[Sidenote: True Signs of Character]

The true signs of character are to be read only in the words, tones, and movements of a man—and in his muscle structure as he has developed it or has left it undeveloped. We already have seen in a previous chapter how a mind center and its co-ordinated set of muscles develop each other. So the positive characteristics of the inner man are revealed clearly by the muscle structure built up by his habits of thinking and feeling and action. On the other hand, his deficiency in certain mental and emotional development is indicated negatively by his lack of the muscle structure that naturally would be co-ordinate with such development.

The relation of muscular development to mental development, as explained in an earlier chapter, suggests the one sure way to judge a man's habits of thinking. Observe discriminatingly his various muscle structures, and his muscle activities in detail. The development of certain sets of muscles proves a co-ordinate development of the mind centers most directly connected with these muscle structures. Similarly the mental action of a man is indicated by his physical manifestations with his muscles in movements.

Hence if you learn to read the mental significance of particular muscle structures and of particular muscle actions, you will be able to size up both the habits of thought (individual characteristics) of a man, and what he happens to be thinking at the time you come to present your services or ideas for sale.

[Sidenote: Recapitulation]

Before going on with our study of the subject of this chapter, let us summarize the preceding pages to make sure that we know thoroughly the somewhat difficult but very important ground we have gone over thus far.

You chose a certain man as your prospective employer because you believe that if you succeed in associating yourself with him you will have the best opportunities to achieve your ambition. You are now standing in his presence. You need to size up his true character quickly in order that you may be sure of presenting your capabilities in the particular way that is likely to be most effective with him. You wish to impress this one man with right ideas of your qualities and their value. You want him to perceive that he lacks and requires just such services as you purpose to offer for sale. You realize it is unsafe for you to jump at conclusions about his characteristics. You pause briefly to size him up before presenting your proposition, rather than to proceed blindly in ignorance of his habits of thought, and with no clue to what he happens to be thinking at the time you call. You must know all it is possible to find out on the spot regarding him.

[Sidenote: What Has He Done with His Birthright?]

You cannot be certain of his characteristics if you judge him solely by what Nature forced on him. But you can be absolutely sure if you size him up by observing what he has done with his birthright, and if you are then able to interpret correctly what you perceive. Your prospect has had nothing to do with the shape and size of his head. His fair or dark complexion is inherited. He is utterly unable to control the color of his hair or eyes. His muscle structure, however, is a development that he has accomplished himself. If he has a firm jaw, the jaw muscles, not the jaw bone, signify the characteristics of a firm mentality. Judge the physical man he has made by his habits of living under the government of his mind. Disregard such physical details of his appearance as he cannot help. The made man is the true image of the ego. It is this ego of your prospective employer you need to know, for your chance to succeed in your purpose with him depends on the inner man you must convince and persuade. Therefore restrict your size-up to the discriminative observation of the muscle signs of his mind habits and mind actions.

[Sidenote: Recall Burbank Method]

Recall now, or re-read the second chapter of this book. There you studied the principles of restrictive-discriminative growth—the Burbank method of developing selected qualities of manhood. That chapter related to your cultivation of particular characteristics within yourself. The same principles will guide you with equal certainty in acquiring knowledge of other men.

Every mental characteristic of your prospect about which you need to know has physical indications that can be perceived, and translated into certain knowledge of details of his character. You have studied the co-relation of your mind and body in mutual development. You may be sure that similar processes of development have produced like effects in the case of the man you have come to see. You know exactly how to grow particular qualities within yourself, by using your muscles to develop corresponding mind centers and vice versa. You can read another man's mind by observing his muscle structure and muscle action, and by then interpreting the mental significance of what you perceive.

[Sidenote: Men are Alike At Heart, But Differ in Mind]

To repeat and emphasize again what already has been said about knowing the heart of another man—you need but look into your own breast to find there the finest basic characteristics of the human heart in general. As Kipling wrote, "The Colonel's lady and Judy O'Grady are sisters under their skins." All men are fundamentally alike at the bottoms of their hearts, however much they may differ in the individual traits they have grafted upon their common root of human nature.

So when you are sizing up your prospect, you should comprehend that the most effective way to get to his heart is through such an appeal as would reach the heart of every man. Know your own heart surely, then, in order to be certain of knowing his. All human hearts respond similarly to manifestations of courage, nobility, love, faith, honor, and the like. We laugh and cry at the same humor and pathos. Our feelings are closely akin. We differ from one another only in our minds. Our individual, acquired habits of thought affect but the degrees of our several heart responses to the gamut of fundamental emotional appeals.

[Sidenote: Exhaustive Prolonged Analysis Unnecessary]

Knowledge of another man, then, involves first, comprehension that he is like every other man in his emotions, and unlike all other men in the way he thinks. To a trained observer his habits of thought are clearly indicated by his muscle structure and muscle action. Exhaustive prolonged analysis is unnecessary. You can learn to read quickly the mental significance of the comparatively small number of details of muscle structure and action that constitute a fairly complete index to his character. Then you will be able to judge with certainty practically all the traits of which you need to be sure in order to make the most effective presentation of your services for sale to this particular man.

[Sidenote: Value of Size-up]

The value of such a dependable size-up can scarcely be over-estimated. It is not easy to gain the initial chance to present your capabilities to the one man with whom you have chosen to be associated. But it would be tremendously harder to win a second opportunity to sell your services after failing the first time. By sizing him up aright while you are presenting your qualifications for his consideration, you will be able to avoid making unfavorable impressions. You can also adapt your salesmanship to creating the best possible impression of your capabilities and their fitness to his *especial needs*.

[Sidenote: The Gruff Reception]

Sometimes a man seeking to gain the big chance that he believes would open the door to success fails to secure his opportunity because he is disconcerted by a gruff reception that he misconstrues as personal to him. He wrongly interprets natural self-defense as a sign of habitual crabbedness.

A big man often thinks he is "hunted" by people who want to make him the prey of their own purposes. The employer you have chosen as the means of reaching the goal of your ambition may feel suspicious of your object in approaching him. He is likely to assume an attitude of extreme reserve, or even of icy indifference. Possibly his manner will be curt and sharp. Size up such a reception as just his way of protecting himself against impositions. His treatment of you is merely a superficial manifestation of the instinct for self-preservation. It indicates nothing more than that he is wary of any one who calls on him with an unknown purpose.

His object in being cold or brusque is to get rid of people who might annoy him or waste his time. He would not assume his repelling pose if he knew you had come with a purpose of true service, after full preparation of yourself and your selling plans to interest him. Though he does not realize it yet, you will neither pester him nor fritter away his precious minutes.

[Sidenote: Melting Ice And Smoothing Roughness]

Therefore if your size-up convinces you that the cold, brusque manner is only assumed, you need not deal with it as if it were characteristic. It indicates no more than the habit of wariness. You should proceed confidently with your selling process, undeterred by the bearing of your prospect. Do not attempt to mollify his assumed harshness. It will take but a few moments for you to sell him the idea that you have brought him something he really needs. When he first glimpses your service purpose, his icy pose will begin to melt and his rough tones will be smoothed.

A great public-utility corporation with thousands of branch offices throughout the United States had as its purchasing agent for many years an old gorgon. He was "a holy terror" to new salesmen, but became a staunch customer when once his confidence was deservedly gained. And every employee in the office of this tartar loved him for his true kindness of heart.

[Sidenote: Don't Flinch Or Retreat]

You may have occasion to call on such an eccentric big man. If you are rebuffed fiercely, don't let it "get your goat." He can have no possible reason for disliking you personally, especially before he comprehends your purpose in coming to him. So disregard his ferocious pose. Though he may treat you as an unwelcome intruder, proceed calmly to the statement of your business. You know that your intention to render him a true service justifies you in taking his time. Therefore his assumed fierce manner should be powerless to disconcert you.

Do not retreat from a chosen prospective employer; do not even flinch from him, however ill-tempered and repellant he may appear. You cannot possibly lose so much by standing your ground as you would forfeit by running away from this chance to demonstrate your salesmanship. Countless thousands of men have failed because at the first sign of antagonism they surrendered even more than they might have lost if they had been utterly beaten after the hardest kind of a fight for victory. They gave up without a struggle, not only all their chances for success, but their self-respect as well.

