THE FORCE OF CHEERFUL EXPECTANCY
The habit of expecting great things of ourselves, expecting the
best things to come to us, calls out the best that is in us and
brings the best to us.
Anybody can get “no” for an answer. A negative attitude
attracts a negative response—and most people become negative
without realizing it.
If I had a school of salesmanship I would make a specialty of
the philosophy of expectancy. I would never lose an opportunity
of driving home this philosophy of expecting to make good. I
would drive home this lesson of expecting success, expecting
to win out, until it should become a dominant note in the
salesman’s life.
When a boy I used to go trout fishing in a rough New Hampshire stream
with a noted fisherman. He understood the trout and their habits; he knew
where the good holes were and the rocks behind which the big trout were
waiting. I would fish on one side of the stream and he on the other, and
he would catch as many trout as he could carry, while I caught very few.
When this man started out to fish he would say he knew that he was going
to get a big string of trout. Whenever he threw in his line he expected
to get a trout. I, on the other hand, had no such hope or confidence, I
did not know trout and their habits as he did, and I did not expect to
catch any. The consequence was I hardly ever got a bite, while the trout
nearly always went to his hook.
This is just the difference between a cracker-jack salesman and a poor
one. The former knows his business thoroughly and expects to succeed.
He approaches his prospect with the air of a conqueror, as a man in the
habit of winning. The latter is not well posted, or he fears he won’t
succeed. He goes to his prospect in fear and trembling, with doubt in his
mind. He doesn’t believe he will get an order, and, of course, he doesn’t.
You should approach every prospect courageously, confidently, not only at
the top of your physical condition, but also at the top of your mental
condition. You positively must be hopeful, you must expect to take an
order. Doubt, fear, or anxiety will queer your sale, because you will
communicate whatever is in your own mind to your prospective customer.
We radiate our moods. Our doubts and fears are very contagious.
If you carry your goods in a hearse you will not sell them. Do not
approach a customer with a long, sad, disappointed countenance, as though
you had just returned from a funeral. Remember you are a salesman, not
an undertaker. Go to him with a face filled with hope and cheer, with
confidence and assurance.
If you are a winner, your whole canvass will be conducted as though you
expected to change the prospect’s mind before you get through with him,
no matter how antagonistic he may be, or how determined at the outset not
to purchase.
There is a good deal of truth in the remark, “If you cannot learn to
smile, you cannot learn to sell.” The best salesmen are cheerful,
optimistic, hopeful. They appreciate the commercial value of a smile, of
always looking pleasant. Optimism is contagious. Everybody likes a sunny
soul.
I knew a young man who would not impress people as having any marked
ability, and yet this young man got fifteen thousand dollars salary, and
did business enough to warrant it. He had a perfect genius for making
friends. People seemed to be drawn to him as naturally as iron filings
are attracted to a magnet. Everywhere he went he was the center of a
circle, whether on a train, in a store, or in a hotel corridor. Everybody
wanted to get near him. He seemed to radiate a hearty good cheer and
good-will towards everybody. There was nothing mean or narrow about him.
He was generous to a fault. He was always ready to jump up and grip you
by the hand and shake it as if he was really delighted to see you—and
he was. There was nothing put on. He loved everybody and wanted to help
them. He was in some ways not a good business man, but his customers
always anticipated his visits, and would say, “Isn’t it about time for
Charlie to be around? It does one good to see that fellow. He is all
sunshine.” Everybody knew him on his Western route, which he traveled for
years. The hotel clerks all liked him and they tried to give him the best
room possible whenever he came, often saving one for him for days. He
was always given the best seat in the dining-room and the best waiter,
and when the orders were called off in the kitchen the waiter would say,
“Give me an Al steak for Charlie, for he is such a good fellow.” Wherever
he went the door flew open to him. He did not have to push hard, as
others do, to get in, for everybody knew that when he came it meant a
good laugh and pleasant memories.
A strong determination and tenacious persistence will sometimes
enable a man to become a fair salesman, even when he lacks a pleasing
personality or a persuasive manner. He conquers from sheer force of
continual pounding, until he wears his would-be customer out. But a
pleasing personality, charm of manner, a sunny disposition, an optimistic
outlook upon life, genuineness, honesty of purpose, and simplicity, when
accompanied by a positive mentality and robust determination, are the
qualities which win out in a big way.
Everything depends upon the attitude of mind with which you approach a
difficulty. If you are cowed before you begin, if you start out with an
admission of weakness, a tacit acknowledgment of your inability to meet
the emergency that confronts you, you are foredoomed to failure. Your
whole attitude lacks the magnetism that attracts success.
A book agent sometimes comes into my office, and I know by the way he
enters that he does not expect to make a sale. Instead of walking with
his head up, with an air of confidence and assurance, he sneaks in,
apologizes, and asks me to please do him the honor to give him two or
three minutes of my valuable time. He has lost his first chance by making
a bad impression upon me, and it takes more time than I can give him to
overcome it. He is beaten before he begins.
Quite another sort of agent calls on me occasionally, and I always buy
from him whether I want what he has for sale or not. He enters with
such an air of modest assurance, such confidence and expectancy in his
bearing; he is so cheerful and interesting, that I positively cannot turn
him down. He wins at the very outset by making a good, quick impression
upon me, and getting my confidence.
Dr. Frank Crane, in an article on “A Consumer’s Views on Salesmanship,”
gives the salesmen among other valuable points, these:
“First of all, be good-natured. I here and now confess that nine-tenths
of what induces me to buy, is the ability of the seller to jolly me
along. Cheerfulness and signs that you feel good, enjoy life, and are
full of glee inside, are better than a letter of introduction from Mr.
Rockefeller. Avoid personal intimacies. Let me talk about myself, and
look interested while I am explaining, but don’t speak of yourself any
more than you can help. Take an ax and chop the pronoun ‘I’ out of your
vocabulary. What do you care?—Jolly me along.”
When Dr. Crane says to “jolly” him along, he does not mean that a
salesman should be frivolous, or deceitful. He simply means that he ought
to make a customer feel good, make him realize his importance. Show your
customer that you are interested in his needs and his problems.
If you really believe in your heart, and expect, that you are going
to sell, you will communicate your faith to your prospect. This faith
suggestion, if vigorously backed by the magic of polite persistence, and
consistent cheerfulness, will tend to produce results like itself, just
as the doubt, the failure suggestion, produces a failure result.