Certain Success by Norval A. Hawkins

N >> Norval A. Hawkins >> Certain Success

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[Sidenote: The Use of Tactful Suggestion]

A very skillful use of _tact and diplomacy_ is necessary to success in
pointing out to a prospect something that he lacks, and your capability
for filling that lack. A man is apt to resent your "picking flaws" in
his business. He is likely to regard you as an egotist if you _assert_
that he needs you. You will not get yourself wanted if you make the
impression that you are a critical fault-finder with "the big-head."
Rather, you should pattern after the example of the professional
salesman of goods. In the processes of persuasion and creating desire he
employs the arts of _suggestion in preference to making direct
statements_. He is a tactful diplomat. Learn from his methods, as
explained in "The Selling Process."

You have come to a chosen employer, with a real service purpose; but be
careful not to _offend_ in your presentation. Do not bring him your idea
for improving his business as if it were a great discovery you have
made. He won't like it if you open his eyes to his lacks in that
fashion. You might better suggest that while you have perceived what he
needs, you have no doubt he either has seen it already or would have
perceived it if his time and attention had not been engrossed by other
things. You will be liked if you so present a picture of the lack and of
yourself satisfying it.

[Sidenote: Rubbing the Prospect the Wrong Way]

_You are apt to get yourself cordially disliked if you rub your
prospect's pride in his business the wrong way_.

An accountant sought an opportunity to become the auditor for a
manufacturing corporation. He had gained considerable "inside knowledge"
of the company's lax business methods. But when talking to the president
he exaggerated the relative importance of these defects. In his
eagerness to impress the executive with the need for an auditor, he
over-drew the danger from leaks in the company's accounting system. The
president was exasperated. His pride was stung. What had been said
reflected on his capability as an executive. So he turned savagely on
the accountant.

"If we're so rotten as all that," he snarled, "how could we make money
and pay dividends? No doubt you are right in your criticisms of our
methods. But if I had a man like you around here, continually finding
fault and picking everybody and everything to pieces, the whole business
would be demoralized. The ideas you have brought to me are worth a
thousand dollars, and I'll give you my check for that, but no crepe
hanger can work for me."

[Sidenote: Avoid Teaching]

When you present your capabilities for sale, don't suggest that you
think your prospect's business will go to the "demnition bow-wows" if
your services are not engaged. _Understate the lack and your fitness to
fill it_. You may be sure the employer will appreciate fully the value
of the new ideas you bring, and the worth of your services.

[Sidenote: Pope's Rule]

None of us really like "teachers." Nowadays the most successful
educational methods follow the rule laid down by Alexander Pope, "Men
must be taught as if you taught them not; and things unknown proposed as
things forgot." Do not suggest that you are a "know it all." Much less
make the impression that the other man does not know. Communicate to him
the idea that you believe he has overlooked the lack to which you call
his attention. With modest confidence present your capabilities. You
need not assert in words that you will fill the bill. Your prospect can
see that. In everything you suggest and say, show that you genuinely
like him and his business. Manifest sincere admiration. _Make him feel
that you have come to his office because you especially want to work
there. That will make him want you in his service_. Use suggestion to
increase his desire for you.

[Sidenote: Reduce Resistance By Suggestion]

_Direct_ presentation of ideas indicates an intention to inform, to
teach, to direct the mind of the other man. Every human individual,
whether a child or a centenarian, _re-acts in opposition_ to such an
effort at instruction. There is something in all of us alike which makes
us wish to think and decide for ourselves. Hence the value of the art of
suggestion in getting yourself wanted.

Ideas you _suggest_ enter the mind of the other man so unobtrusively
that _he does not realize you originated them_. He has no feeling that
you intend to influence his mind. Consequently he makes no resistance to
the suggested ideas. _It never pays to reason when selling an idea;
because reasoning invariably brings out a reaction of opposition_. You
will not create a desire for your services by presenting them
_logically_, or by making an _argument_ regarding your capabilities. One
of the greatest students of the human mind assures us that "most persons
never perform an act of pure reasoning; but all their acts are the
results of imitation, habit, suggestion, or some related form of
thinking."

