be a secure investment. I believe you +are now convinced of that." + +[Sidenote: Reaching Heart Through Mind] + +Notice that the objection is dealt with powerfully; yet there is no +appeal that is aimed away from the prospect's _mind_. For this very +reason his sympathy with the proposal is likely to be stimulated. _Such +salesmanship often has the effect of enlisting the heart of the other +man after removing the objection of his mind._ + +[Sidenote: Objection on Emotional Basis] + +Let us assume now that the prospect refuses to make the loan to you +because he has been imposed upon before by some one he has backed. He +may really want to lend you the money, but his heart has been so +embittered by his previous experience that he turns a deaf ear to your +proposition. His opposition is based chiefly on feeling. His heart, not +his mind, is at the bottom of his refusal of your request for a loan. He +would not be reached by the appeal that would be effective with the man +in the first example. This second prospect should be addressed something +like this: + +"The experiences you have had hurt you, principally because they have +made you lose faith in men. This, not the money involved, was your +greatest loss. So long as you have only those experiences to think +about, you will be unable to get back your former belief in human +nature. You would like to recover it. You would be happy to feel that +the men who abused your confidence were exceptions, and not the rule. + +[Sidenote: Selling a New Feeling] + +"If you will lend me ten thousand dollars, and I make good my promises +to you, your new experience with me will go a long way toward restoring +your lost faith in men. It is natural that you should feel embittered, +but the taste in your mouth is unpleasant. Back me up. I will help you +get rid of your bitterness, and will replace it with a glow of +satisfaction. You cannot doubt that I will make good. You should not let +your old prejudice stand in the way of the gratified feeling you will +have when I prove to you that all men are not unworthy of trust. After I +justify your confidence you will be happier for the rest of your life." + +In the illustration the objection is dealt with _emotionally; because +its basis is feeling_. No _mental_ appeal is made. The salesmanship in +this example is the direct converse of that in the previous +illustration. + +[Sidenote: The Best Rule] + +Usually, however, it is best to counteract objections by making appeals +to _both the heart and the mind_ of the objector. In most cases it is +safe to assume that his mental opposition involves his feelings to some +degree, and it rarely happens that an objection is so purely emotional +that the mind of the prospect does not take part in it at all. So the +rule of masterly salesmanship is to use neither the appeal to mentality +nor the appeal to feeling _exclusively_, but rather to _stress one or +the other, while using both_. If the objection appears to be based +_principally_ on opposition of _mind_, it is more important to reach +into the prospect's _mind_ with the answer than it is to draw out his +_heart_; and vice versa. + +[Sidenote: Emotional and Mental Tones] + +If the thought behind the objection arises principally from _feeling_, +it will nearly always be expressed in an _emotive tone_. By this pitch +of the prospect's voice you can determine whether he is speaking chiefly +from his heart or from his mind. Conversely, of course, the _mental_ +objection will be pitched in the high "head" tone. One of the most +difficult features of dealing with opposition from the other man is +uncertainty as to _how much he means_ of what he says and does. It would +be a mistake to take his resistance too seriously or too lightly. +Therefore it will aid your salesmanship a great deal if you are able to +discriminate between the mental and the emotional tones in which +opposition is expressed. You can reply accordingly. + +[Sidenote: The Power Pitch] + +It is almost as important that you recognize _the pitch of power_ when +it reenforces the words of objection, and that on the other hand you +note when the power tone is _lacking_. In the first case you will need +to reply with considerable force, whether you appeal to the mind or the +heart of the prospect. But when his objection is stated in a powerless +tone, even though it may be accompanied by curtness or bluster, you need +not waste much force on your answering appeal to his mentality or his +emotions. + +[Sidenote: Keep Ears Alert] + +The mental tone, as we recall from previous study, is pitched higher +than either the tone of feeling or the tone of power. The medium, heart +tone is vibrant. It rings with sincerity. The power tone is deep, and +most sonorous of the three. _Keep your ears alert for these indications_ +your prospect will give you unconsciously when he opposes your purpose. +The discriminative reading of the tones of objections will greatly +reduce the danger of "getting your wires crossed" when you reply. + +[Sidenote: Suggest Strength Without Antagonism] + +If you have to deal with opposition expressed in the tone of power or +with gestures of force, you will be safe in concluding that considerable +_feeling_ is behind the objection. Therefore it will be necessary for +you to put _both feeling and power_ into your answer. You should be +careful, however, when you meet such resistance, not to make the +impression that you are engaged in a contest of power with your +prospect. _Throughout the selling process avoid any suggestion that you +are fighting back._ Use the tone of force, not to indicate that your +strength of purpose is greater than the strength of the resistance, but +just to _emphasize the basic soundness_ of your proposition. Thus you +can suggest that you are sure of your ground, while you do not dispute +the force and sincerity of the other man in making his objection. + +Suppose, for example, you apply for a situation in a wealthy firm, and +one of the partners turns you down most emphatically by saying that they +can't afford to engage any new men at present. You realize the firm may +be losing money temporarily, but you believe that your services in the +capacity you have outlined will be valuable to the partners. You can +come back firmly and not retreat an inch from your position. You need +not _antagonize_ by manifesting your determination to have the merits of +your proposal given due consideration. You know your prospect feels +pretty strongly on the matter of increasing his payroll while business +is unprofitable, but you should make him recognize that you believe so +thoroughly in your earning capacity that you feel you would justify him +in disregarding the temporary depression, while he considers your +service worth. + +[Sidenote: Units of Tone] + +As we have noted previously, it is important to know, at the time an +objection is put in your way, _whether or not it is really meant_. When +deciding in your mind on the right answer to this problem, you will be +helped very much if you size up not only the tone pitch of the +objection, but also the _units_ of tone employed by the prospect in his +expression of opposition. If he refuses your application, but uses just +_one_ tone, you may be sure his negative is not strong. If you do not +strengthen it to stubbornness by antagonizing him, but use tact to get +rid of his resistance, you will not find it difficult to melt away the +obstruction. + +However, should the "No" be spoken in two or more tones, with increased +stress at the end, your prospect certainly means his rejection to be +final. His mind is fully made up for the time being. It would be poor +salesmanship to butt your head against his fixed idea, just as it would +be foolish to tackle a strong opponent when he stands most formidably +braced to resist attack. But the two or three toned negative does not +mean that the idea behind it is fixed in the prospect's mind _forever_. +Any one is prone to change his mind, _unless he is kept so busy +supporting a position taken that he has no chance to alter his opinion_. + +[Sidenote: Preventing Stubborness] + +Therefore leave alone at first the rock you encounter. Get behind the +boulder by taking a roundabout path. Then quietly dig the support from +under the negative idea. If you make no fuss while you are undermining +the obstacle, it will be likely to topple over and roll from your path +without your prospect's noticing that it has disappeared. If his +interest is diverted from it, there is no reason why he should turn his +mind back to a stubborn insistence on his objection. Should he be +conscious that the rock of his earlier opposition has rolled away, he +will probably think it lost its balance. He will not realize that you +subtly undermined it and got rid of it by your skillful salesmanship. + +A salesman of an encyclopedia met a prospect who refused to give +favorable attention to him and his proposition. + +"No sir-e-e!" declared this objector, shaking his head emphatically. "No +more book agents can work me. The last slick one that tried to swindle +me is in ja-a-il now, and I put him the-ere!" + +He gloated in two or three tones. + +[Sidenote: Turning Back A Turn-down] + +"Good for you!" praised the undaunted salesman, who had come prepared +for adamantine obstacles in his path. "If more book buyers would see +that such rascals get what's coming to them, the rest of us salesmen, +who represent square publishers squarely, would not have to prove so +often that we are not crooks like some fellows who have happened to +precede us in a territory. Please tell me the name of the man who +swindled you. He might hit my publishers for a job after he gets out of +jail, and I want to warn the boss against him. Sometimes those slick +rascals pull the wool over our eyes, too. We are always on the lookout +to avoid getting tangled up with them." + +The salesman pulled out his note book and pencil. When the name was +given, he wrote it down painstakingly. He asked the prospect to spell it +for him; so that he would be sure to get it right. Then he thanked the +man who had said he would have nothing more to do with book agents. +Having "got around" the objector, the salesman proceeded with his +selling talk on the encyclopedia, as if he had not been turned down +flatly to begin with. In less than half an hour he had secured the +signature of the prospect to a contract for the finest edition. + +[Sidenote: Be Ready for Opposition] + +If this salesman had not been thoroughly prepared to meet the strongest +kind of mental and emotional opposition, he could not have come back so +quickly with the appropriate answer that undermined the obstacle. You +should be likewise ready for the "tough customers" one hears about. +_Practice in anticipation various ways of handling every imaginable +objection._ Then, when you face an actual difficulty, you will either +have on the tip of your tongue a solution of the problem, or your +forethought will assist you to devise on the spur of the moment the way +to work out the right answer. Again we observe the importance of full +preparation, in assuring