Certain Success by Norval A. Hawkins

N >> Norval A. Hawkins >> Certain Success

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[Sidenote: Selling a Future Husband]

The young man bent on marriage needs to prospect for the right girl, to
secure an audience, to compel her attention, to regain it when diverted
to other admirers, and to develop her curiosity about him into interest.
He must size up her likes and dislikes; then adapt his salesmanship to
her tastes, tactfully subordinating his own preferences to hers. If she
is athletic, he will play tennis or go on tramps with her, however tired
he feels after his work. If she is sentimental, he will take her
canoeing and read poetry to her, though he may prefer detective yarns.
Throughout his courtship he will do his utmost to stimulate in her a
desire to have him as a life partner. Whatever objections she makes to
him, he will get rid of or overcome.

Suppose he has taken all these preliminary selling steps successfully,
and at last the time comes for pinning the girl down to a definite
answer to the all-important question, is there any likelihood that it
will be a refusal? Of course not! If his earlier salesmanship has been
masterly, the reasons why she will be inclined to accept him in the end
are of much greater weight and number than any causes for rejection that
she may have thought of previously.

[Sidenote: Never Weaken At the Finish]

He should not fear to close the sale. He has been "going strong" until
now; why should he weaken at the finish? The master salesman does not
quaver then, or doubt his success. He asks his prospect's decision
bravely and with confidence, or he assumes it as a matter of course and
kisses the girl. His heart beats faster than usual, but he is not afraid
of hearing "No."

_You should feel the same way_ after leading your prospective employer
successfully through the preliminary stages of the process of selling
your services to him. Do not falter now. _Promptly emphasize the idea
that the weight, amount, and quality of your merits are fully worth the
compensation previously discussed._ If you are _sure_ of that, if you
have valued your services from _his_ standpoint, and not just from
_your own_, you will feel no doubts about the acceptance of your
application. You will put your prospective employer through the process
of decision as courageously and confidently as you first entered his
presence.

[Sidenote: Getting the Decision Pronounced]

Sometimes a prospect will be convinced, but will not express what is in
his thoughts. Therefore _it is not enough to bring about a favorable
conclusion of mind_. Until this has been _pronounced or signified_, it
may easily be changed. Hence the _effective process of decision includes
both the mental action of judgment and its perceptible indication_.
Often a prospect who is _thinking_ "Yes" will not _say_ it until he is
prompted by the salesman.

[Sidenote: A Lawyer Sums Up the Case]

When a lawyer is trying a case, he endeavors to bring out the evidence
in favor of his client and to make the jury see every point clearly. He
shows also the fallacies and falsities of opposing testimony. But after
all the evidence has been given, the case is not turned over
_immediately_ to the jury for decision. If that were done the lawyer
would miss his best chance to influence the jurors to make up their
minds in his favor. They are not so familiar as he with the facts and
their significance. They would be apt to attach more importance to some
details of testimony, and less to others, than the circumstances
warrant. So, to assist the jurors in arriving at their verdict on the
evidence, the lawyer _sums up the case_. He lays before their minds his
views, and tries with all his power and art to convince them that his
word pictures are true reproductions of the facts in their relation and
proportion to all the circumstances surrounding the issue.

[Sidenote: Preponderance Of Evidence]

The _object_ of the lawyer when he addresses the jury is to make the
convincing impression that _the testimony in favor of his client far
outweighs the evidence on the other side_. He adjures the twelve men
before him to "weigh the evidence carefully." He declares the judge will
instruct them that in a lawsuit the verdict should be given to the party
who has a "preponderance" or greater weight of proof on his side. _At
this closing stage of the case the lawyer acts as a weighmaster._ He
wants to make the jurors feel that he has handled the scales _fairly_,
that he has taken into consideration the evidence _against_ him as well
as the facts _in his favor_; and that the preponderance of weight _is as
he has shown it_--so that they will accept _his_ view and gave him the
verdict. If he feels a sincere conviction that he is right in asking for
a decision on his side, he makes his closing address with the ring of
confidence. He looks the jurors in the eye and asks for the verdict in
his favor as a matter of _right_. He does not beg, but claims what the
weight of the evidence _entitles_ him to receive.