[Sidenote: Three Reasons For Using Suggestion]

Suggestion is remarkably effective in persuading and in arousing desire
because:

First, _every "suggested" idea is accepted as absolutely true unless it
is contradicted by other ideas already in the mind of the prospect_.
This is because the prospect thinks a _suggested_ idea is his. He adopts
it and makes it his own. That is, his mind takes the suggestion and
interprets it in terms of his own thoughts. Of course he believes what
he himself thinks. _Say_ to a prospective employer that you would
particularly like to work in association with him, and he may believe
you are "shooting hot air." He will have no such feeling if you tell him
details about his business that have especially interested you. _Show_
him that you have been studying and observing his methods. Give him to
understand that you have also investigated other businesses. Thus
without _saying_ it, you _suggest_ to his mind that you have come to his
office because you really would prefer to be employed there. He will
believe the suggested idea; though he might have scoffed at the
statement.

[Sidenote: Suggestion Avoids Contradiction]

Second, _suggestion is effective in persuasion and in arousing desire
because suggested ideas which include no comparisons or criticisms very
seldom arouse contradictory attitudes of mind_. The suggested idea
enters the mind of the other man quietly, unaccompanied by a blare of
the trumpet "I Tell You." Opposing ideas are not aware of its presence
until it has supplanted them. _Suggest_ to a chosen employer that he
_means_ to be up-to-date, and he agrees. If you _say_ his methods are
behind the times, he will be apt to defend them instead of following
your lead along the line of suggested improvements.

[Sidenote: Suggested Ideas Tend to Action]

Third, _every suggested idea of action tends to result in the action
itself; whereas a direct attempt to secure action is almost sure to
result in opposition_. Human nature works that way. Your prospect, being
unconscious that a particular idea of action is suggested to him, does
not have his will stimulated to prevent that action. If you come to your
prospective employer and _ask_ for the job you want, he will be on the
_defensive_. But if you _suggest_ to him that he wants you--that he
lacks and needs such services as you present--_he will be impelled to
the affirmative action of offering you the job_.

[Sidenote: Selling Henry Ford]

When I was originally engaged by Henry Ford, it was in the capacity of a
public accountant, for an audit of the business of the Ford Motor
Company, and later for the installation of an accounting system that
would tell accurately every month "where they were at." Back in
1904-1905 the Ford Motor Company was not showing any more profits than
many other motor car manufacturers organized on similar lines. After I
completed my work as an accountant, Mr. Ford talked with me about taking
a permanent position with the Company in the capacity of "Commercial
Manager." That title covered responsibility for the distribution of
products, advertising, collections, selection of branch managers and
their corps of assistants, operation of branch houses, appointment and
direction of agents, employment and control of the entire sales force,
etc., etc. The position was much broader than that of Sales Manager, as
it included also the accounting and organizing of nearly every
department of the business.

For several years prior to that time I had sold my services as a public
accountant and organizer to many large concerns throughout the country,
including twenty-eight different automobile companies. I believed in my
ability, not only to organize a selling and distributing force for
successfully marketing a standard product, but also to extend that force
over a world field and to control it in all the details of its
operations, from opening the mail to the declaration and payment of
dividends, more efficiently than the average sales or commercial
manager. So I had no hesitancy in undertaking the Ford job, which, even
at that early date, I visualized as culminating in a big one.

When I finally engaged my services with the Ford Motor Company on a
permanent basis, the business was represented by only a few hundred
scattered, unorganized, uncontrolled, and non-directed dealers. My work
during the following twelve years was concentrated on developing and
enlarging yearly this small hit-or-miss distributing aggregation into a
compact force of thousands of well-trained, highly efficient sales and
service representatives of the Ford Motor Company. They were all Ford
"boosters," and by their loyalty and intensive co-operation they "put
across the Ford" in the big way that today makes the little car so
conspicuous everywhere throughout the world.

[Sidenote: Statement Avoided Suggestion Used]

Note that while my experience with the Ford Motor Company as a public
accountant convinced me that what the business needed then was a
commercial manager and sales organizer, and I believed myself fitted
for the position, I did not make that statement to Mr. Ford; because it
would have been poor salesmanship. He might have thought me entirely
qualified to deal with figures, but not so capable of handling sales
agents and dealers.

