05 > 00 ^ E< OU_1 58326 >[g CO OUP 67 1 1-1-68 5,000. OSMANIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Call No. f ?f ; Accession V\| Author Title 'This took should be returned on or before the date last marked below. SIZZLEMANSHIP NEW TESTED SELLING SENTENCES by ELMER WHEELER Author of "Tested Sentences That Sell"; "Elmer Wheeler's Tested Public Speaking"; "Word Magic"; "Tested Telegrams" New York PRENTICE-HALL, INC. COPYRIGHT, 1940, BY ELMER WHEELER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM, BY MIMEOGRAPH OR ANY OTHER MEANS, WITHOUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE AUTHOR. First printing July 1940 Second printing September 1941 Third printing April 1942 Fourth printing August 1945 Fifth printing April 1946 Sixth printing November 1946 Seventh printing March 1949 Eighth printing September 19 jp Ninth printing June 1953 Tenth printing August 1954 PRINTEXL4H~T1lE~ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA To SENOR G. GUAJARDO DAVIS ONE FINE MAN OF ALL FINE MEXICO Mil gracias, amigo WHAT SIZZLEMANSHIP IS OIZZLEMANSHIP is THE NAME THAT ELMER WHEELER HAS Giv- en to his unique method of "Sizzle Selling," first introduced to the American public in his now famous book. Tested Sentences That Sell. In this new book Elmer Wheeler dips again into the vast fund of experience that he has acquired in applying the "siz- zle" formula to selling different types of products. Here are actual stories of work done behind the counter and out in the field, the things that the genial Sizzle Philoso- pher discovered about selling for his many clients and on tours to Cuba and Mexico. The Sizzle formula remains unchanged in this new book, but there are new applications of it new ideas that you can use in your work as an individual salesman, or as a director of the selling activities of others. Thousands of copies of Mr. Wheeler's first book were sold. We believe that this new book, Sizzlemanship, will better even this remarkable sales record. THE PUBLISHERS vii CONTENTS 1. Learning a Trick or Two from the Cubans ..... 3 2. Old Mexico Teaches You Sales Methods Hundreds of Years Old ........ ........ n 3. You Never Hear the Sales Talk That Sells You ... 22 4. Why You Give Dimes to Beggars ........ 29 5. It's the Low Score That Sells the Golf Club .... 32 6. Western Union Now Says It Telegraphically as Well as Sends It Telegraphically ........... 39 7. The "Monkey See, Monkey Do" Instinct in Selling . . 47 8. A Single Emotion Is Worth a Dozen Facts ..... 51 9. The Fear Appeal Sold a Watchdog to the First Caveman 57 10. Don't Be an Irishman Running Down a Track ... 66 11. Even Joe the Barber Is Using "Tested Sentences" Now . 71 12. Running Restaurants with "Tested Selling" .... 76 13. It's the Puff in the Pipe That Sells It ....... 82 14. Sell the Dream in Your Product Not the Nightmare 89 15. The "Flowers-in-the-Yard Method" of Closing a Sale . 101 IX x CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1 6. How to Chart the Mind of a Prospect 106 17. Taking the Guess and Gamble Out of Rebuttals ... 112 18. Turn Your "Lemons" into "Lemonade" 116 19. When the Lady Says, "See My Husband" 121 20. Putting the Sizzle into Call-Backs 128 21. Quoting Prices Is an Art You Can Easily Acquire . . 132 22. The "Fifth-Avenue-Bus Method" of Quoting Prices . 137 23. Sizzlemanship Proceeds from the Known to the Unknown 143 24. Bury the Dead Words Have Their Day 149 25. Santa Glaus Always Wears a Red Suit 157 26. The Old Man Plays a Fiddle, and the Auctioneer Sells It for $100 164 27. The "How Am I Doin' " Closing Technique . . . . 166 28. Selling the Sizzle in Electric Shavers 172 29. Six "Passwords" That Will Sell Hairbrushes for You . 186 30. Putting the Sizzle into Police Departments 194 31. "Tested Selling" for Doctors and Dentists 200 32. Commander Witherspoon Gives a Pointer for Selling "Gobs" on Religion 207 33. Putting the "Sure" into Insurance 211 34. Sell the Illusion Not the "Bicarb" 215 ELMER WHEELER'S SALES ALBUM How to Sell New Homes, Insulation, and Remodeled Kitchens 225 How to Sell Butter and Eggs 234 CONTENTS xi PAGE How to Sell Meat Products ,242 How to Sell Grocery Items 254 How to Sell Shirts 259 How to Sell Curtains and Bedspreads 261 How to Sell Brake Linings 263 Miscellaneous Selling Sentences 269 THE FIVE WHEELERPOINTS WH&EURPOINT i. DON'T SELL THE STEAK SELL THE SIZZLE! Its the sizzle that sells the stea\, and not the cow, al- though the cow may be mighty important. Steers cant taJ(e orders for their shan\ bones, but, when the waiter carries a sizzling stea\ across the restaurant, you hear, see, and smell that sizzle and buyl Find the sizzle in what you sell and you find success. WHEELERPOINT 2. "DON'T WRITE TELEGRAPH." Learn how to $pea\ telegraphically how to boil your words down. The more you concentrate sunbeams the deeper they burn. The finest stea\ in the world loses its sizzle if the waiter ta\es too long in delivering it. So learn the new art of verbal shorthand. WHEELERPOINT 3. "SAY IT WITH FLOWERS." "Happy returns of the day 9 means much more when you say it with flowers. It's as much what you do as what you say. So? fortify your words with gestures. BacJ^ up your sizzles with action. Synchronize them with showmanship. Say and do all in one motion. WHEELERPOINT 4. DON'T ASK IF ASK WHICH! Always give the other person a choice between some- thing and something never between something and nothing. Be a good lawyer and as\ leading questions. As\ "Why?" or "Where?" or "When?" or "How?" or "What?" Not "if" but "which"! Give others a choice between two things you want. You cant lose on this principle. WHEELERPOINT 5. WATCH YOUR BARK! The little dog has only one word, and only one tail to wag; but the way he bar\s and the way he wags his tail convey his meaning. So watch your>bar\. The best sizzle in the world flops with a thud if your voice is flat. Your voice, femember, is the carrier of your mes- sage. How you say it is as important as what you say. 1 LEARNING A TRICK OR TWO FROM THE CUBANS There is more selling on the island of Cuba than on Four- teenth Street in New Yor^ or in Macy's bargain basement. Cubans long ago learned how to sett the sizzle to Americans. WHEN I WENT TO HAVANA RECENTLY, MY OLD FRIEND JULES Paglin, of New Orleans, advised me to memorize two ex- pressions. Cuanto was one of them, meaning how much; the second was es mucho, which means // is much, or, as we would say, too much. I didn't quite understand why my friend picked out these two phrases in particular until I arrived in Havana and found there the biggest, grandest selling campaign going on outside of Ringling Brothers circus or a trip to Catalina Is- land. The Cubans are born salespeople! I learned a lot about salesmanship from these people to whom selling is second nature. For example, when the boat arrived, a flock of Cuban boys got aboard and, while we were waiting in line for customs inspection, offered us postal cards. Nothing unusual about that, you say except that these fellows had already put stamps on the cards to save us the 3 4 LEARNING A TRICK OR TWO FROM THE CUBANS trouble, and they held pencils in their hands while they called out their "Tested Selling Sentence":* "Let your friends fyiow you arc in Cubal" A nice appeal and they made it so easy to "let your friends know." You just wrote a few words about "Having a good time wish you were here," and the boy took the card. No licking of stamps, no wondering about how many stamps to put on, no hunting for mail boxes. That's unusual selling technique for people untrained in the art of salesmanship for people who in all probability never went to any sales training school. No doubt they got the idea from American mail-order houses, which long ago learned the trick of making it easy for the customer to buy. And there I was buying postal cards, even before I landed in Cuba just because it was so easy to buy them. This, then, was my first lesson in Cuba: Ma1(e it easy for the customer to buy! HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO PAY? As we landed, a horde of salesmen flocked upon us. Most of them were selling maracas I would call them "rumba balls," for they are the rattles used as rhythm instruments in Latin-American orchestras. Actually they are gourds filled with seeds and pebbles and are very typical of Cuba. The Cuban boys shouted, "One dollar," when I asked, "iCu&nto?" (How much ?) Hm-m-m, I thought to myself, that's a pretty fair price, for I remembered seeing them for two dollars back in the States. But, made cautious by my friend's advice, I put on a good poker face and said, "Es mucho" (Too much.) * A copyright expression. LEARNING A TRICK OR TWO FROM THE CUBANS 5 The Cuban boy didn't seem upset. He simply said, "How much you want to pay?" Rather a harmless question, on the surface, but after two days in Cuba I realized that it contained dynamite and was a real "Tested Selling Sentence." The normal reply to "How much you want to pay ?" is the offer of much less than the price asked, so I replied, "Fifty cents," thinking I was driving a good bargain, and the boy came back with, "Seventy-five cents." A good deal, I thought, especially since I suddenly found the pair of maracds in my own hands. Another Cuban trick. So I bought the maracds, mentally thanking my friend back in New Orleans for teaching me those two magic phrases. Later on, I found the downtown stores selling the same maracds for twenty-five cents. And I thought I had made a deal! However, I learned my second Cuban sales rule, which was this: When the other person says, "Too much'' dont argue with him. Merely say, "How much do you want to pay?" Thus you ma\e him commit himsetf, and then you are in a position to negotiate. Try it. It sells mil- lions of maracds in Cubal BUY THE REAL CUBAN KIND Now, the next thing you think about in Cuba is casta- nets. No trip to Mexico is complete without blankets and pottery; no trip to New Orleans without pralines; no trip to Texas without a sombrero; and no trip to Cuba without maracds and castanets. The Cubans know this. So the castanet sellers surged upon me, and before I knew 6 LEARNING A TRICK OR TWO FROM THE CUBANS it I was getting a free lesson in how to hold them and how to play them. I had been in Havana less than ten minutes, and here I was being taught to play castanets right on the wharf. Subtle selling but smart. I felt very Cuban playing the castanets, so I finally asked, "iCudnto?" and was told that they were fifty cents. Not to be outsmarted by these Cubans, I looked dumb and said emphatically, "Es muchol" The Cuban youngster came right back with, "How much you want to pay?" Hm-m-m, I thought, another cinch. It's too bad to rob these kids, but after all a sale is a sale, so I said, "Twenty-five cents take it or leave it." Evidently he had had many customers like me before and knew all the answers, because he quickly said, "Two for sev- enty-five cents." Well, he was coming down, so I said, "Two for fifty cents," and we finally settled on two for sixty-five cents. Well, there I was with a set of maracds and two pairs of castanets, all prepared to set forth on the streets of Cuba. What a deal maker I was ! Too bad to take these Cubans for a ride, but a deal is a deal. Five minutes later another Cuban boy came up to me and offered me some castanets. I told him I had some. He looked at mine. They were light in color. His were dark in color, so the rascal said: "Buy the real Cuban castanets that the professionals use I" I told him mine were the professional kind. He shook his head and smiled, pointing to the dark mahogany color of his and the light, pale color of mine. I had been sold down the river for sixty-five cents. LEARNING A TRICK OR TWO FROM THE CUBANS 7 Well, I decided I might as well have the real Cuban kind, so I went through all the trouble of making another deal, and got these castanets two for fifty cents, and began patting myself on the back again. Later, in a small store of the five-and-ten-cent variety, I saw my professional castanets, and the others, selling for the regular price of ten cents each. Twenty cents a pair! What a deal maker I turned out to be! But I learned my third lesson in Cuban salesmanship: Get the prospect's interest aroused by showing him how to wor\ or do the trict^. Let him do it himself. Teach him. He'll buy it more quickly. A TAXI DRIVER MAKES A DEAL Not once was I approached by a beggar in Havana. It's too easy, I guess, to sell an American tourist something at a big profit to bother trying to get something from him for nothing. Still not actually in the heart of Havana, I started down the street. A string of Cuban cabs began to pull up beside me, their drivers shouting, "See the sights the night life of Ha- vana!" I was tempted, but I looked indifferent and said, "tCu- dnto? The cab driver nearest me shouted, "Fifty cents downtown a dollar fifty for an hour." "Es mucho" I replied, and kept on walking down the street with my party. He followed us, stuck his head out the cab window, and said, "How much you . want to pay?" "Twenty-five cents to go downtown," I said, and we made the usual split deal this time for thirty-five cents. I chuckled, and winked to my friends. 