Suppose the man you have selected as your future employer does snap at you viciously when you call on him; his ferocity signifies no more than that you must approach and handle him carefully. Your prospecting and your size-up should have convinced you that he is not in fact the crab he tries to appear. Real, thorough cranks are so rare they can be considered as non-existent. It is safe to conclude that any man who acts as if he were sore all the way through all the time is just acting. Ignore the irrascibility of the "Everett Trues" you meet. Superficial, assumed indications will not help you to comprehend the inner man you want to influence. Restrict your size-up to the signs of that inner man. While the old gorgon you face is brow-beating you, he may be planning in the back of his head an act of gentle kindness to some one. If he is habitually kind, there will be physical indications of that characteristic; in his tones and acts if not in his words. Look for these signs beneath his harsh manner, which is merely a disguise he has put on. "Everett True" behaves like a domineering tyrant, but he really is characterized by an acute sensitiveness to what is right and just.

[Sidenote: Judge By Unconscious Appearance And Actions]

When sizing up a man, depend principally upon details of his appearance and actions. Translate whatever you see or hear into definite discriminative judgments regarding him. His muscle structure and movements indicate certain traits. Of course you should also observe and size up the significance of the words and tones he uses. But a man employs his speech with the conscious intention of making impressions. Therefore it is not safe to rely on a size-up based on what he says. Your prospect may be using his words and tones to hide, rather than to reveal, his inner self.

However, if you know how to separate and classify details of muscle structure and action, you can depend safely on specific conclusions based on these indications. The muscle structure of a man is the result of his habits of living, or of his predominant characteristics. He builds it up unconsciously and is unable to disguise it. It can be interpreted as certain proof that he has particular traits. Most of his movements, too, are made without his realizing exactly what they denote of his character and present thoughts. He just "acts natural." Therefore if you read indications of the inner man by analytically observing his physique and actions, you will gain reliable information about him. He will not know that he is revealing his traits and what he is thinking.

[Sidenote: Your Opinions About People]

From your earliest childhood to this moment you have been forming first-hand opinions of other people by observing and interpreting their words, tones, and movements. Sizing up men is not a new process to you. But in order to be a certainly successful salesman of yourself you should observe more intelligently and discriminatively hereafter. Instead of making up your mind about people without knowing just how or why you arrive at your judgments, classify your intuitions scientifically. Know the reasons for your opinions. You can be sure about the conclusions you reach as a result of your specific, exact observation of details. The study and analysis of words, tones, and acts, coupled with a little painstaking practice, will make you an expert judge of other men.

[Sidenote: Study Character Unobserved]

Do not seem to make an effort to observe the person you are sizing up, for that would impress him disagreeably. Without indicating that you are watching him, mentally note and interpret his muscle structure, his manner of speaking, his gestures, the rate of his physical activity, the way his actions respond to his ideas, the type and tensity of his movements. Each item you analyze and translate should indicate to you clearly some fact about the inner man.

Of course you will not be able to read your prospect thoroughly in the first few moments after you meet him. It is possible to make only a partial size-up then. No one would reveal all his characteristics in such a brief time. But each indication you perceive and interpret correctly will aid you to attribute to him certain other, related traits. For instance, if the actions of a man indicate the characteristic of evasion, you may judge safely that he lacks courage, the highest sense of honor, some of the elements of perfect squareness and trustworthiness. If he has a habit of under-estimating or "knocking," and manifests this characteristic in something he says or does, you may feel certain he is not an idealist. He is likely to be pretty "practical" in his views, and cannot be won by appeals to rosy visions.

[Sidenote: Elements of Character are Consistent]

Analysis of a man's true character usually shows that its elements are thoroughly consistent. A human being is not a bundle of contradictions, but an aggregation of likenesses. Every man differs from every other man; yet, generally speaking, one element of his character is not apt to differ radically from another detail of himself. There are exceptions, but in most cases the seeming contradictions in an individual are only apparent opposites. Supposed inconsistencies cause surprise because the true fundamental traits of the person observed are not discerned. The outer man often seems to contradict himself. But nearly always the inner man is consistent in his various characteristics. This is the reason why your size-up should be restricted to discriminative observation of indications of the ego.

[Sidenote: Application of Theory]

Perhaps you have been thinking, "The theory seems to be all right, but exactly how is it applied?" So we shall turn our attention next to specific details of sizing up the characteristics of the inner man. We shall see just how his thoughts and feelings may be discerned at a particular time.

We assumed previously that you have called upon the man to whom you want to sell your services. You believe the way to your success lies through association with him. Your faculties of observation should be trained to size up at a glance whatever traits are suggested by his bearing, his clothes, his manner, his actions, his surroundings. Whether he is standing or sitting, it is possible for you to perceive and interpret his pose and poise. You can learn much from his walk if he steps forward to greet you. His handshake may tell volumes about his true character. The different ways that men clasp palms are especially significant of their individual traits. You should have a scientific knowledge of handshakes.

[Sidenote: Traits Suggested By Nods]

Should your prospect merely nod on your entrance, note discriminatively the movement he makes. There are many kinds of nods. The quick, sharp tipping of the head indicates unhesitating, clean-cut decisions. Such judgments on the spur of the moment are not always right, but they are apt to be pretty conclusive. Irregular, jerky nods are signs of irritability, of rash or very impulsive decisions, and often of unreasoning prejudice. The nod made directly forward signifies frankness, dignity, and straight thinking. The tilting of the head a little to one side suggests a habit of indirectness and a tendency to "stall."

[Sidenote: Learn to Analyze Smiles]

How much of a man's character is illumined by his smile! Ability to analyze smiles correctly will enable you to size up the dissembled traits of character behind the false smile. Such analytical ability will also show you how to turn to your best advantage the smile of true friendliness.

It is possible to judge from the physical aspect, from the facial expressions, from the movements, and from the voice of a man whether he is nervous or phlegmatic, active or passive, healthy or lacking in vigor and strength. A skillful size-up will determine that he is either eccentric or well balanced mentally, that he is thrifty or extravagant, that he is disposed to take comprehensive views or is inclined to give undue attention to trifles and details. He will indicate to a keen observer real intellect or mere intelligence. His emotions also may be read. He reveals himself as generous or selfish; as an optimist or as a skeptic. He shows that he is responsive to heart appeals or is hard hearted, moral or immoral, artistic or lacking in appreciation of art, cultured or boorish.

[Sidenote: Discriminative Restrictive Process]

To know the significance of your prospect's different words, tones, and movements—the only means he has for the expression of his ideas and feelings, just apply to his case whatever you have learned in studying yourself. Adapt your previous discriminative knowledge to the prospect you are sizing up. Restrict your conclusions about him to the significance of details you observe in his appearance, actions, and speech.

After considerable practice in sizing up you will become familiar with the indications of many different traits. But in most cases it will be sufficient if you can observe swiftly and interpret in a flash only a few of the commonest character signs. We will touch briefly upon some of these.

[Sidenote: Facial Muscles]

Tense jaw muscles, whether large or small, denote the characteristic of persistence. But loose, flabby cheek muscles do not necessarily prove the habit of over-eating, or of sensuality. They may mean that the man who has them does not habitually allow his feelings to show in his face. When the muscles of facial expression are flabby they prove only that they are slightly used. Therefore when you encounter a man with loose cheeks read his characteristics from other muscle-structure signs, and from his actions. Do not misjudge the heavy face as a sign of grossness.

[Sidenote: Courage And Bluff]

If a man holds his head up easily, and moves it in this upright position without stiffness or effort, you may be sure his back neck and shoulder muscles are strongly developed. Such strong development suggests that he is courageous, for these muscles are directly co-ordinated with the mind center of bravery. Therefore the head and shoulders easily held back and up; not a high chest, signify courage. The bulging chest often indicates no more than pouter-pigeon bluff temporarily put on.

[Sidenote: Indications Of Intellect And Power]

A man's high chest, however, is a sign that his predominant characteristics are intellectual; because his chest has been developed by the student's habit of upper-lung breathing. The nerves running from the upper part of the lungs are directly connected with the brain centers of intellect. On the contrary the nerves that lead from the lower portions of the lungs center first in the plexus through which are manifested the vital emotions and the emotions of sex. Hence the man who breathes deeply by habit indicates a great deal of vitality and has marked "he-man" traits. He is not of the intellectual type so markedly as he is a man of power. The man who breathes only from the upper part of his lungs is not a man of power, but may have a fine intellect.

[Sidenote: Significance Of Postures]

The postures of the body are significant of characteristics. If your prospect stands with his feet wide apart and his arms folded conspicuously across his high-held chest, he probably has a habit of bluffing. His widely spread feet indicate that he has to prop himself in that physical posture; so it is unnatural to him. Similarly he has had to prop himself in his mental posture. Push your ideas hard and he will lose his mental balance; just as he would lose his physical balance if you were to jolt him. He is obliged to prop himself. He is bluffing. You can make him quit. The folded arms and expanded chest of the bluffer mean no more than the high-arched back of a cat. Stroke "Tom" soothingly, and he stops bristling. Stroke the human bluffer tactfully with persuasion, and he will not act pugnacious for long.

