EXPRESSION

No matter how well posted a man may be in the science and technique of salesmanship, his actual sales will depend very largely upon his personality.

“The man or woman wishing to present to me a business proposition,” said a high class, successful merchant, “must have a good address and an agreeable manner and appearance, or he will not get a hearing. The reason is, it would be impossible for me to see half the people who approach me with schemes; therefore, I reject without a hearing all those that are not presented by people who have an agreeable manner and good address. I take it for granted that a first-class proposition will be presented by a first-class man, andvice versa.”

Whether the customer comes to you, or you go to the customer, there are certain very simple things to keep in mind. The first is the important part personality plays in selling.The appearance and the manner of a salesman, together with the tactful enthusiasm which he manifests, and the concentration which he puts into his work, all tend to inspire confidence. The salesman must consider his customer’s business, and sometimes his social position. The temperament, also, of the customer, as well as the best time and place to see him, must be taken into consideration. One of the things so often neglected by salesmen is to get points of contact from the surroundings, such as pictures on the wall, books and papers on the desk, as well as from the prospect’s attire. Keep in mind these four aids to a right approach:

First: Entertain a feeling of equality with your customer.

Second: Remember that you have a favor to bestow. Assume the rôle of a benefactor.

Third: Show friendliness. There should be the heart-touch in every real approach.

Fourth: Be observing. Look for suggestions in your surroundings, for a point of contact.

We express ourselves not only through the words we utter, but by the tone of the voice,the expression of the face, our gestures, and our bearing. All five of these elements should be carefully considered, because the salesman who would have the greatest success not only must be understood, but he must be felt. It is important to be clear and forceful in our language, and for this purpose a thorough knowledge of English grammar and rhetoric will aid the salesman.

The accompanying chart should prove helpful.

“When all is said and done, it is thechoice and use of wordsthat determines whether or not we succeed in expressing our thoughts and feelings clearly and adequately.”—“Manual of Composition and Rhetoric,” by Gardiner, Kittredge and Arnold.

The five elements affecting expression of ideas are:

“Words have worth, only when properly expressed.”

It is the conquest, the conquest of the heart, by words that speak kindliness and assure confidence, which distinguishes the prosperous salesman, justly proud and progressive.—Henry Frank.

Many a man with a good brain fails as a salesman, or remains a mediocre one, because he has never learned to express himself with ease and fluency. A lame, hesitating, poverty-stricken speech is fatal.

The ability to talk well is to a man what cutting and polishing are to the rough diamond. The grinding does not add anything to the diamond. It merely reveals its wealth.

It is an excellent thing to cultivate readiness in conversation, for this will incidentally develop other powers.

Every salesman should have a good broad working vocabulary. To hesitate and feel one’s way for words in trying to make a saleis fatal. The salesman must express himself easily, clearly, and forcefully, otherwise he will be placed at a certain disadvantage. He must be not only a fluent talker, but also a convincing one.

The ability to talk well is a great aid to success in any line of endeavor, but if our heads are empty, mere facility in words will not help us much. Not “words, words, words,” but “points, points, points” win. This is especially true in salesmanship.

A good salesman should be well read on general topics as well as in his special line. There is no other way in which a person will reveal a shallow or a full mind, a narrow or a broad one, a well-read or a poverty-stricken mentality so quickly as in his speech.

To be a good conversationalist, able to interest people, to rivet their attention, to draw them to you naturally, is to be the possessor of a very great and valuable accomplishment. It not only helps you to make a good impression upon strangers, it also helps you to make and keep friends. It opens doors and softens hearts. It makes you interesting in all sorts of company. It helps you marvelously to geton in the world. It sends you customers, it attracts business.

It is a deplorable fact that indifference of speech is one of the characteristics of the American people. We are not only poor conversationalists, but we are poor listeners as well. We are too impatient to listen. Instead of being attentive and eager to drink in the story or the information, we have not enough respect for the talker to keep quiet. We look about impatiently, perhaps snap our watch, play a tattoo with our fingers on a chair or a table, twitch about as if we were bored and were anxious to get away, and frequently interrupt the speaker before he reaches his conclusion. In fact, we are such an impatient people that we have no time for anything except to push ahead, to elbow our way through the crowd, to get the position or the money we desire.