8 LEARNING A TRICK OR TWO FROM THE CUBANS Why, I knew the magic words cuanto and es muchol They nodded approval and began to learn the words themselves. Once downtown, I found that all the cabs had signs in their windows reading "Twenty-five cents anywhere." And I had paid thirty-five cents, after making a deal! But it taught me another good lesson in sizzlemanship. THE LATINS HAVE THE RIGHT WORDS Armed with my two magic phrases, I kept on going around Cuba, and every once in a while I was approached by boys selling bracelets. At first I shunned them. I wasn't interested in bracelets. Then I began to notice they were made of hard berries and interesting things picked up along the seashore. Quite Cu- ban. Hm-m-m. Suddenly I weakened and said, "tCudnto?" As I did, I found the beads immediately on my wrist. Such sleight of hand. All I did was ask the price and, instead of getting it, got the beads on my wrist. Once the bracelet was hooked onto my wrist, the boy backed away nearly five feet, far enough so that I couldn't hand it back to him even if I could have unhooked it, which was doubtful and said, "One dollar!" "Es mucho" I said weakly, wondering what people would think, seeing me, a man, with a bracelet on. "How much you want to pay?" asked the lad, with that "Tested Sentence" that I was beginning to recognize as pretty clever not just the routine question of a Cuban street seller. So I offered him something, and right away I was caught. For the minute you offer anything, there is something for the other person to start from. Well, away we went bargaining. LEARNING A TRICK OR TWO FROM THE CUBANS 9 I ended up by getting two for a dollar, convinced that this time I really had won out. I had cut his price right in half, and surely he wouldn't have had the nerve to have doubled it to start. No doubt he had added twenty-five cents to the regular seventy-five-cent price, and, if I could get two of them for a dollar well, that was a deal. Alas, I found the same bracelets sold in the five-and-ten- cent stores back in the States for ten cents each! But I got my money's worth in experience. I observed another great Cuban sales rule, which is this: Display it to sell it. Don t say to the customer, "Do you want to try it on?" Instead, put it on him, and let him see it as it will be worn or used! THEY HAVE TWO KINDS OF MENUS IN CUBA One night some friends and I went to a rumba palace, and we found ourselves with a Tourist's Menu. Later we learned that there are two menus in Cuba: one for tourists and one for Cubans. And for once we could make no deals. We just paid when we saw two big Negroes coming up to listen to our arguments about the charges. We paid gladly. On leaving the rumba palace, we went back downtown. We wandered around for some time until one of the party suggested Sloppy Joe's place. Approaching a cab driver, I decided we'd have no more of this deal-making stuff, so I asked him how much he would charge to drive six of us to Sloppy Joe's. He shook his head. We offered him fifty cents for the party. He still shook his head. We winked at one another, and offered him fifty-five cents, but he continued to shake 10 LEARNING A TRICK OR TWO FROM THE CUBANS his head, muttering something, and pointing across the street apparently to another cab driver. Finally I said in my pidgin English, "Ten cents each people!" He got mad. No doubt I was driving a hard bargain. After all, twenty cents for one person and twenty-five cents for two was standard. For six people he really ought to get more than sixty cents. Finally he gave up arguing, and, disgusted, motioned to us to get in. He drove us to Sloppy Joe's one hundred feet away around the corner he had been pointing to all the time! And we think we Americans are smart salesmen! Yet, with all this fun and deal making in Cuba, with paying the long price in spite of my efforts to outsmart the other fellow, I did learn many lessons that were worth while. In the main, I learned this valuable lesson: // you try to outsmart people, you are lively to be out- smarted yourself. Be honest in your sales tal\ and you'll ma^e a better deal than you would by trying to be a "sharper:' Tell the Truth The Truth Is Good Enough OLD MEXICO TEACHES YOU SALES METHODS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD On a far with the instinctive salesmanship of Cuba is the equally effective sizzlemanship of old Mexico. IN OLD MEXICO I FOUND SOME MORE INSTINCTIVE SALESMAN- ship and some more born salesmen. You can add to your sales technique from books, to be sure, but the art o selling is as natural to the true salesman as swimming is to the fish. For example, when the Mexican shoe-shine boy in front of Hotel Reforma wants to sell you, a shine, he points to your shoes, and says, "Shine?" You might say there is nothing especially brilliant about this, but how often do we Americans point or gesture in making a sale? Mighty little. Yet that simple gesture of pointing to your shoes causes your eyes to follow the lad's arm, and you see how dirty your shoes are and the chances of a shoe-shine sale are mighty good. Working for the gentlemen who run El Puerto Liverpool, the big Mexico City department store, taught me one thing: Mexican salespersons gesture more than Americans! In fact, I pointed out to Senor Pardo, who heads up sales 11 12 OLD MEXICO TEACHES YOU education for this magnificent store, that the Americans could learn this art of gesturing from his people. It is a noteworthy fact that the farther north you travel, the less salespeople gesture, until you arrive in some of those fine Canadian stores I have had the pleasure of helping, where you find gesturing at a minimum. CANADIANS SELL WITH THEIR MINDS The Mexican sells with his heart. He romances about what he is selling. He touches your sentiment, your fancy, and your love. The Canadian sells with his "mind." He tells you the practical side of the product. Both systems are good but I believe the heart is closer to more pocketbooks than is the mind, don't you ? Physically as well as mentally! The Canadian sells the quality of the item, while his Mexi- can sales brother talks about the "romance" in the product or sales package. The Mexican girl says, "It is a lovely perfume, and will make the senores' hearts beat faster!" The Canadian salesperson says, "The perfume is very last- ing!" The ideal sentence, of course, is the combination of ro- mance and the practical. For example, "It will please people who notice it, and it will last a long time." I BUY A GARDENIA QUICKLY As I was rushing out of another hotel in Mexico City, a small-sized man held up a gardenia and said, "Buy it, sefior; it will make you feel important all day long!'* SALES METHODS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD 13 I almost sprained my ankle twisting around to buy it, when the full significance of the sentence struck me. I had several important calls that day and I did want to feel im- portant for 50 ccntavosl A small price to pay for importance! Then, too, didn't the clever rascal say I'd feel important "all day long" ? That was good salesmanship the kind that sizzles, the kind that fits into this book on sizzlemanship. SHOPPING IN MEXICAN MARKETS Most merchants in old Mexico today have fixed prices. Their prices are displayed, and you accept them or not, as you see fit. But, just as in other Latin countries, there are thousands of "bargaining salesmen," and every one of this type has three prices: 1. The price he asks. 2. The price he hopes to get. 3. The price he really gets. Taxco has many such people, but of course Friday in Taluca is noted for this form of bartering. It is lots of fun and you should go there, especially with the low rate of exchange between the peso and the dollar. Here in these marketing places no price is ever displayed, and every purchase is a fascinating "deal." Incidentally, once you speak English you are lost, for prices go up 500 per cent. You look at a lovely scrape and ask, "tCuanto?" The sly old fellow looks sad and says, "Only one hundred pesos, senor." You shrug your shoulders and mutter, "Es mucho" He shows you the pretty roses in the design. He says, 14 OLD MEXICO TEACHES YOU "It is these roses that make this scrape so valuable, sefior." He centers your interest in this way and invites you to feel the fine material. You are not showing much interest, so he shows you a scrape without roses but maybe an Indian design and says, "Fifty pesos, sefior." You are still not interested or, at least, not showing that you are. He points to the handwork along the edge and says, "It is done by the patient hands of many beautiful senoritas." Showmanship, as Zenn Kaufman would point out to you in his book on that subject with his friend Ken Goode. The rule is very simple, one every salesman should apply: Find something interesting, unusual, or exclusive about what you are selling then call attention to this detail and mafe a mountain of interest out of it. THEY "NEVER MAKE ANY MONEY" I learned from my good friend Sefior G. Guajardo Davis of Mexico that one way to handle the high-pressure deal maker is to pick up goods, and inquire the price by suggest- ing some ridiculously low amount. For example, "How much is this serape, sefior, ten pesos ?" It is worth about fifty, so the merchant can't very well say against such a low price, "It is worth two hundred pesos, sefior." He is more apt now to get somewhere near the price "he hopes to get," and say, "To such a fine sefior, it is only seventy-five pesos." You will get it for fifty pesos if you walk toward the door. It is a real game, according to Sefior Guajardo, to find the SALES METHODS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD 15 last of the three prices of old Mexico the price as\ed, the price wanted, the price actually received. And always beware of the salesman who says, "I never make any money." Somehow this is a favorite sentence in Latin countries, and of certain types of American salesmen too. As director of Carta Blanca Beer Company, one of our clients, Senor Guajardo finds his salesmen and distributors constantly hearing this old complaint, but they ignore it and say, "Then you should use more Carta Blanca and make money perhaps I can leave three cases today instead of one, yes?" SELLING IN MEXICO'S VENETIAN CANALS Perhaps the next best place to study sizzlemanship from the ground up is Xochimilco, known as the Mexican Venice. Here, but a few miles from Mexico City, is a garden spot, a series of natural canals leading up to the wonderful inn there. Senor Guajardo, ever solicitous for my pleasure, made cer- tain I went there, and he turned over to me one of his men, Senor Jorge, as my guide. First you make a deal with the Indians for a gondola. Here again are the famous three prices, but Senor Jorge got the boat for two pesos. We were paddled up the canals, to study sizzlemanship in the raw, as practiced by Indian sellers. In canoes these Indians sell many things to you. They race toward your gondola, and the first one there gets the preference spot to do his bargaining, with others selling over his shoulder. Their technique springs from the earth. It is humble and 16 OLD MEXICO TEACHES YOU simple and, like all great things in life, the simplicity wins out. They toss you a bouquet of flowers, for example, and then keep paddling by, making you a deal for the flowers. They hold flowers toward the ladies' hair. They smell of them. They tell you what kind they are and one or two interesting things about them, such as, "They bloom only once every five years, seiior." They know the big sizzle, perhaps better than most Amer- icans do. They find it by the principle of self-preservation, by being forced to sell things to get food and to find how to sell them the easiest way with the least amount of words. They even sell Carta Blanca Beer. They have it iced in their canoes. They hold up a bottle, pat its side, and say, "Ice cold, sefior!" The American would say, "How about some beer, mister?" Here then is another selling lesson from Mexico: Show what you want to sell. Display it. Pat it, touch it, feel it do something with it to stimulate the innate appetites of those you want to sell. THE ART OF SELLING MUSIC Seiior Jorge and I were lolling along the canals, with a boatload of flowers, and bottles of that fine old brew, all sold to us from canoes, when suddenly a group of musicians came by. On one gondola was a three-piece marimba band quite novel, yes? They didn't ask, "Like us to play for you?" That's too American. We might say "No" to that from force of habit. These musical salesmen used our fourth Wheelerpoint and "asked which not if" this way: "Which piece would the seiior want to hear Rancho SALES METHODS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD 17 Grande or Mexicdi Rose?" Ah, how could one say "No" to such a well-framed question. Now, any grocery store or drug emporium could use this, or any person selling anything. It's a question that pre- vents the automatic "No" that is heard so much these days from people who say it to protect themselves from sales- people. The clerk who says, "What else?" may inspire the cus- tomer to think of something else, more than the clerk who says, "That all today?" The point is: Give the other person a choice between something and something, never between something and