[Sidenote: The Balanced Body]

But if, when making a statement, your prospect stands or walks about easily with his feet close together; if he balances his body without difficulty or artificial postures—it is certain that he has a good deal of determination in his make-up. You cannot influence him to change his mind by making emotional appeals to him. In order to secure the favorable decision of such a man, you will need to use the most conclusive, solid evidence of your capabilities.

[Sidenote: Wavering Minds]

Suppose your prospect shifts his feet continually and rather jerkily. While you are talking with him, he frequently changes his weight from one foot to the other. He is suggesting that he has little confidence in his own judgment, that he is not sure of his own thoughts. Take the lead strongly with such a man. Do his thinking for him. It is up to you to bring his vacillating mind to definite conclusions, following your lead. First make it clear to him that your proposal is really to his interest. Then proceed with a manner of absolute assurance, as if you did not question his doing what you wish. With your skillful salesmanship you can stop his wavering and induce him to act as you indicate.

[Sidenote: Quick Thinkers]

The rate of one's muscular activity is directly associated with the rate of one's mental activity. The man who moves slowly by habit is also a plodder in his thoughts. On the contrary, quick actions indicate quick thinking; which, however, may be mistaken. Only the quick motion that is under perfect control suggests an unerring conclusion reached swiftly. The man who snatches up a pencil with sure fingers, and without fumbling it begins to write at once, demonstrates that he has an electrically fast mind perfectly harnessed to his purpose. When another man reaches swiftly for a pencil but misses his sure grasp at the first attempt; or when the dash of his hand to the paper is followed by a momentary delay for adjustment of the pencil in his fingers or by hesitation before he begins to write, he denotes mere impulsiveness.

[Sidenote: Self-Control]

Sometimes a quick thinker will purposely develop the habit of making very deliberate motions. This trait is the result of his determined repression of a recognized inclination to act on impulse. He has accomplished perfect self-control in order to guard against the danger of making up his mind too quickly on his first thoughts. But his slowed-down movements will be so precise and certain as to indicate his characteristic of self-control and that his mind has moved in advance of his acts.

If you have occasion to size up such a man, you should perceive that the movements of his muscles do not correspond with the rate of his mental activity, as a superficial observer might mistakenly conclude. If your prospect sits or stands immobile; or if his actions give no indication of what he is thinking, watch his eyes and his facial muscles of expression. Eyes that fairly dart from one object to another, expressions that flash on and off the face; prove swift mental activity, no matter how quietly the body may be held. For instance, a strong, quick thinker may have his muscles under such perfect control that he will pick up a pencil very deliberately because he has trained himself to repress his impulses. But when he has finished using the pencil, he will drop it cleanly and not let it slip slowly from his fingers. His self-training in precaution applies only to what he does before acting on a purpose. The moment he is done writing, he also is done with the pencil. His hand does not linger with it over the paper. Unconsciously his characteristic quickness manifests itself in his inclination to get rid at once of the tool he has finished using.

[Sidenote: Tightened Thoughts]

Any indication of muscular tensity suggests a tightening of the mind on thoughts. It is often a sign of mental resistance or of persistency. If, when talking to a man you observe that his muscles seem taut, avoid forcing the idea you want him to accept, for his mind is opposing it strongly just then. Perhaps he has a persistent thought of his own, at variance with yours. Either give him a chance to express his idea in words, so you can dispose of it, or switch him away from it by changing the trend of the conversation. When you perceive that his muscles are normally relaxed, you may safely return to the postponed point. You will encounter lessened mental resistance. Very likely he will then have no impulse to persist in the thought he previously had fixed in his mind.

[Sidenote: What a Man's Walk Shows]

Note how your prospect walks forward to meet you, or how he moves about his office. If his stride is long and free and easy, it proves that the back muscles of his thighs are strong. Those muscles function in direct co-ordination with the mental action of willing. Therefore when a man walks easily with a long, free stride he indicates that he has a strong will. He may be sized up confidently as a fighter for his rights, as a man with a great deal of resolution once he makes up his mind.

[Sidenote: Determine Mental Speed]

It is very important when sizing up a man to determine the degree of his mental speed. If you have brought your best capabilities for sale to a prospective employer, you need to know whether or not he is getting clearly all the ideas you present. It is necessary for you to make sure on the one hand that you are not presenting ideas too fast for his mind to comprehend each point fully. On the other hand, you wish to avoid harping on details after he understands them. It will aid you very much in your salesmanship if you know just how quickly the mind of your prospect acts. There is no better way to find out than by noting the speed of his muscle response to test ideas. Since the rate of muscle activity is directly indicative of the rate of mental activity, you can often learn from observing the movements of your prospect how quickly his mind takes in points you state or suggest.

You might test him by asking that he write a name or set down some figures you give him. If without hesitation he reaches for a pencil, you may be sure his mind responds quickly to your ideas. But should there be a moment or two of delay before he picks up the pencil, his slower physical response to your request is to be read as an indication that his mind does not grasp ideas at once.

[Sidenote: Keep Mental Pace]

After making your size-up of the degree of his mental speed, you can govern your presentation by what you have learned. If you are dealing with a mind that acts slowly, give your prospect plenty of time to get each idea you want to impress upon him. But proceed briskly from point to point with the man whose mind grasps ideas instantly. You would make a poor impression on him were you to go at a lagging pace.

It is not necessary, however, to make special or artificial tests to learn how quickly your ideas are being grasped. Observe the facial expressions of your prospect, which will indicate how soon your thought is appreciated after it is presented. Should you say something with a touch of humor, the time it takes him to smile or twinkle his eyes will measure the speed of his mind in catching ideas.

[Sidenote: Head and Eye Movements]

The movements of the head and of the eyes, according to which are predominant in the case of an individual, tell much of his character. The villain on the stage habitually looks out of the corners of his eyes. So does the mischievous ingenue. But the hero turns his whole head when he looks about. And the look of innocence in the eyes of the heroine is straightforward; her head is pointed directly in line with her gaze. Apply the principle in your salesmanship. When you observe a man who turns his head freely and easily for a square look at a person who comes into his presence, size him up as one who is not afraid to face either facts or people. If you note that another prospect glances obliquely at persons or objects, or that he habitually turns his eyes to one side or the other while keeping his head still, judge him to lack the characteristic of frankness. He is likely to be evasive and shifty in his dealings. Perhaps the sign you have perceived indicates no more than that your prospect is "stalling." It is evidence, nevertheless, that his mind is not meeting your ideas squarely. You will need to compel his attention to come back to your point, time and again perhaps.

[Sidenote: Strength Of Mind]

The full-arm movement denotes strength, and bigness of conceptions. A mere wrist gesture suggests littleness, flippancy, weak traits. Similarly if a man walks from his hips, he suggests the characteristic of strong personal opinion. If he walks principally from the knees, or over-uses his ankles and minces along, he indicates that his mind is not certain and that he holds his opinions weakly.

A straight gesture denotes pure mentality. A single-curved movement indicates some emotion, rather than only a thought. Action in a double curve suggests power behind the expression.

[Sidenote: Honor and Straightforwardness]

A gesture outward from the chest and on the same level denotes the qualities of honor and straightforwardness. If your prospect makes such a motion in response to some idea you present, he is thinking on the same man-level as yourself—he is treating you as his equal.

A characteristic movement of the arm above the shoulders signifies vivid imagination, or impracticability. It may be read as an indication of lightness of character or of a tendency to go off on a tangent. Conversely, gestures outward from the lower part of the body denote power, or an inclination to depreciate values.

[Sidenote: Selfishness]

If a man gestures toward himself, he indicates limited conceptions, or selfishness, with a tendency to materialize everything. Movements in any direction away from the trunk of the body and on its level denote assertiveness, sincerity, creative ability, or willingness to cooperate in thought.

[Sidenote: Affirmation And Denial]

Vertical movements suggest the life of ideas, and symbolize affirmation. Horizontal gestures accompany the denial of ideas and the death of interest. The diagonal upward curve indicates idealism. A similar curve downward is a sign that an idea presented to the imagination is concretely realized.

[Sidenote: Frankness and Dodging]

The person who gestures directly in front of himself proves he is willing to meet you face to face regarding the idea presented. But when a man gestures slightly to one side or the other, he is not dodging. His movement denotes only that he is thinking seriously. However, if you present ideas to a man who gestures far to the right or left, you may feel certain that he is not giving his thoughts in harmony with yours, but probably is trying to get your ideas out of his mind.

[Sidenote: Study Tones]

While we have emphasized that "muscular indications" are of principal importance in making a certain size-up, the tones and words of the prospect should not be altogether neglected. Often a man will unintentionally reveal in his tones the very things he means his words to conceal. You would not depend on the words of a person if they were contradicted by his acts and tones.