successful salesmanship. + +[Sidenote: Two Essentials Of Resourcefulness] + +No quality is more important to the salesman than _resourcefulness_. Its +first requisite is _knowledge_, particularly advance knowledge of the +points that are likely to come up in the course of the selling process. +The second is a _mind trained to act quickly and effectively in using_ +its knowledge. If you have these two essentials of resourcefulness, no +objection will ever catch you napping. It will do you no good to look +up the right answer _after you leave the prospect_. Nothing can be more +exasperatingly worthless than an idea of something you "might have said" +but could not think of until _too late_. Have all your facts on tap. And +be practiced in making use of them in every imaginable way. Rare indeed +will be cases that you are not prepared to handle successfully. + +[Sidenote: Practicing "Come-backs"] + +I know a salesman who trained himself in resourcefulness by typing on +about fifty cards all the objections to his goods or proposition that he +could imagine. For ten or fifteen minutes every evening he played +solitaire with these cards. He would shuffle them, held face down, and +then deal off, face up, objection after objection. He never could tell +which was coming next. In a few weeks he had trained himself to give an +answer instantly to each objection, and to utilize it as a help instead +of a hindrance in his selling. Thereafter opposition and criticism from +prospects had no terrors for this salesman. He was able to get rid of +objections so swiftly, surely, and completely that they never had time +to grow formidable in the mind of the other man. + +[Sidenote: Adaptive Originality] + +Only a little less important than resourcefulness in meeting objections, +is _adaptive originality in answering them_. The "pat, new" reply is +always very effective. But do not unduly stress the value of the factor +of _originality_ alone. It must be coupled with _adaptation to the +particular viewpoint of the other man_. You must speak his language, if +you would be sure of making him understand you perfectly. + +[Sidenote: Use Prospect's Language] + +For example, suppose you apply to a watch manufacturer for a position in +his office. He seems inclined to question your dependability. You will +make a hit with him if you quote a detail from one of his own ads and +say, "I have a seventeen jewel movement," and then particularize that +number of good points about yourself. Such a reference preceding a +specification of your qualities would be adaptive originality. _It would +be an expression exactly fitted to the way this prospect thinks._ So it +would be more effective than an ordinary answer to the objection. +Adaptive originality in disposing of objections is a manifestation of +tact and diplomacy--the fine art of letting the other man down with a +shock absorber instead of jolting him to your way of thinking. + +[Sidenote: Keep Train of Thought on Main Track] + +When your prospect starts objecting, it is up to you to prevent him from +wandering far afield. At the objections stage, as at every other step in +the selling process, _you should dominate the other man_. Tactfully keep +him concentrated on the subject and on your application. If he starts to +grumble that some man he has engaged previously was "no good," you can +smile and reply, "You would not give _me credit_ for _anybody else's_ +fine work, and of course you do not _blame me_ for what _that_ fellow +did." + +You know what points are relevant to the subject you have come to +discuss, and what are not. _Discriminate, and make the prospect follow +you._ Restrict your treatment of his objections to points, means, and +methods that will keep his ideas from switching onto side-tracks of +thought. _When he wanders away from the subject, do not ramble with +him._ Promptly and diplomatically run his mind back on the main line of +your purpose. _You are operating a through train to success. You must +not be diverted into picking either daisies or thistles by the right of +way while your salesmanship engine stands idle._ + +[Sidenote: Patience and Calmness] + +Tact and diplomacy include the qualities of _patience_ and _calmness_. +You cannot deal successfully with opposition if you are impatient or +flustered. Patience understands the other man and avoids giving him +offense; because it comprehends his way of thinking and is considerate +of his right to his opinions. _Calmness denotes a consciousness of +strength. Hence it inspires admiration._ Keep your patience open-eyed. +See ahead. Do not chafe restlessly because the present moment is not +propitious. A better chance for you is coming. Because of your vision +have faith in your power to _make_ it come. Whatever may happen, be +self-possessed when you meet it. You can give no more impressive proof +of your bigness. Your calmness will win the confidence of the other man. +It will help in making the impression of courageous truth. Only an +honest purpose can meet attack with quiet fearlessness. + +[Sidenote: Win Admiration by Keeping Upper Hand] + +_The chief danger to the salesman at the objections stage is that he may +lose control of the selling process._ Be on your guard to prevent the +other man from dominating you by his opposition. You have the advantage +at the start. He cannot be so well prepared to make objections as you +should be to dispose of them effectively. _Keep the upper hand._ If you +have not antagonized his feelings, your prospect will admire you when he +sees that he cannot dominate you and realizes that you will not let him +have his own way. You will build up in him a favorable opinion of your +manhood, intelligence, and power. _He cannot help appreciating your art +in handling him._ + +[Sidenote: Make Desire Grow] + +Dispose of each objection in such a way that you will get yourself +wanted more and more as you remove or get around the obstacles +encountered. _The prospect's desire for your services should grow in +proportion as you overcome his opposition._ It is possible to use +objections, or rather their answers, to strengthen your salesmanship so +greatly that it will be easy to gain your object--the job or the +promotion you seek. + +[Sidenote: Hard Climb Leads to Supreme Heights] + +Therefore do not quail from the obstacles you meet. Recognize in each an +opportunity to succeed in demonstrating your capability; a chance to +increase the respect, confidence, and liking of your prospective +employer. _Remember, if there were no difficult, steep mountains to +scale, the supreme heights of success could not be gained._ So, with +shining face, climb on and up undaunted! + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +_The Goal of Success_ + + +[Sidenote: "Nearly Succeeded" Means "Failed"] + +After an applicant for a position seems to have the coveted opportunity +almost in his grasp, he is sometimes unable to _clinch_ the sale of his +services. He does not get the job. His failure is none the less +_complete_ because he _nearly_ succeeded. _No race was ever won by a man +who could not finish._ However successful you may have been in the +earlier stages of the selling process, if your services are finally +declined by the prospective employer you have interviewed, your sales +effort has ended in failure. + +When one has made a fine presentation of his capability, and therefore +feels confident of selling his services, it shocks and disheartens him +to have his application rejected. "It takes the starch out of a man." He +is apt to feel limp in courage when he turns his back on the lost chance +to make good, and faces the necessity of starting the selling process +all over again with another prospect. It is harder to lose a race in the +shadow of the goal than to be disqualified before the start. The +prospect who seems on the point of saying, "Yes," but finally shakes +his head is the heart-breaker to the salesman. + +[Sidenote: Making the Touch Down] + +Of course, as you have been reminded, even the best salesman cannot get +_all_ the orders he tries to secure. _But he seldom fails to "close" a +real prospect whom he has conducted successfully through the preliminary +steps of a sale._ Each advance he makes increases his confidence that he +will get the order. The master salesman does not falter and fall down +just before the finish. He is at the top of his strength as he nears the +goal. All his training and practice have had but one ultimate object--a +successfully _completed_ sale. He knows that _nothing else counts_. He +does not lose the ball on the one-yard line. He pushes it over for a +touchdown. He cannot be held back when he gets that close to the goal +posts. You must be like him if you would make the "almost sure" victory +a _certainty._ + +[Sidenote: Don't Fear To Take Success] + +Perhaps the commonest cause of the failures that occur at the closing +stage is the salesman's _fear of bringing the selling process to a +head_. He is in doubt whether the prospect will say "Yes" or "No." His +lack of courageous confidence makes him falter when he should bravely +put his fortune to the test of decision. He does not "strike while the +iron is hot," but hesitates until the prospect's desire cools. Many an +applicant for a position has talked an employer into the idea of +engaging his services, and then has gone right on talking until he +changed the other man's mind. He is the worst of all failures. Though he +has won the prize, he lets it slip through his fingers because he lacks +the nerve to tighten his hold. + +[Sidenote: Keep Control At the Close] + +Doubt and timidity at the closing stage, after the earlier steps have +been taken successfully, are paradoxes. Surely each _preliminary_ +advance the salesman makes should add to his confidence that he can +_complete_ the sale. His proved ability to handle objections and to +overcome resistance should have developed all the courage he needs to +_finish_ the selling process. Closing requires less bravery and staunch +faith than one must have when making his approach. Now he knows his man, +and that this prospect's mind and heart can be favorably influenced by +salesmanship. Is it not a contradiction of good sense to weaken at the +finish instead of pressing the advantages already gained and crowning +the previous work with ultimate success? Yet there are salesmen who seem +so afraid of hearing a possible "No" that they dare not prompt an almost +certain "Yes." + +When you have presented to your prospective employer a thoroughly good +case for yourself, _do not slow down or stop the selling process_. +Especially avoid letting _him_ take the reins. Thus far _you_ have +controlled the sale. _Keep final developments in your own hands._ Go +ahead. Smile. Be and appear entirely at ease. Look the other man in the +eye. Ask him, "When shall I start work?" _Suggest_ that you believe he +is favorable to your application. _Even speak his decision for him_, as +though it were a matter-of-course. If the previous trend of the +interview justifies you in assuming that he has almost made up his mind +to employ you, pronounce his probable thought