nothing. LOADING US UP WITH PHOTOGRAPHS You always look for yourself first in the picnic pictures. The minute you get them you look at yourself, and say, "Oh, look at me here." A few moments later you might say, "Here you are you look okay, but me why " That is the way in any sale. People hear your story, and look for themselves in what you have to sell. They play the hero role when the movie is on, and they ask themselves when you show them merchandise, "What will that do for me?" Now, you'd never expect photographers in canoes, on the Xochimilco canals. But one comes up, with his tripod strapped on a gondola, with a small boy helping him. He gets an order for one picture at fifty centavos, about ten cents. He leaves us, and later on he returns not with one photograph, but six. 18 OLD MEXICO TEACHES YOU The shrewd fellow uses the one pose to fit you into a num- ber of interesting scenes around the canals. He blows up your head, inserts it into a rose, puts you in front of the inn, gets you into so many different "canned scenes" you just buy them all up. He didn't trade up a sale by saying, "Now could I interest you in other poses ?" That would be trite. He said instead, "Here you are in various beautiful scenes, senor, to send to your friends." He knew how difficult it is for you to refuse your own picture. So again let me jot down another sales pointer from Mexico: Show before you as\. Display first as\ second. SIZZLEMANSHIP SIZZLES AT THE BULLFIGHTS Besides helping Liverpool to install a sales training depart- ment for its salespeople, my other job was to find ways of stepping up sales for Carta Blanca. One Sunday we arrived at Pueblo and, as a bullfight was scheduled, we took it in. Bullfights, incidentally, start at four o'clock and right on time. In fact, I jokingly remarked that it is the only thing that starts on Central Time in all of Mexico the only thing that these people get to ahead of time, pronto! The corridas de toros start promptly, and Mexicans are trained from childhood to be there. That in itself is sizzle- manship on the part of the promoters of the fights. The reason people arrive late for theaters or sales meetings you conduct is that they know from experience that such things always start late. SALES METHODS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD 19 So here, then, is another sales slant one from the bull- fight arena: Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Thus you build confidence in your words and gain respect and sales. People like people whose words they can depend upon. One of the finest bits of sizzlemanship in a bullfight is when the matador takes his hat, walks around the arena with it, and then tosses it into the middle of the ring indicating that he "gives" the bull to the spectators as a whole. He will make the kill in the honor of everyone. Other matadors toss their hats to individuals. This, too, is good selling but it confines the applause usually to that one person. But giving it to all muy bien, as Senor Anulfo, my bullfight guide, would say. I learned, too, that at many fights you can buy the seats in front of you for your feet. This prevents anyone from sitting directly in front of you. Good selling. Selling pads to sit on is also fine merchandising. If you want a bandillero, the dart used to weaken a bull, this can be arranged. In fact, they sell you the ears from the bull, or anything you want that money can buy. EVEN THE CABS MAKE "DEALS" Taxicabs in Mexico have signs saying "Libre," meaning "Free," so they are commonly called "libres" instead of cabs by Americans. You must always, before getting into a libre, find the price to where you are going, and you can usually get it lowered by from ten to twenty-five centavos. While you are riding in the cabs, boys jump on the run- 20 OLD MEXICO TEACHES YOU ning boards to sell you lottery tickets, and they, incidentally, do not tell you the cost but how much you will win. So another sales reminder: Tell 'em what they get, not what they must fay. EYE-LEVEL POSITION INCREASES SALES Everything sold in Mexico is usually in full sight. For out of sight, out of mind. That is why flowers, lottery tickets, bracelets everything is not only in full display, but is actually picked up from the counters and held at eye level. This gave me an idea. I asked Seiior Guajardo to place his beer on eye level in the cantinas, instead of below the, counter or high above-it. Business increased about i per cent from this simple sug- gestion, for, when a man walks into a cantina, the bartender asks him what his pleasure is, and the man, in that split second before answering, permits his eyes to rove along the bar. The first thing he sees is the mirror and Carta Blanca in front of it (and maybe a Carta Blanca sign on the mirror), and he is often prompted to say, "Oh, Carta Blanca is fine enough for me, seiior." Try this eye-level principle. Try it, too, for your words. Hold the words you want to get across to people at "eye and ear level." Keep them always in front of the hearer, and let the unimportant words sag and droop below eye level. And so all over old Mexico you find sizzlemanship spring- ing from the law of necessity. It is well to go back to the SALES METHODS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD 21 earth for some of our best examples of selling, for our best pointers, and a trip to Mexico will do just this for you. Remember the big lesson Mexico teaches you to sell from the heart more than the mind, to paint the romance of the sale more than the factual data. You'll learn also from a sales tour of observation in Mexico, especially if Senor Guajardo is your sponsor, that this is the quickest way to make a sale: First: Show what you have for sale. Don't keep it out of sight. Second: Say something important about it. The story behind the purchase sells it. And this trip to Mexico merely proves: Sizzle plus salesmanship equals sizzlemanship every- where in the world! The Heart Is Closer to the Poc\etboo\ Than Is the Brain YOU NEVER HEAR THE SALES TALK THAT SELLS YOU They say you never hear the bullet that kills you; and you never hear the sales tal\ that sells you. It is a \nown fact that, when the prospect hears you sell, he bac\s away. LISTEN, SMITH," SAYS A COLD PROSPECT, "YOU CAN'T SELL ME. I'm on to your fancy language. I can see through your sales talk. What are you on now page thirteen?" This prospect was aware that he was being sold, because the salesman had made his sales talk too obvious. This danger exists in all selling. When the public looks at an advertisement and says, "That's a swell ad must have been written by an expert," that advertisement is lost. Its clever- ness eclipses its selling message. Salesmen, to get across quickly with prospects or custom- ers, must use "invisible" language the kind the customer doesn't "hear" because the minute the customer "hears" your smart sales talk, you are lost. So another sound selling point to bear in mind is: Don't let the other person realize you are selling him. Use invisible words. Use simple tactics* Be subtle. 22 THE SALES TALK THAT SELLS YOU 23 INTERNATIONAL SILVER USES INVISIBLE SELLING One of the finest "Tested Selling Sentences" we helped develop for the International Silver Company up in Meriden, Connecticut, was the one used by retail salespeople when they held a piece of silverware toward a customer: "Feel the fine balance of this new design." This sentence immediately put the product in the hands of the customer, who didn't "see through" this selling method. "Try it under your own chin," says the electric shaver salesman, using another sizzle we developed, and this simple statement proved so invisible that hundreds of Remington Rand Close Shavers were put in customers' hands and sold! "It keeps cool longer," says a German waiter in Luchow's in New York City, as he recommends a stein of beer in place of a glassful. MORE INVISIBLE SELLING SENTENCES You never see the lightning that strikes you; you never hear the sales talk that sells you. Here are a few more sentences that slip by the shrewdest prospect or customer and sell him invisibly: "When it drips, get out the raincoat." (Cape Cod Weather Glass) "Plenty of elbow room for your husband." (large salad bowls) "The alarm is gentle it won't jolt you." (dorm clocks) "The non-flicker candle won't twinkle in your eyes." (new table candles) 24 YOU NEVER HEAR "You can't make love through whiskers." (razor blades) "Just meat and potatoes no hidden mysteries." (corned beef) Most of these invisible sentences came from our sizzle hunt in R. H. Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and Abraham and Straus' of New York City, and they have proved they will make two sales grow where only one grew before. Mat(c your sales talk, invisible it you want to sell! SIZZLEMANSHIP IN YOUR FIRST TEN WORDS One of the biggest mistakes made especially by retail sales- people is in their opening remarks. Those first ten seconds when you approach a customer are the most important, for people form their snap judgments of you in that short time, v When a customer is looking at some goods displayed on a counter, and a salesperson (order taker, rather) steps up and says, "Yes, sir, being waited on?" or "Something I can show you today?" the customer usually vanishes. Recently, at R. H. Macy's a salesperson used the following approach on a customer who was looking at ashtrays: "Here is a new ashtray that is deep-dish. The ashes won't blow all over your rugs." Zoom I The ashtrays sold like hot cakes with a sizzle like that, because one of the biggest problems of every housewife is keeping ashes off the rug and in the trays. Another young lady would approach women at the gift counter, hold up a little china elephant, and say, "It brings you good luck." Another sizzle. And more sales. THE SALES TALK THAT SELLS YOU 25 A salesgirl in the grocery department of Gimbel Brothers' store in Philadelphia told me of the many sales she made simply by holding up a bottle of large olives and saying, "Thirty-six olives large as plums!' "This is a quick meal" sells many canned goods to late afternoon shoppers who have taken too much time for bridge and want to get a quick supper ready for husbands already homeward bound. "An ocean trip at home for your children" sold many mothers dishes with sailboat designs on them; and the two words "It's reliable" sell innumerable weather indicators. "It won't rub off," a "Tested Sentence" given in our first book, boomed sales of white shoe polish in two and a half months from 2,500 to 30,000 in Lansburgh's Department Store in Washington, according to Harold Singer of that store. AN ORANGE JUICE SELLER FINDS A NEW SIZZLE A vendor was walking through a train shouting, "Orange juice fine orange juice." An old lady called him over and asked, "Is it freshly squeezed?" He said that it was, and she bought some. As he went into the next car, I heard him shouting, '"Freshly squeezed orange juice freshly squeezed orange juice," and his sales practically tripled. The sizzle, of course, was "freshly squeezed." Invisible selling that sells. "Helps you pass the time away," shouted the boy selling magazines as he came down the aisle of another train I was traveling on, and he sold magazines. He had the right idea. 26 YOU NEVER HEAR "What have you been doing since the last time I saw you ?" is the favorite approach of a certain salesman I know. He gets the prospect talking on some favorite topic and sets the stage for a friendly talk. When the prospect knows that the salesman is using those words just to get the prospect talking with him, the words fail. But they can be used invisibly. It pays to be subtle in selling. FINDING THE RIGHT SIZZLE I have Ralph Miller of the R. and H. Miller stores to thank for the following lesson in the wrong and right way to make a sale: Sale killers: "What color do you want?" "Do you like green?" "Can I help you?" "Shall I wrap it for you?" "Something for you?" Sale makers: "These are the season's newest colors." "Green is very smart this season." "Isn't this a lovely design?" "Step to the desk and it will be wrapped for you." "This just came in." The point is this: Don't ask questions that get you into trouble. Asking the customer what color she wants can THE SALES TALK THAT SELLS YOU 27 often lead her into mentioning some color you haven't got and may stop the sale right there. Asking a customer whether she is ready to buy usually gets an automatic "No," but suggesting that she take it to the desk often prompts her to "have it wrapped." As\ the right question to get the right answer. LITTLE WORDS CAN DO BIG THINGS There is great power in words; the right words can move mountains mountains of opposition. "You don't have to buy a Hoover to get rid of me," says one smart salesman, "but you do have to buy it to get rid of the dirt." Little words but with lots of power. "You can't tell your hairdress is lacquered with this new invisible liquid" built sales for a new beauty parlor service. You are telling the other person the things she wants to hear, and that, of course, is good salesmanship. "It's foolish to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little," says one washing machine salesman, and he sells his expensive model. Little words, again but with plenty of power in them. "Life begins with fifty pills," says a clever drugstore clerk, as he shows a box of vitamin capsules, and sales rush upward. Anything can be sold with the right sizzle. The point to this is: Use invisible selling if you want to ma\e sales. The man who is obvious gets nowhere. People are on guard against his smooth, high-pressure talk. Words that are slick, smart-sounding, or smart-aleck at 28 YOU NEVER HEAR tract attention to themselves not to the ideas they are supposed to be presenting. So remember this selling philosophy: You never hear the bullet that strides you, and you never hear the sales tal1{ that sells you. Keep your sales invisible. No Gun Hits a Target If It Has Blan\ Cartridges in It WHY YOU GIVE DIMES TO BEGGARS The beggar is a salesman. He uses a simple principle: he gets in step as you wal^ down the street. MAN WAS WALKING BRISKLY DOWN THE STREET, WHEN suddenly, in front of him, a beggar squared off, with hat in hand, muttering, "Can you spare a dime, buddy?" The man's thinking was thrown off. He slowed up his gait. He walked around the beggar, saying, "Haven't got any change." As he walked on, he said to hiipself, "This begging busi- ness is a racket. They've got more money hidden in their socks than I have." This made the man feel better. He had justified his action to himself, and swung back into his stride down the street, taking up his thinking where it had been so rudely inter- rupted. The beggar cursed people for their coldheartedness, and went hungry. ANOTHER BEGGAR ON ANOTHER STREET Another day the same man was on another street, still taking his long strides and thinking about some deal he 29 30 WHY YOU GIVE DIMES TO BEGGARS was to make, when suddenly he was conscious that a man was walking next to him. The man said in a low voice, "Can you spare a dime for some coffee, mister? I'm hungry! 