Mental, emotive, and power characteristics are signified by various tone pitches. The degree of a man's determination and his persistence in thought are denoted by the number of tone units he habitually employs when speaking. The genuineness of a statement is suggested or disproved by the tone intervals in the statement. "Yes" spoken in one unit without inflection means unqualified assent. "Y-es" in two tones may mean doubtful assent, or false agreement, or even a contradiction. The middle-of-the-mouth tone proves a well balanced mind, in contrast with the unreliable mind that is denoted by the lip tone, and the secretive mind which is suggested by the tone that comes from far back in the mouth.

In a five minute conversation an alert observer who has studied a few of the elemental principles of tone analysis can size up a great many of the most pronounced characteristics of a prospect.

[Sidenote: Don't Offend By Scrutiny]

It is better to make no size-up at all than to strain in observing the other man and make him aware of your close scrutiny. Such an inartistic size-up impresses a prospect disagreeably. He feels that you are prying into his personal characteristics. Therefore teach yourself to observe without seeming to look closely at the object of your size-up. Learn to observe unobserved; especially to perceive details without looking sharply. Your eyes and ears can take in specific points about your prospect without making their keen activity apparent.

[Sidenote: Two Parts of Sizing-up Process]

When you have learned how to see and hear many details clearly at the same time, unsuspected by your prospect, you will be a master of the first essential of skillful character reading. The second necessary element of proficiency in sizing up men is the relation or association of each detail observed, with the particular characteristic it denotes. To begin with, perceive points about your prospect. Then ask yourself about each, "What does this mean?"

[Sidenote: Practice Makes Perfect]

Of course you will not become an expert judge of other men at once. But get the habit of seeing and hearing specific indications of characteristics wherever you go. You will soon find that your mind has been opened to new, clear ideas of people.

It is possible for anyone to become a mind reader. It is necessary only to note and think out the meaning of character signs and thoughts. Trained specific observation will read and interpret these signs. When you become skillful in sizing up other men, this art will help you very much in gaining the best possible receptions everywhere you go. Also, if you are able to read your prospect's thoughts and character, you can avoid antagonizing his ideas.

[Sidenote: Remove Unnecessary Difficulties]

Gain knowledge of other men in order to make it easy to sell them true ideas of your best capabilities. It is not hard to succeed if you take the unnecessary difficulties out of the process of gaining your chances.



CHAPTER VIII

The Knock At The Door Of Opportunity and The Invitation To Come In

[Sidenote: Selling is Not a Mechanical Process]

The process of selling ideas comprises several steps, part or all of which the salesman may need to take in order to close a particular sale successfully. In our study we are considering step after step in regular order, but the actual selling process cannot be reduced to such exactitude and routine. Before we begin our analysis of this "presentation" step, it should be clearly understood that success in selling ideas is not achieved by going through a machine-like process. We follow a regular sequence in these chapters, but it is unlikely that you will ever complete a sale of your services by taking the various steps of the selling process in the precise order of our study.

[Sidenote: Be a Fully Equipped Salesman]

You may need to use them all in order to succeed in a specific instance. Again, without taking many of the steps here analyzed, you might be able to gain the success opportunity you most desire. The object of this book is to fit you for any and every condition you are likely to meet in your efforts to gain opportunities for your ambition. It is improbable that in order to get your desired chance and to make the most of it you will have to use all you learn of the secret of certain success. You cannot afford, however, to run an avoidable risk of being at a loss regarding what to do at any stage of the process of selling to a selected prospect true ideas of your best capability. You need to know the most effective ways to deal with situations that may never happen, but which, on the contrary, might be encountered. You cannot start confidently on your quest for success unless you are fully equipped.

[Sidenote: Reducing the Odds Against You]

If you believed it would be necessary for you to do everything contained in this book in order to gain the opportunities you desire, you likely would feel very skeptical about succeeding. You might think, "A single little slip and I'd lose out. It's a thousand to one against me." The fact is that the odds on the side of failure are very heavy in the case of an ordinary man. If you can reduce them only a little in your own case, you will get a start towards success because of the slight lessening of your handicap.

[Sidenote: Value of Knowing a Single Step]

I recall a man who mastered but three principles of prospecting needs. With this limited knowledge of salesmanship he was able to induce a great financier to open the door of opportunity and take him into a field of rich chances to earn a fortune. Another friend of mine got his start solely from knowledge of a manufacturer's principal hobby. What he knew about the "single tax" enabled him to plan a sure approach to the mind of the factory owner. A young lawyer in Chicago seized upon a chance for fame and wealth in his first meeting with a poor, seemingly unsuccessful inventor. In each of these instances a single step of the selling process, taken correctly, carried the salesman through the door of opportunity and brought him within reach of the beginnings of success.

[Sidenote: Get Ready for Imaginable Happenings]

You may not need to knock at that door, nor wait for an invitation to come in. In your case, perhaps, the door stands open, with a "Welcome" mat just outside. Yet if you do need to knock with your ideas for admittance to another man's mind, and if it ever becomes necessary for you to win a welcome, this chapter will prove valuable reading. You will be helped to gain your desired chance, and the danger of your failure will be minimized, if you know how to knock and exactly what to do to assure your welcome.

Even the master salesman can never be absolutely certain of the reception he will have from any prospect. Therefore he "goes loaded" for all imaginable contingencies. You, the salesman of yourself, should be likewise prepared with knowledge of how each and every step in the selling process may be taken most effectively. Whatever emergency arises, you must be ready to take the fullest advantage of a favorable turn, and equally ready to reduce as much as possible any disadvantage you encounter.

[Sidenote: Knocking and Getting In]

Of course it will avail you nothing if you succeed only in reaching the particular man through whom you have planned to gain success. And after you meet him it will do you no material good to size him up correctly; if you are then unable to hold his attention to your presentation of ideas. Your preliminary skillful salesmanship would all be wasted. Evidently, in order that you may continue the process of gaining your chance, it is necessary that you should know how to knock on the door of his mind in such an agreeable but compelling way that he will be forced to let his attention come out pleasantly to you and your purpose. Hence right knocking at the door of opportunity immediately follows the size-up as an essential part of the process of making success certain.

It is necessary next for you to know how to prevent a turn-down on the front porch of your prospect's mind, and how to insure the admission of your ideas to his thoughts. You can compel your prospect to open the door of his attention, but in order to get inside his mind and secure his interest in your purpose, you must win his willing invitation for your ideas to enter his thoughts and make themselves at home there.

[Sidenote: Certain Success Methods]

We have seen how you can make certain of gaining your chance to reach the door of opportunity. You can size up surely your prospect's dominant characteristics and what he is thinking. Likewise you can guarantee to yourself, first the attention, and second the interest of the man you have come to see. It is necessary only that you use the methods of the master salesman to compel the opening of the door and to induce the extension of welcome to your ideas.

[Sidenote: Our Old Acquaintance Again]

Here again we meet our old acquaintance, the discriminative-restrictive method. You must discriminate between the process of knocking at the door of opportunity and the process of securing the invitation to come in. Then, in practicing these related but different steps of the selling process, it is necessary that when you knock you restrict yourself to the use of the methods that are most effective in gaining attention. Similarly you should restrict yourself to using the very different methods of securing interest, when you work to get an invitation for your ideas to come inside the other man's mind and make themselves at home there.

[Sidenote: Process of Compelling Attention]

Psychologists define "Attention" as "that act of the mind which holds to a given object perceived by one or more senses, to the exclusion of all other objects that might be perceived at that time by the same or other senses." A knock at a door attracts attention because it temporarily diverts the previous attentiveness of the mind to other things, and concentrates it on a new object of attention. The sense of hearing is struck. Whether or not the mind is willing to hear, it cannot help perceiving the sudden new sound. Its attention is forced. The instant the knock is heard, the mind is compelled to drop or suspend what it has been thinking about; though this exclusive new attention to the knock may last but a fraction of a second.

Our senses function under the control of the sub-conscious mind. It is futile for us to will that we won't hear, or see, or taste, etc. We have to take in sense impressions, whether we want to do so or not. Therefore, if you employ restrictively the sense-hitting method, you can force the man upon whom you call to give his attention to you or to the presentation of your ideas.

[Sidenote: Inducing Interest]

It is necessary to discriminate, however, between the use of the avenues to reach the mind center of attention, and the use of very different ways into the mind center of interest. If you start wrong, there is very little chance that you will arrive at the right destination. The center of interest is wholly under the control of the conscious mind. Your prospect can refuse to be interested, if he chooses, despite your determination to interest him. His interest must be induced. Any attempt to compel it is apt to have a fatal result. Nearly always such an effort to force interest develops antagonism, instead.