So I never _said_ to him that I was the man he needed. But I _suggested_
it by presenting my ideas of how the job should be done. He accepted my
ideas as good, and was influenced by the natural suggestion that
resulted from them. He told me that he wanted me to become Commercial
and Sales Manager. It was the opportunity for success that I most
desired. I got myself _wanted_ without having to overcome any
_resistance_ in the mind of the man with whom I had chosen to work.

[Sidenote: Negative Suggestions]

You recognize how true to human nature are incidents of this sort. You
know how powerful is the force of _affirmative_ suggestion. But have you
appreciated how surely desire is killed by _negative_ suggestions? If
you make _displeasing_ impressions, you will get yourself _not_ wanted.
Therefore you must _be careful to avoid certain things your prospect
would not like, just as you should be careful in doing things that are
likable_.

[Sidenote: Speak the Prospect's Language]

If your prospecting and sizing up of an employer indicate that he is
very painstaking, suggest to him how particular you have been to prepare
yourself in knowledge of his needs. If he is a man who weighs ideas
carefully, suggest to him your qualities of judgment and decision.
Perhaps he is characterized by a marked constructive imagination.
Suggest that you, too, have imaginative power. Bring out conspicuously
the particular elements of your qualifications that are most likely to
_suggest ideas akin to his own_. Speak those phrases of the language of
suggestion which he best understands, and that are most likely to
impress him with _the idea that you and he think alike_.

[Sidenote: Deceptive Suggestions]

A caution is necessary here. In any suggestion that you make, _convey
neither more nor less than the actual truth_ regarding your
capabilities. _Avoid any possibility of deception_.

I recall the case of a young man who quite won the heart of a dignified
bank president whose tastes were very quiet. The young man studiously
avoided the slightest appearance of flashiness in his dress and manner.
He spoke in modulated tones. His movements were subdued. He had exactly
the quiet pose that suited his prospective employer. The banker stressed
his appreciation of the characteristics manifested by the applicant, and
the young man "overdid it" by suggesting that he was _always_ decorous
in his manner.

The bank president had occasion to entertain a visiting financier who
wanted to go to the ball game. A few seats away the young man whose
application was being considered rooted boisterously for the home team,
unconscious of the contradiction he presented to the suggestions he had
made in the banker's private office. The new impression was made more
disagreeable because the boisterous behavior suggested to the banker
that the young man had not conveyed a true idea of himself previously.
When he came next morning for the answer to his application, he received
a cold "No."

The young man really was not boisterous except on the rare occasions
when he let off steam, as at a ball game. If he had conveyed the
_truthful_ impression that he was _nearly always_ quiet, and had taken
pains to admit that _occasionally_ he "let loose," but only in proper
surroundings, he would not have killed his chances by the negative
suggestion of untruthfulness.

[Sidenote: Motive of Suggestion]

After all it is your _motive_ that determines the right or wrong use of
suggestion in getting yourself wanted. If you keep carefully in mind a
purpose to _suggest less instead of more than the truth_ about your
capabilities, you need not fear that you will offend by over-drawing the
picture of your real self.

If _your_ motive is wrong, it will lower the quality of _your_ manhood.
If you suggest a wrong motive to the _other_ man, the effect is to lower
_his_ manhood qualities in considering you. _It is particularly
important not to stimulate a motive that may afterward operate to your
detriment_.

[Sidenote: Over-Suggestion of Ability]

I know a young man who was so eager to show his willingness to work that
he suggested absolute tirelessness. His employer, though he appreciated
what this young man did, kept overloading him. Finally the employee
broke down and made a serious mistake. He was unjustly dismissed from
service because _he had encouraged his employer to depend on him
altogether too much, and disappointment resulted_.

Do not pretend a higher degree of ability than you possess. Attempt no
more than you can do well. You will succeed in getting yourself wanted
if you _manifest promise of growth_ in capability. If you are a sapling,
do not pose as a full grown tree of knowledge.

