Certain Success by Norval A. Hawkins

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[Illustration]

CERTAIN SUCCESS

_by_

Norval A. Hawkins

_Author of "The Selling Process"_

THIRD EDITION

1920
DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

TO BEGIN WITH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
HOW TO STUDY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
I. THE UNIVERSAL NEED FOR SALES KNOWLEDGE. . 29
II. THE MAN-STUFF YOU HAVE FOR SALE . . . . . 63
III. SKILL IN SELLING YOUR BEST SELF . . . . . 108
IV. PREPARING TO MAKE YOUR SUCCESS CERTAIN. . 137
V. YOUR PROSPECTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
VI. GAINING YOUR CHANCE . . . . . . . . . . . 179
VII. KNOWLEDGE OF OTHER MEN. . . . . . . . . . 209
VIII. THE KNOCK AT THE DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY
AND THE INVITATION TO COME IN . . . . . 239
IX. GETTING YOURSELF WANTED . . . . . . . . . 270
X. OBSTACLES IN YOUR WAY . . . . . . . . . . 298
XI. THE GOAL OF SUCCESS . . . . . . . . . . . 332
XII. THE CELEBRATION STAGE . . . . . . . . . . 368

_To Begin With--_

[Sidenote: Salesmanship Essential to Assure Success]

There are particular characteristics one can have, and particular things
one can do, that will make _failure_ in life _certain_.

Why, then, should not the possession of particular opposite
characteristics, and the doing of particular opposite things, result as
_certainly_ in _success_, which is the antithesis of failure?

That is a logical, common-sense question. The purpose of this book and
its companion volume, "The Selling Process," is to answer it
convincingly for you.

Success _can_ be made certain; not, however, by the mere _possession_ of
particular characteristics, nor by just _doing_ particular things.

_Your_ success in life can be _assured_; but only if you supplement your
qualifications and make everything you do most effective _by using
continually, whatever your vocation, the art of salesmanship_.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Why Are Some Men Failures Who Deserve to Succeed?]

Life can hold nothing but _failure_ for the ill-natured, unsociable,
disgusting tramp who is known to be ignorant, lazy, shiftless, a
spendthrift, a liar, and an all-around crook. Such a worthless man will
make a complete failure of life because he is so _dis_-qualified to
succeed.

On the other hand certain success ought to be achieved by the
good-natured, intelligent, reliable man who continually wins friends;
the truthful man who has a fine reputation for thrift, honesty,
neatness, and love for his work. He seems entirely worthy of success.
Yet for reasons that baffle himself and his friends it sometimes happens
that such a man is unsuccessful.

The defeat in life of one who appears so deserving of victory seems to
prove that success cannot be _assured_ by the development of individual
characteristics and by doing specific things. But such a wholly negative
conclusion would be wrong. When a worthy man fails, he loses out because
he lacks an essential _positive_ factor of certain success--the ability
to _sell_ his capabilities. _By mastering the selling process this
failure can turn himself into a success_.

[Sidenote: Self-advertised Disqualifications Unrecognized Capabilities]

We are sure of the failure of the man who is utterly disqualified to
succeed; not because he _has_ particular faults, but because they
_self-advertise and sell the idea_ of his disqualifications for success.
His characteristics and actions make on our minds an impression of his
general worthlessness. Defects are apt to attract attention, while
perfection often passes unnoticed.

Millions of worthy men, otherwise qualified for success, have failed
solely because their merits were not appreciated and rewarded as they
would have been if recognized. Capabilities, like goods, are
_profitless_ until they are _sold_. Therefore the man who deserves to
win out in life can make his victory _sure_ only by learning and
practicing with skill the certain success methods of the master
salesman.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: The Duty to Succeed]

Down through all the ages has come the _duty_ to succeed. It was
enjoined in the Parable of the Talents. No one has the right to do less
than his best. Then only can he claim full justification for his
existence. The Creator accepts no excuses for failure. Every personal
quality, and every opportunity to succeed that a man has, must be used,
to entitle him to the rewards of success. He owes not only to himself
and to his fellows, but also to God, the obligation of developing his
_utmost capability_. If he does not pay dividends on the divine
investment in him, his dereliction is justly punished by failure in
life. Sometimes he even forfeits the right to live.