Poor conversationalists excuse themselves for not trying to improve by saying that “good talkers are born, not made.” We might as well say that good lawyers, good physicians, good merchants or good salesmen are born, not made. None of these would ever get very farwithout hard work. This is the price of all achievement that is of value.

To be a good talker one must be a good observer, a good listener, a good reader, a good thinker, and a clear speaker. It will not do to mumble or to slur over your words. You should speak distinctly, plainly, and not too rapidly. Don’t talk like a drone or a parrot. Put force, thought and feeling into your words; fill them full of meaning, so that people will want to hear what you say.

You know what an impression a great orator makes upon an audience when he measures his words and sends them out with deliberation, with feeling and force. They are infinitely more impressive than the excited, impassioned shouting, which comes from an over-wrought mind.

Readiness in conversation is largely a matter of practice. But the voice, especially the American voice, needs to be trained.

There is nothing more disagreeable than a harsh, discordant voice, unless it be the high-pitched, nasal intonation so characteristic of our people, or the whine which is frequently heard from those who are narrow-minded anddiscontented. A low, clear, well-modulated voice indicates refinement and should be carefully cultivated by the salesman who wishes to express himself forcefully.

It is very difficult to convince a prospect that he should buy your merchandise when you are pleading your cause either in high-pitched, sharp, shrill tones, or in mumbling or nasal ones which have no magnetism, no attractiveness in them.

A clear, deep, melodious voice tends to unlock minds and to win confidence, while a harsh, shrill, discordant voice antagonizes us.

The ability to talk well, to interest and hold others, increases our self-respect, our confidence, and gains us a ready entrance to places from which we would otherwise be excluded. If you expect to be a first-class salesman, a man of power in any line of endeavor you should cultivate your voice and practice the art of conversation.

You must interest your customer before you can hope to influence him.

“Shape your argument in harmony with conditions; don’t try to force a square block into a round hole.”

There are three principal ways in which to get the favorable attention of a prospect; the first is “affording pleasure;” the second, “exciting admiration,” and the third, “arousing curiosity.” As often as possible we should combine all three.

If our words and our expression radiate genuine, cheerful good-will, then the customer is pleased to meet us. We can cause him to be still more pleased, if we praise, in a very tactful way, some of the good qualities which we quickly observe in him.

Our appearance, from head to foot, is what causes admiration. We should always be well groomed; hair properly cut and carefully arranged; teeth well cared for; eyes bright;linen immaculate; clothes well pressed; cuffs and collar free from frayed edges. Loud colors and loud jewelry always detract from the power of the salesman. Heels that are not run down, and shoes that are well polished, are final factors to consider.

We arouse a customer’s curiosity by asking him suitable questions. It is a good idea to prepare him for the kind of an answer you expect, by some positive suggestion, before you ask the question. For instance, a man who wishes to sell a beautiful piece of jewelry can say: “I consider this a very beautiful stone, which has been set most artistically.” Then he can say to the customer; “What do you think of that jewel?” Invariably, the customer will tend to agree with him, and this helps to get their minds together.

The late Elbert Hubbard used to say that he always began an advertisement with the statement of an incontrovertible fact. The public read it and agreed. It could give rise to no antagonistic or opposing train of thought. It established a coördinate bond between the writer of the ad. and the reader. Then Hubbard followed with statements concerningthe article advertised. With these the reader might not agree, but at least he started reading the ad. in a friendly spirit.

Remember this: it is never best to begin to talk much about your goods until you have secured real attention, not simply a civil attention, for courtesy’s sake, but the genuine thing. Real attention is “a thought spiller and a thought filler.” The customer “spills” his thoughts, and “fills” in the salesman’s thoughts.

Some salesmen have found it a big advantage to get the customer to do some little thing for them, such as holding a sample, loaning a pencil, getting a piece of paper on which to figure, etc. Requests for favors of this kind, however, must be made in a tactful way. The idea back of this ingenious method is to start the will of the customer acting according to the salesmen’s will.

If the moment seems favorable you should take the order at once and dispense with all salesman’s art; but after taking the order, proceed to strengthen the customer in his decision by calling attention to certain strong points of merit in your goods, and certainstrong reasons which you believe will make the customer glad he has made his purchase. Be careful, however, to avoid over-talking. This is a blunder that has cost many a man dear.