as if he had announced it +as his final conclusion. _He will not be likely to reverse the decision +you have spoken for him._ His mental inclination will be to _follow your +lead_, and to accept as his own judgment what you have assumed to be +settled in his mind. + +[Sidenote: Reversing a Negative Decision] + +A stubborn merchant made a dozen objections to hiring a new clerk. The +young man cleared them all away, one after another, as soon as each was +raised. But the employer leaned back obstinately in his chair and +declared, "Just the same, I don't need any more clerks." This was but a +repetition of an objection already disposed of. The applicant concluded, +therefore, that he had his man cornered. The salesman smiled broadly at +the indication of his success. He stood up and took off his overcoat. + +"Well," he said, "you certainly need one less than you did, now that I'm +ready to begin work. I understand why you have been putting me off. You +wanted to test my stick-to-it-ive-ness. I'm sure I have convinced you on +that point. You needn't worry about my staying on the job. Shall I +report to the superintendent, or will you start me yourself?" + +The merchant drew a deep breath; then emptied his lungs with a burst of +astonishment mixed with relief. He could not help laughing. + +"I meant to turn you down, but you say I've made up my mind to hire you. +I didn't know it myself, but you're right. I believe you are the sort of +clerk I always want." + +[Sidenote: Expect the Prospect to Say "Yes"] + +Remember, when you face your prospect at the closing stage, the _motive_ +that brought you to him. You came with the intention of rendering him +_services from which he will profit_. You want your capability to be a +"good buy" for him. Your consciousness that your motive is _right_ +should give you strengthened _faith_ in yourself and in the successful +outcome of your salesmanship. It should fill you with the courage +necessary to close the sale. + +_Neither hesitate nor flinch. Confidently prompt the decision_ in your +favor. Believe that you _have_ won and you will not be intimidated by +fears of failure. Your prospect is unlikely to say "No" _if you really +expect to hear "Yes."_ Even if he speaks the negative, still _believe in +your own faith_. I know a man who, a minute after his application was +flatly rejected, won the position he wanted. Unrebuffed, he came back +with, "Eventually, why not now?" His evident conviction that he was +_needed_ gained the victory when his chance seemed lost. + +[Sidenote: Don't Be Afraid to Pop The Question] + +We all laugh at the young swain who courts a girl devotedly for months +and uses every art he knows to sell her the idea that he would make her +happy as his wife; but who turns pale, then red, and chokes whenever he +has a chance to pop the question. Often the girl must go half way with +prompting. When, thus encouraged, he finally stammers out his appeal for +her decision, she accepts him so quickly that he feels foolish. Women +are reputed to be better "closers" of such sales than men. + +You smile at the comparison of courting with salesmanship. Yet the +selling process is as effective in making good impressions of the sort +of husband one might be as in impressing an employer with the idea that +one's services in business would prove desirable. + +[Sidenote: Selling a Future Husband] + +The young man bent on marriage needs to prospect for the right girl, to +secure an audience, to compel her attention, to regain it when diverted +to other admirers, and to develop her curiosity about him into interest. +He must size up her likes and dislikes; then adapt his salesmanship to +her tastes, tactfully subordinating his own preferences to hers. If she +is athletic, he will play tennis or go on tramps with her, however tired +he feels after his work. If she is sentimental, he will take her +canoeing and read poetry to her, though he may prefer detective yarns. +Throughout his courtship he will do his utmost to stimulate in her a +desire to have him as a life partner. Whatever objections she makes to +him, he will get rid of or overcome. + +Suppose he has taken all these preliminary selling steps successfully, +and at last the time comes for pinning the girl down to a definite +answer to the all-important question, is there any likelihood that it +will be a refusal? Of course not! If his earlier salesmanship has been +masterly, the reasons why she will be inclined to accept him in the end +are of much greater weight and number than any causes for rejection that +she may have thought of previously. + +[Sidenote: Never Weaken At the Finish] + +He should not fear to close the sale. He has been "going strong" until +now; why should he weaken at the finish? The master salesman does not +quaver then, or doubt his success. He asks his prospect's decision +bravely and with confidence, or he assumes it as a matter of course and +kisses the girl. His heart beats faster than usual, but he is not afraid +of hearing "No." + +_You should feel the same way_ after leading your prospective employer +successfully through the preliminary stages of the process of selling +your services to him. Do not falter now. _Promptly emphasize the idea +that the weight, amount, and quality of your merits are fully worth the +compensation previously discussed._ If you are _sure_ of that, if you +have valued your services from _his_ standpoint, and not just from +_your own_, you will feel no doubts about the acceptance of your +application. You will put your prospective employer through the process +of decision as courageously and confidently as you first entered his +presence. + +[Sidenote: Getting the Decision Pronounced] + +Sometimes a prospect will be convinced, but will not express what is in +his thoughts. Therefore _it is not enough to bring about a favorable +conclusion of mind_. Until this has been _pronounced or signified_, it +may easily be changed. Hence the _effective process of decision includes +both the mental action of judgment and its perceptible indication_. +Often a prospect who is _thinking_ "Yes" will not _say_ it until he is +prompted by the salesman. + +[Sidenote: A Lawyer Sums Up the Case] + +When a lawyer is trying a case, he endeavors to bring out the evidence +in favor of his client and to make the jury see every point clearly. He +shows also the fallacies and falsities of opposing testimony. But after +all the evidence has been given, the case is not turned over +_immediately_ to the jury for decision. If that were done the lawyer +would miss his best chance to influence the jurors to make up their +minds in his favor. They are not so familiar as he with the facts and +their significance. They would be apt to attach more importance to some +details of testimony, and less to others, than the circumstances +warrant. So, to assist the jurors in arriving at their verdict on the +evidence, the lawyer _sums up the case_. He lays before their minds his +views, and tries with all his power and art to convince them that his +word pictures are true reproductions of the facts in their relation and +proportion to all the circumstances surrounding the issue. + +[Sidenote: Preponderance Of Evidence] + +The _object_ of the lawyer when he addresses the jury is to make the +convincing impression that _the testimony in favor of his client far +outweighs the evidence on the other side_. He adjures the twelve men +before him to "weigh the evidence carefully." He declares the judge will +instruct them that in a lawsuit the verdict should be given to the party +who has a "preponderance" or greater weight of proof on his side. _At +this closing stage of the case the lawyer acts as a weighmaster._ He +wants to make the jurors feel that he has handled the scales _fairly_, +that he has taken into consideration the evidence _against_ him as well +as the facts _in his favor_; and that the preponderance of weight _is as +he has shown it_--so that they will accept _his_ view and gave him the +verdict. If he feels a sincere conviction that he is right in asking for +a decision on his side, he makes his closing address with the ring of +confidence. He looks the jurors in the eye and asks for the verdict in +his favor as a matter of _right_. He does not beg, but claims what the +weight of the evidence _entitles_ him to receive. + +[Sidenote: Treat Your Prospects As Jurors] + +The jury that will decide on your application when you apply for a +position will usually consist of but one man, or will be composed of a +committee or board of directors. Treat him or them _as a jury_. +Remember that your capabilities and your deficiencies are _on trial_. +Close your case with the same process the skillful lawyer uses when he sums +up the evidence and weighs it before the minds of the jurors. Do what +he does _as a weighmaster_. Avoid making any impression that you +are not weighing your _demerits_ fairly, though you _minimize their +importance_; also miss no chance to impress the _full weight_ of your +_qualifications_. The essence of good salesmanship at this stage of the +process is _skillful, but honest weighing_. That means using _both +sides_ of the scale, to convince the prospect that _the balance tips in +your favor_. He will not believe in the correctness of the "Yes" weight +unless you show the lesser weight of "No" _in contrast_. Then he cannot +help _seeing_ which is the heavier. _Decision on the respective weights +is only a process of perception._ + +[Sidenote: The Process Of Perception] + +Let us suppose the employer has asserted the objections that you are not +sufficiently experienced to earn the salary you want, and that you don't +know enough yet to fill the job. It would be poor salesmanship to try to +convince him that you have had a good deal of experience. If you +exaggerate the importance of the things you have learned, he almost +surely will judge you to be an unfair weighman of yourself. So you +should tacitly admit your inexperience and treat the value of experience +lightly by reminding him that his business is unlike any other. Then +bear down hard on your eagerness to learn his ways and to work for him. +Thus you can make him perceive the two sides of the scale _as you view +them_. + +[Sidenote: Tipping the Balances Your Way] + +It is possible for you so to tip the balances in your favor, though +previously the mind's eye of your prospective employer may have been +seeing the greater weight on the unfavorable side. _It is legitimate +salesmanship to influence the decision of the other man in this way._ +Your weighing is entirely honest; though you sharply reverse the +balances. Certainly you have the right to estimate the full worth of +your services, to depreciate the significance of points against you, and +to picture your desirability to the prospect as you see it, however that +view may differ from his previous conception. _If your picture of the +respective weights is attractive and convincing, the other man will +adopt it as his own and discard his former opinions about you._ Not only +will he accept the idea of your capabilities that you make him perceive; +he also will