9 The man put his hand into his pocket, got a dime, gave it to the beggar without slowing up his gait and without in- terrupting his thinking. The beggar got the dime in his hands and melted away behind the man, who didn't even see the face of the beggar "The poor fellow looked hungry," said the man to him-- self, justifying his softness in giving a dime to the beggar. The man felt good so did the beggar. WHAT WAS THE PSYCHOLOGY EMPLOYED? This beggar employed a simple psychology! When ask ing for a favor or for a sale, get in step with the other per- son. Don't expect the other person to get in step with you. Simple ? Yet we often square off at people, force them to line up with us, force them to slow up to our pace, force them to do something they aren't accustomed to doing. The beggar got in step with the man. The man didn't have to slow up his gait. He didn't suddenly find himself face to face with a dirty beggar. The beggar slid up slowly to the man's side. He got in step with the man. He eased into the sale. The man was sold without once feeling that he was sold. Walk down the street with people the way they are wal\- ing. Don't take them by the arm, turn them around, and try to lead them somewhere else. That's simple sales psychology the psychology of selling the sizzle. WHY YOU GIVE DIMES TO BEGGARS SI The hoofs and hide of what you sell don't interest people. They aren't so much concerned with how it's made as with what it will do for them. When you tal\ about the hobby or interest of the other person, you are in step with him. When you maJ(e your appointments convenient for him, you are in step with him. When you tell him how what you sell will be in step with what he is trying to accomplish, you're in step with him. When you say things that have been tested to makje him sizzle, you are in step with him. The first rule of getting along with friends, acquaintances, customers, and prospects is to line up with their thinking get in stride with them. Ma\e it easy for them to buy! Take this tip from the beggar on the street, and get your own "cup of coffee" from others by his one simple principle: Get In step with other si Tune Your Sales Td\ into the Other Fellow's Wave Length IT'S THE LOW SCORE THAT SELLS THE GOLF CLUB The boys at the Walnut Hill Country Club in Dallas find the sizzle on the golf course and clean up sales. IT WAS ABOUT A HUNDRED IN THE SUN LAST JUNE OUT ON THE golf course of the Walnut Hill Country Club in Dallas, and the scores were climbing up in keeping with the tem- perature. I gave up after the ninth hole and went into the club- house for a few Dr. Pepper's, the well-known Southern soft drink. Sitting at the counter, I began chatting with the boys selling soft drinks and golfers' supplies. "It's the low score that sells golf equipment," stated one of the fellows, and as a demonstration winked his eye and approached a golfer who had come in from the course sweating. He said, "Mr. Barron, have you seen this new LOW-SCORE mitt?" Mr. Barron had not. "Low-score mitt?" he muttered. "Let's see it." He was shown a mitt for his left hand, and was told how 32 THAT SELLS THE GOLF CLUB 3* to put it on. Then he was given a club to test out the mitt. With the sales scene thus all set, the boy said: "It should reduce your score at least jour points!" Mr. Barren looked up skeptically like, yet with the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of children and high-scor- ing golfers. In a weak tone of voice he said: "Shucks, it's a good mitt, but it won't save me four points -will it?" That "will it" told the whole story of the man's hope, and with good sizzlemanship the expensive dollar-and-a-half mitt was sold, and Arthur Barren never saw the cheaper ones. Even the golf course has its sizzle ! MORE SIZZLES ON THE GOLF COURSE Just as health is the appeal in medicines, and quick relief is the sizzle that gets most patent products across drugstore counters, so low score is the sizzle that sells golf supplies. It can be used in many ways. "This ball has plenty of distance in it," says the salesman and, using Wheelerpoint 3, "Say It with Flowers," he drops the ball on the counter or on the floor. It clicks with that sound all golfers like to hear. "This should get you to the greens quicker," continues the salesman, as he hands the golfer a club, saying, "Feel the balance!" The golfer has a club, a golf ball, and the idea of a lower score, which are all that is necessary to make his mouth water; and, sure enough, the fed of the club and the sound of the golf ball click in his mind and he buys both. More sizzle selling on the golf course! 34 IT'S THE LOW SCORE THE BAG IS LIGHTWEIGHT, TOO A woman stands drinking a Dr. Pepper, and the salesman steps up and says, "Feel how light this new bag is, Mrs. Richards." She feels it because the salesman used a good rule of selling he told her what to do. Once the bag is in her hands, the salesman crashes through with his second big sizzle, and says, "It won't tire you out you'll feel better and keep your score lower." Of course, if the woman employs a caddy, that's a different story, but, even so, these sizzles can be effective. There are times when she does carry the bag, at least back and forth from the car, and perhaps in and out of the house. "It keeps the sticks from getting nicked," says the salesman of another golf bag. He explains, "The leather lasts a life- time even if you play in the rain, it won't get injured." Longer playing on the golf course! That's an induce- ment. "It will improve yout health" or "It's good looking" aren't such good appeals to use with golfers, because low score to a golfer is even more important, believe it or not, than health! Ask any red golfer. THERE ARE SIZZLES IN ALL SPORTS ITEMS Go over all kinds of sporting items and you'll find the sizzles. In Macy's sports department one day I saw a young salesman toss a baseball to a boy, saying, "Here, catch itl" The boy had asked the price of the ball. He got the ball instead tossed to him just the way he planned to play ball with it. The salesman put on a mitt. Then he took another 1 ball and began throwing it from one hand to the other, and THAT SELLS THE GOLF CLUB 35 the smac^ of the ball against the glove made the boy's mouth water. The "Tested Selling Sentence" was this: "You won't miss many catches with this glove, Sonny." Just what the glove was for. Sting from a fast ball meant nothing compared to dropping the ball because that brought jeers and not cheers from spectators. SELL THE "CHEER POINT" IN THE ITEM Every sporting goods item has its cheer point the feature of it that brings a cheer from the spectators. That gun sells faster when you say, "It will improve anybody's marksmanship. Just look down the barrel through these new, sure-shot sights!" "Few fish will get off these hooks" will make any angler buy, because that's the "cheer point" it's what brings a cheer from his friends when they see him pull in the whop- per. "If you want to sock the ball over the fence," says the sales- man, "here's the bat that will do it, and bring cheers from the bleachers." What a "Tested Sentence" for any fellow! No matter where you turn you'll find a sizzle in sporting goods. Look for it. Look for the cheers it will bring to the user from whoever sees him in action. That's the way to find the sizzle. Will the spectators marvel at the putt, at the drive, at the brassie shot? Then that's a "cheer point." Will the spectators marvel at the accuracy of the shoot- ing at the archery meet? If they will cheer, that's a "cheer 36 IT'S THE LOW SCORE point," and you should show how the bow bends properly to get a good score and a big cheer. The satisfaction from a cheer is important to the customer. GET IN STEP WITH SPORTSMEN Learn what the sportsman wants from a certain article, and then get in step with him. Remember that the tramp slides up beside you in the street, gets in step with you, and then asks for the thin dime. He doesn't ask you to get in step with him. Talk long enough with the hunter to find out what he wants or what he needs in some article; then show him the article and say, "If it's fast-cooking meals you want, here's the best broiler for you." Don't sell style, price, or structure, if what the man wants is compactness. Other points are always secondary to what he wants. Every sportsman will talk plenty, if you'll let him. Keep your stories of big-game hunting to yourself, and let him tell you what he did. You'll soon discover his ambitions and secret desires. Talk up the features of the item that satisfy that secret de- sire, and the sale will take care of itself. MAKING EXTRA SALES POSSIBLE The right "Tested Selling Sentence" will sell the entire box of golf balls as easily as three single balls. Show the box. Say, perhaps, "You'll save seventy-five cents, and you won't run the risk of being without a ball on the course." Tell him the reason he should buy the whole box of balls. THAT SELLS THE GOLF CLUB 37 Money savings are important, but go deeper for your rea- sons why he should pay for things in larger quantities. "It's more economical" and "It's better business" are good appeals to a businessman. "These sticks are matched with the ones you bought," says the salesman, and adds, "They'll lower your score because they're in tune with the sticks you're accustomed to using." Rent, light, and salesmen's salaries all continue regardless of average unit sales. Your store may not have the one- hundred-and-fifty-dollar sales that Abercrombie and Fitch has, but your electric bills and clerks' salaries aren't much lower. Larger average sales mean larger total sales. The clerk who can get five dollars more from each customer soon builds more business for himself. If he has five hun- dred customers over a period of six months, that means twenty-five hundred dollars' worth of additional business for him, and every good salesman should sell all the traffic will bear. But don't try to oversell! In some stores these days, when you ask for some tooth- paste, the clerk won't let you loose without parading ten items in front of you, for fear the boss will get after him if he doesn't. This sort of high-pressure salesmanship ruins you and the business. Suggest one item, maybe two, politely then stopl How you suggest is more important than what you sug- gest. The wrong words will make people impatient, but the right words get them interested enough to swing the club, hold the golf ball, put on the mitt, or feel the sweat shirt. Then you are on the way to the sale. Learn the art of "subtle suggested selling" and how it 38 IT'S THE LOW SCORE differs from the old method of "How about a golf ball today? We've a special buy" or "Need any sweat shirts? Special on them." Be subtle not high pressure. SO SELL THE LOW-SCORE SIZZLE Regardless of what you sell, take a tip from the boys at the Walnut Hill Country Club in Dallas. Sell the sizzle and not the construction. What it does for the customer is more important than how it's made. A golf ball can be made of tin, but as long as it will lower the score a point or two, he'll want that ball. Look for the low-score sizzles in your own business. They are there whether you sell meat, automobiles, drug items, rowboats, or chinaware. Find the sizzle and you find your success. Always Assume You Are Going to Get the Order WESTERN UNION NOW SAYS IT TELEGRAPHICALLY AS WELL AS SENDS IT TELEGRAPHICALLY