[Sidenote: Treat Your Prospects As Jurors]

The jury that will decide on your application when you apply for a
position will usually consist of but one man, or will be composed of a
committee or board of directors. Treat him or them _as a jury_.
Remember that your capabilities and your deficiencies are _on trial_.
Close your case with the same process the skillful lawyer uses when he sums
up the evidence and weighs it before the minds of the jurors. Do what
he does _as a weighmaster_. Avoid making any impression that you
are not weighing your _demerits_ fairly, though you _minimize their
importance_; also miss no chance to impress the _full weight_ of your
_qualifications_. The essence of good salesmanship at this stage of the
process is _skillful, but honest weighing_. That means using _both
sides_ of the scale, to convince the prospect that _the balance tips in
your favor_. He will not believe in the correctness of the "Yes" weight
unless you show the lesser weight of "No" _in contrast_. Then he cannot
help _seeing_ which is the heavier. _Decision on the respective weights
is only a process of perception._

[Sidenote: The Process Of Perception]

Let us suppose the employer has asserted the objections that you are not
sufficiently experienced to earn the salary you want, and that you don't
know enough yet to fill the job. It would be poor salesmanship to try to
convince him that you have had a good deal of experience. If you
exaggerate the importance of the things you have learned, he almost
surely will judge you to be an unfair weighman of yourself. So you
should tacitly admit your inexperience and treat the value of experience
lightly by reminding him that his business is unlike any other. Then
bear down hard on your eagerness to learn his ways and to work for him.
Thus you can make him perceive the two sides of the scale _as you view
them_.

[Sidenote: Tipping the Balances Your Way]

It is possible for you so to tip the balances in your favor, though
previously the mind's eye of your prospective employer may have been
seeing the greater weight on the unfavorable side. _It is legitimate
salesmanship to influence the decision of the other man in this way._
Your weighing is entirely honest; though you sharply reverse the
balances. Certainly you have the right to estimate the full worth of
your services, to depreciate the significance of points against you, and
to picture your desirability to the prospect as you see it, however that
view may differ from his previous conception. _If your picture of the
respective weights is attractive and convincing, the other man will
adopt it as his own and discard his former opinions about you._ Not only
will he accept the idea of your capabilities that you make him perceive;
he also will see that your deficiencies are much less important than he
had before considered them.

[Sidenote: Serving Hash For Dessert]

Beware of a mistake commonly made by applicants for positions who do not
understand the art of successfully closing the sale of one's services.
When they try to clinch the final decision, _they just repeat strongly
all their best points. They make no mention of their shortcomings._ For
dessert, in other words, they serve a hash of the best dishes of
previous courses. Is it any wonder that such a close takes away any
appetite the prospect may have had?

What would you think of a lawyer who had closed his case by simply
reading to the jury all the testimony that had been given on his side,
but who had made no reference to the opposing evidence? If you were a
juror, would you vote for a verdict in favor of the side so summed up?
Of course you would have heard the testimony of both parties to the
case, but _you would not feel that the lawyer who ignored the evidence
against his client had helped you to arrive at the conclusion that he
had the preponderance of proof on his side_. On the contrary, you
probably would be inclined to attach to the opposing evidence _greater
weight than the facts justified_, and would discount whatever the lawyer
claimed for his client. You, yourself, would act as weighmaster; and
would give the other party to the suit the benefit of any doubt in your
mind as to the contrasting weights of the testimony pro and con. _The
lawyer's failure to weigh all the evidence before your eyes would make
the impression on you that his view of the case was unfair to his
opponent._ If you felt at all doubtful, you would be likely to vote
against him in order to make sure that the other side received a square
deal.

[Sidenote: Weigh Both Pros and Cons Before Jury]

_The jury that is to decide favorably or unfavorably on your application
for a position will feel similarly inclined to reach a negative
conclusion if in closing you omit the process of weighing the pros and
cons, and emphasize only your strong points._ It is good salesmanship to
stress these at the finishing stage, but they should be pictured _in
contrast with lighter objections_ to your employment. In order to
_convince_ the prospect that the reasons for employing you outweigh the
reasons for turning you down, you must show his mind _both sides of the
scale_. If you fail to do this, his own imagination will do the weighing
and is certain to bear down with prejudice on every point against you.
It will also depreciate your view of the points in your favor. The other
man will make sure that _he_ is getting a square deal on the weights,
since he will believe _you_, too, are looking out only for Number One.