see that your deficiencies are much less important than he +had before considered them. + +[Sidenote: Serving Hash For Dessert] + +Beware of a mistake commonly made by applicants for positions who do not +understand the art of successfully closing the sale of one's services. +When they try to clinch the final decision, _they just repeat strongly +all their best points. They make no mention of their shortcomings._ For +dessert, in other words, they serve a hash of the best dishes of +previous courses. Is it any wonder that such a close takes away any +appetite the prospect may have had? + +What would you think of a lawyer who had closed his case by simply +reading to the jury all the testimony that had been given on his side, +but who had made no reference to the opposing evidence? If you were a +juror, would you vote for a verdict in favor of the side so summed up? +Of course you would have heard the testimony of both parties to the +case, but _you would not feel that the lawyer who ignored the evidence +against his client had helped you to arrive at the conclusion that he +had the preponderance of proof on his side_. On the contrary, you +probably would be inclined to attach to the opposing evidence _greater +weight than the facts justified_, and would discount whatever the lawyer +claimed for his client. You, yourself, would act as weighmaster; and +would give the other party to the suit the benefit of any doubt in your +mind as to the contrasting weights of the testimony pro and con. _The +lawyer's failure to weigh all the evidence before your eyes would make +the impression on you that his view of the case was unfair to his +opponent._ If you felt at all doubtful, you would be likely to vote +against him in order to make sure that the other side received a square +deal. + +[Sidenote: Weigh Both Pros and Cons Before Jury] + +_The jury that is to decide favorably or unfavorably on your application +for a position will feel similarly inclined to reach a negative +conclusion if in closing you omit the process of weighing the pros and +cons, and emphasize only your strong points._ It is good salesmanship to +stress these at the finishing stage, but they should be pictured _in +contrast with lighter objections_ to your employment. In order to +_convince_ the prospect that the reasons for employing you outweigh the +reasons for turning you down, you must show his mind _both sides of the +scale_. If you fail to do this, his own imagination will do the weighing +and is certain to bear down with prejudice on every point against you. +It will also depreciate your view of the points in your favor. The other +man will make sure that _he_ is getting a square deal on the weights, +since he will believe _you_, too, are looking out only for Number One. + +[Sidenote: To Make Certain Do The Weighing Yourself] + +The _certain_ way to make your prospect perceive that the reasons for +accepting your proposal are of greater weight than any causes for +turning down your application is to _do the weighing yourself_. First +be sure the heavier weight _is_ on your side. When you fully believe +that, use all the arts of salesmanship to _make the other man see the +balances as you view them_. Then he can come to but one conclusion, that +the "preponderance" is on your side. _Just as soon as you make the +respective weights clear to his perception, he will be convinced._ He +cannot deny what his own mind's eye has been made to see. + +[Sidenote: Get Prospect Committed] + +Therefore bringing about a favorable _mental conclusion_ is not at all +difficult. The judgment that your services would be desirable is no +harder to gain than a decision that the weight of one side of a scale is +greater than the other. Any one who looks at the balances sees at once +which way they tip. The rub is not in getting the decision _made_ but in +getting it _pronounced_. The sale is not completed until the prospect +has _committed_ himself. + +[Sidenote: Now is the Acceptance Time] + +He feels that his mental processes are his own secret, which you cannot +read; so he will not guard against the conclusion of his _mind_ that you +would be a desirable employee. But for some reason he may be unwilling +to _express_ his thoughts to you just then, however thoroughly he is +convinced. He naturally prefers not to say "Yes" at once; so that he may +change his mind if he wishes. _You will endanger your chances of success +if you let him put off action on his decision._ To-morrow he is likely +to see the weights in a different light and to imagine less on your +side and more against you. _Now_ is the time to close the sale, when he +cannot help seeing things _your way_. + +[Sidenote: Two Stages Of Closing] + +You know that sometimes a juror will be convinced in his own mind, +yet cannot bring himself actually to vote according to his mental +conclusion. Perhaps he is a "wobbler" by nature. So a girl may decide +in her thoughts that a certain suitor would make a good husband, yet +she may hesitate to accept him just because that step is _final_. +These illustrations impress the importance of _discriminating between +the two stages of closing a sale_. The success of the salesman is +made certain only by his knowledge and skillful use, first of the art of +_vivid weighing_, and second of the art of _prompting the prospect +to action on his perception of the difference in the balances_. At the +closing stage we have encountered again our old acquaintance, "the +discriminative-restrictive process." + +[Sidenote: Closing a Procrastinator] + +A friend of mine who has an advertising agency wanted to secure the +business of a prominent manufacturer who was inclined to vacillation. +The prospect was always timid about acting and had the reputation of a +chronic procrastinator. My friend went ahead with the selling process in +ordinary course until he had proved the desirability of his service and +had shown that there was no really weighty reason why the contract +should not be given to him. He knew he was entitled to the decision +then, but he did not wait for the timid man to pronounce it. The +advertising agent knew the characteristics of the prospect and had +planned just how he would handle the finishing stage of the selling +process so as to get the order promptly. + +[Sidenote: The Clincher Held in Reserve] + +He held in reserve a closing method that a less skillful salesman +probably would have used earlier in the sale instead of reserving it +especially for the end. As soon as he had completed the weighing process +my friend took from his pocket a sheet of copy he had prepared for a +first advertisement along the line he had proposed. This had been worked +out carefully in advance, just as if the order had already been given +for the advertising service. My friend laid the sheet of copy before the +prospect, who was taken completely by surprise. + +"I knew you would want this service as soon as I explained it to you," +said the salesman. "Therefore I prepared this ad for the first +publication under the plan I have submitted, and which I am sure you +approve. There is no question that you will get much better results from +this copy than you have been receiving from the advertising you are +doing now. Naturally you want to begin benefiting from my service as +soon as possible. I'm all ready to deliver the goods. Just pencil your +O.K. on the corner of this copy. I'll do the rest." + +[Sidenote: From Pencil To Pen] + +With a smile of confidence the salesman held out a soft lead pencil. +_The moment the other man involuntarily obeyed the suggestion by +accepting the tendered pencil, he was started on the purely muscular +process of pronouncing his approval of the proposition likewise tendered +for his acceptance._ The informality of the off-hand request that he +"pencil his O.K." kept him from being scared off. He did not feel that +he had yet committed himself fully. Probably, with characteristic +timidity, he would have shied from signing a formal contract at that +moment. But he hesitated only slightly before he scribbled his initials +on the corner of the proposed ad. Then he handed the pencil back to the +salesman. The advertising agent picked up the approved copy, and at once +laid before the prospect a formal contract. Simultaneously he tendered +his fountain pen. _He had started the advertiser to writing his name, +and did not let the process stop._ + +"Now just O.K. this, too," he directed, "and the whole matter will be +settled to your complete satisfaction." Then, to prevent the +procrastinator from backing up, the salesman reached for the telephone +on the advertiser's desk. "With your permission, I'll call up +the----magazine and reserve choice space for this ad. It won't cost any +more and by getting in early we'll make the ad most effective." + +[Sidenote: Decide For, Then Commit The Prospect] + +My friend manifested complete confidence that the sale was _closed_. By +continuing the process of affirming the decision, he prevented the +prospect from backing up after making his pencilled O.K. Being thus +committed informally, the usually vacillating advertiser could not well +avoid using the pen put into his hand to sign the formal contract laid +before him. Without speaking to him, the salesman pointed to the dotted +line while he called the telephone number he wanted. _The prospect wrote +his name before he had time to stop the impulse that the advertising +agent had started._ The salesman had both _induced_ the mental +_decision_ in his favor, and _impelled_ its _pronouncement_. Really he +first _made up the prospect's mind for him_, and then _committed him to +the decision so made_ without the other man's volition. + +[Sidenote: Both Processes In Right Sequence] + +_Only by performing both processes in right sequence at the closing +stage can a sale be finished under the control of the salesman._ If the +_favorable conclusion_ as to the respective weights of negative and +affirmative is not first worked out before the mind's eye of the +prospect, anything done to _commit_ him to a decision will likely kill +the salesman's chances for success. The prospect whose mind is not yet +made up favorably, who does not clearly perceive that the preponderance +is on the "Yes" side of the scale, will almost surely say "No" if his +decision is _prematurely_ impelled. + +[Sidenote: Discriminate And Restrict] + +Hence it is important that the salesman discriminate between the two +closing stages, and that he restrict his selling methods at each stage +to the selling processes that are effective then. He must not get "the +cart before the horse," as the ignorant or unskillful closer is apt to +do. The poor closer does not understand the "discriminative-restrictive" +process. He lacks comprehension of the distinction that should be drawn +between the methods he _previously_ has used and what is now required to +_finish_ the sale. Let us be sure we know how to discriminate; so that +our work at the closing stage may be restricted to the processes that +are required to assure success in taking the particular step necessary. + +[Sidenote: New Process Necessary To