Like the good things you eat, a superb quality leaves a good taste in the mouth. The article that is a little better than others of the same kind, the article that is best, even though the price is higher, “carries in its first sale the possibilities of many sales, because it makes a satisfied customer, and only a satisfied customer will come again.”
Staying power is the final test of ability. The real caliber of a man is measured by the amount of opposition that it would take to down him. The world measures a man largely by his breaking down point. Where does he give up? How much punishment can he stand? How long can he take his medicine without running up the white flag? How much resisting power is there in him? What does the man do after he has been knocked down? This is the test.
Where is your giving up point, your breaking point, your turning back point? This will determine everything in your career.
If you represent a large house, make a careful study of the top-notchers and cracker-jack salesmen in your firm. Study their history, their methods; get at the secret of their great success and their big salaries. The study of men above you will whet your ambition, will sharpen your perceptions and will make you more ambitious, more determined to win out, and this will enable you to make an impression of progressiveness upon your firm. They will see that you are growing, that you are reaching out, that you have no idea of getting into a rut or becoming petrified in your methods.
Thomas Brackett Reed, the famous Speaker of the House of Representatives for many years, used to say that one-half of the battle in Congress is to get the speaker’s eye. Get your prospect’s eye first of all, and then you will not only get his attention, but you will interest and hold him. No other feature has such power to command and hold as the eye.
It is said that the moment a wild beast tamer shows the slightest signs of fear when he enters a cage of wild animals his game is up. They will leap upon him and kill him. The animals watch the trainer’s eye and they can very quickly tell when he has lost his courage or shows the slightest sign of fear.