Certain Success by Norval A. Hawkins

N >> Norval A. Hawkins >> Certain Success

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[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.

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