_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._