[Sidenote: Selling Out To Competitor]

Sometimes it happens that a man can present his capabilities for sale
and appear especially desirable to another man because he possesses
certain knowledge the employer would like to have. Maybe you have sought
to gain your chance by carrying to a competitor of your former employer
the latter's secrets. If you come with the suggestion that you will sell
out, you are offering a service that does not command full respect, and
you are appealing only to the _lower motives_ of your prospect. You do
not thereby get _yourself_ wanted. He wants _what you know_. What you
have learned fairly by working for one man, you have a right to sell
fairly to another man, of course. But do not suggest that this special
knowledge is the _principal element_ of your desirability. Suggest,
rather, that it is _only incidental to your all-around fitness_ for the
job you want.

[Sidenote: Self-Respect]

Use what you know without pandering to the lower motives of your new
employer. Impel him to like you for what you _are_, and not merely for
what you _bring_. Open his eyes to your _better_ nature, not to the
_worst_ side of you. _He will see in you the better qualities of himself
and appreciate them_. Have your own motives right; then there will be no
danger that you will appeal to the wrong motives of the other man.

Of course you must have the highest respect for your own motives. This
necessitates high character. _You must be honest in the very structure
of your being_. You need, too, _absolute faith in yourself and in your
proposition_, and faith in the _desirability_ of your service to the
other man. Finally, you must be _consecrated_ to the motive of rendering
him _service_.

[Sidenote: Postpone Criticism Until Desire Is Stimulated]

It is poor salesmanship to let your prospect begin to analyze your
faults _until you have made yourself thoroughly pleasing_ to him. Before
you complete the selling process you should admit your own faults,
rather than let him discover them. _But skillfully postpone this step
until you get yourself wanted._ Then your prospect will be inclined to
_co-operate_ in disposing of objections to you; whereas _if criticisms
arise too soon in the selling process they may prevent him from liking
you thoroughly, and may check your purpose before you get yourself
wanted_.

[Sidenote: Right Time to "Face The Music"]

A merchant received an application for employment in his private office
from a young man who created so pleasing an impression that the employer
decided to make him his secretary. He outlined his ideas to the
applicant, who entered into them most enthusiastically; thereby
increasing the liking of his prospective employer for him. Then the
young man sat up straight in his chair, looked the merchant squarely in
the eye, and said, "No one in this city knows it, but when I was
eighteen years old I stole ten dollars and was sentenced to the reform
school. That was seven years ago. I never have done anything dishonest
since, and I never will again. But you have a right to know my whole
record before you employ me in a position of such trust." If the
candidate had confessed his blemished record _before_ making himself
thoroughly desirable, it is practically certain that he would not have
won the place. He got it because _he handled the objection after instead
of before creating the desire_ for his services.

[Sidenote: Concentrate On Suggesting Qualifications]

We shall consider in the next chapter how to meet and handle objections,
how to deal with your faults. But as we postpone our study of that step
in the selling process; so should you postpone consideration of your
faults and shortcomings, until you get yourself wanted. Do not dodge
direct questions, but courteously request that you be permitted to
answer them a little later. _At this stage_ of selling the true idea of
your best capabilities _concentrate upon the moderate, truthful
suggestion of your qualifications_.

[Sidenote: Gaining Prospect's Confidence]

The first result to be desired in selling is the _confidence of the
buyer_. Use all your manly qualities to win this confidence
_deservedly_. Then when you honestly admit your faults and shortcomings,
you will be aided to win out in the end by the confidence you have
already inspired in the other man.

Very often the applicant for a position fails to get it because he
merely presents the _abstract_ idea that his services are for sale. _He
does not picture himself in actual service_. The presentation of
abstract ideas is an appeal only to the _interest_ or mind side of the
other man. The presentation to his imagination must go _beyond_ his
interest, if his _heart desire_ for the services is to be secured.
Therefore it is highly important to your success in getting yourself
wanted that you plan how you actually would serve on the job, and when
you are talking with your prospective employer, _speak as if you were at
work_.