[Sidenote: Success Cannot be Copied]

Many ambitious people, who recognize their duty to succeed but do not
know how to go about it, make a common mistake in thinking. They believe
the secret of certain success can be learned from _examples_; that
success can be _copied_. So men who have succeeded conspicuously are
often asked to state and explain their rules, for the benefit of other
men who regard them as oracles.

[Sidenote: Other Men's Formulas]

Doubtless you have read much about Marshall Field, J. Pierpont Morgan,
Charles M. Schwab, and similar outstanding business men. You have
studied their principles of success. You have tried to practice their
methods. But somehow the most careful following of their directions has
not made you a multi-millionaire, nor can you see riches as a prospect.
Naturally you are both disappointed and puzzled. Perhaps you have tested
faithfully for years various formulas of success extracted from the
advice of successful men. Yet _you_ have failed, or have achieved only
partial and unsatisfying success. You have been unable to solve the
problem that you once felt so sure could be worked out by the rules you
mastered.

Maybe you have become discouraged and have given up, in disgust, your
ambition for achievement. Very likely you have said to yourself,
"Success is so much a matter of luck and circumstances, there's no way
to make sure of it. I've done everything that Marshall Field, J.
Pierpont Morgan, and Charles M. Schwab have counseled; but I'm still
plugging along on an ordinary salary. Rules for certain success are
bunk. Luck has to break right for a man."

[Sidenote: The Element of Luck]

Unquestionably good luck _has_ brought success to some men who would
have failed without its aid. It is equally beyond doubt that bad luck
has prevented other men from achieving their ambitions. Of course _such_
successes and failures do not fall within any rules. They are altogether
exceptional, and neither prove nor disprove general principles.

Eliminating the factor of luck, good or bad, the success of any normal,
deserving man _can_ be made certain _to the extent of his individual
capacity_. Some men have different or bigger capacities than others;
hence not all successes will be of the same kind, or alike in extent.
But any normal, deserving man can assure himself as great a success as
he is fitted to achieve. It is necessary, however, that he do more than
_develop his utmost capability_. He must learn to employ skillful
salesmanship, in order to _market_ his "goods of sale," or personal
qualifications, _most profitably_.

[Sidenote: Sales Skill Necessary]

Each of us has to make _his own pattern_ of success. "The individual
should develop his individuality," instead of attempting to imitate
anybody else. It is even more necessary for him to _use_ most
effectively all the natural powers he builds up.

A man can assure his success only if he learns how to utilize his
personal qualifications _so as to create and control his opportunities_
to succeed. He should be able to _bring himself to good luck_, and not
expect anybody or any event to bring good luck to him.

One cannot make the most effective use of his capabilities, he cannot
create and control his chances to succeed, until he develops skill in
salesmanship, which is necessary to market his qualifications
profitably. He must practice "selling himself" until the habit of using
sales skill in everything he does and says becomes second nature to him.
Sales skill is the _dynamic_ factor of success. It transforms potential
powers into actual accomplishments. It enables the qualified man to turn
his individual capabilities to best account.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Opportunity A Constant Companion]

Sometimes a man says, as an excuse for his failure, "I never had a
chance." The truth is that Opportunity is a constant companion to every
man. Each of us has _within himself_ limitless wealth. All normal people
are rich in ability. It is possible for anyone to become more
prosperous. _He need only turn his possibilities into realities._ When a
man capable of accumulating riches continues poor, he is like the
shipwrecked discoverer of a bonanza gold mine on an uncharted island. He
cannot exchange his potential wealth for the things he desires; because
he is unable to market his raw gold.

Similarly you who have not yet succeeded are _potentially_ rich. If you
possess the generally recognized fundamentals of success; such as
characteristic honesty, intelligence, energy, etc., you are not
handicapped for want of a market. Even though you now may seem to lack
some of the essential qualifications, you are capable of succeeding.
Every necessary characteristic of the successful man is _latent_ in your
nature and can be brought out by development. You have not yet done your
utmost with the best that is in you.

