VARIETY AMONG PEOPLE
Just as there are no two people exactly alike in physical appearance, just as there are no two sunsets, trees or no two blades of grass exactly alike, there are no two people of like personality and mental development. Variety is a law of nature. One of the greatest wonders of all creation is that such a range of variety is possible year after year and century after century, without duplication. Glancing at a field of daisies or a bouquet of violets the first impression might be that they are all alike, but we find, of course, that each one is different in the length of its stem, the size of its petals and color shadings. As the saying goes, “Variety is the spice of life.” It is variety that prevents life from becoming monotonous, by presenting things of everyday life in changed forms and relationships. Among people the variety of nature and disposition is the one thing that sets the art of salesmanship apart from monotonous, machine-like operations and establishes it as an occupation calling for brains and skill.
Someone may say, “How I wish all customers were like Mrs. Brown or Mrs. Smith, who always know what they want, who buy without any fuss and are out of the store again in less time than another customer takes to decide on the color or style!” That sounds as though it might be an ideal condition except for the fact that it would put selling on a plane of service with that offered by the slot machine. The salesman would become a mere human shoe-handling machine. The sale to Mrs. Brown is a pleasure to the salesman simply because it is one of a variety; all of which have been different in some respects and most of them calling for a higher degree of personal salesmanship. There are some manufacturing companies today that have built up such a steady demand for their goods that the salesman supplying the retailer is often required simply to look over the dealer’s shelves to see what is needed to make up the complete stock, make out his order for the required goods and have it signed by the retailer. Fine business for the wholesaler and the dealer! But the salesman runs the risk of becoming a mere stock-keeper; and his pay is regulated accordingly.