This does not mean that a good salesman must have a rhinoceros hide; that would make him unfeeling, unsympathetic, and he would lack the human quality which is so essential in salesmanship. Nor does it mean that he should be pugnacious or over-aggressive. It simply means that he must be able to antidote and neutralize the prospect’s thrusts, however cruel or aggravating. In short, while keeping perfect control of himself, remaining pleasant and agreeable throughout, he must be able to put up a stiff fight, a dignified, manly fight that will leave him master of the situation.
This is where the timid or over-sensitive salesman falls short. He is thrown completely off his base by the vigorous thrusts and arguments of the rough, energetic business man who doesn’t stop to choose his words. He feels injured at the slightest reflection upon his ability, his truthfulness, the character of his goods, or his house. I know a salesman of this sort who will never make his mark, who flares up, “gets up on his ear,” as they say, whenever his sensitive, sore spots are touched. He lacks that masterfulness and superb confidence in himself which make a salesman proof against abuse or opposition. The self-confident man is impervious to the slights or slurs that make the sensitive man shrink into himself. He is too sensible of his own dignity to let them interfere with his business. When the small man, the peppery or morbidly sensitive man, feels that he must protect his “honor,” even if he lose a sale, the big, broad man knows that no one can hurt his honor but himself, and that it is best served by refusing to feel hurt or insulted where in reality no insult is intended.
Another point that works to the great disadvantage of the timid or sensitive salesman is this: he is afraid to make what is called the “cold” or “straight” canvass; that is, to approach people without having a “lead” or an introduction. This is a great weakness, and very often false pride is at the bottom of it. The man feels above his task. Again, ignorance of goods or of selling principles will cause a man to lack confidence in himself, and then, naturally, he is timid, fearful, for he foresees the failure that awaits him when he calls on a customer. Ignorance is timid; knowledge is bold, courageous. It is not enough to have possession of yourself if you don’t also have possession of your business, that is, if you are not thoroughly grounded in the principles of salesmanship. Thus grounded, if you adopt the right attitude toward your business and toward yourself, nothing can keep you from success.
Throw off your shyness, your morbid sensitiveness, your timidity. Get rid of your lack of faith and courage. Confidently expect that you are going to be a great salesman, a distinctive one, a salesman with individuality, with originality, with inventiveness, a man of resource and power. Never allow yourself to think that anything is true about you that you wish to be otherwise, because the thought you hold in mind is the model of your life building. Think faith, think courage, think strength, and you will develop those qualities.
The reason why so many of us build so slowly and so poorly is because we are constantly destroying our building by shifting our model. One day we have confidence in ourselves, and our mental model is full of courage, hope and expectancy, and the life forces build accordingly. The next day we are in the dumps, have no faith in ourselves, are discouraged, and of course these are the models for that day’s building, destroying the building of the previous day, and thus many of us go through life, building up and tearing down.
Be consistently courageous, hopeful, confident in yourself and in the power of your Creator to make you what you long to be, and nobody, nothing on this earth, can down you.
There is everything in flinging out a superb confidence in yourself, a firm belief that you are going to win. Expel all doubt and fear, all uneasiness, from your mind and approach every prospect with the expectation of success.
“Courage,” says Emerson, “comes from having done the thing before.” Your first success will give you the momentum that will push you on to the next. Every achievement adds to our self-confidence, the great leader of all our other faculties. If confidence does not go ahead, the other faculties refuse to go on.
Every time you conquer what you undertake, you add so much to the power of all the faculties you possess. Just as a snowball grows larger and larger as it rolls down hill, so our lives grow larger, richer, with each experience. We lose nothing of what we achieve. It is all added to the life-ball.