The art of a salesman shows itself in his ability to focus his energies quickly and to size up his prospect in many respects at a glance. He must see what kind of a temperament he has to deal with. He must know what to do and what to say to each particular man. Before entering a strange office he has no idea what sort of a man will confront him, whether one who is fat or lean, of a nervous or a phlegmatic temperament, whether vigorous or in delicate health, whether a thin-skinned, sensitive man or one of a coarse type with a rhinoceros hide.

In calling on regular customers, the salesman must be alert for passing whims that modify their disposition. He must take in a man’s mood at a glance. If he is in a bad mood, he cannot approach him as if he were in a happy mood, as though he had just had some good news. He must be able to tell by his appearance whether he is pleased because business is booming, or whether he is disgruntled,his mind clouded either by business or domestic troubles. In fact, a salesman must be able to recognize quickly and deal adequately with all sorts of men and moods, and business conditions, or he will fail at the start to get the sort of attention on which his sales depend.

Tact eases the jolts, oils the bearings, opens doors barred to others, sits in the drawing-room when others wait in the reception hall, gets into the private office when others are turned down.

Whether you get an order or not, leave a good taste in your prospect’s mouth so that he will always have a pleasant recollection of you.

Some time ago a man and his wife went into a large store in an eastern city to buy a chandelier. The man, in a rather querulous tone, asked to be shown a Renaissance chandelier. “Now, be sure,” he said to the salesman, “to show me a real Renaissance, small and not too expensive.” The salesman perceived he had a difficult customer to deal with, but one who appeared to have a fixed idea in mind. Being extremely tactful, he knew his first task was to humor his customer, and then try to find out exactly what type of fixture had been pictured in his mind. By cordiality and an exchangeof remarks on general subjects, the salesman eased the man’s mind, and by skillful questions found out exactly what sort of chandelier he wanted. Then he expressed himself pleased at having a customer with clear ideas about the sort of article he wished, as it made it so much easier for the salesman to suit him.

Only tact could ever have won over that man and satisfied his whim.

Blessed are they who possess tact! Let them rejoice and be glad in the possession of an inestimable gift, and let those who have it not bend all their energies to its acquisition.

Tact is one of the greatest aids to success in life. As a friend-winner and business-getter it is invaluable. One prominent business man puts tact at the head of the list in his success recipe, the other three things being; enthusiasm, knowledge of business, dress.

I know a man who solicits subscriptions for a periodical, who has such an exquisite way of ingratiating himself into others’ favor that he gets nine subscriptions, on an average, out of every ten people he solicits. His tactful approach has won you over before you realizeit, and it is much harder for you to refuse even the thing you do not want than to take it.

Tact enables you to pass sentinels, gates and bars, gain an entrance to the very sanctum sanctorum where the tactless man never enters. Tact gets a hearing where genius cannot; it is admitted when talent is denied; it is listened to when ability without it cannot get a hearing.

As “every fish has its fly,” so every person can be reached, no matter how odd, peculiar or cranky by the one who has tact enough to touch him in the right place.

What is this miracle worker called Tact?

Tact is variously defined as “Peculiar skill or adroitness in doing or saying exactly that which is required by or is suited to the circumstances”; “It is the gift of bringing into action all the mental powers in the nick of time”; “It is a combination of quickness, firmness, readiness, good-nature and facility.” Webster’s dictionary gets at the kernel of this wonderful quality. Tact, it says, is “adroitness in managing the feelings of persons dealt with; nice perception in seeing and doing exactly what is best in the circumstances.”

It is in “managing the feelings” of his customerthat the tactful man scores his strongest point. It is in sensing his moods, in being able to put himself in his place that he is always equal to the situation, that he always exercises that “nice perception in seeing and doing exactly what is best in the circumstances.”

One of the best means of acquiring a tactful manner is to try to put yourself in your prospect’s place, and then act toward him as you would like to have some one act toward you in like circumstances.

