You should seek admission to a house as though you were the bearer of glad tidings, as though you had good news for the family, as though you were conferring a real favor on them by calling their attention to what you have to sell.
Whatever you are selling, whether books or pianos, hardware or drygoods, your manner will largely determine the amount of your sales. There are salesmen who approach prospective customers just as though they not only did not expect an order, but rather expected, if not to get kicked out, at least a polite invitation to get out.
I was in the office of a business man recently, when a man of this stamp came in and crept up to him with a sort of a sheepish expression on his face, as much as to say, “I know I haven’t any right here, but I have come in to ask for a favor, which I feel sure you won’t grant.”
“I don’t suppose you have an order for me to-day, have you?” he said. Of course, the man, without a moment’s hesitation, said, “No.” And the salesman crept out as though he had almost committed a sin by entering at all.
Now, there is something in every manly man which despises this self-depreciating spirit, this false self-effacement, this creeping, cringing, apologizing attitude, which robs one of all dignity and power. If you approach people as though you expected a kick, you are pretty sure to get it. It may come in the form of a gruff refusal, of a snub, or of a polite invitation to get out, but you are likely to get what you invite—a rebuff of some kind.
If you approach a man at all, do it in a brave, vigorous, manly way. Do not ruin your cause by giving him a contemptible picture of you at the very outset. At least let him see that you are self-respecting, manly, that there is nothing of the coward in you. Even if he declines to give you an order, compel him to respect you, to admire you for your dignified, virile bearing. No one cares to do business with a person he cannot help despising, while a man who creates a favorable impression will at least get a hearing.
We recently asked a representative of a big concern how he managed to do so much business with people whom very few salesmen can approach.
“Well,” he said, “I will tell you. One reason is that I never go to a man as though I had no right to. I do not creep into his office and look as though I expected a kick or a rebuff. I walk right straight up to him in the most manly and commanding way possible, for I am bound to make a good impression on him, so that he will remember me pleasantly, even if I do not get an order. The result is that men who are very difficult to approach often give me business they refuse to others because I am not afraid to approach them and to say what I want to say pleasantly, without mincing or cringing or apologizing.”
This man says he has little difficulty in getting into the private offices of the most exclusive business men, presidents of banks, great financiers, high officials of railroads and other representatives of “big business,” and that they are his best customers.
To sum up, your attitude, the spirit you radiate, your personality, will have everything to do with your salesmanship. The impression you make will be a tremendous factor in your sales. For this reason you should never approach a prospect until you feel that you are master of the situation. Then you will carry the conviction and give the impression of mastership, and that is half the battle.