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Effectively immediately, I will no longer be accepting new clients.
After 16 great years on the road, my consulting operations have been suspended indefinitely, because I am going to work full time for a great family-owned newspaper company.

It will be great to spend more nights with my family, and to only have one big revenue budget to meet each year, instead of several dozen.

This site will come down soon, so copy and save anything you want from it.
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Essential Sales Lesson 66 of 112 (The halfway point, yea!  But there's still so much more to learn if you want to be great. 

 

CLASSIFY YOUR KNOWLEDGE.

 

(a)  Specialize In Your Study For Preparation In Your Work.  This is a day of rapid action.  Business is transacted in a more decisive way than ever before.  You are compelled to be well-qualified for your work, in order to hold your place.  Efficiency is now the watch word in all lines of business.  To prepare yourself the best, you should specialize in your preparation.  Get down to the requirements for success and dig out the information that will make you master of the thing in hand to do.  Of course, you will have to think hard in order to become an expert in selling your advertising goods.  The people prefer to buy advertising from the salesmen who have the fullest knowledge about what will best fit their needs. 

 

(b)  Utilize Your Own Experiences And Also The Experiences Of Others.  Make capital out of what you learn through experience.  Your personal experiences give you your best instruction.  You may measure your progress by the extent to which you make your own experiences, and the experiences of others, prepare you for your work. 

 

(c)  Mentally Analyze and Apply To Business Use All Facts Learned.  The practice of making use of all experiences which come to your notice is helpful and profitable to you.  You should always be ready with an open mind to absorb and make a part of yourself everything that will be useful to you.  To do this, you will be required to cast away all prejudice and antagonistic self-opinionated ideas of your own. 

 

(d)  Your Greatest Knowledge Comes From The Study Of Yourself.  But you should look after your own mental and moral equipment, for here you have the chance for making your greatest growth.  Find out and classify your best qualities as you see them.  Have these ready for instant use.  Then correct your faults of every kind as fast as you can discover them.  Substitute better ways of thinking for what is found to be improper thinking. 

 

(e)  Apply Yourself To All That Improves Your Character.  As you improve your character, you increase your power for the production of business.  You are only as strong as is your mental and moral strength.  You do business through the influence that your character gives.  Your character is you, as seen by the business world.  Reputation rests upon character. 

_ Normal 0 Essential Sales Lesson 65 of 112

 

JUDGING OTHERS DOES NOT GET YOU JUSTICE.

 

(a)  You Can Never Judge Others Correctly.  What and whom do you make your standard when you are ready to pass judgment upon another?  You cannot have any other standard save that of yourself.  You measure the actions of others by what you think you would have done in their places.  You have your own ideas of what you consider right, and you expect your neighbors and fellow workers to agree with you.  But they cannot agree with you, nor can they act from the basis of the same motives and impulses that you may think should control them.  In fact, you can never know all the facts which together, make up the sum total of motives and purposes back of all the action of others.  Therefore it is impossible for you to judge others correctly. 

 

(b)  The Inner Facts Of Motive Are Too Deep For Personal Judgment.  It is a difficult task even to define your own motives for word and act.  Stop and try to give the influences which have shaped our actions of today.  You would have to review your whole life and the environments and the training influences, all of which have affected your work o today.  Then you cannot begin to discern the motives, nor understand the influences, which have shaped the actions of another.  You cannot get to the vital factors which have made them what they are. 

 

(c)  Judgment In Condemnation Of Others Is Often Revengeful Criticism.  You may think that you can get even by picking the flaws in someone else.  You may try to condone your own shortcomings by an endeavor to prove another worse than yourself.  But all your judgment in condemnation will hit yourself the hardest. 

 

(d)  You Must Not Judge If You Would Avoid The Judgment Of Others.  You must not be unfair to others.  Consider others as good already, as you wish yourself to be.  Honor the honor in other men and they will not try to dishonor you.  The brotherhood of person compels you to love your neighbor as yourself. 

 

(e)  You Get Justice by Being Just.  Those who give out the most good, get back the most.  Life is filled with just compensation.  As you mete out love and justice, so will love and justice come to you. 

_ Normal 0 Essential Sales Lesson 64 of 112

This one isn't "politically correct" but it sure is true in sales! (Richard)


 

PHYSICAL AND DRESS APPEARANCES.