Western Union gave me my second Wheelerpoint, and 1 give them my fourth Wheelerpoint and we both learn from each other. MOW OFTEN CHANGING ONE WORD MAKES OR BREAKS A SALE! Mr. A. K. Mitchell, General Sales Manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company, tells some interesting stories about the troubles that have resulted when one word be- came twisted in a telegram. His classic example, I believe, is the one where the boy sent the girl a telegram saying: I THINK YOU ARE LOVELY BILL The telegram got there all right, but even the best of workers slip up sometimes, and the wire, on arrival, read: I THINK YOU ARE LOUSY BILL Just one word changed! But imagine the reaction of that girl when she read the wire. She had had only one date 39 40 WESTERN UNION NOW SAYS IT TELEGRAPHICALLY with the boy; he had made a pretty good impression. But she didn't know him well enough to be able to tell whether he had intended the wire to read as it did when she got it, or whether the telegraph company was to blame. Watch every word you say. IT'S ALL IN ONE WORD "Send it telegraphically" is a good slogan for telegraph companies, and I've adopted Western Union's slogan, "Don't W r i te _Telegraph," as my second Wheelerpoint because it illustrates an important principle of salesmanship. The person who takes too long to deliver his message is received as coldly as the waiter who brings out a steak that has lost its sizzle. But Western Union never fully realized the importance of the spoken word at their counters, until recently, when Mr. Mitchell discovered the importance of saying it tele- graphically to sell telegraphy. Since Western Union has become our client, we've en- joyed the fun of finding the right words to sell more and bigger telegrams, in a low-pressure manner that builds busi- ness and doesn't offend. Even when you are selling service, watch your words and you'll be a bigger success. For example, when you send a Tourate Telegram, those wires that tell Aunt Emma you are on the way, the Western Union clerk now says to you: "Who else would you like to advise of your arrival?" You begin to think, and you remember at least one more person Uncle Jake, perhaps, or Cousin Jim. AS WELL AS SENDS IT TELEGRAPHICALLY 41 The telegraph company makes an extra sale and you have one more relative waiting for you with a chicken dinner. The point is: for the extra sale, if you expect to get it. MORE WESTERN UNION SALES HELPS Another good "Tested Sentence" is the one used by Western Union when you send a holiday telegram. Usually you would stop with one or two people, but the clerk says: "Who else would like to hear from you?" Well, you go over your list of friends, relatives, and ac- quaintances, and perhaps send them a "hello," and the tele- graph company benefits along with you. Another good selling idea was to find out in advance what birthdays you might want to remember and remind you of them when they came around. It is always a problem, men, to remember the little lady's birthday, and that service from Western Union is one you'll long appreci- ate. Here is the simple sentence used on you effectively: "What birthdays would you like me to remind you of?" Sure, the sentence ends with a preposition but so do some of the best ones in the world. A WESTERN UNION BOY OUTSELLS ALL OTHERS Mr. Mitchell tells the story of a boy* in the New York office who, whenever there is a drive on, outsells all the other messengers by the hundreds. Whenever "Mike," as Mr. Mitchell is known to Western Union men, called him in to find out what his word magic 42 WESTERN UNION NOW SAYS IT TELEGRAPHICALLY was, the boy would always mutter that he didn't know just what he said. That's the answer you usually get when you try to find out what sells and what doesn't. People just don't know what sells. One day Mr. Mitchell got hold of the boy and insisted that he go over his system to see just what he did and said that made him sell between 300 and 500 special telegrams, when most of the boys sold from 30 to 50. Finally the boy said, "I just hold the paper and pencil toward them and ask who else they want to send birthday or holiday wires to." Then the boy said, rather sarcastically, "My only trouble is they keep my pencils!" But behind this was psychology the psychology of hold- ing the pencil out toward the prospect, and having an air of confidence that the person was going to place an order. The moral: Have confidence, and as\ for the order. OTHER SENTENCES FOR "INSIDE SALESMEN" "Wouldn't you like an immediate answer," asks the girl who accepts the message, and the sender often says, "Yes get me an answer right back." Thus two sales grow where there was only one before. Here's another way these progressive people get more business. Should you wire to have somebody telephone you long distance, they suggest: "Telegraphing would be cheaper, and almost as quick." Of course, the telephone companies don't like this, but, after all, they sell the telephone just as hard as the telegraph companies sell telegrams. AS WELL AS SENDS IT TELEGRAPHICALLY 43 When someone offers merchandise for sale in a wire, the alert operator at the counter can say, "Perhaps you may wish to send this message to other firms also." Again the chance of two or more sales. When a person sends several telegrams to relatives and friends informing them of a death, the clerk says: "Have you overlooked anyone?" She makes a similar suggestion when illness is mentioned, by saying, "Is there anyone else who should be told ?" Deepest sympathy, flowers, happy returns every type of wire can be built into a multiple of the original; more people are happy and more money is made. When you wire somebody to come to you, the clerk can always say, "Shall I ask them to wire you the time of their arrival?" When trunks, luggage, or a large amount of merchandise is ordered, the good Western Union operator can always add tactfully, "This is important. Why not add, 'Notify by Western Union when shipped'?" MORE 'TESTED SENTENCES" Whenever a customer sends a wire that calls for an answer, the clever Western Union clerk always asks, "May I say 'Please advise by Western Union' ?" Then she follows right up with these winning sentences: "It won't cost any more, and it will be more specific. You'll know where to expect the answer." When the sender asks for an answer by letter, the clerk can sell him the advantages of the speed he will get if he speci- fies that he wants an answer by Western Union. 44 WESTERN UNION NOW SAYS IT TELEGRAPHICALLY And remember the answer is not by wire, but by West- ern Union. Night letters can be changed into day letters simply by saying, "You'll get an answer today 9 ' (instead of on the following day), and this often steps up the average sale. Persuading people who say, "Will mail check," to say, "Will wire money," is also a good way of increasing sales. There are so many ways to make an extra sale, or to make the average sale go up into the higher brackets: Giv- ing regular customers a supply of blanks; explaining little- known services of Western Union; these and other ways help to make two sales grow where only one grew before, or help step up the average revenue. Even the customer who keeps asking the correct time by phone, or by dropping into Western Union offices, can be tactfully sold on the advantages of an electric clock. ATTITUDE IS IMPORTANT The public sees only the neck and face of the average tele- graph clerk, and, if the smile is lacking, or the neck dirty, the customer may not come back again. The telegraph boy who has "leap" in his walk makes his telegram sing out when it is received. He is to that telegram what the waiter is to the steak. The waiter who is slovenly can spoil the finest sizzling steak, and the telegraph boy who delivers the telegram can make "happy returns of the day" fizzle by his slovenly manner, too. The smile over the counter will warm up many an un- happy customer many a person who isn't in a good mood. The telegraph girl may have her booth in a cold, drafty AS WELL AS SENDS IT TELEGRAPHICALLY 45 hotel lobby but she must never let the public know her feet are frozen. She must smile on and on. She must be courteous. She must never use a curt word to advise a customer that he can't do so and so, or that he has twenty- seven words and not twenty-jive in his night letter. The telegraph clerk is often really an information bureau and must accept this assignment. She is Miss Western Union in person! What she says and how she says it speak for the whole company. One girl in a booth in a hotel can spoil some- body's entire opinion of her company and the hotel and may even cause this person to have his firm cancel her company's services for a competitor's. THE WORD "FAST" VERSUS THE WORD "STRAIGHT" The all-time classic example of how one word can increase a business many per cents was told to me by Mr. Mitchell. It is about the word fast versus the word straight. You put a telegram down on the counter. The average clerk picks it up and says, "Straight wire?" You say, "What is a straight wire?" She explains, "It costs more, but it goes now." You reply, "Oh, it doesn't have to go right this minute." So it frequently goes as a day letter or a night letter, and Western Union loses money, and you lose speed. But when you put a telegram down on the desk and the Western Union clerk says, "Fast wire?" You say, "Yes fast of course!" You want speed; that is why you send the average wire. So again comes victory for one word, and Mr. Mitchell 46 WESTERN UNION NOW SAYS IT TELEGRAPHICALLY tells of the great volume of extra business "Tested Selling Sentences" bring to this great company. Remember this philosophy: The very word that causes a dog to greet you with a friendly wag of his tail when you say it nicely causes him to slin\ away when you say it with a bar\ in itl Re- member W heeler foint 5. Beware off the Person Who Trusts Nobody THE "MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO" INSTINCT IN SELLING Putting this "imitation instinct" to wor\ is one of the best techniques for making a sale. People today want proof! flow ARE CHILDREN TAUGHT TO DO THINGS? THEIR PARENTS do the thing first to show the children how it is done the old art of teaching through imitation. As we grow older, we delevop this instinct of imitation more and more. We watch a man swing a golf club, and we can't wait to get our hands on one; a woman sees another woman knitting, and she immediately wants to hold the needles herself. You watch a man use an electric shaver, and your hands itch to hold it and run it over your face. The "monkey sec, monkey do" instinct.. That's what it is and it's in every one of us. So get your customers to touch, feel, smell, or hold what you have to sell. The quickest way to do this is to touch, feel, smell, or hold the product first yourself. Then hand it to the prospect, as we suggested in our "Say It with Flowers" sales point.* And watch him do the same thing! * Read about this point in Elmer Wheeler's Tested Sentences That Sell. 47 48 THE "MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO" Seeing may be believing, but nowadays people want real proof. The salesman who gives proof sells fastest! "It's harmless," says the patent medicine man, actually drinking some of his corn cure. "It won't break look," says the clerk, striking a comb against the edge of the counter. "It's as light as air," says the Tripler salesman, putting a featherweight shirt on the counter, and blowing it into the customer's hands dramatically. "It won't burn," says the Johns-Manville salesman, light- ing a match under an asbestos shingle. Proof that the shingle won't burn! WHY PEOPLE TOUCH "WET PAINT" SIGNS Have you ever wondered why it is that so many people touch a wall or piece of woodwork that has a sign saying "wet paint" on it? Sure, they can read. But deep down in every one of us is an insatiable desire for proof. We want proof so much that we actually touch the paint in order to satisfy ourselves that it is wet. Silly but true to life. And you can capitalize on this "wet paint" psychology in your business whatever it is. If you sell some tangible product like brushes or French perfume, you have undoubtedly worked out a number of ways to get your customer to touch, feel, smell, or hold your product. It's not quite so easy when you sell something less tangible, but it can be done. INSTINCT IN SELLING 49 One salesman looks at a picture of an automobile acci- dent; he comments on the accident. Then, having aroused the prospect's curiosity, he hands the photograph to the prospect. Another salesman takes a pencil, and hands it to his prospect; then, with another pencil in his own hand, he invites the prospect to do on paper what he does. The old "monkey see, monkey do" instinct prompts the man to follow the salesman's suggestion, and soon the prospect is figuring out his own plan for buying real estate. "Here, figure it out for yourself," gets many a prospect to do his own figuring. He likes the part he plays in the sales show. YOU'LL SELL IT FASTER WJTH PROOF "Call Bill Jones," says the salesman, reaching for the phone, "and let him tell you in his own words how we paid him for ten weeks after that accident he had last December." That's saying it with proof I "Look at these bills," says another salesman. "They were all paid by us for Mrs. Smith, over on the other side of town, when her husband died last fall. Just count them up!" More proof. Dramatic proof. If people can touch, feel, smell, or hold what you have to sell, the chances of a sale are much greater. Customers have been fooled too often by 1 the lavish claims of manufacturers and salesmen. Today only seeing is believ- ing; only actual proof convinces. The best way to get people to take merchandise into their own hands to get them to try it is to do so yourself first. 