V i r g i l ’ s V i e w s

They tell of a salesman so effective that he could persuade his wife that a fur coat would make her look fat.  Anyone that good need read no further.

Persuasion and selling are synonymous.  All sales people must remember that prospects do not want to be sold.  They want to buy!  They want to be in charge.  After all, it’s their money.

Sales persons, in order to help prospects buy, memorize the features of  their products or services.  They then make ready compelling reasons why each characteristic will benefit buyers by satisfying their desire for convenience, comfort, pride, pleasure or profit.  Each of these benefits is discussed in separate posts.

 In effect, every potential customer wants a convincing answer to the eternal question:  WHAT WILL IT DO FOR ME?  The sales person may discover that it takes time to prepare persuasive answers,

Years ago I was at a resort that advertised sunshine and balmy breezes.   Instead, it rained day after day.  I asked one of the natives “Will it ever stop raining?”  Laconically he replied “It always has.”  Yes, you can count on the rain to stop.  It’s dependable.

Woody Allen must have had the reliability of rain in mind when he said that 80% of a job is just being there.  An employer hires someone who exhibits the qualities the job demands and expects success if the employee shows up for work.  In short, dependability brings success.

If it turns out that the new hire’s skills do not fit the position, the employer, in order to keep a dependable employee, may find another slot more consistent with his skills.

Many years ago the only presentation an IBM office equipment salesman made was simply to ask for an order on every call, i.e. “Do you want to buy something?”  He managed to earn a living income.  His message may have been minimal, but he exhibited a dependability that touched his prospects and customers.

Not only is dependability important in getting a job or business, it is also vital in keeping it.  Much good business once obtained is lost because the sales person or company becomes careless and takes the customer for granted.

A shoe clerk was fitting a pair of shoes on a lady who tried them on to take a few steps.  “Oh,” she complained, the left shoe is bigger than the other one.”  The shoe clerk replied “Madam, your left foot is smaller then the right foot   He merely pointed a fact of nature that for most people the right foot is slightly larger than the left.  He achieved a diplomatic feat—the ability to be truthful and diplomatic at the same time.

During an argument with a friend who was uttering absurdities, a young lady said, “Sue you have an open mind.”  Deep down she wanted to say, “Sue, you have holes in you head.”  A careful comment that considers the other person’s feelings is evidence of diplomacy.

Diplomacy on an international scale often involves guile and deceit.  For a long time the definition of a diplomat was someone sent abroad to lie for his country.  These envoys knew what to expect from diplomats in a foreign capital.  They all learned the old adage, “It takes one to know one.”

In spite of the confusion about diplomacy,  long years of sales history have proved that many tactful and adroit sales people have successful careers.

An employer, who was interviewing a man, asked him why he left his last position.  The man replied  “illness.”  “Illness?” the man questioned.  “Yes, the boss got sick of me.”

Here is an extreme example of rejection, the major fear of sales people. It’s not only the actual rebuff, but its possibility that causes apprehension..  No other job in business carries such a threat.

Yet, anyone wishing to become successful in sales must overcome this fear.  In a 1965 issue of “Nations Business” an outstanding salesman advised:  “You are not a salesman (or woman) until you hear ‘NO’ 30 times.  The staccato outpouring of  “No,” “No,” “No” may resemble the machine gun fire the army recruit hears three feet overhead as he hugs the ground in the infiltration course, maybe eating some dirt, in a furious effort to reach the other end.  He finally slides safely into the ditch,  Both the relieved recruit and the sales person have grown emotionally.

The sales person who meets dreaded negatives like “I don’t have time.” Can’t you see I’m busy.?” “Not now.” Not interested.” “I don’t need it.” should not take them personally.

The prospect may truly be bothered by many problems both business and personal.  The rejected sales person leaves cheerfully and tries to arrange a visit at a more agreeable time.  He bears in mind the perceptive French proverb:  “To know all is to forgive all.”

Rose Mary Rumbley, Dallas historian, humorist, and entertainer, noticed this epitaph in an old cemetery in the Southeast: “If you are not enthusiastic about life, drop dead.”  This inscription coincides with Emerson’s opinion that “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”  (A senior citizen might argue that staying alive is a great achievement and worthy of enthusiasm.)

Salespersons on their daily round of calls strive to stay motivated and enthusiastic.  They try to heed the warning of their sales manager that “If you are not ‘fired’ with enthusiasm, you will be ‘fired’ with enthusiasm.”

How can discouraged salespersons rejected by a surly prospect remain enthusiastic?  They merely have to recall a principle from a long-ago sales course  i.e.   “Act enthusiastic, and you will be enthusiastic.”   (Yes, ‘act enthusiastically’ is probably better grammar.)

Some may carp that pretending is insincere, but people pretend almost daily.  We may pretend that we are happy to see someone when we are not, but courtesy and good order require a pretense.  Or, we feign good cheer on arriving at work in the morning.  In fact, repeated use of false enthusiasm may show us how to use the real kind.

In order to do anything well the first requirement is desire, maybe even compulsion, to act as illustrated  in the following incident.

One Sunday morning a couple stopped at a church and asked the minister to marry them.   He replied “I’d be glad to do it at the end of our regular service.  Please come in, and I will call you then.”

At the end of the service he announced, “Now, all of you who want to get married, please come forward.”  One man and 16 women strode to the front.   These motivated for marriage had the same desire for accomplishment as the successful salesperson making the rounds of his territory.”

Observers throughout history have commented on the importance of desire in carrying out a task.  About 500 BC Confucius  advised:  “Choose the job you love,  and you will never work a day in your life.”  A recent radio commercial repeated these words.  Presumably the Internet was correct when it ascribed them to Confucius.   The modern writer of the commercial merely borrowed the text.

 The much more modern Tom Peters agrees with the adage when he says “Do what you want, and the money will follow.”