HUMAN NATURE
An understanding of human nature is of especial importance to people who sell. Every shoe salesman has recognized the fact that there is among customers a variety of personality or dispositions. One person is continually in a hurry; another person, although he may have just as much to do, is never rushed. One person is happy as a matter of habit; another will appear to be weighted with the cares of the world—and so it goes, each one contributing to build up variety in human nature.
The study of human nature is known also as character reading and as psychology. The purpose of this study is to bring about a clearer understanding of the laws governing the operation of the human mind. There is a relationship between a person’s disposition and his physical appearance as shown by the features of his face, the shape of his head and such like. The science of analyzing these signs is known as character reading or character analysis. People who make a special study of these things are sometimes able to show remarkable results in reading and understanding people at first sight. Everybody acquires the habit, more or less, of “sizing-up” a person who is met for the first time. To the salesman the ability to do this is a special advantage in that it enables him at once to understand a customer and to govern his effort to sell accordingly.
Without knowing anything about the details of character reading as they relate to a study of the proportions and relationship of a person’s nose, chin, mouth, and so forth, most of us learn to understand people simply through the impression they make upon us as we meet them. A person’s general manner of approach, the expression and tone of voice, come to mean a great deal to us in an effort to understand those with whom we come in contact. A broad suggestion on this point is that the salesman should confine at least his first effort at reading human nature to that of taking a genuine interest in each customer. He should base his effort to serve upon personal impressions rather than upon any attempt at analyzing the customer according to a series of rules. Only after having made a special study of psychology or character reading would he be in a position to get results from these sources. Without belittling any of these things it is safe to say that a goodly share of success in all retail selling is based upon the policy of considering each customer, first of all as a fellow human being, and of backing this up with a genuine effort to serve him well.