But there are methods of inducing interest that are just as sure to succeed as are the sense-hitting methods by which attention may be compelled. This double step in the process of selling the true idea of your best capabilities in the right market can be taken with absolute certainty of success if you know and practice the principles in accordance with which the master salesman sells his ideas of goods to prospects. We are to study these principles now, as applied to the sale of your qualifications for success in the field you have selected.

[Sidenote: Exclusive Agreeable Attention]

When you enter the office of your prospect—your chosen future employer, for example—he will be giving his attention to something. No one, while he is awake, can be wholly non-attentive. Your function, at this stage of the selling process, is to compel him to stop paying attention to something or somebody else, and to give you and your ideas his exclusive attention.

[Sidenote: Avoid Making Unfavorable Impressions]

Of course good salesmanship makes it advisable also to avoid creating a disagreeable impression while forcing yourself and your ideas upon the attention of your prospect. The conscious mind governs a man's likes and dislikes. So if you knock compellingly at the door of that mind to gain attention, you may arouse very unfavorable attention. For illustration, a boisterous greeting of your prospect, or a very noisy entrance into his office, would doubtless compel his attention by the direct hammering on his senses. But the attraction of his attention to you would affect the operations of both his conscious and sub-conscious minds, and his conscious mind would be disagreeably impressed. His compelled attention, therefore, might result in your being thrown out.

[Sidenote: Gaining Both Attention And Interest]

However, you can knock at the sense doors of the sub-conscious mind with such unobjectionable sense-hitting methods that while agreeable attention will be compelled thereby, you can also be sure that a favorable impression on the conscious mind of the prospect will be induced. For illustration, if your prospect is evidently busy at his desk when you are admitted to his office, you might compel his attention by entering very quietly and by standing in silence without interrupting him until he has had an opportunity to finish what he is doing. His sound sense would be struck, paradoxically, by your exceptional quietness. His sense of equilibrium would also be affected by your perfect poise while waiting. Your whole attitude would impress him so favorably that his especial interest in you would be induced. His greeting would be pleasant.

Suppose your prospect looks up from his work when you enter his presence, and you approach close to his desk; if you are immaculate in dress and body, you will appeal agreeably to his olfactory sense. The law of the association of ideas will then begin to work in your favor. Your prospect will get subconsciously a conscious impression of your clean character.

You might wear a fresh flower in your buttonhole and so strike several of his senses pleasantly. But unless the flower is inconspicuous and in good taste it would make an unfavorable impression.

[Sidenote: Good Impressions]

Let us assume now that when you enter the office of your prospect, he is disgruntled about something. You can take some of the heat out of his ill temper by your appearance of cool self-confidence and good nature.

There are many more such favorable sense impressions which you could make by simply standing in manly erectness while waiting to receive the exclusive attention of your prospect. You might employ all the sense-hitting features of bearing and manner referred to above. The effect of the sum of these would be the forced agreeable attention of your prospect. He simply could not help noticing the various items that would strike his different senses; nor could he help being agreeably impressed; though he might not give you any indication of the effect you had compelled.

[Sidenote: Continual Attention Necessary]

It is highly important that you should be able first to gain the favorable attention of your prospect, and second to hold it until his interest is aroused. It may also be necessary for you to regain his attention if it is temporarily lost and diverted to some other object. The master salesman realizes it is essential to have the attention of his prospect continually centered upon the ideas presented, throughout the selling process. Only a poor salesman of ideas would go right on talking, even though it might be clearly evident that he did not have the exclusive attention of the man addressed.

[Sidenote: Regaining Attention]

When you proffer your capabilities for purchase by a prospective employer, do not make the mistake of continuing to present your best selling points if you have any doubt that his attention is exclusively yours. Stop your selling process if his attention wanders or is diverted. Use the sense-hitting method to compel it to come back to you and your ideas. If some one should enter his office while you are talking to him, or if his telephone should ring, stop short in your presentation. (Your sudden silence, in itself, will be attention compelling.) Do not go on with your sales presentation until the interruption is over. Then use some sense-hitting method of making sure that his attention is again concentrated on you and your ideas.

[Sidenote: Sense Hitting]

An acquaintance of mine who had especially fitted himself for business correspondence, typed striking paragraphs taken from form letters he had devised and pasted the slips of paper on stiff filing cards. He carried with him to his interview with the president of a large corporation about thirty-five or forty of these cards. His prospecting had indicated that in the course of the half hour he had planned to take up with a presentation of his capabilities this executive would be interrupted often by telephone calls and the entrance of subordinates. The salesman's size-up also revealed that his prospect's attention was likely to wander to the things on his desk. From time to time when the correspondent was presenting his ideas the president reached out his hand and picked up a paper. Evidently he was inclined to give but flighty attention to his caller.

[Sidenote: Striking More Than One Sense]

The salesman, however, had "come loaded" for exactly this situation. He had worked out his selling plan in detail. As he developed idea after idea, he used a device for regaining attention by hitting at the prospect's senses of sight and hearing. Just as soon as the president's hand wandered to a paper, the salesman ruffled the cards he held, quickly selected one, and clicked it down on the desk top before his prospect. He had to do this perhaps a dozen times before he felt confident he had clinched the interest of the executive. If the salesman had used words merely, what, he said in presenting his ideas to the prospect might have gone in one ear and out the other. But his action of ruffling the cards struck the president's senses of sight and hearing compellingly; as did the clicking of the card on the desk top when it was presented for reading. Repeatedly the return of the prospect's wandering attention was forced subconsciously; yet no disagreeable impression was made on his conscious mind. In the course of half an hour the correspondent succeeded in selling his services at a very satisfactory salary.

[Sidenote: "Come Loaded"]

If you similarly "come loaded" for sense-hitting, you will be able to get your prospect's attention originally, and to regain it whenever it is temporarily lost. In advance of your call on the man to whom you want to sell your services, think out things you can do that will strike one or more of his senses forcibly, without making disagreeable impressions. You can take with you to the interview specimens of your work, or testimonials; and hold them in your hand where they will attract notice. Or you might plan to use attention-compelling gestures.

[Sidenote: Tone Variations]

Changes of tone will make the other man "perk up his ears" if his attention wanders; so plan to introduce variety into your manner of speaking. Don't just open the spigot of your mind and let your ideas run out in a monotone. Variety of voice is pleasing, as well as attention-compelling.

I know a salesman who is in the habit of using a spotlessly clean big handkerchief to help him keep the prospect's mind concentrated on the proposition being presented. Whenever the other man's attention is diverted, this salesman whisks his handkerchief from his pocket and touches his lips with it. The flash of white hits the sight-sense of the prospect and brings back his wandering attention to the salesman.

[Sidenote: Sense Hitting Should Help The Sale]

But such devices are superficial. The best sense-hitting means of compelling attention, directly relates some sense effect to the salesman's purpose.

The correspondent who ruffled his cards and clicked them down on the prospect's desk would not have been so successful if on each card he had not pasted a specimen of his work as an efficient letter writer. If he had brought a pack of blank cards, for example, the repeated use of his device for getting attention might have irritated the other man. To analyze the illustration further; if the correspondent had brought the specimens of his work on letter paper, not pasted on stiff cards, they would have been much less effective. He could not have ruffled them, and would have been unable to make the clicking sound he used to hit the other man's ears.

[Sidenote: Suggesting Capability]

Suppose you apply for a situation as a bookkeeper or an accountant. One of the best sense-hitting devices you could use to compel attention to your ability would be a collection of complicated tabulations in your handwriting, made neatly without a correction or an erasure. Such an exhibit of painstaking workmanship, if complemented by a neat, attractive personal appearance, would force the employer to notice you and the proofs of your qualifications. You certainly would make a most favorable impression. Your prospect would imagine his books and records as you would keep them. When presenting the evidences of your capability as an accountant, you could suggest other qualities than those mentioned—such as the proper pride of a good workman, serious earnestness, dignity, keen intelligence, etc. Such suggestions made with the aid of sense-hitting devices would help you to complete the sale of your services.

[Sidenote: Make Your Qualities Stand Out]

Perhaps you wish particularly to impress your qualities of alertness, energy, love of work, and physical stamina. Then sit or stand easily erect when you call on your prospect. If you should slump or loll in your chair, you would suggest that you lacked the very characteristics on which you are depending to get the job.

Make your best qualities stand out noticeably in your bearing. Should you apply for a position of great trust, requiring the exercise of the finest discretion, be sure to look the other man frankly in the face and let him see into your eyes. Also modulate your tones to the pitch of discretion and confidence. Your manner, your expressions, your voice will all draw attention to your fitness for the chance you want.