 

(a)  How Physical And Dress Appearances Affect You.  You are not very likely to show a good healthy physical appearance unless you have a good healthy physical body.  Your good health and the appearance of that good healthy body is an asset of value to you.  Keep it up in a good presentable way.  Look after every phase of cleanliness and good order from “crown to toe.”  Be sure to train your physical forces to the top notch in endurance and efficiency.  Be regular in exercise, breathing and cleansing.  Just be sure that you look as good as you are.  Then too, your good dress appearances always go hand in hand with your general good appearances.  Good dress and good physique help you in maintaining your self-respect.  You feel yourself above criticism. 

 

(b)  These Give The First Impressions To Your Customers.  The first impressions are often the most lasting.  At any rate, if you expect to get the favorable hearing on your proposition that you think you deserve, then do not offend your customers by neglect of yourself or your clothes.  Be assured that your customers will “look you over,” whether you will be aware of it or not.  The first impression leads to the conclusion on their part as to your worthiness of favorable consideration by them.  Any lack of care of yourself, or your clothes, may cause a “turn down” for you at the very beginning.  Look after your first impressions. 

 

(c)  Mannerisms and Fads Are Generally Objectionable.  You need not expect to win favor by being peculiar in either manner or in dress.  Always be normal and so far as possible be like normal and “regular people.”  If you allow your mind to be filled with fads and you undertake to make your fads the chief facts of interest, you will arouse an unwholesome suspicion against you.  Compel yourself to talk and act like other good respectable people talk and act in business. 

 

(d)  Eliminate Self-Consciousness And Act Naturally.  You can never show your interest and sincerity except when you act naturally.  Forget all about yourself through the intensity of your interest in your customer and his interests.  When you know that you are right you can overcome self-consciousness by the might of confidence in yourself. 

_ Normal 0 Essential Sales Lesson 63 of 112

 

CRITICISM WITH CENSURE IS NOT CREATIVE.

 

(a)  There Is Such A Thing As Friendly Criticism.  A friend can be friendly in criticism.  You may be able to point out another’s faults without any motive of selfishness on your own part.  You may have in mind the fullest sense of good for another, and labor for his advancement to the absolute exclusion of good wishes for yourself.  Your standard of judgment in criticism must be free from self for it cannot be righteous. 

 

(b)  But It Is Difficult to Distinguish Friendly From Unfriendly Criticism.  To the one making criticism, it is difficult to determine whether or not it is entirely unselfish.  Even within ourselves, we do not always easily understand our motives.  We sometimes befool ourselves with the self-assertive attitude that we labor for another, when in fact we do the greatest wrong.  Criticism is always based upon the passing of judgment.  We thus conclude what are the motives of another by the appearances of his acts.  When we midjudge his motives, we offer our criticism wrongly based. 

 

(c)  The Fault-Finding Kind Of Criticism Is Most Generally Used.  It seems to be a perverse nature in us to offer our criticism with censure.  We are inclined to let others take care of themselves until such time as their efforts seem to effect us, when we attempt to tear down by fault-finding.  Of course, this indicates the extreme selfishness of ourselves.  We think better of ourselves than we do of others.  We ignore the rights of other and claim the right-of-way for ourselves. 

 

(d)  Criticism With Censure Is Destructive Of Creative Impulses In Others.  If you want to help another, if you want to inspire to more noble effort, never criticize him with any degree of censure.  Reproof rarely ever reforms.  You cannot rebuke or condemn with certain good results to the one you visit your criticism upon.  Severe censure destroys the good creative impulses of the men who receive it. 

 

(e)  Such Criticism Is Intense Selfishness On The Part Of The Critics.  Why should you seek to destroy the hopes of another by trying to be the master of his destiny?  If you judge others by your own standard, you judge wrongly, and but serve your own selfish selfhood.  Do not criticize another except upon the purest friendship basis. 

_ Normal 0 Essential Sales Lesson 62 of 112

 

PERSONALITY.

 

(a)  Your Nature Upon Which Your Personality is Based.  As an individual you have inherent qualities and potential powers.  These would continue to be dormant to a very large extent if you were not led into a process of development.  In early life your environment and education did much to start the unfoldment process, by bringing activity to these qualities and these powers.  Your growth and improved efficiency, physically, intellectually, and morally have come from much of your early training and schooling.  Personality is but the enlargement of your natural self.  You are first fitted by nature and then made more fit by practice, to play your part well in life’s drama. 

