THE PRE-APPROACH
Nearly all teachers of or writers upon Salesmanship lay much stress upon
what is called "The Pre-Approach," by which term is indicated the
preliminaries leading up to the Approach or Interview with the Buyer.
What we have said under the head of "The Mind of the Salesman" is really
a part of the Pre-Approach, for it is in the nature of the preparation
of the mind of the salesman for the interview with the buyer. But there
is more than this to the Pre-Approach. The Pre-Approach is the mapping
out of the campaign--"organizing victory" it has been called. It is the
accumulation of ammunition for the fight, and the laying out of the
strategy. Macbain says: "The Pre-Approach is the groundwork upon which
the salesman builds. It comprises all the information obtainable by him
that will be of importance in making his approach in selling the
customer. * * * A sale, in fact, resembles chimney-building, in which it
takes more time for preliminary scaffold-making than it does to build
the permanent structure once the scaffold is made."
In the first place, an important part of the Pre-Approach is a correct
and complete knowledge of your goods. Too many men rush to the Approach
without knowing what they have to sell. It is not enough to know brands
and prices--one should _know_ his goods from top to bottom, inside and
outside, from the raw material to the finished article. He should feel
perfectly at home with his goods, so that he may have full information
regarding them on tap, and thus have his mind free for the strategy of
the sale. A little close, earnest intelligent study of one's line of
goods will not only supply one with an efficient weapon, but will also
impart to him a sense of certainty and confidence that he cannot have
otherwise. What would be thought of a teacher of natural history who did
not understand animals? And yet many salesmen are equally as ignorant
about their subject.
The salesman should understand his goods so thoroughly that he could
write a treatise on them, or demonstrate them before an audience of
experts or of persons entirely in ignorance of them--the latter being
probably the hardest task. He should be able to explain their particular
virtues and characteristics to a man old in the same line, or to explain
them simply and plainly to one who had never seen them or who was
ignorant of their uses. We know of one salesman who was asked by his
little boy to explain a cash register to him, and who complied with the
request. He told us that he learned more about his cash register in the
process of that explanation than he had acquired in even the process of
the technical demonstration in the "salesman's school" at the factory.
It is not always policy for the salesman to air his knowledge of his
goods to his customer--such a course would generally bore the
latter--but he should know all about his goods, nevertheless. The man
who knows his goods in this way plants his feet on the solid rock and
cannot be swept away, while the man who builds on the shifting sand of
"half-knowledge" is always in danger.
But the more popular branch of the Pre-Approach is the knowledge of the
customer. Get as many points regarding the characteristics, habits,
likes and dislikes of the customer as possible. Find out as much as you
can about his trade, and manner of conducting his business, as well as
his business history. Macbain says: "There is really no information
about a prospective customer that can be said to be valueless. On the
other hand, a knowledge of one or two of the characteristics of the man
to be approached may be considered sufficient, the ready intuition of
the salesman being relied upon for the rest. It is assumed, of course,
that a salesman will be able to call his man by name, pronouncing the
name correctly upon the very first interview. This is the prime
requisite, and the remaining knowledge should be grouped about this in
the order of its importance."
The data regarding your prospective customer is obtainable in many ways.
Much of it you may obtain from your house if they have had previous
dealings with him. Other salesmen will also add to the data, but one
must be on the lookout here and not allow himself to be prejudiced
against the customer, or frightened by adverse reports regarding his
manner and characteristics coming from other salesmen. Pierce says: "It
would seem that the good characteristics of the prospect are desirable
to learn. But it is a conviction that by denying to one's self the
unfavorable things said about your prospect, you will not accentuate the
very qualities you hope to obviate. One attempt at a sale is recalled
where the prospect was said to be 'the meanest man on earth.' Almost
terrified by the description, the salesman went at the prospect the
wrong way; displeased him; lost the sale."
Hotel clerks--or better still, hotel proprietors--are often very well
informed regarding merchants in their town, and often valuable
information may be obtained in this way, although the judgment and
experience of the hotel people must be appraised before basing one's own
opinion regarding the customer. Other customers may also be
diplomatically pressed into service in obtaining information regarding
their competitors, although allowance must always be made for the
personal bias in such cases. It is a good idea for the salesman to make
a record of these advance reports, so as to have them on file where he
may refer to them when needed. Some salesmen have a card index devoted
to this purpose, which they have found very useful.
Another, and a very important point about the Pre-Approach is that of
developing the proper Mental Attitude in yourself. You must get
_yourself_ right first, before you can get anything else right. Pierce
says regarding this: "Someone has said that the greatest bane to selling
goods is fear. As a matter of fact, the only thing you are afraid of is
that you won't make the sale,--get the check. But, if you waive this
point, and say, 'Now, I don't care whether I get this sale or not. I do
know this: I am honest, my goods are honest, and if this man does not
want them there are plenty of men who do,' you will find the fear
melting like the mist before sunshine. Fear cannot live in the presence
of your smile, your confidence, your knowledge of the business and your
industry."