[Sidenote: Original Methods]

Such illustrations as have been given above should be understood as merely suggestive of ways to use the sense-hitting method of compelling attention. Do not copy the suggestions offered. Think out for your individual use a collection of sense-hitting devices of your own. Then you will be able to select various ways to gain and to re-gain attention when you are in the presence of a prospect. No matter what may be your ability and ambition, there are features of your character and your service capacity that you can utilize to make direct sense appeals. Find out for yourself what they are, and plan how to use them most effectively. If you cannot gain attention to your qualifications, or if you are unable to recall wandering attention, you may lose the chance you have succeeded in getting. Insure yourself against the possibility of such a disaster; so that your previous good salesmanship in securing an interview will not all go for naught.

[Sidenote: Out-of-the-Ordinary Things]

If you do something out of the ordinary, the force of your sense-hitting will be much greater than if you employ only common devices for gaining attention. It is better to do something that compels attention to your recommendations than to say "I want to call your attention to these letters."

[Sidenote: Danger of Distracting Attention]

However, there is always the danger that in gaining attention by unusual means you may attract too much attention to the device you use, and so distract notice from the proposition you are presenting for sale. Therefore be sure that whatever extraordinary thing you do to compel attention contributes directly to your main purpose and does not lead your prospect off on a side track of thought.

A business house once got out an advertising novelty and had samples distributed by the salesmen as gifts to their principal customers. The novelty was an ingenious mechanical device. It attracted so much attention to itself that when a salesman put it on the desk of a prospect before beginning his sales talk, the attention of the other man was drawn from what the salesman was saying and was given to the novelty. The prospect would pick up and examine the advertising device while the salesman was presenting ideas regarding his standard line of goods. As a result, many of the best points of the sales talks were unnoticed. The advertising novelty was a detriment. The sales volume fell off while it was being distributed. The slump was traced directly to the mistake of having the salesmen pass out the attention-compelling device which was not related to the staples of the house line.

[Sidenote: The Remedy]

The distribution was made by mail thereafter, in advance of the salesman's call. It was effective then as an introduction for the traveler; because by the time he came to see the prospect, the novelty of the advertising device had worn off. It was no longer an attention-distracter.

[Sidenote: Three Ways To Compel Attention]

Remember that the attention of your prospect is always given to something. If another object of attention is more compelling than your means of forcing his notice, your attempt will fail. Therefore be sure that your attention-getting device has at least one of three points of superiority.

(1) It can be stronger than the other appeal to the same sense. If your prospect's attention to what you are saying wanders because a phonograph starts to play in the next room, you can recall it to your presentation by slapping your hands together to emphasize a point, or you can change your tone suddenly. His sense of hearing will be struck compellingly by your device.

(2) Your appeal for attention can be made to more senses than are being reached by the distraction. The phonograph music hits only the ears of your prospect. Besides slapping your hands together or changing your tone, you can supplement such appeals to his tone sense by an appeal to his sense of sight. You can make a gesture, or display a letter for him to read just at that moment.

(3) Your appeal can hit the senses of your prospect more insistently than the other. If the phonograph music proves very attractive to him, you will need to keep hammering at him with forceful changes of voice, with gestures, by touching him, or by doing something else to make his attention to the music "let go."

[Sidenote: Summary]

To summarize the most effective method of gaining attention—hit each sense to which you appeal as strongly as you can, without making a disagreeable impression, strike as many senses as possible, and keep on using your sense-hitting device as long as necessary to get or to recover exclusive favorable attention.

Many a man has gained success because he first gained attention. He stood out from the crowd, or was able to make his qualities noticeable. When one is fully qualified for success, he may need only to attract attention to his capabilities; then he is likely to be given the chance he wants.

[Sidenote: "I'm Not Interested"]

Often, however, the salesman is discomfited after he gains attention. The prospect halts the selling process by declaring, "I'm not interested." Suppose you are able to compel your prospective employer to notice you favorably, but he balks there and shows no inclination to buy your services. He has listened attentively to all you have said. He has concentrated his mind upon you, and has not wandered in thought to other subjects. Yet you perceive that he is inclined to put you off or to turn you down. Evidently, in order to prevent such a contretemps, you need to resort now to a different selling step, which you have not taken previously.

It is necessary that you have at your command a way to induce interest. This interest-inducing means must be as sure in its effects as the sense-hitting method of compelling attention. Otherwise you could not be certain of success with the selling process. If the effectiveness of every step cannot be assured in advance, you will not rely confidently on salesmanship to achieve your ambition.

[Sidenote: Discriminate Between Attention And Interest]

Probably you have never worked out in your mind exactly the reasons why you are interested in particular things and in certain people. Let us make an analysis. Your attention might be attracted so strongly to a vicious criminal that for the time being you could think of no one else. Yet his fate might be a matter of such indifference to you that you would have absolutely no interest in the man. But suppose you should see in his face, or in an expression of his eyes, something that haunted your memory appealingly. It would induce you to read the newspaper accounts of his trial. You would feel a little sorry for him, on learning that he had been sentenced to a long term in prison. Very likely you would say to yourself, "I suppose he is a mighty tough character, but I believe there is something in him that isn't altogether bad." Your intuition would tell you he possessed undefined traits that you like. In your own liking for these characteristics that you vaguely discerned in him when you saw him, is the key to the interest he induced.

[Sidenote: What and Whom We Like]

What do we like? Whom do we like?

Things that are like our own ideas. People who are like the ideas we have about likable people. Interest is all a matter of recognizing points of likeness.

In order to draw your prospect beyond the attention stage of the selling process, and to induce his interest in your "goods," you must impress on him suggestions of the similarity of your ideas to ideas already in his own mind. He will like your ideas in proportion to their resemblance to his own way of thinking on the same subjects. So you should express yourself as nearly as possible in his terms, and attract his interest by making him feel that your mind and his are much alike.

[Sidenote: Non-Interest]

One day I was sitting in the private office of a very wealthy philanthropist. A salesman presented a letter of introduction to the millionaire, who in turn introduced me to his caller. The newcomer thereupon proceeded to present most attractively a business proposal. He offered my friend an excellent opportunity to make a good deal of money by joining an underwriting syndicate. The millionaire at once declared he was not interested. "I have all the money I want," he said, and bowed the salesman out. The ideas that had been presented to him were altogether different from his own financial motives.

[Sidenote: Interest]

That same afternoon another promoter called upon my friend with a project for investment in a house-building corporation. This second salesman evidently had prospected the philanthropist and had planned just how to interest him. He did not stress the profits to be made from investment in the stock of his corporation, but referred to them in a minor key. He emphasized the need of the city for more homes, and cited instances of distress due to the housing shortage.

My friend was thoroughly interested. He took home the salesman's prospectus for further study. Since he was a good business man, he satisfied himself that the investment would be profitable. But he subscribed for fifty thousand dollars worth of securities principally because they represented a project like his own ideas of the way money should be put to work for human happiness.

[Sidenote: Know Prospect's Likes and Dislikes]

When you call on the man you have selected as your future employer, go equipped with all the prospecting knowledge regarding him that you have been able to get. Be sure you know his strongest likes and dislikes. Size him up on the spot, for the purpose of supplementing what you have previously learned about him. Hit his attention with sense-appeals related to his peculiarities. Then, in order to make sure of his interest, present some idea that is of the kind he especially likes. He will open his mind and welcome your idea at once.

[Sidenote: The Man of Quick Decisions]

Suppose he has a reputation for brusqueness and quick decisions, and is impatient about any waste of time. You probably would help your cause by looking him straight in the eye and saying bluntly something like this:

"I want to work for you because you are my kind of a man. Ask me any questions you want, now. You won't have to call me on the carpet for information about my work after you hire me. Pay me two hundred dollars a month, and I won't be back in this office to get a raise until you send for me."

I know a young man who secured a good job from an "old crab" in just that way, within three minutes after they first met.

Two men sought the position of office manager of an automobile company. The owners of the business were thorough mechanics who had designed their own car, but who were comparatively unfamiliar with office operations. They were not at home outside their factory.

[Sidenote: Mistake of Speaking Different Language]

The first candidate for the vacant position brought the finest recommendations of his qualifications for office management. The other applicant had had much less experience, and was not nearly so well qualified. But the first man was a poor salesman of his capabilities. He failed to recognize, when he explained his ideas to the partners, that he was talking to a pair of mechanics. They did not understand the language he used. His presentation of his qualifications as an office manager would have impressed an employer accustomed to sitting at a desk. But the partners were intuitively prejudiced against the capable candidate who was so very unlike themselves in all respects.