 

(b)  The Total Sum Of Your Characteristic Traits Makes Your Personality.  Your real person known as you, is that of your character.  Your character is what receives the effects from all the training and schooling you receive from every source.  Your character is affected by every thought, word and act of yourself as well as by every thought, word and act of all with whom you come in contact.  Your whole building is that of character.  You develop character based upon natural traits, to be sure.  But you improve yourself by the carefulness in your building of character.  At all times your personality represents the total of your characteristic traits. 

 

(c)  What Is Your Condition, Your State, Your Capacity?  So much depends upon your own viewpoint as to what you are, and of what you can make of yourself.  You will increase your capacity in proportion to your understanding of yourself.  Your mental state and the conditions which you meet in life are the tools with which you must work.  You can change conditions and your mental equipment according to your visions of your possibilities. 

 

(d)  Your Personality Is Manifestly Your Greatest Power.  It is the representation of the completed product of your character-building process at this time.  Through the power of your personality you are able to show the measure of your accomplishments of today.  You will grow in power as your personality shows that you have grown in good character qualities. 

_ Normal 0 Essential Sales Lesson 61 of 112

 

WHAT PROMISES YOU SHOULD MAKE.

 

(a)  Promise Only What You Know You Can Deliver.  Your promise should always be as good as your bond.  If you are not sure of making good according to schedule on your promise, then refuse to make the promise.  You cannot afford to make any kind of promise for the purpose of persuasion on your customer, if you do not mean to carry out your promise.  You must not guarantee what you cannot control.  The promise is a most essential factor in good salesmanship.  It carries great weight in the getting of business when it is known that your promise is perfectly good and can be relied upon. 

 

(b)  Be Impartial In Your Promises And Treat All Alike.  If you want to establish a permanent good-will with all your customers, treat them with absolute fairness.  Give none the advantage over others.  Let it be known always that you have no favorites.  Making exceptions in special cases cannot end to your advantage.  Such cases in which exceptions are made will demand more and more of you, even to the point of a final rupture to your business relationship. 

 

(c)  Promise The Full Measure of Results Which Come From The Good-Will Reading Patronage Of The Circulation.  This is the safe promise to make.  Show the power of this reading patronage to the advertisers, show that advertising patrons equally well located with equally good goods and right prices, may expect to get like results.  This puts all advertisers on an equal basis.  So it is a question of providing equally good copy.  You are the one to see that such good copy is forthcoming from your customers.  Your medium is all right; the circulation and the reading habit, regular and powerful, and so good copy has to do the rest. 

 

(d)  Promise To Assist Your Customer To The Full Extent Of Your Ability, To Get The Greatest Measure Of Results.  When you carry out this promise you will fully satisfy your advertising patron.  You can assist an advertiser to improve his copy 100 percent, and thus double the measure of his results.  Your full duty as a seller of advertising results in your medium to advertisers is that of ceaseless effort to enlarge those results.  Do not sell paper space in your medium, but sell advertising results to your advertisers. 

 

(e)  Promise Yourself To Be True To Your Promises To Your Customers.  Make this promise good in every respect, and you will win the unanimous approval and confidence of all patrons. 

_ Normal 0 Essential Sales Lesson 60 of 112

 

SAY THE RIGHT THING AT THE RIGHT TIME.

 

(a)  Know What Is The Right Thing For Your Customer.  You cannot think of advising your customer to his disadvantage.  It is not to be considered for a moment that you would lead him into action to his loss and regret, regardless of the advantage that his order would be to you.  When your customer believes in you and relies upon your judgment, perhaps to a large extent, you must not betray that trust.  You cannot be true to yourself unless you prove yourself true to your customer.  Therefore, your first duty is to know what is the right kind of advertising for your customer.  You can do this by being sincere and faithful to him and his interests.  You must think for him, plan for him, and help him to decide always for the best results to him. 

 

(b)  Show The Courage Of Your Convictions.  You must be able to tell the truth when it is demanded, whether it gains or loses the order for you.  You should be as ready to tell him when not to advertise as you are to tell him when to advertise. Or to tell him to use one-half the amount of space he contemplates using when in your well-defined judgment it will be better for him to do as you think.  If you are sure that you know what is the right thing for him to do, be equally sure to tell him, whether it gets you immediate business or does not.  Give your customer the square deal and he will give you more business. 

 

(c)  Diplomacy And Tact In Salesmanship.  You can be truthful and fair with your customer and yet use diplomacy and tact in the handling of your customer.  There are things to be said and some things to be left unsaid.  You need to be discreet and careful to handle the business of your customer in a diplomatic and tactful way, in order to bring him to that decision which you consider will be greatest advantage to him.