Close] + +Throughout the series of selling steps that precede the closing stage, +the continuing purpose of the salesman is to make the prospect _see_ the +proposal in the true light, as the salesman himself views it. When the +selling process draws to a conclusion, the purpose of the salesman +changes. Now he wants the prospect to _decide_ and then _act upon_ what +has been shown to his mind's eye. If the salesman is to control the +close, he must do something _new_ to prompt decision and to actuate its +pronouncement. + +The unskillful closer, instead of changing his previous sales tactics, +nearly always devotes his final efforts to making the prospect _see +more clearly_ the pictures already laid before his mind. He tries to +impress the prospect with a _re-hash of perception_, by emphasizing more +strongly than before the favorable points brought out clearly at earlier +stages. Of course it is important that at the close of the sale the +prospect have all these points in view, but it is not good salesmanship +to emphasize only the appeal to his _perceptive_ faculties. The guest +who has had a good dinner does not need to be told just afterward what +he has eaten, or reminded of the courses by having them brought in +again. + +[Sidenote: Logic and Reason Won't Win] + +As it is a mistake to serve at the close of a sale only a re-hash of +favorable points; so is it bad salesmanship to rely on a dessert of +"logic and reason" for the finishing touch. _Logic and reason provoke +antagonism. They are ineffective in bringing about either a favorable +conclusion of mind or action on such a decision._ + +If you have presented your capabilities fully to a prospective employer, +do not wind up by marshalling reasons why he should engage you. Avoid +the use of the "major premise, minor premise, argument, and logical +conclusion." _You cannot debate yourself into a job_, for the judge is +made antagonistic by your method, which puts him on the defensive. It is +human nature to resist a decision that logic tries to force. No man +arrives at his conclusions of mind by putting himself through a +reasoning process. A normal person does not need to reason about things +he knows. _He knows without reasoning._ He attempts to use logic only +when he is _uncertain_ what to think. If logic is used by the salesman +to convince the other man, it will be ineffective because it is an +unnatural means that the prospect almost never employs to convince +himself, and of which he is suspicious. + +[Sidenote: Why Reasoning is Futile] + +A major premise is but an assumption unless it is already known. If it +is known, why should it be proved? Since the correctness of the +conclusion depends entirely upon the validity of the premise, it is +evidently absurd to attempt to prove a truth from the basis of an +admitted assumption. The reasoning process that starts from a truth +already known, and arrives at a truth that must similarly have been +known, is utterly useless and a waste of time. Hence, _if you use the +reasoning process you will either fail to convince your prospect by +starting from a premise that he does not know, or you will irritate and +unfavorably impress him by seeming to reflect on his intelligence when +you prove to him something he already knows_. That is the wrong way to +bring your man to a "Yes" decision. + +If the whole process of the sale could be summed up in just one logical +statement at closing, it might occasionally be practical for the +salesman to apply reasoning with good effect to help him secure the +decision. But the four steps, first and second premise, argument, and +conclusion, must be applied to every point that is made with reasoning. +Since the force of the conclusion is largely lost unless the major +premise is an absolute truth recognized by everybody, there is danger of +confusion, and no possibility of convincing the prospect by such +methods. Besides, a multitude of reasoning processes would be necessary +to cover all the points presented by the salesman and all the objections +raised by the prospect. Moreover, as we have seen, the whole procedure +of "a logical close" falls back upon itself unless everything the +salesman hopes to prove was known and admitted to be true before he +began to reason it out. + +[Sidenote: Favorable Decision Defined] + +_Favorable decision is the prospect's mental conclusion that it is +better to buy than not to buy; better to accept than to refuse._ The +process of securing decision is not complex; it is very simple. As has +been said, the salesman needs only to weigh before the mind's eye of the +prospect the favorable and unfavorable ideas of the proposal. _Any +weighing of two mental images always results in a judgment as to which +is preferable, or that one course of action would be better than the +other._ The mind is never so exactly balanced between contrasting ideas +that it does not tip at all either way. + +[Sidenote: Weighing Ideas of A Steak] + +The skill of the salesman weighmaster, used legitimately before the +mind's eye of the prospect to tip the scales of decision to the +favorable side, is illustrated in the story of a butcher who had been +asked by a woman customer to weigh a steak for her. He knew that the +weighing process _in her mind_ included more than the balancing of a +certain number of pounds and ounces on the scale. Against the reasons +for her evident inclination to take the selected steak, she would weigh +its cost, her personal ideas of its value, and other factors of the high +cost of living. + +[Sidenote: Skillful Close of The Sale] + +The butcher wished to bring her quickly to a favorable decision. He +wanted to make up the customer's mind for her in such a conclusive way +that she would be prevented from hesitating over the purchase. As a +weighman of pounds and ounces he only wanted to show the prospect that +he was honest. But in order to tip _the buying scales in her mind_ he +put into the balances, on the side opposite the cost of the steak, the +heavier weight of buying inducements. First he did the actual weighing +of the steak; then he added on the "Yes" side of the scales of decision +_ideas of the excellence and desirability of the meat_. He followed +immediately with a _suggestion of action that would commit the prospect +to buying_. + +"Two pounds and five ounces, ma'am! Only a dollar and forty-three cents. +It's the very choicest part of the loin. You couldn't get a cut any +tenderer than that, or with less bone. Would you like to have a little +extra suet wrapped up with it?" + +[Sidenote: Three Effects Produced] + +The butcher thus combined in his close _three effects_. He brought about +_judgment of the prospect's intellect_, plus _increased desire_ for the +goods, plus the _impulse to carry the desire into action_. + +First, by emphasizing, "Two pounds and five ounces!" in a _heavy_ tone, +and by depreciating the cost, "Only a dollar and forty-three cents," +spoken _lightly_, he implied that the _value_ of the steak far +outweighed the _price_. Thus judgment of the prospect's intellect was +effected. + +Second, to stimulate increased desire for the steak, the butcher +skillfully put on the favorable side of the scales of decision the +weight of _a suggestion of excellence_. He said temptingly, "It's the +very choicest part of the loin." At this point he also employed +_contrast_, to make the prospect's desire stronger still. "You couldn't +get a cut any tenderer than this, or with less bone." + +Third, this skillful salesman prompted _the immediate committal of his +customer to a favorable decision_. He impelled her to this affirmative +action by suggesting, "Would you like to have a little extra suet +wrapped up with it?" He put a question that was _easy_ for the prospect +to answer with "Yes." Once she accepted the suet offered free, she +tacitly accepted the steak at the price stated. _It is skillful +salesmanship to make it easy for the buyer to say "Yes" or to imply the +favorable decision indirectly_. The butcher might have been answered +with "No" if he had asked, "Will you take this steak?" But he himself +nodded when he made the proposal that he wrap up the extra suet. The +woman was thus impelled to nod with him. The sale was closed, +artistically, in a few seconds. + +When you plan how you will close a sale of true ideas of your best +capability, _work out in advance a similar weighing process, followed at +once by an indirect prompting of acceptance of the decision you +suggest_. Shape and re-shape your intended "close" in your mind until it +includes the three effects the butcher produced. + +[Sidenote: Put a "Kick" Into the Close] + +Put a "kick" into your stimulation of desire at the closing stage. +_Paint the points in your favor brightly and glowingly, though in true +colors. Conversely paint all objections to your employment +unattractively._ + +Suppose you are applying for a secretarial position. It would be good +"painting" to close something like this: + +"I am going to learn to do things _your_ way. You would not want a man +in the position who was _experienced_; because he would do things some +one else's way, not yours. My inexperience really means I am adaptable +to your methods. I'd become exactly the sort of secretary _you_ want. +For instance, how do you prefer to have your mail brought to you--just +as it is opened, or with previous correspondence and notations +attached?" + +Such an alternative question, _answered either way_, leads the prospect +through the stage of favorable decision and implies his committal to +acceptance of the services offered. It can be followed by the direct +proposal, "All, right, I'll bring your mail that way." _Such a close is +practically sure to succeed_. + +[Sidenote: Using the Negative Positively] + +A man who was not at all prepossessing applied to me one day for a job. +He conducted the sale of himself very skillfully, but I meant to put him +off. It was our dull season, and his looks didn't make a hit with me +anyway. However, he realized there was a good deal on the negative side +of the scale, and he weighed his disqualifications honestly; though he +depreciated the importance of his unprepossessing appearance. Then, in +contrast to the negative side, he showed me very weighty and attractive +reasons for employing him. He started by grinning good-humoredly. + +"I'm not a prize beauty," he remarked. "But the other day I was reading +about Abraham Lincoln, and the book made me feel encouraged about +myself. I don't believe I'm any homelier or any more awkward than he +was. I don't expect to be a parlor salesman, anyhow, or to rely on my +good looks to get orders. I plan to succeed by work. I'm going to be on +the job early and late and every minute between. I'll believe in what +I'm selling--down to the very bottom of my heart. I'll make anybody see +I'm in dead earnest. I look honest, and I am. I'll be square with +customers and with you. I guess that out in the field a reputation for +always being willing to help, and for telling the truth straight, will +count more than anything else. I know I'm inexperienced, but that's a +fault I can cure