[Sidenote: Speaking the Same Language]

The other applicant was shrewd. He used salesmanship in presenting his lesser qualifications for the position. He talked in terms borrowed from the language of shop practice. He compared the plans he suggested for the office supplies stock room, with the "tool crib" in the factory. He explained his idea of office organization by using as a model a chart of the plant departments. He compared office expenses with factory overhead.

The owners of the business understood very little about the subjects he discussed, but he used words and expressions that were familiar to them. So his ideas, as he presented them, impressed the partners as like their own way of looking at things. The better salesman, who knew how to interest his prospects, got the five-figure job; though he was a less capable office executive than the disappointed applicant.

[Sidenote: Fitting Ideas To Prospect's Mind]

Do not try to sell another man particular ideas because you like them. You are not the buyer. Sell him ideas that he likes. Fit the ideas you bring him to the characteristics of his mind.

If you judge him to be a quick thinker, do not hesitate in indecision a moment longer than is necessary for you to make up your mind confidently. On the other hand, should he be a deliberate thinker, be careful not to make an impression that you are rash or impulsive in your decisions.

[Sidenote: Clothes and Interest]

If he is inclined to be finical about his dress, or over-particular regarding orderliness, he will be interested if your garb is punctiliously correct and if you suggest to him the habits of precision. I read a little while ago the story of a young man who lost the chance to become the confidential assistant of a noted financier. The young man missed his opportunity because he made the mistake of wearing a soft collar when he called for the final interview with the financier.

[Sidenote: Avoid False Pretense of Interest]

Do not, of course, put on false pretenses, to make your prospect like you and your ideas. Remember that you must live up to a first good impression. So appear nothing, say nothing, do nothing that is untrue to your best self. But without any dishonesty you can indicate that your way of thinking has points of similarity to the slant of the other man's mind. If he is a Republican, while you are a Democrat, and the subject of politics comes up, do not pretend to be an elephant worshiper. Admit your party allegiance casually, and remark that you are not hide-bound in your political faith, but open-minded. Maybe he will employ you with the hope of converting you to Republicanism.

[Sidenote: Few Direct Opposites]

There are few ideas regarding which honest men are diametrically opposed on principle. You can suggest to your prospective employer the idea that you are in accord with his way of thinking; though you may differ widely in many respects. You need not emphasize the degree of your likeness in mind. Certainly it would be very poor policy to stress your differences of opinion.

[Sidenote: Like Breeds Like]

Any likeness of your suggestions to the ideas of the other man will impress him agreeably. He will be pleased to find the points of resemblance, and they will help to gloss over a possible prejudice in his mind against you. The association of your similar ideas on a subject will suggest to him imaginative pictures of your association with him in his business. "Like breeds like." He will place you mentally in a situation where the likable qualities he has found in you might be employed to his satisfaction.

[Sidenote: Inside the Door]

Then you will be safely inside the door of his interest. Without realizing it, your prospect would like to bring about the condition he has imagined. He is beginning to want you in his employ; though as yet he has no deep-seated desire for your services. Objections to you may spring up in his mind, but you certainly have been successful throughout the processes of getting his response to your knock, and of securing for your ideas his invitation to come into his thoughts for a better acquaintance with your purpose.

[Sidenote: Unwelcome Guests]

After admitting your ideas to his mind, he may wish he had not welcomed them. He may find objectionable things in you or in your proposal. Sometimes a man responds to a knock on his door, and becomes sufficiently interested in the caller to invite him to enter the house; but regrets afterward that he extended the welcome. This change of heart and mind is usually due to something done by the visitor after his admittance. However, we are not considering just now any step of the selling process beyond winning a welcome. In later chapters we will study how to make the most effective use of hospitality and the things to avoid that might impress the host as abuses of the privileges of a guest.

[Sidenote: Furniture of The Mind]

Ideas have been called "the furniture of the mind." We have already seen that they are the developments of repeated sense impressions. A particular mind center is partly or wholly furnished with ideas in proportion to the man's use of his sense avenues to bring in ideas from outside himself. The doors of the mind swing inward most readily when the new mental furniture brought along a sense avenue matches the ideas already in the mind center. Doubtless the young man who lost the interest of a great financier by wearing a soft collar would have been able to hold it if he had dressed according to his prospect's ideas.

[Sidenote: One Likable Thing Helps]

If there is one thing about you that another man dislikes, it disproportionately tinges his entire attitude of mind toward you. On the other hand, if you have one especially likable feature, it tends to lessen the disagreeable impression of things about you that the other man does not like.

So, when you come to a prospect as a salesman of your best self and have gained his attention, avoid making disagreeable suggestions to his mind, and have at your command a number of sense appeals you are sure he will like. You certainly will secure his interest if you follow this selling process.

To win his interest you need not induce your prospect to like you all through or in every respect. If he likes but one thing about you at first, he will be interested enough to give you the chance to develop more interest. The interest that produces the fruit of acceptance is often a growth from only one seed sown by the salesman of ideas.

[Sidenote: Avoid Over-Emphasis]

At this stage of the selling process it is not wise to plunge ahead fast. Do not go to the extreme on any subject that you find is interesting to your prospect. His interest may be mild, and he might be prejudiced if you seem to display excessive concern about something that he considers of minor importance. I recall the experience of a man who was complimented on keeping an appointment to the minute. He over-emphasized the virtue of punctuality and irritated his prospect, who was not always on time himself. The job went to another applicant.

[Sidenote: Moderate Attitude]

Be moderate in your attitude when you work to secure the beginning of interest, lest you raise an obstacle in your path. Until you are sure you have won a considerable degree of interest, you cannot lead strongly in any direction without running the risk of losing some of the advantages you have gained. Therefore at the interest stage proceed warily. "Watch your step."

[Sidenote: Hobbies]

Be especially careful not to gush over a hobby of your prospect, in which his interest may not be so great as you suppose. Hobbies are dangerous. Don't harp on one. It requires consummate art to show enthusiasm about another man's hobby without arousing his suspicions regarding your sincerity.

[Sidenote: Art of Knocking and Winning a Welcome]

Throughout the various steps of the selling process, salesmanship is an art. The art of knocking at the door of opportunity and of winning the invitation to come in lies in making favorable out-of-the-ordinary impressions in unusual ways. The salesman himself, his methods of presenting his services for sale, and his qualifications—all should stand out distinctly, and make impressions of his individuality. He should not seem like a common applicant for a position, but should suggest to the prospective employer that he is a man of uncommon characteristics and especial capability.

[Sidenote: The Process And Effects]

That is the way to make a good impression. Such an impression of an extraordinary personality first affords pleasure, then excites a degree of admiration, and next arouses a certain amount of curiosity that is nearly akin to interest. If you please your prospect in your initial impression on him, he will like you and begin to feel personal concern about your application.

[Sidenote: Analyze, Discriminate, Restrict]

In order to qualify yourself for taking this step of the selling process effectively hereafter, analyze the impressions you make now. Discriminatively select the good and bad details. Then restrict your future practice in perfecting the art of inducing interest, to the development and use of your pleasing qualities only.

[Sidenote: The Interesting Opening]

Most men begin an interview with a prospective employer indefinitely or in merely general terms. Naturally they confront a wall of non-interest. You have come, remember, on a mission of service. Please at once by presenting the idea that you know a particular service which is lacking and which you can supply. Break the ice of strangeness between you and your prospect by an appeal first to his human side through a smile of genuine friendliness and by looking straight into his eyes so that he can see into your heart.

Then in a business-like way get right down to business without hesitation. Show enthusiasm, which is contagious if not overdone. Base your enthusiasm on real optimism. Indicate temperamental youthfulness in vigor and courage. Say something original—something strong, maybe a little startling; but it must be self-evidently true. By all means avoid anything that suggests parrot talk or indefinite thought. Do not expect the other man to listen with interest to a statement proceeding from premise to conclusion.

[Sidenote: Headlines]

Use headlines prominently and often to summarize the body of your proposal. Headlines attract your attention and induce your interest in particular newspaper items. Employ headline statements for the same purpose in selling the idea of your capabilities; just as surely you will get attention and interest.

A noted sales manager who had been earning a large salary made up his mind that satisfying success for him was to be gained only through a business in which he would be partly an owner instead of just an employee. He called together a group of financiers and introduced his purpose by saying to them, "Gentlemen, I have an idea in which I have so much confidence that I will resign my $75,000 a year job to develop it. I want to explain it to you and to have your co-operation in financing a project I have worked out." His headline statement secured instant interest, of course.

There is something about yourself or your capabilities that you can put into headlines. In forcible, vivid language you can strike some senses of your prospects. Think of headline statements about your services. Write them out in advance. You may be certain they will produce the same psychological effect as headlines in the newspapers.