[Sidenote: Your Market Not Lacking]

First you should resolve to make yourself completely _worthy_ to
succeed. Meanwhile you should be learning how to sell your "goods." On
every hand there are markets in which qualities like yours are being
sold successfully by other men. Undoubtedly there will be a purchaser
for the best that is in you when you bring it out; provided you present
your "goods of sale" in the most skillful way. All about you are highly
prosperous people with no more innate merits than you have. Certainly
the market for your particular abilities is within reach. Golden
opportunities of which you have not taken the fullest advantage surround
you and touch your daily activities. If you have not grasped your
chance, it was because you did not _know how_ to reach out with all your
capabilities. In other words, possessing the fundamental qualifications
for success, you have stood in the midst of the world's need for such
capabilities as yours, _but you have not gone through the selling
process_.

You have failed thus far to achieve your ambition, simply because _you
have been an unsuccessful salesman of yourself_ to the world.

Perhaps you never have thought of yourself as a salesman. You may not
have realized the importance _to you_ of knowing and practicing the
principles of skillful selling. Only one per cent of the people in the
United States _call_ themselves salesmen or saleswomen. Yet in order to
succeed, each of us must sell his or her particular qualifications. Your
knowledge and use of the selling process are essential to assure your
success in life.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Master Salesmen Made, Not Born]

The best commercial executives agree that the most effective selling
representative of a house is not the "natural born" salesman, but the
salesman who is _made_ highly efficient by training. So every big,
successful business conducts a course in salesmanship. Thorough tests
have proved that particular principles and methods of selling are sure
to produce the highest average of orders. Therefore these principles and
methods are followed as _standard practice_ in the sales department.

That is, in order to _assure_ the success of an individual salesman, he
is required and aided to develop particular qualifications and to do
certain things that master executives have learned will get the orders
and hold the trade of buyers. The qualified professional salesman is
drilled thoroughly in tested principles and methods of selling. He is
trained to use this standard sales knowledge skillfully. As a result he
works in the field with complete confidence.

Why should he doubt that he will succeed? He knows his own limitations
and capabilities; knows the true worth of his line; knows there is a
market in his territory; knows how to sell in the ways that have been
proved most effective; and knows that practice of right salesmanship
will make him skillful in getting and holding business. Verily such
"knowledge is power."

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Certain Success With the Selling Process]

_Your_ success in selling _yourself_ can be made as certain as is a
successful career to the first-class professional salesman. This book
and its companion volume will explain in detail salesmanship ways to
develop your best capabilities most effectively. You will be given the
principles and methods employed by the expert salesman in marketing any
kind of right goods. You will also be shown how to sell yourself by
adapting his practices to your "goods of sale."

When you comprehend, and employ as second nature, the usages of the
finest sales art, your success in life, like that of the master
professional salesman, will be _certain_.

[Sidenote: Ideas of Goods Not the Goods Themselves Are Sold]

If you have not _called_ yourself a salesman, perhaps you doubt the
value to you of skill in selling. All you have to market is the best
that is in yourself. Your ambition may be to succeed as a doctor, or
lawyer, or preacher, or clerk, or mechanic, or farmer, or banker. You do
not see how salesmanship could assure _your_ success, however much it
might help some one with commercial ambitions.

If you think it would not be worth while for you to master the selling
process, since you do not expect to engage in the _profession_ of
selling, you misconceive the functions and work of the salesman. You
have thought he sells "_goods_;" and that as you do not deal in
commodities, you would have no practical use for the selling process he
employs to assure his success. But even the shoe salesman, or grocery
salesman, or real estate salesman, or insurance salesman does not really
sell _goods_. He sells _ideas about_ goods. Similarly you sell ideas
about yourself in order to succeed.

[Sidenote: When the Goods and the Ideas Are Different]

A sale is often completed in business without any inspection of the
actual "goods" by the purchaser; as when a quantity of standard sheet
copper is specified, or when the salesman describes a piece of machinery
or shows a picture of it with a catalogue number. The "goods" are to be
delivered later. However, the _selling process is finished;_ though only
the mind's eye of the buyer has seen what he anticipates getting on his
order. The salesman has presented nothing except _certain ideas_ to the
mental vision of the prospect. But these ideas have been sold so
realistically to the imagination of the purchaser that he gives his
order for what he _expects_.