[Sidenote: To Make Certain Do The Weighing Yourself]

The _certain_ way to make your prospect perceive that the reasons for
accepting your proposal are of greater weight than any causes for
turning down your application is to _do the weighing yourself_. First
be sure the heavier weight _is_ on your side. When you fully believe
that, use all the arts of salesmanship to _make the other man see the
balances as you view them_. Then he can come to but one conclusion, that
the "preponderance" is on your side. _Just as soon as you make the
respective weights clear to his perception, he will be convinced._ He
cannot deny what his own mind's eye has been made to see.

[Sidenote: Get Prospect Committed]

Therefore bringing about a favorable _mental conclusion_ is not at all
difficult. The judgment that your services would be desirable is no
harder to gain than a decision that the weight of one side of a scale is
greater than the other. Any one who looks at the balances sees at once
which way they tip. The rub is not in getting the decision _made_ but in
getting it _pronounced_. The sale is not completed until the prospect
has _committed_ himself.

[Sidenote: Now is the Acceptance Time]

He feels that his mental processes are his own secret, which you cannot
read; so he will not guard against the conclusion of his _mind_ that you
would be a desirable employee. But for some reason he may be unwilling
to _express_ his thoughts to you just then, however thoroughly he is
convinced. He naturally prefers not to say "Yes" at once; so that he may
change his mind if he wishes. _You will endanger your chances of success
if you let him put off action on his decision._ To-morrow he is likely
to see the weights in a different light and to imagine less on your
side and more against you. _Now_ is the time to close the sale, when he
cannot help seeing things _your way_.

[Sidenote: Two Stages Of Closing]

You know that sometimes a juror will be convinced in his own mind,
yet cannot bring himself actually to vote according to his mental
conclusion. Perhaps he is a "wobbler" by nature. So a girl may decide
in her thoughts that a certain suitor would make a good husband, yet
she may hesitate to accept him just because that step is _final_.
These illustrations impress the importance of _discriminating between
the two stages of closing a sale_. The success of the salesman is
made certain only by his knowledge and skillful use, first of the art of
_vivid weighing_, and second of the art of _prompting the prospect
to action on his perception of the difference in the balances_. At the
closing stage we have encountered again our old acquaintance, "the
discriminative-restrictive process."

[Sidenote: Closing a Procrastinator]

A friend of mine who has an advertising agency wanted to secure the
business of a prominent manufacturer who was inclined to vacillation.
The prospect was always timid about acting and had the reputation of a
chronic procrastinator. My friend went ahead with the selling process in
ordinary course until he had proved the desirability of his service and
had shown that there was no really weighty reason why the contract
should not be given to him. He knew he was entitled to the decision
then, but he did not wait for the timid man to pronounce it. The
advertising agent knew the characteristics of the prospect and had
planned just how he would handle the finishing stage of the selling
process so as to get the order promptly.

[Sidenote: The Clincher Held in Reserve]

He held in reserve a closing method that a less skillful salesman
probably would have used earlier in the sale instead of reserving it
especially for the end. As soon as he had completed the weighing process
my friend took from his pocket a sheet of copy he had prepared for a
first advertisement along the line he had proposed. This had been worked
out carefully in advance, just as if the order had already been given
for the advertising service. My friend laid the sheet of copy before the
prospect, who was taken completely by surprise.

"I knew you would want this service as soon as I explained it to you,"
said the salesman. "Therefore I prepared this ad for the first
publication under the plan I have submitted, and which I am sure you
approve. There is no question that you will get much better results from
this copy than you have been receiving from the advertising you are
doing now. Naturally you want to begin benefiting from my service as
soon as possible. I'm all ready to deliver the goods. Just pencil your
O.K. on the corner of this copy. I'll do the rest."

