Certain Success by Norval A. Hawkins

N >> Norval A. Hawkins >> Certain Success

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In the same measure that you require proof of a desirable personality in
an employer, you should make sure that the work is exactly what you
expect. See that your prospective "new boss" sells you the job at the
same time you are selling him your services. If he perceives in you the
one man who best fits his needs, he will put forth every effort to buy
your services. Every employer will respect the man who states, with
salesmanship, a sound reason for selecting and seeking connection with a
business house; since such a man gives promise of making the sort of
dependable, loyal worker that every business values and appreciates.

[Sidenote: Sell to Satisfy Real Needs]

The true salesman sells to satisfy _a real need_ of the buyer.
Therefore, when you have charted your salable qualities, select the
field of service in which such capability as you possess is needed.
That, you may be sure, is _your_ right market--the field where you are
_certain_ to succeed. Enter it, and no other field. Apply there for a
place of opportunity to serve; with the absolute confidence of a good
salesman come to satisfy a want, and conscious of his individual fitness
"to deliver the goods."

You may not get just what you desire at the first attempt. The best
professional salesman often has to make _repeated_ efforts to close
orders. But in the end, if you "have the goods," that are needed where
you bring them, _and you know how to sell true ideas of your best self_
(as you _will_ know after mastering the selling process) you will be
sure of getting sufficient opportunities to succeed. You will be as
certain about getting enough chances as the first-class professional
salesman is certain of attaining his full quota of business despite some
turn-downs. _Success is a matter of making a good batting average_.

[Sidenote: Parts of Complete Process]

Remember as you read that you are studying _a completed process_. An
unfinished sales effort is not _a sale_ at all. You will not be a
_certainly successful_ salesman until you perfect your knowledge and
skill in _all the steps_ of salesmanship. You can learn only a single
part of sales efficiency at a time. The relative significance of each
point, its full importance in the entire selling process, will not be
comprehended until you have read at least once all there is in this set
of books. When you re-study the successive chapters, the details you may
at first understand but vaguely in a disconnected way will be clear. You
will comprehend them as various elements of salesmanship which must be
fitted together to complete the process of selling.

Thus far in the present chapter we have been considering principally the
"goods of sale." We have been looking at our subject from the
_material_ aspect. Now let us turn our attention to the mental view of
sales.

[Sidenote: Mental Nature of Selling Process]

In the effective selling process the skilled salesman is able to be the
_controlling_ party. _He makes the other man think as he thinks_. As has
been stated repeatedly, he sells _ideas_, not goods. So the _real
nature_ of any sale is mental, not material. You must "deliver the
goods" to the _mind_ of the man to whom you wish to sell your best
capabilities. You should use the same process as the professional
salesman, who works to control the _thoughts_ of his prospect regarding
the line of goods presented. Hence when you plan to make sure of getting
a desired position, it is necessary that you know _exactly how_ to put
true ideas about yourself into the head of the person whom you have
chosen as your prospective employer. Further, you need to know
_precisely what_ psychological effects you can secure with certainty by
using skillful salesmanship.

[Sidenote: Three Sales Mediums]

Ideas of your best capability may be sold through three
mediums--advertising, correspondence, and personal selling. Take
advantage of all three, wherever and whenever possible, to gain your
chance for success. Use these mediums with _real salesmanship_.

[Sidenote: Advertising]

If you advertise for a position, think out in detail the impression of
your true best self that you wish to make on the minds of readers. Put
_your personality_ into the advertising medium in such carefully
selected language as will reach _the needs of particular employers_, and
will not appear to be just a broadside of words shot into the air
without aim. Indicate clearly that _you_ are not seeking "any old job so
long as the salary is good." Analyze and know _just what_ you suggest
about yourself in print. Many a successful business man has sold himself
through the door of his initial big opportunity by real salesmanship in
his advertisement of his capabilities.

[Sidenote: Correspondence]

Each letter you write should be regarded as "a sales letter." It makes
an impression, true or false, of _you_. Take the greatest pains to have
that impression what you want it to be. Never be slovenly or careless in
writing to _anyone on any subject_. Put genuine salesmanship into all
your letters _consciously_; instead of conveying ideas unwittingly,
without realizing what the reader is likely to think of you and the
things you write. You can scatter impressions of your best self
broadcast over the earth by using your ordinary correspondence as a
medium of salesmanship. So you can open both nearby and far distant
opportunities for the future; even while you still are training yourself
to make the most of these chances you hope to gain.

