WHAT IS ENTHUSIASM?
With one of the large concerns selling goods direct to the user there is a man of peculiar ability who has succeeded, although in deciding his business problems he purposely sets aside every suggestion of enthusiasm so that his decision may not be influenced by it. His whole basis of calculation is fixed on facts and figures. If it is a purchase he is making the whole consideration is that of price compared with other like qualities. If it is a matter of making enlargements or improvements to the factory, the question is, “What will be the cost and the advantages to the business?” All along the line it is simply facts he accepts.
The personality of this man calls for comment because it is the exceptional case. Most normal people are governed in what they say and do by enthusiasm. It is a spirit or emotion that draws men away from the humdrum of things, shows them something better and fires them with a determination to go after it. The late Theodore Roosevelt was one of the fine examples of men who have been fired with enthusiasm. So great was his enthusiasm that when he got an idea his whole personality became ablaze until he carried out his purpose and changed the idea into a reality.
Successful salesmen must have enthusiasm. It does not necessarily need to be of a kind we see at the ball game when a player on the home team makes a home-run, but it must be a spirit that gives the man an incentive to improve continually the quality of his service to the customer, that aims to furnish the goods best suited to the customer’s needs and means, that builds his confidence and adds to the salesman’s success.