You are very busy, troubled about a lot of things. You may be short of capital, you may have big notes coming due, business may be dull, many things may have been going wrong with you. You may have come to your office upset by domestic troubles, you may not feel well, however well you look. Perhaps yesterday was broken up by all sorts of interruptions. You started out this morning resolved to do a splendid day’s work, and hoping that you would not be bothered with callers. Perhaps you do not feel like talking business. You may have a lot of things on your mind which are perplexing you, hard problems to solve; the reports of business put on your desk thismorning may have been anything but encouraging.

In fact, you feel “out of sorts” and wish you did not have to see anybody all day. You are longing for a little time to yourself to think things over, to get your bearings, when in comes a salesman’s card. You do not want to see him and would give most anything to get rid of him, although there may be a possibility that he has something that you would like, but you do not want to see him at that particular time.

“Why couldn’t the man have come some other time?” you ask yourself. Against your will you say: “Well, tell him to come in.” You feel grouchy, grumpy, you do not even feel like greeting him pleasantly, and you growl out a “good morning.”

The salesman sits down. Your whole mind is braced against him. You do not care to see him, to talk with him. Everybody braces against a salesman. He is usually put in an unfortunate position. Instead of trying to make it easy for your visitor you make it hard for him. You make no concession if you can help it. You make him fight every inch of his way for your favor.

The tactful salesman sees your mood at once, and he knows he has a hard fight ahead of him; he has to win you over inch by inch. You begin to make all sorts of excuses; you do not need new stock at present, business has been dull, your shelves are loaded down with goods, and you tell him that times are bad, the outlook is anything but promising. He does not oppose or contradict you. On the contrary, he sympathizes with you; he is patient, courteous, affable, but all the time he is trying to get the thin edge of his wedge into your mind. He knows what would win him over if he were in such a mood; his wife or mother probably knows. He has to be won over; force, argument, reason, logic will not do it, only tact will do the trick.

If you have made a study of human nature, learned to size up people quickly, you will sense a prospect’s mood, even though he should try to conceal it, and you will have no difficulty in imagining yourself in his place. He has the same human qualities and the same fundamental passions as yourself. You must always be ready to pour oil on his wounds, not vinegar.

A salesman must not only use all his resourcefulness in business logic, but he must bring into play all his powers of pleasing. He should always come to his customers in a cheerful mood. No matter how upset he feels; no matter what unfortunate news he has had in the morning’s mail about his sick wife, or the children lying almost at death’s door, he must not show any sign of his troubles. A salesman may be in just as unfortunate a plight as his customer is, and even worse, yet he is forced to hide his feelings, and must try to “make good” under all circumstances.

The tactful salesman is “all things to all men.” Not that he is deceitful or insincere, but he understands different temperaments, different dispositions, different moods, and readily adapts himself to all. He keeps his finger on the mental pulse of his prospect, and keeps track of his mental attitude. He knows, for instance, that the moment a prospect shows signs of being bored the salesman should quit, and try later, or otherwise he will prejudice his case fatally, so that the next time he calls this bored suggestion will come to the mind of the prospect, who will refuse to see him.

I was recently talking with a man who said that a salesman who did not know his business had just taken a half hour of his valuable time, trying to sell him a bill of goods that he really did not want. He said the man did not know enough to see that he was making no impression, that he was not convincing him. And although he took out his watch several times, turned around nervously in his chair, kept taking up letters from his desk, making all sorts of hints and suggestions for the salesman to get out, yet he still kept on trying to make a sale. The only redeeming quality about him, he said, was his persistency.

Now, ill-timed persistency is simply lack of tact; there is nothing praiseworthy in it. You should be able to tell by the look in your prospect’s eye whether you are really interesting him or not, and if you are not you cannot convince him that he needs what you have to sell.

Getting solid with a prospect, making a favorable impression upon him, unlocking his mind, is very much like making love to a girl. You cannot browbeat, you cannot be arbitrary or disagreeable; only the gentle, attractive, tactful methods will win. The least little slipon your part may close the door forever. No force will answer, it is all a matter of attraction and conviction. No level-headed man is going to buy until he is convinced, and tact is the most powerful convincer in the world.

Tact is never offensive. It is always a balm, allaying suspicion, and soothing and pleasing. It is appreciative. It is plausible without being dishonest, apparently consults the welfare of the second party and does not manifest any selfishness. It is never antagonistic; it never opposes, never strokes the fur the wrong way, and never irritates.