50 THE "MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO" The "monkey see, monkey do" technique seldom fails to get results. People refuse to be fooled nowadays. They've bought gold bricks long enough. Mere statements can be made by any salesman; proof is harder to give. But the clever sales- man knows that proof makes people buy faster than any- thing else. So memorize this pointer on invisible selling: Say it with a sizzle telegraphically but say it with proof! The Ear Can Be Fooled More Easily Than the Eye 8 A SINGLE EMOTION IS WORTH A DOZEN FACTS Newspaper sizzlemanship proves that one emotional urge tal(cs the place of a dozen cold facts. Sell the results to be gained! I HE SALESMAN PATTED THE OLD RED UNION SUIT AND SAID, "It won't itch." The customer's eyes lighted up, and he said, "Just what I want a union suit that won't itch!" Never once did he say, "Will it^keep me warm?" He took that for granted, just as you take so many things for granted today quality in the merchandise of an exclusive store, fireproofing in a hotel, sanitation in a barbershop. That is why appeals like these are useless nowadays when they are tried out as a big sizzle. That old sign, "Sanitary Barbershop," simply means, "We used to be unsanitary, but we're sanitary now." Restaurants don't have to say, "Nonpoisonous foods served here." It is always better to leave the obvious alone, when possible, and concentrate on an emotional appeal rather than a fact appeal. The fact that the union suit was going to keep him warm didn't interest the man half so much as the emotional 51 52 A SINGLE EMOTION thrill he felt when he found out that at last he could get a union suit that wouldn't itch. Today, of course, the "non- itch" appeal is also one that is taken for granted, because of the improvements that have been made in yarns. The point to all this, then, is: One emotional thrill will ta\e the place of a dozen logical facts although the facts are, of course, necessary. SELL EMOTIONALLY NOT FACTUALLY When I used to work under Erwin Huber on the Baltimore News, he told me always to talk about the results gained from advertising, when I wanted to sell space to a customer. That was sound advice all right, because circulation is just a means to an end, anyway. It's results that count regard- less of circulation. So I developed a result boo\; it was designed to move store space buyers emotionally, rather than by cold facts. I would show a prospective customer an advertisement of, say, shirts, that had been run in our paper. Then I would tell him how much the advertisement cost, together with the number of shirts it sold. After that I would point out to him how much it cost to sell each shirt through that advertisement. Never once did a space buyer say to me: "Tell me about your circulation. How much have you got? What kind of people read your paper? I'm particular who wears my shirts." To this day I have never been able to keep circulation figures straight. I can never remember breakdowns by neighborhoods or types of people, or all the rest of such factual information. All I ever knew when I worked for Erwin Huber was how much it would cost an advertiser to IS WORTH A DOZEN FACTS 53 sell a single necktie, shirt, or floor lamp by advertising in our paper. Regardless of what business you are in, look for the sizzle the emotional side and play it up at least 75 per cent. Let the other 25 per cent be logical facts and arguments, if necessary; sometimes as little as 10 per cent of factual in- formation is enough. People take the facts for granted when they are dealing with a reputable concern. MORE EMOTIONAL SELLING OF NEWSPAPER SPACE One of the largest furniture stores in Baltimore refused to run their advertisements in our paper, because we could not give them a right-hand page. Position is always a prob- lem in selling newspaper space, because, in spite of the fact that there are always as many left-hand pages as right ones, advertisers persist in their belief that the right-hand page pulls better than the left-hand page. One day a truck operated by tfiis furniture store killed a child. The manager of the store telephoned Mr. Huber and then Mr. Cullen, the publisher. They both agreed to bury the story for him, saying that of course the story would have to be run, but that it would not be played up. The brief two-inch story of the accident was put on a left-hand page, in the lower inside corner. Nothing more was thought of the matter until that night, when the store manager again telephone^. He told Mr. Huber angrily that the paper had not kept its word. He said that more than twenty-five people had called him up to comment upon the accident stating that they had read the "big story" in the Baltimore News. Mr. Huber was dumbfounded. He apologized. Then he $4 A SINGLE EMOTION looked up the so-called big story, and found just one stick af copy on a lower left-hand page. He realized immediately what had happened: The left-hand page had shown that it was read as much as the right side of the paper. In a few days he called on the store owner and showed him the small notice, pointing out how effective it had been. Then he suggested that the store owner run his advertise- ment on that very page. The man saw the point. He bought space. Here was good emotional selling playing upon the emo- tions of a man, and forgetting such things as circulation figures. The extent of our circulation never made any difference to us it was what we did for a client that we stressed. Result stories showing how much money could be made stirred up a zealous desire in space buyers to make big sales and commissions, regardless of which paper ran their adver- tising, or how much circulation it had. Take a tip: Sett the results to be gained! How you get your results is secondary to the results to be secured. USING THE "WHICH" TECHNIQUE IN SELLING NEWSPAPER SPACE The Baltimore News always used our fourth Wheelerpoint, "Don't Ask If Ask Which," in its selling technique. Never did we call on an account, especially a new one, and say, "How about an advertisement in our paper for the week end?" No, sir! We'd always build a skeleton outline minus the details, of course for two or three advertisements: one full page, one half page, and perhaps a quarter page. IS WORTH A DOZEN FACTS 55 "Which of these advertisements do you like best?" we'd ask the merchant, who, on seeing his own name in a full- page advertisement (along with his goods and maybe a pic- ture of himself or his store), became mighty interested. You could tell that the merchant nearly always wanted the large full-page advertisement but was held back by the price. The little quarter-page advertisement looked pretty insignificant beside the full-page one; so, in many cases, the merchant would compromise with himself and buy the half page. Always as\ which not "do you want" SELLING MAGAZINES HOUSE TO HOUSE The same principle of selling emotions and not facts applies to the door-to-door selling of magazines, as you perhaps know. The boy who raps at a door and says, "Want the Saturday Evening Post, lady?" is likely to get a speedy negative reply from the busy housewife. But when he says, "Do you like love stories, Mrs. Brown ?" she smiles, and, before she realizes it, she has said that she does. "Do you like mysteries ?" the boy asks if a man comes to the door. Nine times out of ten the answer is "Yes." Then he turns to the page in the weekly issue that has a love story or a mystery on it and describes it briefly. "This is the mystery of the killing of a famous New York detective. It has a very unusual ending. You'll enjoy reading it. It costs only five cents." He sells the emotional side of that week's issue. The newsboy who shouts, "Girl shoots lover on street!" sells more papers, any day, than the fellow who says, "Big 56 A SINGLE EMOTION issue today filled with stock market quotations and lots of advertisements."' Advertisements help to keep a paper going, but it is the human-interest stories that sell it to the public. Few theaters advertise by saying: "Latest Newsreel Also The Cat and the Canary' 9 They bill the mystery story first, because of its emotional appeal, and then add the facts about the rest of the program. Facts are necessary only to bolster up a sale. They are the foundation without which the house would fall but no real estate man ever sold a house because of its foundation alone. He sells it because of a cozy little dinette, a few extra feet of closet space, a den, or a fireplace or something else that moves the prospect emotionally. The thrill of sitting by a fireplace reading the evening paper will often be enough to lead a man to buy a house, even if the house does have a bedroom that is much too small, a pantry too narrow, or a poorly lighted dining room. The Johns-Manville salesman succeeds in getting a house- remodeling job when he says, "You need a den in the attic for yourself, Mr. Jones, where you can get away from your wife's hen parties. You need a place all your own." That salesman didn't talk about the two-by-fours neces- sary, the number of nails needed, or the construction. He sold the emotional side the sizzle. Then, when he had the desire aroused, he presented the factual details. So remember: First sell the emotional side then parade the facts. One Emotion Ta\es the Place of a Dozen Facts ! THE FEAR APPEAL SOLD A WATCHDOG TO THE FIRST CAVEMAN Telling what will occur if you don't buy is often as good selling as stating what will happen if you do buy. This is reverse selling that bac\s you up many a steep hill, li](e the old Tin Lizzie. WHEN i WAS A LAD IN ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, MY DAD HAD the agency for the old Simplex Ford Starter. My dad worked for the Eastman Kodak Company, but he wanted a business of his own, so he began selling this starter. This experience taught me a good lesson in sizzlemanship, for the best appeal my dad had was what would happen to you if you cranked the Ford. A broken arm, perhaps. But not with the Simplex. It worked from the dash, and, when the car backfired, the starter released itself. You never felt even so much as 3, tug. The fear of a broken arm, and many Ford owners had them, prompted this type of selling by my dad, and he made enough money to quit Eastman Kodak and erect his own gasoline station on South Avenue, near Meigs Street. Then he continued this sort of selling. He told motorists 57 58 THE FEAR APPEAL SOLD A WATCHDOG what would happen if they failed to grease their cars regu- larly and what would happen if they used cheap oil. The fear of burned-out pistons and the fear of being stranded on the old mud roads of those days made many a sale. Today, of course, this fear appeal for the Ford and for oil is gone. The self-starter has been declared one of the most important inventions in the automobile business, and engineers have whipped the trouble that used to result from slight neglect of oiling. But in those days this fear appeal worked, and my dad got a very tidy sum from Standard Oil when they bought him out rather than try to run against him on the next block- As a young fellow I learned this lesson: What will happen if you don't do something is often as effective as what will happen if you do it. CAN YOU APPLY THIS TO WHAT YOU SELL? The Todd Protectograph check writer uses the fear appeal; so do insurance salesmen and agencies selling burglar alarms. Many sellers of nostrums tell you what will happen to your teeth, eyes, ears, nose, or stomach if you don't take their medicines. The horror of falling hair, aching teeth, or stom- ach ulcers prompts many people to buy products. "How much money did your father make at the age of sixty-five ?" asks Texas agent Thad Childre, of State Mutual of New England, and the fear of what you will make at that age frightens you. "Would you hire sixty-five-year-old men?" asks another agent, and the obvious answer serves its fear purpose. "This may happen to you!" not only can be used to sell life, fire, and accident insurance, but also can be used by TO THE FIRST CAVEMAN 59 brake companies, antiwar propagandists, patent medicine manufacturers, and many others who have something to sell. So go over whatever you are selling. Spend a little time finding out what will happen if the other person fails to buy. Then tell him: "This may happen to you!" SELLING TELEPHONE DIRECTORY ADVERTISING When Ben Smith, in charge of filling up the yellow pages of the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company's directory, calls on a florist, for example, he paints a verbal picture of somebody wanting to buy a hundred fruit trees. If the per- son looks through the classified section and