Suppose the goods delivered later do not correspond with the particular
ideas about them that have been sold. For example, the sheet copper
furnished is not as specified in the contract, or the machine shipped is
not the same as the salesman pictured when he got the order for it. Then
there has been _no sale_ of the different "goods." The intending
purchaser bought _particular ideas_. He will not accept the delivery of
_goods unlike the ideas sold_ to him.

[Sidenote: Know Your Prospect's Idea]

Another illustration. A real estate salesman describes a bungalow to a
prospect for a home. He shows plans and specifications, with accurate
dimensions; there is no misrepresentation of any detail. The salesman
especially emphasizes, what is his own belief, that the bungalow would
make a "cozy" home. The prospect decides to buy the property. He says,
"If it is as you describe it, I'll take that place." _The sale to his
mind has been completed._ All that remains is delivery of a bungalow
corresponding to the ideas sold. The delighted salesman escorts the
buyer to the "cozy home." But the empty rooms do not confirm the idea
emphasized to the prospect. The salesman cannot furnish them
convincingly with his imaginative "cozy" word pictures. He has made the
mistake of omitting to learn the other man's conception of a cozy home
before selling the expectation of coziness. He is shocked when the sale
is declared annulled with the prospect's contradiction of his
description, "There's nothing cozy about this place." The intending
buyer of a home feels there has been a misrepresentation; though the
bungalow is exactly like the plans and specifications shown to him. He
was sold an idea that "the goods" have not delivered; so he declares the
sale off. A sale is a success only when _true ideas_ are sold, and
afterward are delivered by _the goods_.

[Sidenote: Selling Ideas About Yourself]

If you "have the goods" and would succeed _certainly_ in your chosen
vocation, you must _sell_ to the world or to individual buyers _true
ideas_ about your particular qualifications for success--true ideas
regarding _your best capabilities_ and the _value_ of your services.
Your "goods of sale" may be your muscular power; your brain energy; your
talents, skill, integrity, and knowledge in this capacity or in that.
Whatever qualities you possess, it is necessary that some one be sold
the idea of their full worth, or you cannot succeed. No matter how
valuable your services _might_ be, they have only potential worth until
another man, or some business, or the world at large _perceives
desirable possibilities in you and buys the expectation that you will
"deliver the goods_."

Probably you have said to yourself, "If I had the chance, I know I could
deliver the goods." We will grant that you are able to make delivery.
However, _before you will be given a chance_ you must get across to the
mind of some prospective buyer of muscular power, or brain energy, or
other capabilities such as you could supply, the true idea that _you
have_ "the goods" he needs and that your qualifications would be a
satisfactory purchase _for him_.

In other words, it is necessary that you use _the selling process_
effectively, with thorough scientific knowledge and a high degree of
art, _in order to make certain of gaining your opportunity_ for success.
You have no doubt that you can succeed if you get the chance. But you
have not realized, perhaps, that _you can make yourself the master of
your own destiny by first learning and then practicing until it becomes
second nature to you the sure, salesmanship way to gain the
opportunities you deserve_. After you _comprehend_ the sure process, you
can soon develop _skill in actually selling_ to other men true ideas of
the best that is in you.

[Sidenote: The Secret of Certain Success]

The secret of _certain success_ in life for you, then, _whatever your
vocation or ambition_, lies in knowing HOW to sell true ideas of your
best capability in the right market or field of service. The chapters of
the present book, supplemented by the contents of the companion volume,
"The Selling Process," should reveal to you clearly every principal
detail of this secret.

[Sidenote: No 100% Salesmen]

Before you proceed further with the study of successful salesmanship as
analyzed in these pages, avoid a possible misconception of masterly
selling. Even the most efficient salesman does not get _all_ the orders
for which he tries. By his knowledge and skill his average of failures
is minimized; therefore everybody recognizes him as a great success.

So, however well you comprehend the selling process, and however
skillfully you use it in your career, you will not _always_ accomplish
the particular purpose to which you apply your salesmanship. But you
will markedly lessen the number and importance of your failures to do
the things you attempt. You will also increase to an extraordinary
degree the quantity, quality, and profitable results of your successful
efforts. You will make a grand average so high that you will feel you
are a real success. Others, too, will so regard you.