Little seven-by-nine salesmen are constantly putting stumbling blocks in their own path. They are always “putting their foot in it.” They persist when persistency is ill timed. They make some unfortunate remark or allusion. They are not good students of human nature; they put up a poor sort of an argument, the same sort of talk to every man, to men of different prejudices, different ages, different dispositions. In other words, they are not tactful, and they are all the time tripping themselves up, getting into snarls, and making blunders which lose them business.

Some one says: “The kindly element of humor almost always enters into the use of tact, and sweetens its mild coercion. We cannot help smiling, oftentimes, at the deft way in which we have been induced to do what we afterwards recognized as altogether right and best.” There need be no deception in the use of tact, only such a presentation of rightful inducements as shall most effectively appeal to a hesitating mind.

A public school teacher reproved a little eight-year-old Irish boy for some mischief. The boy was about to deny the fault when the teacher said, “I saw you, Jerry.” “Yes,” replied the boy as quick as a flash, “I tells them there ain’t much you don’t see with them purty black eyes of yours.” The native wit of that youngster would make him a good salesman. We do not know whether it appeased the teacher, but it certainly showed a readiness to size up and deal with a delicate situation that would have done credit to an older head.

The following paragraph, in a letter which a merchant sent out to his customers, is an example of shrewd business tact:

“We should be thankful for any informationof any dissatisfaction with any former transactions with us, and we will take immediate steps to remedy it.”

Think of the wealthy customers that have been driven away from big concerns, by the lack of tact on the part of a salesman. A successful business man recently told me his experience in buying a suit of clothes at one of the leading clothiers in New York City. “The salesman who waited on me,” he said, “showed me various suits of all colors and styles. He did not interest me in any particular one. He distracted my attention, being plainly indifferent and showing that he did not care whether I bought or not. After spending an hour’s time, I left the place in disgust. I said to myself, ‘A house carrying thousands of suits, and a good salesman, should certainly sell me one suit.’ I went to another house. Then the purchase became to me more than anything else a study of salesmanship, how various salesmen handle customers. The salesman at this other place gained my confidence right at the start, showed me only three suits, interested me in a particular one, showed me why I should buy that one, and within eighteen minutes’ actualtime I paid the price, and now I am enjoying the wearing of that suit.”

This shows how even the best quality of merchandise will go back to the shelf unless handled by a conscientious, tactful salesman.

It is true that there are always certain customers in every large establishment who are very hard to convince. They are suspicious, and often very disagreeable and difficult to get on with, but their patronage is valuable, and every employer prizes the salesman who can handle these difficult customers, who can please them and send them away friends instead of enemies of the house.

It must be remembered that the real test of salesmanship is the ability to handle difficult customers. Most people don’t realize what is best for them to buy; they can’t make up their minds without the salesman’s help, or they are peculiar in their nature and require tactful management.

Many women make a business of going about among the department stores, perhaps without the slightest idea of buying anything. It becomes a sort of fixed habit with them. Some of them have a chronic habit of indecision.They will run about the stores for weeks before they make up their minds to buy a thing that they need. They are so afraid that they will see something cheaper and much better suited to their needs after they have purchased that they postpone purchasing as long as possible. If they want a pair of shoes, a dress, a hat, or some other article, they will go round all the stores in town looking, or “shopping,” as they call it, before they buy.

I know of a very clever saleswoman in a big store who has marvelous skill and tact in approaching these “lookers” or “shoppers” and turning them into customers. She begins by asking if the lady has been waited upon, and if there is anything she can do for her? With a pleasant smile, in a very sweet voice, she gets into conversation with her, and before the habitual “looker” realizes it she has become a purchaser.

To know what to do, what to say, at just the right moment is capital a thousand times more valuable than money capital, for a man with rare tact will start in business without a dollar and make a greater success than the tactless man who starts with a fortune. How manypeople in this country to-day owe their success and fortune more to the possession of tact than to ability? Tact will distance ability without it every time.

A man who with a party of friends had been fishing a long time became quite disgusted because he did not get a bite when everybody else was pulling in the speckled trout. After awhile he discovered that he had no bait on his hook. He might have been fishing there yet and never have had a bite.