Good sales letters are so rare that the ability to write them has
erroneously been called "a gift." It is not. Any one of educated
intelligence can write his ideas; _provided he has clear, definite
thought-images in his own mind_. But cloudy thinking reflects only a
blur on paper.

[Sidenote: Using Sales Letters]

A letter that plainly conveys true ideas is a sales letter; for it gets
across to the mind of the recipient a clear, definite mental impression
of the writer's real personality and thoughts.

In all your correspondence, throughout the period of preparation for
your chosen life career, send out true ideas of your best capability. If
you do, you doubtless will find the door of your desired opportunity
open by the time you are fully prepared to knock. Successful business is
always ready in advance to welcome "comers;" whenever and wherever they
are sighted. Therefore project your personality far and wide through
your letters. Employ the medium of correspondence, with salesmanship
knowledge and skill, even when you write the most ordinary messages to
your acquaintances or to strangers. That is, _think out certain ways to
sell particular ideas about yourself_; then incorporate these bits of
salesmanship in your letters.

A young man in his senior year at college selected a large corporation
as his prospective employer. He did not know any of the executives of
the company, but he worked out a plan to get acquainted through letters.
He was especially desirous of entering the field of foreign trade, and
had made a fairly comprehensive study of the export business. He wrote
to the president of the corporation, gave a brief outline of articles
and books he had read; then complimented the great company by declaring
that he realized the knowledge he had acquired was theoretical and
abstract, and that he wished to gain practical, concrete ideas by
studying the methods of the corporation. He enclosed with his letter ten
cents in postage stamps, and requested that he be sent any forms,
instruction sheets, sales bulletins, etc., the president was willing to
let him have for study.

[Sidenote: Getting A Future Chance]

His letter was referred to the vice-president in charge of sales, who in
turn passed it on to a department manager with instructions to supply
the matter requested. In the course of a week the college student
received a bulky package. Meanwhile a letter had been sent from the
department head which stated that the vice-president in charge of sales
had referred to him the request for forms, instruction sheets, etc., and
that they would be forwarded under separate cover.

The student took advantage of the three opportunities opened to conduct
correspondence with the executives of the corporation. He first wrote
courteous, carefully worded "thank-you" letters to the president,
vice-president, and department head. These were all in his own hand, so
that his good penmanship might make an individual impression. After
these letters were dispatched the student mastered the material that
had been sent to him. Then he wrote three supplemental letters of
appreciation, and made concise comments on some of the methods of the
corporation, with comparisons from his previous reading of books and
articles on foreign trade. He stated that he intended to make further
investigation along these particular lines and that if he learned
anything he thought might be interesting to the company he would write
what he found out. In the course of a month he sent a letter which
detailed his investigations. This he addressed to the department head
only. But he also penned brief letters to the president and
vice-president, in which he informed them that he had written in detail
to the department head.

[Sidenote: Effect of Follow-up Letters]

The correspondence continued throughout the remainder of the student's
senior year at college. The letters from the business men soon evidenced
more than formal courtesy. They grew personal and indicated real
interest. A month before his graduation the student was invited to call
at the company's office after Commencement. He went, made an excellent
impression in interviews with the vice-president in charge of sales and
the department head, and though the ink on his sheepskin was not yet
dry, he gained his object. He was engaged by the corporation and began
training as a prospective representative of the company in foreign
territory.

Thus through the correspondence medium of salesmanship a young man who
had no advantage of personal influence or acquaintance secured exactly
the chance he wanted. Similar opportunities are open to any one.

[Sidenote: Personal Selling]

_Every moment of your life when you are in the presence of other people,
you have chances to sell true ideas about the best that is in you._ You
will not need to seek such opportunities for personal salesmanship.
Chances come to you continually to make good impressions on the minds of
the men and women you meet from day to day.