In this connection, re-read what we have said to you regarding the "I"
and "Self-Respect" in the chapter entitled "The Mind of the Salesman."
This chapter was written to cover just such cases as the one in
question. If you can realize the "I" within you, your fear will
disappear quickly. Remember, "there's nothing to fear but Fear."
Many successful salesmen state that they overcame their early fear and
timidity by filling themselves with auto-suggestions that they were
calling on the customer for the purpose of doing him a good turn--that
it was a good thing for the customer that the salesman was calling on
him, although he did not know it--and that he, the salesman must let
nothing stand in the way of doing that good turn to the customer, etc.
As ridiculous as this may appear to some, it will be found to work well
in many cases. And it is based upon truth, too, for if the goods are
right, and the prices are likewise, the salesman is doing the customer a
good turn.
And right here, let us impress upon you the necessity of working
yourself up to the point of _believing thoroughly in your own
proposition_. You must get yourself into the state of mind in which, if
you were in the customer's place, you would surely want to take
advantage of it. You must convert yourself before you can expect to
convert the customer. We know an ad. man who tells us that he never
feels satisfied with an ad. that he is writing until he can make himself
believe that he wants to buy the article himself. And he is right. And
the salesman will do well to take a leaf from his book. Enthusiasm and
belief are contagious. If you believe thoroughly in a thing, you run a
much better chance of making others believe in it also, than if you feel
otherwise. You must learn to _sell to yourself_ first, then you may sell
to the customer.
W.C. Holman, in "Salesmanship," says: "One cannot make others believe
what he himself believes, unless he himself is an earnest believer.
Dwight L. Moody swayed enormous audiences by the simple power of his own
wonderful earnestness. No one could listen to Moody without saying:
'This man believes absolutely every word he is speaking. If he feels
what he says so tremendously, there must be something in it.' If every
salesman realized how largely the attitude of the 'prospect' depended
upon the salesman's own mental attitude, he would be as careful to get
into the right frame of mind when he started out to approach a prospect
as he would be to carry a sample case. It is a simple matter for him to
do this. All that is necessary is for him to 'take account of stock'
just before he starts out--to enumerate to himself all the strong,
convincing points in his proposition--to consider the good high
qualities of the goods he is selling--run over in his mind the splendid
characteristics of his house--think of the great number of customers who
have bought his product--and of the supremely satisfying reasons why
other customers should buy his goods. In other words, before a salesman
starts to sell other men, he should sell himself. He should make this
sale to himself at the beginning of every day's work."
The student should acquaint himself thoroughly with the creative force
of Suggestion and Auto-Suggestion in Character Building, and in
producing and maintaining the proper Mental Attitude. The volume of
this series entitled "_Suggestion and Auto-Suggestion_" gives both the
theory, principles and methods of applying Auto-Suggestion in the
directions named. One need no longer be a slave of his Mental Attitude.
On the contrary he may create and preserve the Mental Attitude he deems
advisable and necessary at any time.
Mr. W.C. Holman, one of the best of the inspirational writers on
Salesmanship, gives the following interesting instance of the use of
Auto-Suggestion by a salesman. He says: "One of the best salesmen the
writer ever knew got up what he called his catechism. He used to put
himself through it every morning before starting out. Oftentimes he
repeated it aloud if he had the opportunity. The questions he would
repeat in a quiet tone, but the answers he would pronounce with all the
earnestness of which he was capable. His catechism ran somewhat as
follows:
"Am I working for a good house? YES!
"Has my house the reputation and prestige of being one of the best in
its line? YES!
"Have we made hundreds of thousands of sales like the sales I am going
to make to-day? YES!
"Have we an enormous body of satisfied users? YES!
"Am I selling the best goods of the kind made anywhere in the world?
YES!
"Is the price I am asking a fair one? YES!
"Do the men I am going to call on need the article I am selling? YES!
"Do they realize that now? NO!
"Is that the very reason I am going to call on them--because at present
they don't want my goods, and haven't yet bought them? YES!
"Am I justified in asking a prospect's time and attention to present my
proposition? BY ALL THE POWERS, YES!
"Am I going to get into the office of every man that I call on, if there
is any earthly way to do it? YES!
"Am I going to sell every man I call on to-day? YOU BET I AM!"
Referring to the above "catechism" of Mr. Holman, we would say that if a
man would work himself up to the point of asking and answering these
questions in earnest, and would carry the spirit thereof through the
day, he would render himself almost invincible. A spirit like that is
the spirit of the Light Brigade, of Napoleon, of the Berserker Norseman
who made a way for himself. Such a man would make opportunities, instead
of begging for them. Such a man would be inspired. This is
Auto-Suggestion raised to the Nth Power. Try it--you need it in your
business!