Everywhere in society and in the business world we find men fishing with baitless hooks. They have no use for people with fine manners. They are gruff, uncouth. They do not believe in catering to the feelings of others. They have never learned the art of baiting things. They call a spade a spade. They have no use for frills, for decorations. They believe in striking out straight from the shoulder every time, no matter what the conditions.

Many tactless people go through life trailing bare hooks and they wonder why the fish do not bite. They do not know how to adjust themselves to conditions. They are misfits. Theyappear to have been fitted for some rougher sphere and to have been dropped by accident to the earth amid conditions totally unsuited to them.

The tactless salesman is a misfit. He must either learn how to bait his hook properly, or else go into some other business for which he is better fitted.

The art of all arts for the leader is his ability to measure men, to weigh them, to “size them up.”

A great authority on salesmanship said: “Any one can call upon a prospective buyer and go away without an order.” It is up to the salesman to get what he goes after. If he knows how to size people up readily, he will be far more likely to get what he goes after than the man who can not do this. The ability to read people at sight is a great business asset.

Marshall Field was an adept in character reading. He was always studying his employees and gauging their possibilities. Nothing escaped his keen eye. Even when those about him did not know that he was thinking of them, he was taking their measure at every opportunity. His ability to place men, to weigh and measure them, to detect almost at a glance their weak and their strong points, amounted to genius.

If General Grant had had the same ability to read politicians and to estimate men for government positions that he had for judging of military ability, he would have made a great President. Unfortunately, he was obliged to depend too much upon the advice of friends in those matters. The result was that, as President, he did not maintain the high reputation he had made as a general.

The salesman ought to make a study of his power of penetration, of his character-reading ability. He ought to make it a business to study men and the motives which actuate them.

To be an expert in reading human nature is just as valuable to a salesman as a knowledge of law is to a lawyer, or as a knowledge of medicine is to a physician. The man who can read human nature, who can “size up” a person quickly, who can arrive at an accurate estimate of character, no matter what his vocation or profession, has a great advantage over others.

The ability to read human nature is a cultivatable quality, and we have a great opportunity in this country, with its conglomerate population, to study the various types of character. It is an education in itself to form thehabit of measuring, weighing, estimating the different people we meet, for in this way we are improving our own powers of observation, sharpening our perceptive faculties, improving our judgment.

The salesman who knows anything about human nature, for instance, doesn’t need to be told it won’t do to approach a big business man, the head of a great establishment, as one would approach a small dealer. He will follow a different method with each, according to their different standing and temperament.

No two mentalities are exactly alike, and you must approach each one through the avenue of the least resistance. One man you can approach through his fads. If he is passionately fond of music or crazy about golf; or if he is a connoisseur in art, in sculpture, or in any other line, this may give you a hint as to the right line of approach.

If you see by a man’s head and face that he has a strong mentality, that he is, perhaps, “from Missouri,” you must approach him through argument, through reason. You cannot approach him in the same way you would an impressionable, fat, jolly-naturedman. Then the man who is selfish, domineering, imperious, who thinks he knows it all, the man to whom you never can tell anything, must be handled in quite a different manner from any of these.

Some men will take a joke, others will consider it an impertinence. One man is only convinced by logical argument; another by the judicious use of flattery. The frigid mental temperament will not respond to pleasantry; nothing but cold logic will appeal to him; the expansive, good-natured man is often reached through his fad or hobby. Sometimes you get a point of contact with your prospective customer by finding that you belong to the same lodge. Of course, it is always a good thing to find out as much as possible about a man before you call on him. Such knowledge often gives a great advantage in sizing him up properly.

If you are a good reader of character, however, you get at a glance an impression of your prospect that is fairly reliable. You can tell whether you are facing a little, weazened, dried-up soul, a man who is stingy, selfish, grasping, or whether he is a man of generousimpulses, magnanimous, open-minded, kind-hearted. You can tell whether he is good-natured, jolly; whether it will do to crack a joke with him, or whether he is austere and stern; whether you can approach him in an easy, friendly manner, or whether you must keep your distance and approach him with a proper sense of his dignity and importance. Even if your prospect only assumes a stiff, stand-off demeanor you must treat him as though it were perfectly natural, otherwise he will be offended.