fails to find this florist, business goes down the street. Ben Smith says, "This may happen to you." Procter and Gamble, in the movie in which we appear on Sizzle Selling, shows material that has been shrunk and stretched by poor laundry work, with the implied thought, "This may happen to you." On the other hand, the picture shows the results of the right way to wash with the company's soaps, and Advertis- ing Manager Gale points out, "This can happen for you!" This is the reverse of the fear appeal. C. L. Hudson, of the Dallas Street Car Company, puts signs on the fronts of the buses and cars showing traffic prob- lems and reading, "This can't happen to you if you ride streetcars." He has another interesting selling program. His men call on housewives and tell them how much safer streetcar travel is for children and how much cheaper it is for wives and 60 THE FEAR APPEAL SOLD A WATCHDOG husbands. This type of selling is a new twist for this type of utility company, and it is working. L. D. CAULK USES THIS PRINCIPLE William Grier, President of the Caulk Company of Mil- ford, Delaware, processors of the silver that goes into your mouth, must be sure that his salesmen are ethical in contacts with dentists. Yet he can always have the salesman show faulty alloy that has fallen from a patient's mouth and say to the dentist, "This may happen to your patients." The salesman shows all the troubles that may result when a den- tist attempts to use cheap fillings. Then he turns around and shows what can happen when Twentieth Century Alloy, his product, is used. He shows extracted silver that had been in a patient's mouth for years and says, "This patient would be a big advertisement for you." An interesting approach was developed between the Caulk organization and ours. The salesman would approach a dentist and say, "How would you like to insure each filling for one cent?" Every dentist is interested in fillings that last, that remain silver-bright for years, and that won't "leak" and cause thermal shocks; to be assured of all these things for one cent per filling sounds good. The dentist expresses interest at this one-sentence ap- proach, and the sale goes forward from there, with the salesman showing many ways his alloy gives all these bene- fitsand at one cent more per filling! "It gives high edge strength" is a single "Tested Sentence" TO THE FIRST CAVEMAN 61 that means a lot to every dentist. So is this: "It remains sil- ver-bright in the patient's mouth." These are facts, presented nicely by professional salesmen who put ethics ahead of high pressure. They present sound, scientific facts, dressed up with plenty of red-hot sizzle. And the dentist himself, in contacting the public, can pass on this same scientific information broken down into lan- guage the patient understands and can appreciate. So, even though you are in a business that can't advertise, remember that people want facts presented interestingly. Try saying, "This can happen to you!" SIZZLEMANSHIP SELLS BETTER JEWELRY Lou Klivans, a progressive Cleveland jeweler on the well- known credit basis, violated all principles of merchandising and moved into an office building, the Terminal Tower. He found that business people didn't want friends to see them walking into a credit jewelry store,, so he put his in an office building, where the nature of the call would not be obvious. His business doubled perhaps even tripled. One of his best selling points is the fear of buying poor jewelry. So Mr. Klivans shows cheap jewelry that has proved unsatisfactory, and says as he shows good jewelry, "This can't happen if you purchase this." So the fear appeal the worry of what may happen if we don't buy applies even in credit jewelry. The Terminal Tower salesman, in showing rooms, will get you into a better-priced suite by saying, "This is on the north side, and you won't be bothered by the hot summer sun." Another phase of the "can't happen to you" principle of sizzlemanship, the modern way of influencing people. 62 THE FEAR APPEAL SOLD A WATCHDOG The salesman tells about a landlord who planted all the flowers where he wanted them in a yard, and the salesman adds, "If you own your own home, this can't happen to you." I like this idea: "You can plant flowers where you want them." Showing falling plaster, sagging screen doors, and all the other faults from bad workmanship lead contractors up to the point of showing a more expensive home and saying, "This can't happen to you." Colonel Durham, president of the Realtors Association of Indianapolis, found that he could sell homes by showing children walking, all tired out, with traffic dangers all about them, from one neighborhood, and saying, "This may hap- pen to you if you live here." Then he shows another territory, he shows that it can't happen there and says, "This can't happen here to your chil- dren and that's worth the little extra cost, isn't it?" There are few businesses that can't say, "This may happen to you' 9 CORSET COMPANIES USE THIS APPEAL Vice-President Walter Lowy, of Formfit, in our Sizzle School for corset buyers, showed that some salespeople can sell faster by showing what the woman will avoid as well as how she will benefit by buying. "You won't bulge at the hips if you wear a Formfit," says the salesperson. "You'll be more streamlined here," she adds, showing what the woman gets when she buys. Milk companies stress what can happen to your health, especially your teeth, when you drink milk. This implies what happens if you don't get calcium. The orange growers show dental proof of what happens TO THE FIRST CAVEMAN 63 from drinking orange juice daily, implying what happens to your teeth if you don't. "This can happen to you," is a mighty important selling tool, so don't lose sight of it. Go over what you sell. Mark down the benefits to be secured on one side of a sheet of paper draw a line and mark opposite what may happen if you don't buy. Tell both sides of the story. Don't be a half salesman. Benefits arouse interest to buy. Fear can force many a quick sale. Be honest, though, in using fear appeals. Be certain it can happen. Don't scare the prospect falsely. DON'T HOLLER WOLF If you holler wolf well, you know what happens. When the Tilden Brake salesmen of New York City, in our Sizzle School for them, tried to overstress the dangers of weak brakes, a negative reaction occurred. You can be too darned pessimistic, to a point where your selling becomes obvious. And remember: When the other fellow "hears" your sales story, he backs away from it. "Did your car ever feel helpless when you put on the brakes, like a roller coaster going down hill?" One sales- man leads into a brake relining job in this tactful manner. "Does your brake pedal go to the floor?" asks another Tilden salesman. If the customer finds that it does, he is usually first to say, "That's dangerous, isn't it?" "Feel the lines in this brake drum," says a salesman, try- ing to get a motorist to have his brake drum ground. The man feels, with his own hands, the jagged lines. He is often the first to say, "Why, that will cut the new lining to pieces, won't it?" 64 THE FEAR APPEAL SOLD A WATCHDOG Don't try to be a scarecrow, unless you are prepared to scare somebody honestly and for his own good. Many people must be scared into protecting their teeth, to put on brake linings, and to buy fire insurance for their homes. When you do put on the scarecrow uniform, do it hon- estly. Be sincere. People will catch on to you, because they aren't all black crows. If you are truthful, they'll take the warning of the scarecrow. But don't holler wolf. MIX FEAR WITH BENEFIT APPEALS You wouldn't put a roof over part of your house; you wouldn't put tires on two wheels only; you wouldn't wear a coat without the pants that go with them so don't just tell tvhat the other person gets, without telling him what he's missing. "You'll feel better if you take exercise, and you won't get fat," says the athletic club's director, and all in one sentence he tells you what you get if you do and what will happen if you don't. Practice this simple principle of intermingling fear and benefits together. Always be sure to tell the benefits, but be just as sure to point out, tactfully, the troubles that may re- sult when the prospect or customer fails to buy. "Painless dentist" is still used in some places. "Why suffer?" still catches your eye in headlines. "You'll freeze if you don't have overshoes," says the mother, using the appeal of fear; and she adds, "You won't have to spend a lot of time in bed," and so shows the benefits to be secured. "Is your oil safe ?" asked one Texaco salesman, during our survey for selling sentences for this company, and the mo- torist said, "Aw, you can't scare me. Engineers say oil is TO THE FIRST CAVEMAN 65 safe down as far as the red line. Whatcha trying to do, kid me?" The fear appeal was too blunt for this age of modern thinking, in which often the prospect knows as much as we do about what we sell, so we changed to this approach: "Is your oil at proper driving level?" This made the man wonder, and he'd inquire what was "proper." This question gave the attendant a chance to in- vestigate and show the man where his oil was. Proper, you see, is full. Later on, when a prospect for oil said, "You asked me that question yesterday," we added the word "today," so the ap- proach became, "Is your oil at proper driving level today?" Here was another victory for words, since the phrase, in one week only, was used on nearly 500,000 motorists by Texaco dealers and worked successfully on close to 250,000 a quarter of a million potential prospects for the sale of at least a quart of oil! Summed up, the caveman got ^a dog because of fear of what would happen to him if he didn't. He realized what the watchdog would do for him, and what might happen if he didn't have it. Practice this selling philosophy. Don't forget: Fear sold the caveman his first watchdog! \ A Sale Is an Agreement Not an Argument ff 10 DON'T BE AN IRISHMAN RUNNING DOWN A TRACK Good salesmen are resourceful. They avoid arguments and Watch closely for buying signals. They \now when to get off the trac\. AN IRISHMAN WAS RUNNING DOWN A TRACK AHEAD OF A FAST- moving train, shouting, as he ran, "If I can only make the switch if I can only make the switch!" A farmer in a near-by field asked, "Why don'tcha get off the track and let the darned train pass you by?" The Irishman hadn't thought of that. He was doing the thing the hard way. He lacked resourcefulness. And re- sourcefulness is pretty important. It's a very necessary part of selling real resourcefulness, that is, not just tricky selling. You can get into almost any home with a trick approach like this: "I'm making a survey of refrigerators, madam. It will only take a moment. Where is your refrigerator, please?" He is usually shown where it is, but when he starts find- ing fault with it, and taking out his literature on a special 66 RUNNING DOWN A TRACK 67 new style, he is generally invited to leave by way of the back door. Resourcefulness that is too clever only loses out in the long run. KNOW WHEN TO MAKE YOUR CALL The clever wife knows when to go into the kitchen and leave her angry husband to cool off. She knows perfectly well that, when he is ranting and raving about something, that is the wrong time to try to sell him on the idea of get- ting her a new coat. She knows when to start selling. Good salesmen know this, too. They know that certain times of the day are best for calling on business people. Early in the morning the boss usually has a pile of mail on his desk. Later on, from about 10:00 o'clock to 11:30, is a good time. After that, he's beginning to feel hungry, and his mind is consciously or subconsciously on lunch. He must be left alone for a few minutes after he gets back from lunch, and again for a little while just before quitting time. He needs the time to get his work in order. Right before and right after a holiday are bad; so are Saturday morning and most of Monday morning. Rainy days arc good. It's usually too wet for him to go outside. Remember that the finest sales sizzles in the world even all dressed up telegraphically, with bouquets of action and plenty of "whiches" can fall flat if you don't time your presentation properly. Knowing when to ma\e your call is a fine selling pointer to practice. 