Be a skillful salesman of true ideas about yourself always, even in the
most casual relations you have with other people. Sell the best possible
impressions of yourself to passers-by on the street, to your fellow
riders in cars, to clerks and customers of stores you visit, to your
home and business associates. Put selling skill, as second nature, into
each word, tone, and action of your social and business life.

Realize that in whatever you do or say, consciously or unconsciously,
you _are_ selling ideas about your capability or your incapacity. You
are making more or less definite impressions--you are affecting your
opportunities to succeed, and are forming good or bad habits--all the
time. _Control the effects of your words, tones, and acts by saying and
doing, consciously and intelligently, only what will aid in selling
true ideas of your best capabilities._.

[Sidenote: Practical Psychology]

Of course you already know that each word and tone and act of your life
makes _some_ impression on the people who hear or see you. But probably
you have not realized fully that _particular ways_ of saying and doing
things have _distinct and different effects_, each governed by an exact
law of psychology. You perhaps do not know now _just what_ impression is
made by a certain word, or tone, or act. To be a master salesman of
yourself you need to study the science of mind sufficiently to acquire
_working knowledge_ of common mental actions and reactions. Familiarity
with at least the general principles of psychology is of the utmost
importance in using the selling process effectively.

Do not shy from study of the science of mind because it is an "ology"
and therefore may seem hard. _You are a psychologist already_. You know
that certain things you do and say make agreeable or unfavorable
impressions on other people. In a _general_ way you know _why_. It is
necessary only that you analyze _specifically_ what you realize now
rather indefinitely. If you do not care to study a _book_ on psychology,
just use your own mind as your psychological laboratory for continual
self-analysis.

Answer for yourself such questions as, "Exactly what effect will this
particular word, or tone, or act have--and just why?" You can work out
pretty well the _practical knowledge of psychology_ you must have in
order to sell ideas about your capabilities most effectively. You simply
need to apply _purposeful intelligence_ in everything you do and say;
instead of making impressions without comprehending that by each word
and tone and act of daily living you are influencing, favorably or
adversely, your chances to succeed.

[Sidenote: Three Factors of Selling Process]

Think of yourself as one of the _three factors_ of the selling process.
The _goods of sale_ are your best capabilities, of course. The second
factor is the _prospective buyer_, the man who has need of such
qualities or services as you could supply. The _agent of sale_, or third
factor, is yourself. If you will keep in mind always the conception of
yourself as _the uniting link_ between your "goods of sale" and the
prospective buyer, you can be a salesman of yourself every minute. At
any moment except when you are alone you may encounter and influence a
possible buyer of your best capabilities. You are continually within
sight and hearing of people whose impressions of you might affect your
chances to succeed in life. Therefore always be alert to grasp every
sales opportunity within your reach.

[Sidenote: Twelve Steps]

It will be essential, also, that you have knowledge of the successive
_steps_ of the selling process, as well as knowledge of your goods of
sale and knowledge of practical mind science. Otherwise you might omit
inadvertently to use some round of the ladder to certain success, and
tumble to failure. These steps are so important to understand that the
last nine chapters of the companion book are devoted to them
exclusively. It will suffice here just to state what they are.

1. Preparation For Selling;
2. Prospecting;
3. The Plan Of Approach;
4. Securing An Audience;
5. Sizing Up The Buyer;
6. Gaining Attention;
7. Awakening Interest;
8. The Creation Of Desire;
9. Handling Objections;
10. The Process Of Decision;
11. Obtaining Signature or Assent;
12. The Get-Away That Leads To Future Orders.

[Sidenote: Five Degrees of Effort]

Another element of necessary knowledge about the selling process is the
classification of sales according to the five degrees of effort required
to close them.

1. A sale completed by response to the mere demand of the buyer.

_Example_--While a street car strike is on you are driving, an
automobile down town. A man in a hurry to catch a train stops you and
says, "I'll give you two dollars to take me to the station." You
transport him in response to his call for your services.

[Sidenote: Distinguish Degrees of Effort]

2. A sale completed by the buyer's acceptance on presentation only.

_Example_--A man is walking along a country road in the summer time. He
sees a sign in the door-yard of a farmhouse; BERRY PICKERS WANTED. He
presents himself as a candidate and the farmer at once engages his
services.