In sizing up a man the first thing to do is to make up your mind what kind of a heart he has. If you conclude that he has a good heart, and that he is honest and above board, even though he may be cold in appearance, and may prove a bit close-fisted, you will stand a much better chance in doing business with him than you would with a man with small shifty eyes, and the earmarks of shrewd, sharp characteristics apparent in every feature and every look.

You can read a man by his facial expression much better than you can by the bumps on his head, because the muscles of the face respondto the passing thought and reflect the idea, the emotion, every phase of the mental state. You know how quickly a joke, something funny, is expressed in the facial muscles; how quickly they respond to any mental state-disappointment, bad news, discouragement, sorrow, anger. The muscles of the face, its varying expressions, change with the thought. In other words, the facial expression indicates the condition of a man’s mind. By this you can tell whether your prospect is in a good or a bad humor, whether he is a human icicle, cold, unfeeling, or a human magnet, tender, kind, sympathetic.

Salesmen who are poor judges of human nature, who cannot size people up, often have to batter away a long time at a wrong approach when, otherwise, they could sail right into a man’s mind through the right avenue. By making head study, face study, man study, an art, you can very quickly get your line of approach. Then you will not blunder and lose time in trying to set yourself right. Many a man calls upon a prospective buyer and goes away without an order because he didn’t know how to size him up. He had never studied this important side of his business.

Remember that if you make a wrong approach you may have hard work to get a hearing at all; your prospect may close his mind against you at the start, and you may not be able to get into it, no matter how earnestly you try, when, if you had approached him along the line of least resistance, you could have sailed right in. In fact, the man would have invited you in.

Do not be hasty in your judgment or make up your mind too quickly in sizing up people. Hold your decision in abeyance until you have read off the character hieroglyphics written on the face and person, and in the manner, for all these are significant, and each means something. In other words, read all the earmarks or character labels on a man, get in all the evidence you can before acting on your first quick impression, because a great deal depends on the accuracy of your judgment.

Every man’s face is a bulletin board; it is a program of the performance going on inside, and the important thing is to learn to read it not only quickly, but accurately.

The facial expression, the attitude, the manner, the language, the look of the eye, are lettersof the character alphabet which spell out the man. Everything that is natural, spontaneous, unpremeditated, is indicative of certain qualities he possesses; and if the man is putting on, if he is posing, you can pierce the mask of pretense and discount it.

If you are a good reader of character, after a few minutes study you can put together the letters of the impressions you have received and spell out the sort of a man you have to deal with, for he is covered all over with tags visible to those who have learned to read them.

Some people judge character largely by a particular feature—the mouth, the chin, the eye, the nose, etc. Napoleon used to depend a great deal upon the size of a man’s nose. “Give me a man with a big nose,” he used to say when choosing men for important positions. A large nose is supposed to indicate great force of character. It is said that every one resembles in greater or less degree some particular animal. Many people base their reading of character on this animal clue. Look out for the fox face; beware of the wolf face, the bird-of-prey face, for it is believed that the man who bears a strong resemblanceto some animal will also usually have many of that animal’s characteristics.

The main point for the salesman is to get the right start in approaching the buyer. If he makes a close study of human nature he will seldom if ever make a mistake in sizing up his man.

The ability to influence or induce people to purchase what you have to sell is a mental art that will repay cultivation.

“Salesmanship is the art of selling to the other fellow something he needs but doesn’t know it.”

“A sale is a mental thing. It results from harmonizing certain mental elements which enter into all common agreements between men.”

A sharp-witted lawyer after successfully defending a man accused of horse-stealing, asked him in confidence, after the trial, if he were really guilty.

“Well, Mister,” replied the man, “I thought at first I had took the critter, but after listening to your speech I concluded I hadn’t.”

The power of suggestion may be used for base and illegitimate ends or for honorable and legitimate ones. It is his suggestive power which makes the smooth, long-headed promoter dangerous. He uses it to make people buy what they do not need, or to palm off onthem fraudulent or spurious goods. The victims of these unscrupulous promoters, when under the influence of a suggestive anæsthetic, will mortgage their homes, their furniture, draw their last dollar from the savings-bank, borrow every dollar they can, to obtain the thing which is made to appear so desirable that they cannot see how they can get along without it.