[Sidenote: From Pencil To Pen]

With a smile of confidence the salesman held out a soft lead pencil.
_The moment the other man involuntarily obeyed the suggestion by
accepting the tendered pencil, he was started on the purely muscular
process of pronouncing his approval of the proposition likewise tendered
for his acceptance._ The informality of the off-hand request that he
"pencil his O.K." kept him from being scared off. He did not feel that
he had yet committed himself fully. Probably, with characteristic
timidity, he would have shied from signing a formal contract at that
moment. But he hesitated only slightly before he scribbled his initials
on the corner of the proposed ad. Then he handed the pencil back to the
salesman. The advertising agent picked up the approved copy, and at once
laid before the prospect a formal contract. Simultaneously he tendered
his fountain pen. _He had started the advertiser to writing his name,
and did not let the process stop._

"Now just O.K. this, too," he directed, "and the whole matter will be
settled to your complete satisfaction." Then, to prevent the
procrastinator from backing up, the salesman reached for the telephone
on the advertiser's desk. "With your permission, I'll call up
the----magazine and reserve choice space for this ad. It won't cost any
more and by getting in early we'll make the ad most effective."

[Sidenote: Decide For, Then Commit The Prospect]

My friend manifested complete confidence that the sale was _closed_. By
continuing the process of affirming the decision, he prevented the
prospect from backing up after making his pencilled O.K. Being thus
committed informally, the usually vacillating advertiser could not well
avoid using the pen put into his hand to sign the formal contract laid
before him. Without speaking to him, the salesman pointed to the dotted
line while he called the telephone number he wanted. _The prospect wrote
his name before he had time to stop the impulse that the advertising
agent had started._ The salesman had both _induced_ the mental
_decision_ in his favor, and _impelled_ its _pronouncement_. Really he
first _made up the prospect's mind for him_, and then _committed him to
the decision so made_ without the other man's volition.

[Sidenote: Both Processes In Right Sequence]

_Only by performing both processes in right sequence at the closing
stage can a sale be finished under the control of the salesman._ If the
_favorable conclusion_ as to the respective weights of negative and
affirmative is not first worked out before the mind's eye of the
prospect, anything done to _commit_ him to a decision will likely kill
the salesman's chances for success. The prospect whose mind is not yet
made up favorably, who does not clearly perceive that the preponderance
is on the "Yes" side of the scale, will almost surely say "No" if his
decision is _prematurely_ impelled.

[Sidenote: Discriminate And Restrict]

Hence it is important that the salesman discriminate between the two
closing stages, and that he restrict his selling methods at each stage
to the selling processes that are effective then. He must not get "the
cart before the horse," as the ignorant or unskillful closer is apt to
do. The poor closer does not understand the "discriminative-restrictive"
process. He lacks comprehension of the distinction that should be drawn
between the methods he _previously_ has used and what is now required to
_finish_ the sale. Let us be sure we know how to discriminate; so that
our work at the closing stage may be restricted to the processes that
are required to assure success in taking the particular step necessary.

[Sidenote: New Process Necessary To Close]

Throughout the series of selling steps that precede the closing stage,
the continuing purpose of the salesman is to make the prospect _see_ the
proposal in the true light, as the salesman himself views it. When the
selling process draws to a conclusion, the purpose of the salesman
changes. Now he wants the prospect to _decide_ and then _act upon_ what
has been shown to his mind's eye. If the salesman is to control the
close, he must do something _new_ to prompt decision and to actuate its
pronouncement.

The unskillful closer, instead of changing his previous sales tactics,
nearly always devotes his final efforts to making the prospect _see
more clearly_ the pictures already laid before his mind. He tries to
impress the prospect with a _re-hash of perception_, by emphasizing more
strongly than before the favorable points brought out clearly at earlier
stages. Of course it is important that at the close of the sale the
prospect have all these points in view, but it is not good salesmanship
to emphasize only the appeal to his _perceptive_ faculties. The guest
who has had a good dinner does not need to be told just afterward what
he has eaten, or reminded of the courses by having them brought in
again.