3. A sale completed immediately after a desire of the buyer has been
created by a definite, intentional effort of the salesman.

_Example_--A man out of work wants a job that will employ his physical
strength. He encounters three men who are struggling to load a very
heavy box onto a truck. He takes off his coat and proves his strength by
the ease with which the box is lifted when he helps. He inquires which
of the three men is the truck boss; and asks for a job. He is hired
because he has made the boss want the aid of his strength in handling
heavy loads.

4. A sale completed only after persuasion of the buyer.

_Example_--Assume that the truck boss in the next preceding illustration
refuses at first to hire the applicant who has demonstrated his
strength. It is necessary then for the man out of a job to talk his
prospective boss into the idea that he needs a fourth man in his gang.

5. A sale completed only after a decision by the buyer as to the
comparative benefits of purchasing or of not buying.

_Example_--You and another candidate apply for the same position in an
office. You appear to be about equal in capability. The employer "weighs
you in the balance" against the other applicant. This is a sale
requiring the fifth degree of effort. Manifestly you will need to use a
very high quality of skill to get into the mind of the prospective buyer
of services the idea that you are likely to be of more value as an
employee than your competitor for the place. Then you must skillfully
prompt him to accept your application.

[Sidenote: Difficult Sales Most Worth Making]

When you appreciate exactly how sales differ in the degrees of effort
necessary to close them, you will realize the wisdom of preparing to
sell your particular qualities and services _with full comprehension of
all the difficulties commonly met_ by candidates for desirable
positions.

Countless men have died failures because they used throughout their
lives only the first or second degrees of effort. Consequently all their
attempts to get good jobs were futile. The non-success of millions of
other worthy men has been due to their use of no more than the third or
fourth degrees of selling effort.

[Sidenote: Sales of The Fifth Degree of Difficulty]

Sales of the fifth degree of difficulty sometimes demand knowledge and
skillful use of the entire selling process. _They are the sales most
worth making._ The applicant for a new position or for a promotion is
_certain to succeed_ in his purpose if he knows how to complete a sale
of the true idea of his best capabilities. In order to do this he must
control the _weighing process_ of the buyer; and be skillful in
_prompting acceptance_ of his "goods of sale."

When you _master_ and reduce to _every-day practice_ the fundamental
principles you can learn from this set of books, you will be assured of
making a successful average in handling sales of the fifth degree of
effort.

They are sales of the kind the _professional_ salesman makes with
complete confidence every day. _His_ methods, applied to the marketing
of _your_ goods of sale, will work such wonders for you that you soon
should build up self-confidence equal to the matter-of-fact assurance of
the master salesman of clothing, insurance, and other _materials_ of
sale. He _knows_ when he begins a season or starts on a trip that he
will make a good batting average.

[Sidenote: Desired Results In Selling]

Comprehend, further, exactly what _results_ are desired by the skilled
salesman whose work is based on scientific principles.

The _immediate_ results desired are:

First, _confidence_;

Second, _acceptance_ of the ideas brought by the salesman.

One who is unfamiliar with the scientific principles underlying the
skillful practice of the right selling process is unlikely to realize
that the _first_ sales effort should be concentrated on _winning the
prospective buyer's confidence in the salesman and in the goods of
sale_. Failures in selling are often due to the fault of the salesman
who works primarily for but the _second_ of the immediate results to be
desired; the acceptance of his proposition--the acceptance of his
personal capabilities and services, for instance. He neglects, as a
_preliminary_ to securing acceptance, to gain the _confidence_ of the
other man. When you undertake to sell your particular good qualities and
your services to a prospective employer, do not make the mistake in
salesmanship of omitting the process of first winning his _belief_ in
you.

[Sidenote: Repeat Sales]

Besides the two _immediate_ results desired by the skillful salesman,
there is a _permanent_ result to be worked for--an enduring consequence
desired from the present gains made. That permanent result wanted is
_the opening of other opportunities for future sales_.

_Complete success in life_ is not assured when the _original_ sale of
one's best capabilities is closed successfully. Gaining the _initial_
desired chance does not make it certain that one will succeed in his
_entire career_. The first sale is faulty if it does not include a lead
to future opportunities "to deliver the goods."