Now, suggestion is just as effective when used for a lawful and honorable purpose as for an unlawful and dishonorable one. One salesman succeeds where others fail, largely because of his greater suggestive power. He draws such a vivid description of the merchandise he is selling, makes it seem so very desirable, that his prospect feels he must give him an order. The salesman knows he is selling a good thing that it is to his customer’s advantage to buy. The transaction is therefore of mutual benefit to both parties, the buyer as well as the seller.

Suggestion has been defined as “whatever creates or inspires thought.” As a science, suggestion “shows us how to start and steer thought.” The five senses are the channels which bring us impressions from without.“An act of the will or some association of ideas” brings impressions fromwithin; this latter is auto-suggestion.

Suggestion can help you to upbuild and develop yourself, to educate and train yourself in spirit, mind, and body. “In building up character a man must have spiritual and moral backing.” “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” This is the essence of auto-suggestion. “Thought is a creative force.” It is a “motive, impelling, sustaining” force. Hence, when auto-suggestion keeps thought “working in the right direction” we have a powerful backing in all our undertakings. By thinkingdefinitely,steadilyandstronglyon useful and exalted sentiments we come into the realization of our thought aspirations. Briefly, we create within what we mentally desired steadily and intently. Thus we may build our character, ever “improving, developing, and adorning.” Suggestion is our “working force.”

“It (suggestion) can also help you to shape the desires and direct the will of the customers you seek to influence.” In the first place, we direct the will of our customers by our very personality, which has been developed throughauto-suggestion. Then the various steps of attention, interest, desire, and, finally, resolve, in the customer, must be induced by suggestion. He must forget himself and his own senses, ultimately; or at least, he must have had all his faculties so brought into harmony with those of the salesman that he readily accepts the salesman’s ideas. “If you remember that suggestion is merely the working of the subjective mental force,” says Mr. Sheldon, “and if you consider that the activity of the subjective mind is in ratio to the strength and depth of the suggestion, you have a pretty clear idea of the use that may be made of suggestion in the progress of a sale.”

I have heard the story of a preacher, in Washington, who told his congregation so dramatically and so convincingly that all humanity was hanging over hell by the single thread of a cobweb, that, when the climax was reached, one man, a very learned one too, was clinging frantically to a pillar.

The simple study of psychology reveals that the activities of the will must be stirred up by approaching and capturing the outlying sentinels, namely the intellect and feelings. Weget attention through the senses, increase attention to interest through the intellect, change interest to desire through the feelings, and finally, in decision we have induced the will to act. To be sure, there is no mathematical dividing line, no architecturally apparent flights of steps; nevertheless, the true salesman is perfectly conscious of the different stages of progress of the customer’s mind, and he leads him easily and naturally from one to the other. The importance of this point in selling is emphasized by a writer in “Business Philosopher,” who says: “It is just as reasonable to expect your prospect to reach a favorable decision without first having been brought through the three earlier stages—attention, interest and desire—as to expect water to run up hill.”

A sale is a mental process, and depends largely upon the quality and the intensity of the mental suggestion, and the confidence communicated to the would-be purchaser’s mind.

Suggestion is properly used in the conduct of a sale when it is unobtrusive, and in no way savors of the pompous, swaggering, hypnotic methods of the impertinent intruder. Suggestionshould be “honest and well aimed.” It should help the customer’s mind and inspire confidence. Suggestions to the customer should have for their object “not to overcome or dethrone the will, but simply to guide and influence it.” Hypnotism, consisting in dethroning a man’s will, is “the complete setting aside of the objective mind.” Every salesman should study psychology. He should be able to understand the mental laws by which the mind of his prospect acts, so as to be able to read his mental operations.

Character is largely made up of suggestion; life is largely based upon it. Salesmanship is pretty nearly all suggestion.

The salesman should always keep in mind this great truth,—“The greatest art is to conceal art.”

Suggestion, by its very nature, is subtle, if rightly used.

The salesman who has great skill in the use of suggestion helps the mind of the customer, without making him feel that any influence is being exerted. He leads his customer to buy after the same method by which Pope suggests men should be taught:

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