The Psychology of Salesmanship

by William Walker Atkinson

Words describing action, taste, feelings, or in fact anything which relates to sense perceptions, tend to arouse the imagination. If the Salesman cultivates the art of actually seeing, tasting or feeling the thing in his own imagination, as he talks, he will tend to re-produce his mental pictures in the mind of his prospect. Imagination is contagious—along the lines of suggestion. Descriptions of sensations, or feelings, tend to awaken a sympathetic response and representation in the minds of others, along the lines of suggestion. Did you never have your imagination and desire fired by the description of a thing—didn't you want to see, feel, or taste it yourself? Did you never feel the effect of words like: "delicious; fragrant; luscious; sweet; mild; invigorating; bracing," etc., in an advertisement? How many young people have been hurried into matrimony by an illustration or word-picture of a "happy home;" "a little wife to meet you at the door;" "little children clustering around you," and all the rest of it? A well known instalment furniture dealer of Chicago is said to be psychologically responsible for thousands of weddings, by his suggestive pictures of the "happy home" and his kind statement that "We will Feather your Nest;" and "You find the Bride, and we will do the rest." The Salesman who can "paint bright pictures in the mind" of his prospect, will succeed in awakening the Imagination, and arousing the Inclination and Desire. Newman well said: "Deductions have no power of persuasion. The heart is commonly reached, not through the reason, but through the imagination. * * * Persons influence us, voices melt us, looks subdue us, deeds inflame us."

And so we pass to the stage of Inclination or Desire, by the road of the Imagination.

The mental state of Inclination, or Desire, following upon the arousing of the appropriate faculties through the Imagination which arises in the stage of Consideration, may be briefly described as the feeling of: "This seems to be a good thing—I would like to have it." This Inclination has been aroused by demonstration and suggestion, and the prospect begins to experience the feeling that the possession of the thing will add to his pleasure, comfort, well-being, satisfaction or profit. You will remember the statement regarding Desire given in a previous chapter: "Desire has for its object something which will bring pleasure or get rid of pain, immediate or remote, for the individual or for some one in whom he is interested. Aversion, or a striving to get away from something, is merely the negative aspect of desire." It is this feeling that you have aroused in some degree in the mind of the prospect. You have brought him to the first stages of Inclination, which naturally brings him to a deliberation as to whether he is justified in purchasing it, and to the point where he will begin to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the purchase—the question of whether he is willing to "pay the price" for it, which is, after all, the vital question in nearly all forms of deliberation following Inclination and Desire. But as the prospect's mind passes to the stage of Deliberation, you must not lose sight of the question of Desire, for it may be necessary to re-kindle it in him, or to blow upon its sparks, when he debates the "to buy or not to buy." The Deliberation is largely a question of a conflict of motives, and Desire is a powerful motive—so you must be ready to arouse a new phase of "want to" in the prospect to counterbalance some other motive which may be turning the scales in the other direction.

In entering into the stage of Deliberation, or Argument, the discussion passes from the impersonal plane to the personal. The question no longer is: "Is not this a good thing?" to that of "Should you not have it for your own?" This is a distinct change of base, and a different set of faculties are now employed by the Salesman. He leaves the Descriptive phase and enters into that of Argument. He enters into that second meaning or phase of Demonstration which has been defined as: "Proving clearly." And the question of proof and argument is that of whether the prospect is not justified in acquiring the thing. The prospect's mind is already considering the two sides of the question, his Caution combating his Inclination. He is like "Jeppe" of whom we told you in a previous chapter. It is now a question of "my back or my stomach," with him. The Salesman's business now is to demonstrate to him that he can and should acquire the thing. This is a proceeding in which the Salesman's tact, resources, knowledge of human nature, persuasive power, and his logic are needed.

The Salesman has an advantage here which he often overlooks. We refer to the fact that the very objections of the prospect, and his questions give a key to his mental operations, which may be followed up by the Salesman. He knows now what is on the prospect's mind, and what are his general feelings, views, and inclinations regarding the matter. When he begins to talk he gives you a glimpse at his motives, prejudices, hopes and fears. It is quite an art to lead the prospect to ask the questions or to make the objections to which you have a strong answering argument. You then are able to turn back upon him his own argument. It is a psychological fact that the force of a statement made in answer to an interrogative objection, is much stronger than would be the same statement made without the question or objection.