[Sidenote: Sense Doors Always Open]

Use the sense avenues to introduce agreeable suggestions into your prospect's mind centers of attention and interest. Then you will be employing the unusual methods of a master salesman, who devises ways of using every possible sense appeal.

The sense doors are always open. They are held open by the subconscious mind. If you understand your way through them there will be no doubt about the effectiveness of your knock at the door of opportunity, or about getting an invitation for your ideas to enter the mind of the other man.



CHAPTER IX

Getting Yourself Wanted

[Sidenote: Show a Need For Your Services]

A great many salesmen mistakenly believe that if they can interest a prospect thoroughly in their goods, he is almost sure to buy. When this stage is reached, they think they only need to keep his interest growing to close the sale. If, instead, it drags on interminably, they are utterly at a loss regarding what more they should do to secure the order.

Do not fall into a similar error when selling true ideas of your best capabilities. Not only is it necessary that you induce your prospective employer's interest in your personal qualifications, but you need to make him realize there is a present lack in his business which you can fill to his satisfaction. You must get yourself wanted.

You might make an excellent first impression on the man you have chosen as your future chief. He might listen attentively to your presentation of ideas, and question you so interestedly that you would expect him to say at any moment, "All right. The job is yours." Then, instead of engaging your services, he might remark, "I'll keep your name on file." Or he might say, "I know a man who probably could use you. I'll give you a note to him." You would win a cordial farewell handshake from your prospect, but not an acceptance of your proposal to work with him. You would leave without the job. Your failure would be due to your inability to get yourself sufficiently wanted.

[Sidenote: See Yourself Through Your Prospect's Eyes]

Now imagine yourself in the place of this employer. See your application through his eyes. Unless you can look at yourself from the prospect's viewpoint, you may not comprehend your deficiency in salesmanship.

The employer upon whom you called said to himself while you were trying to sell your services, "Here is a very attractive man. He presents an interesting proposition. But I have no real need for such an employee; therefore it would be poor business for me to engage him, much as I should like to do so. I am sorry that at present I have no place for him in my organization. He's a man I'd like to keep track of, so I'll file his name and address for possible future reference. Meanwhile I'll give him a note to my friend Smith. I hate to turn him down cold; he's such a fine man."

Evidently the employer did not feel a lack in his own business. You failed to make him realize any need for your services.

[Sidenote: Proving A Need]

Contrast with this illustration the case of an efficiency engineer who secured his chance to overhaul a factory by demonstrating to a manufacturer that he needed a new order-checking system. The engineer "beat" the old system and brought to the manufacturer's office a lot of goods he had secured that could not be checked. His salesmanship compelled attention, induced thorough interest, and proved there was a hole that should be filled. When the lack was shown convincingly, the manufacturer wanted it satisfied. The sale of the engineer's services was quickly closed.

[Sidenote: Getting Yourself Wanted Is Only One Step Ahead]

Do not jump to the conclusion that you are sure of the job you desire, just as soon as you get yourself wanted. You are not yet at the end of the selling process. The prospect has only been conducted successfully another step forward toward your goal. The moment after he realizes the lack in his business, he is apt to question most critically your qualifications for filling it.

[Sidenote: Analysis Naturally Follows Desire]

As soon as a man begins to feel a real tug of desire for anything, he examines it with new, increased interest to make sure there isn't something the matter with it. The suit of clothes that only induces his interest in a shop window is passed by after a look. However, if he says to himself, "That's the kind of suit I want," he goes in and examines the workmanship and the cloth, in search of faults. The salesman may need to overcome certain objections of his prospect before the order can be secured.

But we have not reached the objections stage of the uncompleted sale. That is the subject of the next chapter. Let us retrace our steps to study the essence of the art of getting yourself wanted.

[Sidenote: Two-part Process of Getting Yourself Wanted]

There are two parts to the process. First, you must show the prospect what he lacks; that in his business there is an unoccupied opportunity for such services as you believe you are capable of rendering to his benefit and satisfaction. Second, you need to picture yourself filling the place and giving the service; to show him imaginatively your qualifications at work in his business.

[Sidenote: Sincerity Of Service Purpose]

Of course it is primarily necessary that you believe in your own capability, and in the value to the other man of the qualities you have brought to him for sale. Unless you have this feeling yourself, you will not be likely to draw out his reciprocating desire for your services. You are not dealing now with his mind. Desire proceeds from the heart. It is emotional, not mental. The least suspicion of your insincerity would check your prospect's feeling that he wants you as an employee. You must feel that you have come with a purpose of genuine service, and you must draw out his similar feeling.

[Sidenote: Desire Comes Out of the Heart]

When you knocked at the door of your prospect's mind, and when you sought to induce his welcome for your ideas, your object was to get him to take your thoughts into his head. The line of action is reversed at the desire stage of the selling process. Until now you have been the moving party. You have been getting yourself and your ideas into his consciousness. But while attention and interest are receptive processes, the emotion of genuine desire starts with an outward moving impulse from the prospect. It isn't enough that he open his heart and let you enter, as he has admitted your ideas to his mind. If he really wants you, his feeling of desire will come out after you.

[Sidenote: Service Value is Appreciated]

You have revealed to your prospect a lack in his business, and have pictured yourself filling it to his satisfaction. You have done him a double service. It is human nature to appreciate such a genuine service, and to want more like it. The first service is accepted with appreciation, but when the square man wants more he makes a move to get it, and expects to pay for it. As soon as you have shown the lack and your ability to fill it, and have pictured yourself "on the job," it will be natural for your prospect to want you there in fact.

The colored porter who washed the windows and scrubbed floors in the general offices of a manufacturing corporation was ambitious to rise in the social scale and to earn a larger salary. One evening he went to the private office of the president, and presented for sale an idea of his capability for a different job.

[Sidenote: Official Welcomer Wanted]

"Boss," he began, "You-all ain't got nobody dere to de front doah to make folks feel welcome-like when dey comes in heah. Down in Virginny my ol' gran-pap useter weah a dress suit ever' day an' jist Stan' in de front hall of his ol' massa's house, a-waitin' to bow an' smile to comp'ny whad'd come in. If you'll jist rent me one o' dem dar suits, Boss, I could stan' out in the front office an' make folks feel we wuz glad to see 'um, lak' mah gran'pap did. When ennybody comes heah now, dey ain't nobody pays much 'tention to 'um. You'd orter git somebody on dat job, Boss; an' I reckon I'm jist 'bout cut out foh it, suh."

The colored man compelled attention by presenting himself at the door of the sanctum. He induced interest in his proposal. Then, in addition, he pointed out a lack and that he could fill it. Immediately the president visioned the old darkey as an official welcomer, and wanted him. He reached right out for the service offered. The sale was closed at once, and the colored man shone in his new glories within a week.

[Sidenote: Conflict of Heart and Mind]

Often a man desires with his heart things that his mind does not approve. Therefore when you work to get yourself wanted, appeal to the heart of your prospect, rather than to his mind. Then if his mind raises objections to his desire for your services, your mind at a later stage of the selling process will overcome or get around his mental opposition. When the time for that step arrives, his heart will already have been won as your ally, and will help you dispose of the objections his mind has raised.

[Sidenote: Get Yourself Liked]

As a preliminary to getting yourself wanted, get yourself liked. Make such an impression, do and say such things, as will draw out of the heart of your prospect a friendly feeling for you. You know of people who have been boosted to notable successes because influential men took personal interest in their advancement.

I recall an office boy who was always ready to perform little extra services. He held his employer's overcoat one day, and the boss rather absent-mindedly handed him a tip. The boy shook his head and declined the dime.

"I didn't do that for a tip. You always treat me fine, and I just like to show you I appreciate it."

The boy's heart had spoken, and the employer's heart responded at once with an especial liking for the lad. The seed of personal interest having been planted in the heart of the president, his liking grew. The boy was advanced to better and better positions. He made good on his merits, but he was helped very much because his employer wanted him to succeed.

[Sidenote: The Common Heart of Man]

Reference has previously been made to the fundamental likeness of all men at heart and to their differences in mind. Send out with your voice an appeal to only the minds of your audience—read a table of statistics, for example—and it will affect all your hearers differently, depending on the mental characteristics of each individual. But tell a story of great courage, of self-sacrifice, of love—the same fundamental effect will be produced on all the hearts in the audience; though, of course, the various individuals will respond with different degrees of emotional intensity.

As has been said before, in order to look into the heart of another man you need but see clearly into your own. There you will find all the emotions of human nature, no matter how you may differ from other men in mentality. Hence if you would prompt the heart of another man to want your services, just do the things he would need to do to win your liking for him. Imagine the cases reversed, and be guided in your selling process by what you see.