When you hear of some one making a fortune you will find that nine times
out of ten it was made by selling something.
It does not matter what you are doing, you cannot go very far unless you
have learned the art of salesmanship, for after all we are all selling
something. The doctor sells his skill to heal, the professor sells his
knowledge, the bookkeeper his ability to keep books, the carpenter his
ability to build houses, and the daily laborer his services. You see, we
need salesmanship even though we do not happen to be selling shoes,
flour, books, etc. Your advance in life is measured by your sales
ability, and this is the reason that you should understand the art of
salesmanship if you would climb up the ladder of success.
You have probably read about the schools of salesmanship—many of them
correspondence schools—and you have undoubtedly heard of hundreds of men
and women who have increased their earnings from a scant living to
salaries ranging from ten to twenty-five thousand dollars per year. Many
girls who clerked in stores, or did clerical work at $15 or $20 per
week, increased their earnings to an unbelievable figure. Men who earned
only a living wage by hard labor or tiresome routine work without a
future, rose to positions where they became citizens of influence and
wealth—all through applying salesmanship to their daily lives.
Do you know that the average salesman earns three times as much as the
average position pays?
Do you know that salesmen are made, not born?
Do you know that the demand for salesmen always has and always will be
three times greater than the supply? To convince yourself of the
unlimited demand for salesmen just look over the “want ad” section of a
city Sunday paper. You never see an “ad” for a salesman read “small
salary at start.” A salesman’s earning power is regulated by his
ability. He gets paid what he earns. He does not place himself at the
mercy of an employer to regulate his income.
What could be more pleasant work than going from city to city, riding on
Pullman cars, living at the best hotels, meeting high-class people from
all over the world, and spending a few hours each day taking orders
which pay you a handsome income?
How could you ever expect to gain the knowledge this experience would
give you? How could you ever make the acquaintance of such prominent and
influential people as this vocation brings you in contact with?
But you will say: “I am a woman, and what do I know about salesmanship?”
And we answer: “It is just because you are a woman that we are telling
you this; if you are ambitious and willing to do your part you can
become a better salesman than the average man.”
Do you know that large New York firms are replacing their traveling men
with women? Why? Because they have discovered that a woman who is
willing to work can sell more orders than the average man. It is a rare
occurrence to hear of a woman failing to make good selling. We know of
girls whose experience was limited to bench work in factories and
domestic work, who after taking a course in salesmanship proved winners
and are now earning five times their original wages, besides living a
life of luxury as compared to their former state.