[Sidenote: The Master Key]

Therefore, whatever your life ambition, study the selling process until
you understand it thoroughly; then perfect your skill by daily practice
in selling your ideas, and ideas about yourself, to other people. When
you know HOW to sell true ideas of your best capability in your chosen
market or field of service, and have become expert in _applying_ what
you have learned, you can use salesmanship continually in your everyday
work. You should feel _absolute assurance_ that with its aid you can
open the treasure house of your desires.

_This universal master key that fits all locks now between you and
success can be made by your own hands and head. You have begun to shape
it for your future use._

_How to Study Certain Success with The Selling Process_

[Sidenote: Suggestion To Salesmen]

The professional salesman or saleswoman who undertakes the thorough
study of both this book and its companion volume, might better read
first "The Selling Process," the chapters of which apply especially to
his or her vocation.

If you are a "salesman," therefore, begin your study with the
introduction to that book. When you have read "The Selling Process"
once, start "Certain Success" and master it. Then re-read the other book
in the light of the new ideas that will have been shed upon its contents
by the present text.

The practical value of "Certain Success" and "The Selling Process" to
you as a salesman will be multiplied a hundredfold if both are kept
handy for _continual reference_. The marginal index should enable you to
find quickly any point regarding which you want to refresh your
recollection. This set of books was not written to collect dust on a
library shelf. No salesman can get the full worth out of the pages
unless he _uses_ "Certain Success" and "The Selling Process" _as working
tools_.

[Sidenote: If Your Vocation Is Not Selling]

If you are not engaged in selling as a vocation, and have not realized
before that you must be a good salesman or saleswoman in order to
achieve your life ambition, commence mastering the secret of certain
success with the selling process by reading thoroughly the book now in
your hands. This preliminary study will increase your ability to read
intelligently the more technical contents of "The Selling Process." Do
not skip or slight any portion of either book. You cannot afford to miss
a single bit of information regarding the sure way to succeed.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Purpose and Scope of the Two Books]

This is the first publication of "Certain Success," but five large
editions of "The Selling Process" were required in 1919 and 1920 to
supply the demand from all over the world. The two books, each complete
in itself, now are issued together under the double title, CERTAIN
SUCCESS WITH THE SELLING PROCESS; though either "Certain Success" or
"The Selling Process" may be ordered alone.

My chief purpose in preparing this set has been to stimulate each
reader's comprehension of the value of skillful salesmanship _to him_.
All of us who are ambitious to make the most of the best that is in us
need to be first-class salesmen, whether we market "goods" or our
personal capabilities. As has been emphasized repeatedly in this
preface, _every one who would succeed in life must know HOW to sell his
qualifications to the highest advantage_. Poor salesmanship is
responsible for most of the failures of people who really _deserve_ to
succeed. It is almost surely fatal to ambitious hopes in any trade,
profession, or business.

CERTAIN SUCCESS WITH THE SELLING PROCESS covers in outline the whole
subject of Salesmanship. But the scope of this set does not afford room
to give here a minutely detailed exposition of the special processes of
making sales in particular businesses. I have compiled for you, rather,
the _general principles_ of effective selling that may be _universally
applied_. "Certain Success" and "The Selling Process" are handbooks of
fundamental ideas which each reader, by his individual thinking, should
amplify and fit to his own work or ambition.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Real Study Required]

The fine art of successful salesmanship cannot be mastered in a few
hours of casual reading. You will not be able, immediately after
glancing through these books, to unlock every long-desired golden
opportunity with absolute assurance. CERTAIN SUCCESS WITH THE SELLING
PROCESS must be _studied out_. You should keep them always at hand like
your bank books, and draw on the contents for your salesmanship needs
from day to day.

You will get only a smattering of the secret of certain success if you
just skim over the chapters, and skip whatever requires you to think
hard in order to comprehend it all. But if you dig into the meaning of
each sentence for the full idea, you will enrich yourself with
constantly increasing power and skill in selling. _So you will surely
become a real success_.

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