The right selling process is continuous. Where one sale ends, another
should be already started. A great many failures of capable men can be
ascribed to short-sighted concentration on immediate chances. _One who
would make certain of the success of his whole life must ever look ahead
to the next possible opportunity for the sale of the true idea of his
best capabilities, meanwhile making the most of his present chance._

[Sidenote: Service Purpose In Selling]

In order to get the right viewpoint for further study of the selling
process, you, _the salesman of yourself_, need to comprehend clearly the
fundamental _purpose_ of all true salesmanship. _It should be the
service of the buyer in satisfying his real needs._

Few salesmen _know_ what sales service _is_, and _how_ it should be
rendered. Service is the very soul of the certain success selling
process. Service must be studied _as a purpose_ until the principles
underlying the fullest satisfaction of the buyer's real needs are
mastered, and all false misconceptions of service are cleared away from
the salesman's idea of his obligation to the purchaser of his goods of
sale.

[Sidenote: Sales Knowledge Universally Needed]

This brief summary of the principal essentials of sales knowledge has
been outlined in order to impress on you the practically _universal need
for a better understanding of the selling process_. Certainly you are
convinced now that it will pay _you_ to know HOW to sell. Then let us
look next at _yourself_ in a different light--as a subject of study in
sales-_man_-ship.

CHAPTER II

_The Man-Stuff You Have For Sale_

[Sidenote: The Man Sales-Man Ship]

Your _knowledge_ of sales principles and methods, and your _skill_ in
selling ideas must be combined with right sales-_manhood_ if your
_complete_ success in sales-man-ship is to be made certain. Particular
_man_ qualities are necessary to make you a master _salesman_ in your
chosen field. "A good man obtaineth favor." So we will study now the
elements of character required for the most effective sales-_man_-ship,
and how to develop them.

We shall not consider "Man" in the abstract, nor exceptional ideals of
manhood. Our thought of the sales _man_ will be concentrated on
qualities _you_ have or can develop, that are necessary to make _you_
most efficient in selling ideas about _yourself_.

Some radical _changes_ in your present character may be required. But
you will need principally to _grow_ in order to attain the full stature
of sales manhood that is necessary to gain complete success. If your
manliness is dwarfed now, you cannot succeed largely in selling true
ideas of your best and biggest capabilities, until you rid yourself of
the character faults that are stunting your growth as a sales _man_.

[Sidenote: The Little Man Out-of-Date]

Realize at the outset that the time has passed forever when the _little_
man, with the narrowly selfish outlook for "Number One," might succeed.
The demand of the future will be, however, not so much for BIG men as
for big MEN. The world no longer looks up to Kaisers and Czars. Success
has ceased to be merely a towering figure. Hereafter the one sure way to
succeed will lead through the door of _brotherly understanding of the
other fellow_, into the _common heart of mankind_. Only sales_man_ship
can open that door with certainty.

We are entering a new business era, where the old individualistic
methods of attaining so-called "success" will be worse than useless.
Many of them even now are forbidden by law. All the practices of the
"profiteer" and his ilk are discountenanced by far-seeing people. Men of
vision perceive that the size of To-morrow's Success will be measured in
direct proportion to its quality of _human service_.

"SERVICE" is the motto of the highest salesmanship. Therefore, in
shaping your plans to succeed, start with the resolve to make yourself a
truly big sales MAN. Do not copy the little, selfish models of
Yesterday. Study the signs of the times. To be out-of-date is equivalent
to being a failure.

[Sidenote: Pint and Bushel Men]

You will need to be big in ability, in imagination, in energy, in your
ideals--but most of all you must be big in MANHOOD. If you are little
and selfish in your life purpose, you cannot be certain of success in
selling to a truly BIG man the idea that you are fully qualified for his
service. Before making any attempt to sell yourself into a desirable
position, take pains to develop as much _man quality_ as characterizes
your prospective employer. You cannot comprehend him if you fall short
of his standard of manhood. To-day the biggest buyers of brains and
brawn recognize their obligations of human brotherhood. If you are
little and self-centered, how can you reach into the mind and heart and
soul of another man who is genuinely BIG? How can you impel him to think
as you wish?

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