[Sidenote: Picture Yourself At Work]

If you imagine yourself fitted into a particular job, and _show yourself
there to the mind's eye_ of your prospect, he will have to go through
the mental process of _getting you out_ of the imaginary job. That will
be much harder for him than it would have been to _keep you out_ in the
first place. If you merely present the services you _could_ render, and
don't picture yourself as _actually rendering_ them, you haven't won
even the imaginary job. _But if you do paint yourself into a chosen
place, and can make your prospect see you in that position, the
suggestion will impel him to copy imagination with actuality. He will
consider you as if you were on the job._ Evidently when you have won
this advantage, he will be inclined to want to keep you at work, unless
you do something or manifest some quality that makes you undesirable.

[Sidenote: No Doubt About Success]

_Getting yourself wanted is a process that can be brought to a
successful conclusion with absolute certainty._ It is not difficult to
understand human nature if you are willing to see clearly into yourself.
It is only necessary, then, that you subordinate your personality to the
personality of the other man. _Learn what he wants, and avoid showing
him that you want something from him. Show him instead that you can
supply what he lacks_. Complete and round out the process by suggesting
the particular qualities in yourself that your prospecting and size-up
have indicated to be the qualities _he especially likes_. He will want
you then. He can't help it.

CHAPTER X

_Obstacles In Your Way_

[Sidenote: Mountain Climbing]

There is no great mountain in the world that has a natural, smooth road
with an easy grade all the way to the top. Mountain climbing requires
some hard work. It involves getting around, or going over, or removing
many obstacles that block the path upward.

You will encounter similar difficulties, obstacles, and resistance on
your way to success. _If you cannot pass them, your ambition will be
defeated._ You will quit the climb, discouraged; or will be driven back,
a failure. In order to _assure_ your success you must now ascertain
dependable ways to conquer obstacles. This advance knowledge will make
them seem less formidable. Since you will have definite plans for
dealing with the difficulties that may obstruct your path, you will not
feel hopelessly blocked when you face them.

[Sidenote: Knowing How]

No great mountain has ever been scaled by a novice ignorant of the
science, and unskilled in the art of climbing to supreme heights. But an
expert mountaineer learns from mastering one peak something about how to
climb others. He develops ability to conquer any and all obstacles he
may meet. He proves repeatedly that what would be impossible to a
novice is a _certainty_ to him. He starts the most difficult ascent with
absolute confidence that he will gain the top.

[Sidenote: Obstacles and Resistance]

_You likewise can feel sure of your ability to reach the highest peaks
of success_. In preceding chapters you have been shown how to take
advantage of the _easiest_ way up by following the guide marks of
salesmanship at every step. Now we are to study the obstacles you will
encounter, in particular the objections the prospect may raise to
frustrate your purpose. At this stage of the selling process you will be
like a mountaineer fighting in the Alps. It will probably be necessary
that you overcome or evade considerable human resistance while you are
climbing toward your goal.

Let us assume that you have already gained a chance to sell your
capabilities to the particular man through whom you expect to succeed.
He has heeded your knock and welcomed you into his interest. You have
made such a presentation of your desirability and service value that he
wants you to be associated with him. But now it will be natural for him
to begin a critical analysis, seeking whatever faults he can discover or
imagine in you or your proposition. _Your success or failure in your
ultimate purpose is likely to depend on how you handle the criticisms he
raises._ Therefore it is of vital importance that you learn in advance
_sure ways to gain your goal despite normal opposition._

[Sidenote: Objections Are Natural]

Recognize first that it is _natural_ for your prospect to raise
objections, whether he is favorably impressed or not. His resistance to
your purpose may be only a _precaution_. Perhaps it does not indicate
_opposition_ at all. He may want you to convince him you are all right;
so that he will feel entire confidence in his own judgment when he
finally does as you wish. Or he may object for no other purpose than to
test you thoroughly. If this is the case, his sympathies will all be
with you while you are dealing with the obstacles he puts in your way.

_Evidently objections of this sort should not be handled the same as the
objections of opposition._ It is necessary that you distinguish between
the two kinds and that _when dealing with each specific objection you
determine in your own mind what is its source_. There should be nothing
in your method of handling the obstacle that might _antagonize_ your
prospect. You should take fullest advantage of his every inclination to
_cooperate_ with you in his thoughts and feelings. He may be "pulling
for" you strongly when he seems to be "bucking" the hardest.

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