mighty soon." He grinned again. "I'll start right away +to get the greenness off, if you'll tell me where to hang up my hat." + +His good nature warmed me into smiling with him. I could not help +feeling inclined to try this man. I decided to give him his chance at +once. He started my impulse to accept his services, and I pronounced the +decision in his favor that he prompted. Of course he made good. That was +a foregone conclusion. He had mastered the selling process, and was an +especially fine closer. He succeeded in getting more than his quota of +orders the first year. Selling never seemed to be hard work for him. + +[Sidenote: Two Ways To Prompt Pronouncement] + +The pronouncement of the prospect's decision can be prompted, his +favorable action can be brought about, in _two ways_. First, as we have +seen, _the salesman can suggest, directly or indirectly, the action he +wants the other man to take_. Second, _the salesman himself can do +something_ that the prospect will be impelled to _imitate_. + +[Sidenote: Impelling Imitation Of Action] + +For example, when you apply for a position, and have completed the +process of weighing the points in your favor in contrast with the less +weighty reasons for not employing you, lean forward slightly in an +attitude of easy expectancy. _The prospect's mind will be inclined to +imitate your physical act_. He will lean toward acceptance of your +services. Your act will tend to bring you together. Your magnetism will +draw his. + +Or you might extend your hand. He will have an impulse to reach out his +in turn. It is natural for a man to take a hand that is courteously +offered. The moment after you reach toward the prospect say, "Let's +shake hands on it." Once his fingers start moving toward yours in +imitation of your action, it will be easy for him to commit himself. + +[Sidenote: Five Essentials Of Good Close] + +Now let us review the essentials of good salesmanship in closing, which +we have been analyzing. We can summarize under five divisions the entire +process of completing a sale most effectively and with the practical +assurance of success. + +First, _the salesman must have definite, certain knowledge that the mind +of the prospect has reached the closing stage_; that it is time to _end_ +the "testimony" and to _begin_ weighing the evidence. If the salesman +has kept control of the selling process throughout all the preceding +stages, he will know when the selling point is reached, _for he will be +there himself_, with the prospect he has "safely conducted" thus far. + +Second, at this "right time" it is necessary to _change former sales +tactics promptly_, and to _start contrasting_ the affirmative and +negative ideas that have previously been brought out. + +Third, the salesman should weigh these contrasting ideas so _vividly_ +that the mind's eye of the prospect will _see_ the scales and _perceive_ +the greater weight on the "Yes" side, _as the salesman pictures it_. + +Fourth, it is important that the salesman _color_ the affirmative +ideas very _alluringly_, and increase the contrast by painting +_unattractively_ everything on the negative side of the scale; so +that "No," besides appearing much _lighter_ than "Yes," will seem +_uninviting_. + +Fifth, the selling process should be brought to a climax by the +salesman's _suggestion_ or _imitation_ of some _act_ designed to +_commit_ the prospect to _acceptance_ in an _easy_ way. + +[Sidenote: Unbalancing The Process] + +Nothing so _unbalances_ the process of securing a favorable decision and +its pronouncement as any indication of fear, doubt, or hesitancy in the +attitude of the salesman. Therefore, even though you may be uncertain as +to the outcome of your selling efforts, _do not show it_. Long before +you came to the decision point, you passed the worst dangers on the +road to the end of the sale. Surely your courage should be _strongest_ +at the closing stage. + +[Sidenote: Light Dissipates Fear and Doubt] + +Fear usually arises from something _unknown_; it is due only to +_darkness_. Since you _know_ now just what closing involves, and _light_ +has been shed on the problems of getting the prospect's "Yes," your +fears and doubts should be dissipated. _You should not hesitate to end +the sale you have controlled successfully throughout previous stages_. +Our analysis has revealed that closing is no more difficult than winning +attention to your proposition in the first place. As a result, your +present attitude toward closing is _positive_. Your courage and +self-confidence have been built up. You realize just _how_ success in +finishing a well-conducted sale can be made practically _sure_. + +[Sidenote: Negatives Must be Avoided] + +Certain _negative_ attitudes at the closing stage should be avoided. +Especially do not throw into the scales of decision any little pleas for +_personal favor_, with the hope that in so doing you will increase the +weight on the "Yes" side. Such tactics almost invariably tend to tip the +balance _un_favorably. A plea of this sort is equivalent to an admission +that the ideas you have presented _for_ buying do not _themselves_ +outweigh the prospect's images _against_ buying. You suggest to him that +you are trying to push the balance down on your side by putting your +finger on it, by "weighing in your hand," as unfair butchers sometimes +do with a chicken they hold on the scales by the legs. + +[Sidenote: "As a Personal Favor to Me"] + +The prospect will instantly perceive your action. _His mind, acting on +the principle of the gyroscope, will resist by greater opposition any +push of the personal plea_. If you ask a decision as a personal favor, +your prospect will lose confidence in the true weight of the ideas on +your side that you have already registered in his mind. You are much +more likely to hurt than to help your chances for success by making a +personal plea. Even if it should prove effective, what you get that way +would be alms given to a beggar, and not the earned prize of good +salesmanship. _Never buy success at the cost of self-respect_. To be a +successful _beggar_ is nothing to feel proud of. + +[Sidenote: "Treating" At Close] + +Do not attempt to "_treat"_ your prospect by flattering him at the +closing stage. Such "treating" is a tacit admission that your goods of +sale, your best qualifications, have not sufficient merit to sell at +their intrinsic value. Or you practically confess that you are not good +enough salesman to win out with just your goods and your ability to sell +yourself for what you claim to be worth. _Flattery is a call for help_. +It is like the bad salesmanship of trying to buy an order with cigars or +a dinner. Never "treat" at the closing stage, for to do so is to admit +_weakness_ when you should be your _strongest_. + +[Sidenote: "No" Seldom Is Final] + +Of course you should not take a first or second "No" as a _final_ +answer. Even if the prospect indicates that he is inclined to decide +against you, _continue confidently to heap images in favor of buying on +the "Yes" side of the scale until you have used all the honest weight +you have to put in the balance_. He will not respect you as a salesman +if you quit at his first "No." _It is up to you to tip the scales of +decision your way_. Remember that you should not bring the other man to +the judgment point _until after you have aroused and intensified his +desire to a very great degree_. If you have made him want you at all, +you will disappoint him if you then fail to put enough weight on the +"Yes" side of the scale to win his decision to employ you. + +When you receive a "No," understand it to mean, "No, that is not yet +enough ideas for buying your services." Keep right on putting weight +into the "Yes" side of the balance until it tips your way. _Do not +consider any "No" final until you have run out of both contrasting +weight and attractive colors; so that you cannot change the scales_. + +[Sidenote: Stick it Out Here and Now] + +If it is possible for you to "stick," don't be put off when you come to +the closing stage. _All the weighing you do at the present time will be +valueless lost effort unless you complete the selling process here and +now_. When your prospect tries to put you off, he tacitly admits your +weights are right. Otherwise he would say "No" and be done with you. +You really have won his mental decision. A continuance of skillful +salesmanship will enable you to get him to act favorably without delay +or further evasion. + +[Sidenote: Entertainment In Court Room Out of Place] + +Some salesmen make the mistake of mixing _entertainment_ with the +closing process. Earlier in the sale you may be able to secure excellent +results by entertaining the prospect with clean jokes and good stories. +But the close is the stage at which he arrives at his mental conclusion +as to the "preponderance" of the evidence. _Jests and light conversation +are out of place when the judge is performing his functions in the +courtroom of the mind._ An amusing remark or a witty quip at this +juncture would suggest that the scales of decision in the salesman's own +mind were somewhat unbalanced. Your attitude when you are weighing "Yes" +and "No" before the prospect should be _pleasant_, but _quiet_ and +_serious, as is becoming to a convincing weighman_. + +When you work to secure a favorable decision, you are weighing evidence +with the purpose of impelling the prospect to take your judgment or to +weigh the evidence just as you do. It is necessary all through the +process that he be made to feel you realize you are aiding in the +performance of a _judicial_ function. He must have complete confidence +in your intention and ability to handle the scales honestly and with +serious pains to determine what is the right judgment about your +proposition. Your levity at the closing stage would lessen the effect of +honest, serious, painstaking weighing of the images for buying in +contrast with the images against buying. So get the funny stories out of +your system before you come to the decision step of the sale, or else +keep them bottled up inside you and don't pull the cork until you are +safely at the celebration stage. + +[Sidenote: Tones and Acts When Weighing] + +Do not forget when closing to add _force_ to your words by _tones and +gestures that emphasize ideas of the contrast in weights_ between the +two sides of the scale. By your light tone you can indicate the +triviality of objections to your proposition. With the heavier tone of +power you can suggest the great weight of the favorable ideas. If you +use _broad gestures of your whole hand and full arm_, you can seem to +pile a large heap of points on your side of the scale. Conversely you +can indicate the smallness of objections by moving _your fingers only_, +as if you were picking up a tiny object. Demolish unfavorable points +with a strong gesture of negation, as by sweeping your arm horizontally. +Give life to the ideas on the favorable side of the scale by +accompanying your words with up and down gestures that signify +vitality. + +[Sidenote: Do Not Show That Closing Is Hard Work] + +Your physical