Macbain says: "Lincoln, it is related, early learned in beginning the study of law, that he did not know what it was to prove a thing. By means of careful, conscientious study, in which he took up the problems of Euclid, one by one, he satisfied himself that he then realized absolutely what it meant to prove a proposition. One of the most eminent judges of the Iowa judiciary regards every legal problem as a proposition to be proved by a chain of reasoning. The salesman who determines with absolute accuracy what it means, first, to prove a proposition, and second to apply the general principles of demonstration to an immediate matter in hand, knows just how far to go in making his demonstration, what to include and what to exclude. He can see in his mind's eye the chain of evidence that he is fashioning and will make that fabric of his mind exact, logical and convincing."

(Note:—In order to train the student in logical thinking, development of the logical faculties, and the art of expressing one's thoughts in a logical and effective manner, we would suggest that he make inquiry regarding the volumes of the present series known as "The Art of Logical Thinking, or The Laws of Reasoning;" "Thought-Culture, or Practical Mental Training;" and "The Art of Expression." These books are published by the house issuing the present volume.)

It will be seen that the field of discussion in this stage of Deliberation covers not only the subject of the value and utility of the goods or proposition, but also the question of the price, the advisibility of the purchase at this time, the special advantages possessed, the over-balancing of assumed disadvantages, and in fact the whole question of purchase from beginning to end. The one thing to be held in the mind of the Salesman, however, is "This will do you good; this will do you good; this will do you good!" Keep hammering away at this one nail, in a hundred ways—hold it up to view from a hundred viewpoints and angles. It is the gist of the whole argument, at the last. Don't allow yourself to be sidetracked from this essential proposition, even if the argument spreads itself over a wide field. The point is that (1) the thing is good; (2) the prospect needs it; and (3) that you do him a good turn by making him see that he needs it. We once knew of a very successful life-insurance salesman who had but two points to his selling talk. These were: (1) "Life insurance is a necessity;" and (2) "My company is sound." He brushed aside all other points as immaterial, and insisted with all his heart and soul upon his two points. He was not an educated man, nor was he versed in the technicalities of life-insurance, but he knew his two points from cellar to garret. He outsold many men with actuarial minds, and extended knowledge. He followed the "rifle-ball" policy, instead of the "shot gun" plan. When he struck the target, he made a mark!

It is the Mental Attitude of the Salesman which is the power behind his argumentive rifle-balls. It is his enthusiasm which warms up the prospect's imagination and desire. And, back of these, must always be his belief in his own proposition. The Salesman must "sell himself" over and over again, as friend Holman has suggested. He must answer every objection which occurs to himself, as well as those which are thrust upon him in his work. If the goods are right, there must be an answer to every objection, just as there is a return-move to every move in chess—just as there always is "the other side" to everything. He must find this move, and this "other side" to every objection to which his proposition is open. And he must "sell himself" over and over again, as we have said. The National Cash Register people say to their salesmen: "Selling registers is a straight-forward serious work. You have a plain statement to make of the facts which you are convinced are true, and which you are certain it is for the prospect's benefit to know. You should be as sincere about it as if you were a clergyman preaching the gospel. If you go at it in this sincere spirit the prospect will feel the importance of what you say, and it will carry its due weight. It is a fact which you must fully believe, that the register is a great benefit to any man who buys it; that it will save any merchant many times its cost while he is paying for it."

Pierce says: "So in selling—it is absolutely essential to be genuine. First, last and foremost—be genuine. Practice absolutely what you preach. Be honest. Never undertake a line of goods that you cannot enthusiastically endorse. Otherwise you cannot 'sell yourself.' And selling one's self is by all means necessary. Students have asked us: 'How about being honest when the customer asks you a question that you know in your heart you cannot answer straight-forwardly?' The answer is: Drop that line; the sooner the better."