Salesman Book

Now Mr. Thomas may not give a second thought to that slight difference after you greet him, after your eyes meet full on. But already, from the little nick on your chin, or the Legion button, or the trace of lipstick, he has formed a certain favorable or unfavorable impression of you as a man. Probably a little on the flag waving side, Thomas may conclude, reflecting on the button. Likely not married very long, from the lipstick clue Not too sure of himself over strung the nick on the chin seems to say.

Few salesmen are aware that clients are that observant or shrewd in appraising them. The man you are calling on may be preoccupied with his own problems, so that he gives you only a hasty glance, then wonders what you want. Why are you bothering him on this hot morning when he has all these quotations to look over and a conference in the front office coming up at eleven? But, in spite of himself, he notices that slight difference in you.

The point is that the creative salesman, the man who is headed for the top in this fascinating career of helping people to buy, must always be well groomed, dressed so that his prospect accepts him as a businessman. The best rule to follow, if you need a rule, is at all times to feel comfortable and natural. If failing to shave twice a day makes you feel uncomfortable when you call on an evening prospect, shave twice a day. If wearing a hundred and forty dollar Hickey Freeman suit and Nettleton shoes and a Stetson hat gives you more self confidence, they are good billboard investments for you. But if you call on farmers who lean over a stake and rider fence to listen to your story of a new soil conditioner, you may feel out of place in your Hickey Freeman and more natural in woolen shirt and tweeds.

What about the face you hold up to your prospects? About all you can do with it at this stage is to keep your eyes clear, your face shaved, and the hair out of your ears. Your face remains the best or the worst nature could do for you. Put a friendly smile on it and even your banker prospect will accept and respect its honesty and friendliness.

But you have one other piece of equipment that actually can be improved. And one you should keep on improving as long as you live.

Yes, this important equipment is your mind. It means more than the cut of your jaw or the close shave. It is what you have to depend on most in this interchange of ideas which is called salesmanship. For it is only with your mind that you guide, counsel, and persuade others.

When you meet a man with an alert, well stocked mind, a man with ideas and a real attitude of helpfulness, you soon forget all else about him. The man comes alive by what he says and does. You’ve often noticed this. You have attended the first meeting of a committee. It can be any committee, a group of salesmen, the top brass of your company, and a group of your neighbors at a PTA meeting. You look over the group; note the outer conformation of some of the more unusual looking members: gray hair there, a pretty face here, a flashily dressed individual opposite you. Then your chairman clears his throat and says, “I suppose we might as well get to what is on our minds, the school luncheon.”

At that moment one of the individuals, the chairman, comes to life. By what he says and how he says it he takes on a third dimension. You recognize and catalogue him at once. He is Mr. Milquetoast, to life, with the slight quaver in his voice, the apologetic throat clearing, the “suppose we might as well” temporizing. You know if some constructive action on the luncheons depends on him, you are wasting your time.

‘Well, I think it’s about time somebody did something,” pipes up the smart matron with the red hair, in a slightly strident voice. “If the principal is too lazy to bother with the luncheons, then it’s high time our group took over.” Another of the group has come to life and you have her labeled as a go-getter. The school luncheons are as good as served.

You see the point It is the mind back of the face which is the personality. The mind in action reveals the desires, the urges, the motives, the refinement or lack of it, the good breeding or lack of it, the culture or lack of it. The real you seep or gush out, depending on the type of person you are. It starts with your greeting, with the first few sentences you say in the opening few minutes with your prospect. For within a moment your prospect has you catalogued. He may have you wrong, miss the real you. But in most cases he compares you with someone more or less like yourself. From his knowledge of this other person he decides what you arc likely to have on the ball, what sort of person you are, how well he and you are going to get along, how selfish or helpful you are likely to be.

And you are doing the same, sizing him up. A lot of this mutual recognition stems from deep impressions both of you formed in childhood of people you liked or disliked, people you admired or despised, people you thought amusing or considered sad sacks.

But much of the impression you yourself create stems from the clearness with which you speak, the quiet assurance you reflect, and the absence of distracting mannerisms, such as face twitching, straightening your tie, drumming on the prospect’s desk, crossing your legs and swinging your foot. All such mannerisms give you away, are evidence of nervous tension. But more than that, they distract the prospect’s attention just at the moment you are trying to gain his interest and center it on your message.

How do you go about improving yourself in preparation for the interview? Since you are studying this course you are already improving your mind. Keep up this process of education. There is no such thing as a finished mind. Man merely goes on learning and advancing. When he stops learning, he closes his mind, slips back. His interests grow moldy; the way things do in a closed room. Keep your mind as well polished as your shoes.

Read worthwhile books, not only those in line with your work, but those which will broaden your perspective. Know what is going on in the world, by reading some comprehensive digest of our times. In short, keep interested and so continue to be interesting.

A final word on the you element in selling only you can do anything about it You can’t put on refinement the way you would try on a sport coat or slip into a new pair of shoes. That is pure affectation. And affectation is phony. Anyone can spot it. If you want to reclose yourself, you have to cut your own cloth, persistently and sew the pieces together carefully, to fit your improved self. Do that and you’ll soon find you’ve acquired a better person to live with, a happier, and more accomplished companion to go around with? And your prospects will accept guidance and judgment from the better you they recognize.