condition or outward appearance will help or harm your +chances for success at the closing stage. You should not manifest the +least indication that you are under a strain of anxiety as to the +outcome, or that you lack the strength to control the completion of the +selling process. Why should you not have a feeling of ease when you +reach the close? _If your bearing suggests your self-confidence, it will +give the other man confidence in your capabilities._ When a salesman has +to "sweat blood" to finish a sale, he indicates that it is usually +mighty hard work for him to get what he wants. This impression suggests +to the other man that there must be something wrong with the proposition +or it wouldn't take so much effort of the salesman to put it across. +_Any element of doubt at the final stage will almost surely delay or +kill the salesman's chances to close successfully._ + +[Sidenote: Make Sure of A Good Batting Average] + +Recall once more that the measure of success in selling is not 100% of +closed sales; every possible order secured and none lost. _Success is +made certain when failures are reduced to the minimum and successes are +increased to the maximum of practicability._ There can be no question +that if you use the _right processes_ in closing, your chances for +success will be so greatly increased that your batting average of actual +sales should take you far above the failure line. Your career as a +salesman involves _continual_ selling. You must make sale after sale. +However skillfully you employ the right process at the closing stage, +you may not accomplish your purpose the first time you try. _But if you +keep on selling your services in the right way, you will be as +absolutely certain to succeed as the master salesman of "goods" is sure +of closing his quota every year he works._ + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +_The Celebration Stage_ + + +[Sidenote: What Are You Going to Do With Success?] + +You know now the _certain_ way to get your chance to succeed in the +vocation of your choice. You are convinced that a _good salesman_ can +create and control his opportunities in any field, can bring himself to +good luck in the right market for his services. You are resolved to +master the art of selling, and so to insure your future against any +possibility of failure. You feel confident of success; because you are +willing to earn it by the diligent study and practice of salesmanship. +There is no doubt in your mind that when you become a skillful salesman +of your best capabilities, you can get a chance to succeed. _Now what +are you going to do with success after you gain it?_ + +Suppose you had sold yourself into the very opportunity you want, +suppose you had won the coveted job or promotion, _how would you +celebrate_? It has been said that a man shows his real self either in +the moment of his failure or in the moment of his success. Let us assume +that you have reached your present objective. You stand at the goal, a +winner. Does your victory _intoxicate_, or does it _sober_ you with the +realization that you have but opened the way to limitless fields of +bigger service ahead? Has success gone to your _hands_ and made them +tingle with eagerness to grasp more chances to succeed, or has it gone +to your _head_? + +[Sidenote: The Stepping-Stone to More Sales] + +_The celebration stage of the selling process should be the first +stepping-stone leading to another successful sale._ Often it proves to +be a stumbling block that marks the beginning of a downfall to failure. +Rare is the man who is not spoiled a little by achievement. _Success is +the severest test of salesmanship._ + +[Sidenote: Spoiled by Success] + +I recall a chief clerk who worked more than a year for promotion to the +position of assistant manager. He earned the better job, and was +assigned to the desk toward which he had been looking longingly for +sixteen months. Then he "celebrated" by starting to take life easy. He +developed a manner of superiority. He acted as if the little foothill he +had climbed was a big mountain. He sunned himself on the top, basking in +complacency because he had risen above his former clerkship. + +One day he was called into the manager's office. He came out chop-fallen +and took his personal belongings from the assistant's desk. Another man +was promoted to the place he had failed to fill. He went back to his +clerk's stool and is roosting there today. + +[Sidenote: Egotism's Downfall] + +I know a salesman who closed so many orders the first time he covered +his territory that he came back to headquarters with an inflated idea of +his importance. He strutted into the president's room and boasted of +what he had done. The delighted head of the business gave him a cigar +and invited him to tell the story. The salesman betrayed such egotism +that his employer was disgusted. The president was plain-spoken. He +warned the successful salesman against getting a "swelled head." + +The egotist felt insulted. He resigned his position, arrogantly +declaring that he would not work for a house where results were so +little appreciated. He was cocksure of himself. However, when he offered +his services to a competing firm, his application was turned down. The +rebuff stunned him. He did not realize that his egotism disgusted the +second executive as much as the first. The salesman's spirit was broken. +He has never since been more than a fair peddler. + +[Sidenote: Giant and Pigmy Successes] + +Think of "successful" men you know. _Compare them as they are now with +the men they used to be before they succeeded._ As they rose did they +loom bigger and bigger in your respect, or grow smaller and smaller in +admirable qualities? There are so-called successful men whose characters +seem to be dwarfed by the mountain tops they attain. Other men grow to +be giants and overshadow any eminences they climb. The littleness of the +last Kaiser and Crown Prince of Germany was only emphasized by their +elevation above the common people. On the other hand the bigness of +Lincoln and Roosevelt was so tremendous that their personalities towered +above even the highest honor in the world. + +[Sidenote: Breaking Training] + +_When football players are fighting_ for the championship of the season, +they are governed by rigid rules of living. _They keep themselves fit_ +by strict diet, by the avoidance of all dissipations, by hardening +exercise, and by recuperative rest. But after the "big game" is won, +they break training. They stuff themselves with rich food until their +bodies and minds are sluggish. Then they celebrate their victory by some +sort of jollification that lasts half the night. _The next day a +second-rate team could beat the champions._ + +A man who has kept himself lean, hard-muscled, and healthy all the way +to the achievement of his ambition is apt to take on flabby flesh and +gout when he succeeds. The celebration of Thanksgiving is an ordeal from +which one does not recover for weeks. Turkey and mince pie immoderately +eaten are poisons. Our annual Feast Day is more deadly than the Fourth +of July. + +[Sidenote: Rusting in Self-Satisfaction] + +A great many people "break training" mentally as well as physically at +the celebration stage. _Their minds and muscles turn flabby after they +succeed. They are so proud of their accomplishments that they rust in +self-satisfaction._ Then, usually too late for remedy, they find +themselves afflicted by the rheumatic twinges of deep-seated discontent +with what they have done. + +We are all familiar with the tragedies of the farmer who sells his acres +and moves into town "so that he can take life easy," and of the business +man who retires from his "daily grind" to enjoy the fortune of success. +So long as they remained at work they were vigorous in mind and body. +But nearly always men who give up their accustomed activities begin to +develop mental and physical ailments soon afterward. They age and break +down in a few years. _In order to stay well, one must keep going. It is +far less wearying to walk than to stand still. Normal fatigue of mind +and body are not so exhaustive of mental and physical energy as torpid +idleness._ + +[Sidenote: Advance or You Will Slip Back] + +Probably you do not think of quitting work for a long time. You look at +your future retirement as a remote possibility. Very likely you feel it +is premature to consider "your declining years" now, when you are in the +full vigor of ambition. _But if you stop advancing, in order to +celebrate your progress thus far, you have quit working your way ahead. +If you stay contented with what you have done, even for a little while, +you have temporarily retired from the game of success and are in danger +of rusting into a partial failure. If you do not continue moving ever +upward, you will slip into a decline without realizing that you are +going back and down._ + +[Sidenote: The Zest for Work] + +The successful salesman thrives on his work, and pines for it when he +"lays off." He welcomes the end of his annual vacation with more zest +than its beginning. He celebrates each order gained by planning at once +how he will get another. He is like Alexander, who sighed only when +there were no more worlds to conquer. He is as perennially tireless as +Edison, the wizard who is never weary. _To the true salesman there is no +enjoyment equal to selling._ He often declares that he "would rather +sell than eat." + +[Sidenote: Pattern after Master Salesmen] + +You know the importance of being a _good salesman_. You have studied the +methods he uses throughout the selling process. Now at the celebration +stage pattern after the _masters_ of the profession. Do not get into the +bad habits of the _mediocre fellows who slacken their efforts after each +success_, and who need the spur of necessity to make them do their +utmost. + +When a good salesman has booked an order, and has taken pains to make a +fine last impression on his customer, he does not go to his hotel and +play Kelly pool, or otherwise spend the rest of the day just loafing +around. Only the poor salesman celebrates in such a way; _thereby +showing that his successes are so rare he is not used to them_. + +[Sidenote: Starting After The Next Chance] + +The good salesman looks at his watch the moment he is out of his +customer's sight. He makes a swift calculation of the time it will take +him to reach and sell the next man on his list. If he has no other +prospect nearby, he starts looking for one that minute. His keen eyes +catch every name on the business signs he passes. _His imaginative mind +is planning how he can use the order he just has closed, to influence +some other buyer to make a contract._ If there are no additional +customers for his line in the town, he sprints to the station to catch +the first train up the road. _He does not waste a minute getting to his +next selling opportunity_. + +[Sidenote: Pepper and Poppies] + +Some pretty good salesmen never win the grand quota prize in a sales +contest _because they take so much time out for celebrating the big +orders they close_. If they land a