“Words have worth, only when properly expressed.”
It is the conquest, the conquest of the heart, by words that speak kindliness and assure confidence, which distinguishes the prosperous salesman, justly proud and progressive.—Henry Frank.
Many a man with a good brain fails as a salesman, or remains a mediocre one, because he has never learned to express himself with ease and fluency. A lame, hesitating, poverty-stricken speech is fatal.
The ability to talk well is to a man what cutting and polishing are to the rough diamond. The grinding does not add anything to the diamond. It merely reveals its wealth.
It is an excellent thing to cultivate readiness in conversation, for this will incidentally develop other powers.
Every salesman should have a good broad working vocabulary. To hesitate and feel one’s way for words in trying to make a sale is fatal. The salesman must express himself easily, clearly, and forcefully, otherwise he will be placed at a certain disadvantage. He must be not only a fluent talker, but also a convincing one.
The ability to talk well is a great aid to success in any line of endeavor, but if our heads are empty, mere facility in words will not help us much. Not “words, words, words,” but “points, points, points” win. This is especially true in salesmanship.
A good salesman should be well read on general topics as well as in his special line. There is no other way in which a person will reveal a shallow or a full mind, a narrow or a broad one, a well-read or a poverty-stricken mentality so quickly as in his speech.
To be a good conversationalist, able to interest people, to rivet their attention, to draw them to you naturally, is to be the possessor of a very great and valuable accomplishment. It not only helps you to make a good impression upon strangers, it also helps you to make and keep friends. It opens doors and softens hearts. It makes you interesting in all sorts of company. It helps you marvelously to get on in the world. It sends you customers, it attracts business.
It is a deplorable fact that indifference of speech is one of the characteristics of the American people. We are not only poor conversationalists, but we are poor listeners as well. We are too impatient to listen. Instead of being attentive and eager to drink in the story or the information, we have not enough respect for the talker to keep quiet. We look about impatiently, perhaps snap our watch, play a tattoo with our fingers on a chair or a table, twitch about as if we were bored and were anxious to get away, and frequently interrupt the speaker before he reaches his conclusion. In fact, we are such an impatient people that we have no time for anything except to push ahead, to elbow our way through the crowd, to get the position or the money we desire.