 

(d)  Do Not Ridicule Your Customer’s Opinions.  Ridicule never convinces, but on the other hand it is irritating.  Your customer’s opinions are doubtless honest opinions. Whether they are honest or not, your ridicule will make your customer resistive to you.  When he becomes resistive, he will refuse to listen, or at least to give you an impartial hearing. 

 

(e)  Argue For Your Customer And Not For Yourself.  Keep yourself on his side of the fence.  Labor to help him.  He will give you his entire confidence if you make yourself truly sincere to him and faithful to his interests. 

_ Normal 0 Essential Sales Lesson 59 of 112

 

WHEN AND HOW TO CLOSE THE DEAL.

 

(a)  The Introduction.  By the introduction in salesmanship, you understand to be meant your manner of approach.  It is the way you make your first impression.  The way that you get a hearing determines to a large extent the results or outcome of your interview.  Your good dress and physical appearance, your open manner and pleasant speech, your friendly and cheerful way of saying “Good Morning, Sir,” all help to put your prospect in a correct frame of mind to receive and listen to you.  When you have thus cleared the way for an unbiased and friendly hearing—you have the sale half made. 

 

(b)  Arousing An Interest.  Now that your prospective customer is interested in you because of the good impression you have made, you must with like tactful ways, interest him in what you have to sell.  Your product that you have to offer is the result-producing power of your paper.  The possibilities of this result-producing power in connection with your prospect’s business and needs, is the point of vital interest to him.  Give him a vivid vision of the advantages to him in advertising, and you will secure his interest. 

 

(c)  Creating A Desire.  You should never try to force a sale until you have been able to create a desire for what you sell.  Show the value of your advertising goods to your customer.  Prove his need for the advertising.  Enable him to see that he can either make or save money by the use of your medium.  Back up your arguments with instances where other advertisers are either making or saving money by the use of your paper, men to whom you are willing to refer him if he wishes to investigate.  Your prospective advertiser will have a desire for advertising representation, when you have convinced him that you offer what will benefit him. 

 

(d)  Formulate A Plan For Quick, Decisive Action.  Proceed to prepare the best campaign for him.  Suggest the kind of copy and the amount of space to be used, giving the approximate cost.  Having concluded in your mind that you have convinced your customer, proceed upon that theory and neither suggest a doubt nor even wait for him to say “Yes, I’ll take it.” 

 

(e)  Taking The Order.  The order is yours if you will take it.  Cease trying to further sell him, but consider the sale made, and you wait for the order.  Your own suggestion of the way the order shall be given will get it for you. 

_ Normal 0 Essential Sales Lesson 58 of 112

 

BENEFITS OF BUSINESS DISCIPLINE.

 

(a)  Business Discipline Develops The Physical, Mental and Moral Faculties.  It is difficult for you to know what is best for you until you are told.  True, you learn by experience, but experience is as likely to lead you downwards as upwards if you are not wisely directed by the experience of others.  Business discipline furnishes you with the material with which to build the best for you. Your physical, mental, and moral faculties are improved and enlarged by close direction under business discipline.  Your health is conserved, your thinking is corrected, and your moral tone kept true by the authority exercised over you through rules and regulations which you are required to observe.  Business discipline protects you from the pitfalls of error and misunderstanding, which surround you. 

 

(b)  Business Discipline Corrects Your Faults.  Your faults are not sure to be seen by you unless someone wiser than you shows them to you.  We are all mortal and it is common to excuse ourselves and lay the blame on another.  Left to ourselves we are inclined to excuse our faults rather than correct them.  But business discipline reverses the process and compels us to correct our faults. 

 

(c)  Business Discipline Establishes Principles And Motives.  All good business building is done upon the basis of well-defined principles and motives.  Business discipline enforces an observance of these corrected principles and motives in business. 

 

(d)  Business Discipline Systematizes Into Accurate Action.  System and routine make the handling of detail profitable.  There can be no accuracy of action excepting that action be trained by method and system for the best results.  Left alone without direction and guidance, your work becomes irregular and chaotic in plan.  Business discipline enforces the proper observance of definite form in routine effort. You are made a more productive worker. 

 

(e)  Business Discipline Makes Real “Men Of Business.”  The training you get by subjecting yourself to strict discipline in an early career, affects for good the whole of your after life.  You are made more efficient for all time.  Its benefits are legion.