The second phase of the Pre-Approach is that of obtaining an interview
with the prospective customer, generally known as "the prospect." In
many instances the salesman is able to secure the interview by simply
walking into the presence of the prospect, the latter being in full view
in his store or office and no intermediary being present to intercept
the approach. In such cases the second phase of the Pre-Approach is
passed over, and the actual Approach is entered into at once. But in
other cases, particularly in the large office buildings of the principal
cities, the prospect is found to be in his private office, and the
salesman's advance is halted by a clerk, or even an office boy, and
there are certain preliminaries to be gone through with before an
interview may be obtained. In many cases, "big" men (or those who wish
to be considered "big") surround themselves with so much formality and
red-tape that it is quite a feat to run the gauntlet of the guardians of
the inner temple, and much tact, diplomacy, presence of mind, and often
strategy is required of the Salesman in order that he may "get at his
man."
Macbain, in his work entitled "Selling," says of this stage: "Between
the pre-approach and the actual approach sometimes lies a trying time
for the salesman. It is no uncommon thing for a prospective customer to
keep a salesman waiting, either outside the office door and out of
sight, or inside and in the presence of the prospective buyer. This is
known as 'breaking the salesman's nerve.' It is often done with the idea
of deliberately making the salesman nervous and consequently unable to
make such an approach as otherwise would be possible. Perhaps one of the
most common forms of this is seen when the prospective customer appears
to be very busily interested in something at his desk and allows the
salesman to stand an indefinite length of time and then turns suddenly
upon him. This is especially disconcerting to the young man, but the
experienced salesman recognizes it as an indication that either the man
is very busy and actually hates to take his mind off his work, or that
he is afraid of being talked into something that he will later regret.
The salesman consequently shapes his introduction accordingly and will
in no wise be disconcerted by this attempt as it will enable him to
study carefully the outward characteristics of the man whom he is about
to approach."
In many cases this waiting is forced on the salesman by a prospect who
also knows something of the laws of psychology--for such knowledge is
not confined to the salesman by any means, the buyer having posted
himself in many cases. In the game of checkers or draughts quite an
important advantage accrues to the player securing what is technically
known as "the move," which, however, is a very different thing from the
"first play." There is in the psychology of the sale, or of the
interview between two people of equal strength, a something which
corresponds very closely with "the move" in checkers. This something
gives a decided advantage to the person securing it, and it is worth
striving for. This something is subtle and almost indescribable,
although apparent to every one who has dealings with his fellow men. It
seems to be a matter of mental balance and poise. The salesman, if he be
well balanced and poised, is "positive" to the buyer, the latter being
in a listening, and therefore passive, attitude. So far the salesman has
"the move," which however he may later lose if the prospect plays
scientifically. Well, to get back to the "waiting" stage, the prospect
by disturbing the salesman's poise, and "breaking his nerve" by keeping
him waiting on the anxious bench in a state of suspense, often manages
to get "the move" on him, unless he understands the psychology of the
process and accordingly avoids it. Suspense is the most nerve-breaking
mental state on the psychological list, as all realize who have
experienced it. Beware of losing "the move."
An important factor in getting past the stockade of the outer office is
the consciousness of Self Respect and the realization of the "I" of
which we have spoken. This mental attitude impresses itself upon those
who guard the outer works, and serves to clear the way. As Pierce says:
"Remember, you are asking no favors; that you have nothing to apologize
for, and that you have every reason in the world for holding your head
high. And it is wonderful what this holding up of the head will do in
the way of increasing sales. We have seen salesmen get entrance to the
offices of Broadway buyers simply through the holding of the head
straight up from the shoulders." But it is the Mental Attitude back of
the physical expression that is the spirit of the thing--don't forget
this.
The Mental Attitude and the physical expression thereof instinctively
influence the conduct of other people toward one. We may see the same
thing illustrated in the attitude and action of the street boy toward
dogs. Let some poor cur trot along with drooping ears, timid expression,
meek eyes, and tail between his legs, and the urchin will be apt to kick
him or throw a rock at his retreating form. Note the difference when the
self-respecting dog, with spirit in him, trots past, looking the boy
fearlessly in the eye and showing his sense of self-respect and power to
back it up in every movement. That dog is treated accordingly. There are
certain people whose manner is such that they do not need to ask respect
and consideration--it is given them as a matter of right and privilege.
People stand aside to give them room, and move up in street cars that
they may have a seat. And it does not necessarily follow that the person
to whom this respect is shown is a worthy individual or a person of fine
qualities--he may be a confidence man or a swindler. But whatever he is,
or may be, he has certain outward mannerisms and characteristics which
enable him to "put up a good front" and which carry him through. At the
back of it all will be found certain mental states which produce the
genuine outward characteristics and manner in the case of genuine
instances of persons possessing authority and high position, the
confidence man merely presenting a passable counterfeit, being a good
actor.