[Sidenote: Logic and Reason Won't Win]

As it is a mistake to serve at the close of a sale only a re-hash of
favorable points; so is it bad salesmanship to rely on a dessert of
"logic and reason" for the finishing touch. _Logic and reason provoke
antagonism. They are ineffective in bringing about either a favorable
conclusion of mind or action on such a decision._

If you have presented your capabilities fully to a prospective employer,
do not wind up by marshalling reasons why he should engage you. Avoid
the use of the "major premise, minor premise, argument, and logical
conclusion." _You cannot debate yourself into a job_, for the judge is
made antagonistic by your method, which puts him on the defensive. It is
human nature to resist a decision that logic tries to force. No man
arrives at his conclusions of mind by putting himself through a
reasoning process. A normal person does not need to reason about things
he knows. _He knows without reasoning._ He attempts to use logic only
when he is _uncertain_ what to think. If logic is used by the salesman
to convince the other man, it will be ineffective because it is an
unnatural means that the prospect almost never employs to convince
himself, and of which he is suspicious.

[Sidenote: Why Reasoning is Futile]

A major premise is but an assumption unless it is already known. If it
is known, why should it be proved? Since the correctness of the
conclusion depends entirely upon the validity of the premise, it is
evidently absurd to attempt to prove a truth from the basis of an
admitted assumption. The reasoning process that starts from a truth
already known, and arrives at a truth that must similarly have been
known, is utterly useless and a waste of time. Hence, _if you use the
reasoning process you will either fail to convince your prospect by
starting from a premise that he does not know, or you will irritate and
unfavorably impress him by seeming to reflect on his intelligence when
you prove to him something he already knows_. That is the wrong way to
bring your man to a "Yes" decision.

If the whole process of the sale could be summed up in just one logical
statement at closing, it might occasionally be practical for the
salesman to apply reasoning with good effect to help him secure the
decision. But the four steps, first and second premise, argument, and
conclusion, must be applied to every point that is made with reasoning.
Since the force of the conclusion is largely lost unless the major
premise is an absolute truth recognized by everybody, there is danger of
confusion, and no possibility of convincing the prospect by such
methods. Besides, a multitude of reasoning processes would be necessary
to cover all the points presented by the salesman and all the objections
raised by the prospect. Moreover, as we have seen, the whole procedure
of "a logical close" falls back upon itself unless everything the
salesman hopes to prove was known and admitted to be true before he
began to reason it out.

[Sidenote: Favorable Decision Defined]

_Favorable decision is the prospect's mental conclusion that it is
better to buy than not to buy; better to accept than to refuse._ The
process of securing decision is not complex; it is very simple. As has
been said, the salesman needs only to weigh before the mind's eye of the
prospect the favorable and unfavorable ideas of the proposal. _Any
weighing of two mental images always results in a judgment as to which
is preferable, or that one course of action would be better than the
other._ The mind is never so exactly balanced between contrasting ideas
that it does not tip at all either way.

[Sidenote: Weighing Ideas of A Steak]

The skill of the salesman weighmaster, used legitimately before the
mind's eye of the prospect to tip the scales of decision to the
favorable side, is illustrated in the story of a butcher who had been
asked by a woman customer to weigh a steak for her. He knew that the
weighing process _in her mind_ included more than the balancing of a
certain number of pounds and ounces on the scale. Against the reasons
for her evident inclination to take the selected steak, she would weigh
its cost, her personal ideas of its value, and other factors of the high
cost of living.

[Sidenote: Skillful Close of The Sale]

The butcher wished to bring her quickly to a favorable decision. He
wanted to make up the customer's mind for her in such a conclusive way
that she would be prevented from hesitating over the purchase. As a
weighman of pounds and ounces he only wanted to show the prospect that
he was honest. But in order to tip _the buying scales in her mind_ he
put into the balances, on the side opposite the cost of the steak, the
heavier weight of buying inducements. First he did the actual weighing
of the steak; then he added on the "Yes" side of the scales of decision
_ideas of the excellence and desirability of the meat_. He followed
immediately with a _suggestion of action that would commit the prospect
to buying_.

"Two pounds and five ounces, ma'am! Only a dollar and forty-three cents.
It's the very choicest part of the loin. You couldn't get a cut any
tenderer than that, or with less bone. Would you like to have a little
extra suet wrapped up with it?"

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