Carrying a cigar or a cigarette, even though freshly lighted, usually detracts from a man’s appearance. A tooth-pick in evidence is always very bad taste, and often it has been fatal to sales. Newspapers stuck into pockets, or carried in one’s hand, suggest that a man is not all there, that he is thinking more of the topics of the day than of his business. They are evidence of lack of concentration, and more often than the salesman may think he handicaps himself by having these in sight.
Jake Daubert, the well known authority in baseball, has concluded an article on his specialty with these strong words of advice: “Always know ahead of time what you must do with the ball after you get it.” To a salesman I would say—think out all possible difficulties that may arise during the progress of a prospective sale. Be prepared for every emergency. Cultivate patience, calmness, and celerity, for they give a powerful advantage to their possessor.
Seizing the psychological moment is of great importance. Admiral Dewey seized it very effectively when he gave the command, “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.” A salesman can win by “firing” at the right moment. He can, likewise, and should, stop “firing” and close the deal at the right moment. It is all psychological—a matter of mind meeting mind.
Avoid as much as possible technical terms, unless you are talking to customers who, you are sure, understand them. For instance, a Life Insurance salesman makes a great mistake ordinarily, to talk about “legal reserve,” “accrued dividends,” “extended insurance,” “paid-up values,” “accelerative endowments,” “expense ratios,” “percentages of increase,” etc. As a matter of fact, it is quite probable that a large number of those to whom he talks will not understand even the words “liabilities” and “assets.”
Many a salesman has been ruined or seriously injured by carrying a side line. All of the great things of the world have been accomplished by concentration upon a specialty.