fine contract in the morning, they +don't try to do much selling that afternoon. The prize-winning salesman, +too, is delighted to secure a big order. But he doesn't say to himself, +"That will put me 'way ahead on the sales record for today." Instead he +grins and thinks, "This is _my day_. I'm going to fatten up my batting +average while I'm going good." _Success is pepper to him, not the poppy +drug that slackens energy._ + +[Sidenote: Continual Accumulation] + +You have worked hard to get the chance you now have. You have paid for +it with your best efforts. _It represents an accumulation of your +salesmanship._ The good job or the promotion you have gained is like a +savings account. Let us compare it with the first hundred dollars a +thrifty man puts into the bank for a rainy day. Would he celebrate the +accumulation of that moderate amount of money, the first evidence of his +ability to save, by quitting the practice of spending less than his +earnings? Would he then say to himself, "I am now successful as a +saver"? Would he stop putting a few dollars in the bank every Saturday, +just because he already had a hundred? + +[Sidenote: The Building Process is Gradual] + +No. He would _continue_ to save until he had enough "units of thrift," +enough hundreds of dollars, to take a _longer_ step toward success. He +would invest his accumulated savings in a lot, or house. Perhaps he +would start a business of his own. After his investment he still would +continue to save. So he would _build_ his success. + +_All building is a gradual, continual process_. The bricks are laid _one +after another_. It takes many to complete the structure. _Likewise a +series of minor successes must be built into a major accomplishment._ It +does not rise all at once. + +If you are tempted to pause where you are in order to celebrate, ask +yourself, "_Is this really the celebration stage_?" Probably you will +find you have only laid the corner-stone, or made an excavation for the +foundation of your success. You would not think of having a housewarming +because you had finished the basement walls. Nor would you consider it +an occasion for especial jollification the day you erected the +scantlings around the first floor joists. Not until the walls are up and +the roof is on, not until the house is plastered and papered and +painted, not until it is finished would you think of standing on the +sidewalk to look it over pride fully and exult, "I did that. It's a good +job." + +[Sidenote: Repeated Building] + +But if you complete _one_ house, you will not only feel the satisfaction +of accomplishment, you will also want to build _another_ that would be a +great improvement on the one just finished. You will be _healthily +dissatisfied with what you have already done_. Very likely you will sell +the first house at a profit, and straightway start to put up a better +building on another lot. In time you will sell that, too. You will +continue the procedure until you become a master builder of houses, and +continually achieve more and more success. + +We have assumed that you now are successfully in possession of an +opportunity. You have sold yourself into the very job you want, or into +a better position that you believe will afford you fine chances to +advance. _Do not slump or relax in salesmanship. Do not think back, or +spend much time contemplating your present success. Look ahead to your +next sale_ of true ideas of your best capabilities. _The successful +salesman is a quick repeater._ He counts his accomplishments in +_totals_, not by units. He has successful "_years_," each made up of +about three hundred successful working days. He plans in _campaigns_; so +he is not inclined to over-celebrate the winning of a battle. + +[Sidenote: Make Each Goal a New Starting Point] + +Samuel McRoberts, vice-president of the great National City Bank of New +York, started working for Armour & Company at a small salary in the +early nineties. He was a young man who was always _healthily ambitious +to keep moving ahead_. He "ate up" the minor work assigned to him, and +celebrated the completion of each task by asking at once, "What next?" + +In a few years he had risen by successive promotions to the position of +treasurer of Armour & Company. But that wasn't a _goal_ to McRoberts. It +seemed to him only a _good starting point_ to bigger successes in the +financial world. He became a director of several banks, an officer in +important railroad and other corporations. _He continually enlarged his +service value_ until he was called to New York's greatest bank, and took +his place among the masters of American finance. + +He did not loll back in his chair then and start taking it easy. _He +packed more and more accomplishments into every day._ When the war +began, he went to Washington to take executive charge of the job of +procuring ordnance for the fighters. He held a post analogous to that of +Lloyd-George when he was Minister of Munitions for Great Britain. +McRoberts made good as a brigadier general, and after the war resumed +his success in business. Whatever he did, wherever he worked, Samuel +McRoberts _smiled welcomes to more opportunities for service, and +reached out his ready hands to grasp them_. + +[Sidenote: Celebrate by Tackling the Job Ahead] + +_That is the way to celebrate--by tackling the job ahead. There is no +end to the selling process. One sale should lead directly to another_. +The good salesman celebrates only the opportunity to get the next order +in prospect. He may chuckle to himself over the sale just closed, but he +does his rejoicing on his way to a new selling chance. + +[Sidenote: Dynamic Confidence Static Complacency] + +You haven't "arrived" yet. You are just well started. _Keep moving, and +you will never "see your finish."_ Your successes thus far should have +developed a considerable degree of _self-confidence._ Be careful not to +let that _dynamic_ quality change into the _static_ element of +_self-complacency._ Never be satisfied with what you have done. _Always +have the zest of appetite for more to do_. Add every day to your success +chances. + +Do not lose either your self-respect, or the respect of the men with +whom you are associated, by _ceasing to grow. Do more than you are paid +for, and pretty soon your job will be unable to hold all your earning +capacity_. You will be promoted to bigger opportunities. _If you shrink +in the place you occupy now, your future chances will shrivel to fit +your smaller size_. The way to get a better-paying job, to win a bigger, +more profitable field for your salesmanship, is to _crowd your present +position with your capabilities_. Burst out of your limited territory +and spread over more ground. + +[Sidenote: Serving Friends] + +Render your utmost possible service to other people. Celebrate each +opportunity to form a friendship. _Make some one like you for what you +are willing to do for him_. Hold your friends, once they are made. As +Emerson advised, "Be concerned for other people and their welfare. Put +their interests sometimes ahead of your own. You can love your fellow +men so much that you will never trample on their rights; and while you +yourself keep climbing, raise as many of them as you can along with you. +That is the way to make friends." + +Celebrate the good fortune of your business associates, rather than your +own. When a big contract is closed by your employer, be as tickled over +it as he feels. Genuinely rejoice in his success. _Have no envy of the +man above you, then when you rise to a higher level the men below you +will not be likely to feel jealous_. + +[Sidenote: Ford and Schwab] + +Why has Henry Ford won so unique a place in the personal regard of the +everyday man? Ford is one of the richest men in the world; yet he is not +hated. What is the reason for his general popularity? He is not an +idler. He has celebrated each success by taking on another job. And he +always has given a hand-up to the other fellow instead of kicking him +down so that he might climb higher because of his failure. He has +understood and sympathized with the hopes and viewpoint of people who +work. As a result countless men and women, most of whom never have seen +him, think of Henry Ford as their friend. His finest success is not +signified by the millions of money he has accumulated, but by the +millions of friendships he enjoys. + +Charles M. Schwab, too, is popular. He is a man whom people like. +Because he was so successful in winning friends, rather than for his +generally recognized business ability, he was made the head of the +Government's ship-building program in the war. Other men were eager to +work with and for Charles M. Schwab. The co-operation of thousands of +friendships, new and old, more than anything else enabled him to succeed +in his big, patriotic job. How much more he has to celebrate in his +wealth of good will than in his great fortune of dollars! Schwab has +been called the most successful salesman in the world, which is another +way of saying that he has no equal in ability to make other people both +trust and like him. + +[Sidenote: The Truest Wealth] + +You may never accumulate millions of dollars. _That in itself is not +success. Many wealthy men are failures in life. But with the aid of +masterly salesmanship you can so enrich yourself with friendships and +the opportunities they bring that making all the money you want will be +merely incidental to your real success_. Let every accomplishment be a +stimulus to better selling of your service. Celebrate successful sales +of your ideas by undertaking to sell more true ideas about your best +capabilities in a larger field of usefulness. + +[Sidenote: The Revolving Door] + +The good salesman goes from opportunity to opportunity through a +revolving door. As it closes on one selling chance, it opens on another. +He steps directly from a finished sale into the prospect of getting an +order elsewhere. So he never stops selling. + +You have sold yourself some knowledge of salesmanship. Do not rest +contented with what you have already learned. These chapters should but +whet your appetite for more opportunities to master the principles and +methods of selling true ideas of your best capabilities. So as you close +this book, reach out your hand to open another. You cannot over-study +the subject of salesmanship. _Never be satisfied with what you know_. +Continue to search for more golden knowledge, and make it yours by +practicing everything you learn. + +[Sidenote: Failure Impossible to The Good Salesman] + +It is impossible to fail in life if you become a master salesman of the +best that is in you. You will be sure to succeed. So here is Good Luck +to you! Keep on making it for yourself, and you never will run out. +CERTAIN SUCCESS WILL BE YOURS. + + * * * * * + + It is you that you offer for sale, + With your traits ranged like goods on a shelf, + And the first thing to do, without fail, + Is to make a success of yourself. + +EDGAR A. GUEST. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Certain Success, by Norval A. 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