It is often necessary for the salesman to send in a card to the inner
office. It is well for him to have some cards, well engraved in the
most approved manner, bearing simply his name: "Mr. John Jay Jones,"
with his business appearing thereon. If he is travelling from a large
city, and is selling in smaller towns, he may have "New York,"
"Chicago," "Philadelphia," "Boston," etc., as the case may be in the
corner of his card. If the name of his business appears on the card the
prospect often goes over the matter of a possible sale, mentally,
without the salesman being present to present his case, and then may
decline to grant an interview. The name, without the business, often
arouses interest or curiosity and thus, instead of hindering, really
aids in securing the interview.
Regarding the discussion of the business with anyone other than the
prospect himself, the authorities differ. As a matter of fact it would
seem to depend largely upon the particular circumstances of each case,
the nature of the articles to be sold, and the character and position of
the subordinate in question.
One set of authorities hold that it is very poor policy to tell your
business to a subordinate, and that it is far better to tell him
courteously but firmly that your business is of such a nature that you
can discuss it only with the prospect in person. Otherwise, it is held
that the subordinate will tell you that the matter in question has
already been considered by his principal, and that he is fully informed
regarding the proposition, and has given orders that he is not to be
disturbed further regarding it.
The other set of authorities hold that in many cases the subordinate may
be pressed into service, by treating him with great respect, and an
apparent belief in his judgment and authority, winning his good-will and
getting him interested in your proposition, and endeavoring to have him
"speak about it" to his superior during the day. It is claimed that a
subsequent call, the day following, will often prove successful, as the
subordinate will have paved the way for an interview and have actually
done some work for you in the way of influence and selling talk. It is
held that some salesmen have made permanent "friends in camp" of these
subordinates who have been approached in this way.
It would seem, however, as we have said, to depend much upon the
particular circumstances of the case. In some cases the subordinate is
merely a "hold-off," or "breakwater;" while in others he is a
confidential employee whose opinion has weight with the prospect, and
whose good-will and aid are well worth securing. In any event, however,
it is well to gain the respect and good-will of those in the "outer
court," for they can often do much in the way of helping or injuring
your chances. We have known cases in which subordinates "queered" a
salesman who had offended them; and we have known other cases in which
the subordinate being pleased by the salesman "put him next." It is
always better to make a friend rather than an enemy--from the office-boy
upward--on general principles. Many a fine warrior has been tripped up
by a small pebble. Strong men have died from the bite of a mosquito.
The following advice from J.F. Gillen, the Chicago manager of the
Burroughs Adding Machine Company, is very much to the point. Mr. Gillen,
in the magazine "Salesmanship," says: "A salesman who has not proved
his mettle--and who, unfortunately, is not sure of himself--is likely
to be overcome by a sense of his own insignificance on entering the
private domain of the great man, rich man, or influential man, from whom
he hopes to get an order. The very hum and rush of business in this
boss's office are very awe-inspiring. The fact that there exists an
iron-clad rule, designed to protect the boss against intrusion,
forbidding the admittance of an uninvited salesman--and the fact that
the army of employees are bound by this rule to oppose the entrance of
any such visitor--combine to make an untried salesman morally certain of
his powerlessness; to make him feel that he has no justifiable reason
for presenting himself at all. Indeed he has none, if the awe which he
feels for red-tape, rules, dignitaries, has made him lose sight of the
attractions of his own proposition; has swallowed up his confidence in
what he has to offer and his ability to enthuse the prospect in regard
to it. * * * If you believe that your proposition will prove interesting
to the prospect and that he will profit by doing business with you, you
have a right to feel that the rule barring salesmen from his presence
was not intended to bar _you_. Convince yourself of this and the stern
negative of the information clerk will not abash you. You will find
yourself endowed with a courage and resourcefulness to cope with a slick
secretary who gives glibly evasive replies when you try to find out
whether Mr. Prospect is now in his office, whether he cannot see you at
once, and what reason exists for supposing you could possibly tell your
business to any subordinate in place of him. Once you are thus morally
sure of your ground, the hardest part of the battle is won. * * * _You
can see the prospect and get speech with him, no matter what obstacles
intervene, if your nerve holds out and you use your brains._"
Remember this, always: The Psychology of Salesmanship applies not only
to work with the prospect, but also to work with those who bar the way
to him. Subordinates have minds, faculties, feelings and strong and weak
points of mentality--they have their psychology just as their employer
has his. It will pay you to make a careful study of their
psychology--it has its rules, laws and principles. This is a point often
overlooked by little salesmen, but fully recognized by the "big" ones.
The short cut to the mind of many a prospect is directly through the
mind of the man in the outer office.