68 DON'T BE AN IRISHMAN AND KNOW WHEN TO LEAVE Often a prospect will have come to a decision about your product before you are aware of it. Watch out for this. If you keep on talking, you very often talk yourself right out of a sale. Many times it is wise to be the first to suggest ending the call and continuing it some other time particularly if it is getting late and you realize that you can't possibly clinch the sale that day. This is part of good timing, too. In some instances a prospective customer may be too polite to ask a salesman to leave. He lets the salesman talk on and on. But when the interview is over, he makes a firm re- solve that he will never let that salesman in again to take up his time. So know when you are wearing out the prospect's wel- come mat. Still another type of prospect lets you talk and talk al- most seeming to encourage you. He is weak when it comes to merchandising his own time, so he lets you talk on in^ definitely. Suddenly it gets late. You leave. The person immediately regrets having let you talk so long. He is annoyed at his own weakness, and makes a mental note never to let you waste so much of his valuable time again. The rule: \ Be the first to end the interview^ You'll be liked the better for it, and you'll be in command of the situation at all times. RUNNING DOWN A TRACK 69 WATCH FOR BUYING SIGNALS The Irishman running down the track heard the train sig- nal, but he didn't do the right thing about it. He should have got off the track and let the train go by, instead of try- ing to run in front of it till it turned off at the switch. The alert salesman watches carefully for buying signals. He is on the lookout for the moment when the customer be- gins to: Handle the product. Put down the article to listen. Ask the opinion of friends standing by. Sit down. Take off his or her coat. Whenever a customer indicates real interest by some such buying signal as the above, be sure to begin closing the sale. Passing up a buying signal is dangerous. WATCH FOR VERBAL SIGNS, TOO Often what a customer or prospect says is an important buying sign. Here are a few of the questions a person will ask when he begins to be interested seriously in buying: "Is it guaranteed?" "Will it tarnish (or fade, or shrink, depending on the type of merchandise under consideration) ?" "How does it work?" "When can it be delivered?" "How often do you oil it?" 70 DONT BE AN IRISHMAN Hundreds of such simple inquiries will tell you indirectly that your customer is more than just casually interested in what you have for sale. Be sure to watch for these hints; they'll help you close sales more quickly. To sum up: Don't run down the track learn how to side- step difficulties by being resourceful. And remember, it's as important to know when to see a prospect and when to leave him as it is to say the right thing while you're with him. So put this rule to work: [Time your entrance and your exit. Lady Luc\ Is Usually Disguised in Wording Clothes 11 EVEN JOE THE BARBER IS USING "TESTED SENTENCES" NOW No business is without its particular sizzles. Why, even my barber is using them on me. VXLD JOE USED TO BE A NICE BARBER. MAYBE HE DID TALK TOO much when you wanted to read the Police Gazette or look at some of those . . . well . . . barbershop magazines. You didn't mind. You expected a barber to do a lot of talking to pass the time while he zipped away the hairs. When the haircut was finished^ Joe would always say, "Don't suppose you want a shampoo, do you?" With a remark like that it was always a simple matter to refuse gracefully by saying, "No, thanks just had a bath, Joe," or, "Coin' swimmin' at the T' today." That was always a good out, and Joe expected it; but then came the change! Joe read Tested Sentences That Selll He just got a copy of it and read it through. Today Joe has become a very scientific barber. Once the haircut is over, Joe now says very quietly, "What f(jnd of shampoo you using these days ?" "Oh, just a simple one," answers the customer, not think- 71 72 EVEN JOE THE BARBER ing, and before he knows it, he is having one of Joe's simple shampoos. "How does it happen that you use a 'what kind' approach nowadays instead of a 'do you want' approach?" I asked Joe one day. He said he had been reading our book and had decided that he was as much of a salesman as anyone else. He con- fided that the "what" technique had sold shampoos for him in three out of every ten instances, whereas his old method had sold them in only one out of every fifteen. "Do you want Osage on your hair today, or Lucky Tiger ?" asks Joe, and the customer says, "What's Osage?" "It has mentholatum in it," continues Joe, "and it keeps your head cool even on the hottest days. Here, smell it put some on your hand." What fine invisible selling! He was "saying it with flow- ers" getting the customer to take the bottle in his hand, getting him to feel and smell the tonic. "Here's an idea you could use in your new book," added Joe. "When I used to ask people what kind of shampoo they would like, they'd usually say they wanted something simple. People always think of the cost first not what they'll get for their money. So I invented a shampoo I call Joe's Simple Shampoo!" THE JUSTIN COMPANY SELLS THE SIZZLE Mr. Burt Fisch, of the famous Justin Company, makers of cowboy boots in Fort Worth, tells me that, when the ex- pression "frontier boots" was changed to "cowboy boots," sales to drugstore cowboys increased. When a customer asks which foot is the larger, the Justin IS USING "TESTED SENTENCES 1 ' NOW 73 salesman never insults him by saying, "Your left is larger than your right." He uses this complimentary selling sen- tence: "Your right is smaller than your left." It's all in how you say it, and Mr. Fisch knows his sizzlemanship. AND EVEN THE NEWSBOYS ARE USING SIZZLEMANSHIP Only the other day, a newsboy came up to me on the street when I was with a young lady. "Read the late edition," he called out, knowing that at that late hour I would undoubt- edly have read the earlier editions. That was smart selling. Too smart for me, almost, when I tried to wisecrack back by saying, "Can't read, son." He came right back at me with, "Well, you and your girl friend can look at the pictures, can't you?" The next time I saw the same boy I was prepared for his smart selling, so that, when he asked whether I had read the late edition, I told him that I couldn't read and that I didn't like looking at pictures. His answer to that was, "Then why not turn the paper up- side down and have a good laugh!" Hm-n^m. You can't beat some kids. What's this world coming to with everybody beginning to use sizzles on me to the point where I expect even the Sandman to say, "Shall I sprinkle sand in your eyes now or later, Elmer?" INVISIBLE SELLING WORKS IN THE THEATER Even in the theaters they are using "Tested Sentences" in- stead of hit-or-miss sales talk. The other day I asked a 74 EVEN JOE THE BARBER broker for tickets to a hit, and he said, "Downstairs on the aisle, or in the center?" What made that fellow think I even wanted to sit down- stairs? But he had given me a choice between something and something else between two things he wanted to sell and whichever I chose, he'd be the winner. Yet, wouldn't I be a winner too, since I'd be sitting in the choice seats ? It looks as though this "Tested Selling" idea is the best one after all. It certainly eliminates a lot of nonsensical sales talks and high-pressure selling that tries to force people to buy things they don't want. When the right "Tested Method" is used, the desire to possess is aroused in a person lil(f magic. After all, people do get the sales point more quickly when a "Tested Selling" salesman waits on them than they do if old Jim Brown mutters and mumbles something like: "How ya fixed for toothpaste?" or "You wouldn't be wanting any bread today, would you ?" or "Would the large size be too much ?" It looks as though real "Tested Selling" is best for the world, for it cuts down on unnecessary conversation and speeds up the sale. So the next time the bootblack says to me, "Life a five-cent shine, or one of my good ten-cent ones?" I'll get a good ten-cent one that will last longer. At least it's supposed to last longer, according to the shoe-shine boy. When I asked him the difference between the shines, he replied, "The ten-cent one lasts longer, boss." The organization that does away with the old parrot sell- ing of the fellow who says, "Will that be all, today?" and gets rid also of the high-pressure sales artist, and that substi- tutes for these fellows the real "Tested Selling" salesman with his invisible selling, will find itself going places. IS USING "TESTED SENTENCES" NOW 75 Nowadays the drugstore that tries to load you up with goods you didn't intend to buy or the grocery store that at- tempts to sell you food you don't want to eat will find itself losing business with its "drives" and special inducements. The solution? This: Sell the "Tested Selling" way. It's low-pressure, in- visible selling yet it steps up business because it is in step with people. "You Never "Hear" the Sales Td\ That Setts You 12 RUNNING RESTAURANTS WITH "TESTED SELLING" Sizzlcmanship helps restaurant managers and waiters to Increase business and tips. L IKE ALL OTHER BUSINESSES, RESTAURANTS HAVE THEIR SIZZLES. In the course of our work for Hotels Statler, we uncovered many problems concerned with the management of restau- rants. There are many common situations in which the waiter can antagonize guests and thus possibly lose business for the restaurant by saying the wrong thing. We studied these situations and experimented with them until we found the right words for the waiter to use in each one to keep the guests satisfied and make them eat more. The results of our survey were published in an article in The American Weekly. This article is reproduced in part below.* ... a man walks rapidly into a restaurant, a sign that he is in a hurry, and addresses the first wide-awake-looking waiter he sees, a sign that he knows how to get quick service. He says : * "Magical Words for Waiters to Make You Eat More," The American Weekly, September 27, 1936. Reprinted by permission of The American Weekly. Further publication prohibited. 76 VVITH TESTED SELLING 77 "I want three four-minute boiled eggs and I can't wait more than one minute for them." It is a preposterous request and the waiter might be pardoned for reminding the man that it takes four minutes to boil a four- minute egg. But that is not the right answer. He should say: "Yes, sir/' followed by such a rapid walk to the kitchen that the guest feels that he is at least going to do his best. If the restaurant is a large and busy one and the waiter has luck, he may return within the minute by the guest's watch, bearing those impossible four-minute eggs and the cup of coffee he wants but didn't order. The hurried guest appreciates magic, gives a nice tip and prob- ably becomes a steady customer of that restaurant and that waiter when he has leisure to eat more substantial meals. The next time he asks for that same miracle, he may not get it. That is just the trouble with magic, the conditions have to be just right. The waiter will then have to explain how he did it before. He simply found that another waiter had three four-minute eggs cooked and ready to be taken away but they had been ordered by a nice . . . old person who wouldn't notice an extra ten minutes delay, while three more were being cooked for him. At all costs a waiter must keep his customers in a cheerful frame of mind; otherwise they will not order much and may go out without anything being rung up on the cash register. This often means that the guests must be protected from each other and even from themselves. The smart, alert waiter seeing a customer headed for one of his tables, pulls out the chair from what is the most popular place at that table, making sure that there are no crumbs on the seat. But the customer has other ideas, plumping himself in the opposite chair. Too late to save him, the waiter gets a glimpse of a piece of blueberry pie on the seat of that chair. What should the waiter do? If told, the guest will jump up, be embarrassed or angry, eat little and perhaps nothing at all. But if nothing is said and he does not discover there is food on his coat tails until he is trying 78 RUNNING RESTAURANTS to impress the president of the company he works for, the guest may come back with wrath and a lawyer. . . . The waiter should wait until the meal is over. Then he should walk up behind the departing guest, and say in a soft and soothing voice: *Tm very sorry, sir, but you sat down in some food if you will step into the washroom I'm sure it can be wiped off so it won't show." This has a tendency to make the guest feel that the waiter is an observing, discreet and trustworthy fellow, and it usually brings an additional tip, and return trips to that restaurant. No problem is quite so complicated as the mother with a fret- ful, spoiled child. Instinctively she heads for a hidden alcove where the other guests cannot see her offspring misbehave. But that hideaway is reserved for boisterous, drunken people, that dimly lighted corner is sacred to young couples, another secluded nook is for business men who want to talk business as they eat. The waiter leads the brat and its apprehensive mother to what seems the worst possible choice, a table on the platform or bal- cony, the most conspicuous place in the room. But he knows what he is doing. Children like to see everything and tend to keep quiet as long as they are interested in what they see. The child must not raise a disturbance or its mother will not eat as much as she should, and what is worse other guests will be driven away. The magic of its place in the room often wears off before the meal is over. Then it fidgets, drops silverware on the floor, tips over a glass of milk and when rebuked, starts to howl. With every eye in the dining room on her, the mother fears she is beyond human aid. Even the waiter has run away, but he returns with a magic "kid-silencer," a plate of vanilla ice cream. Chocolate would be just as effective but sometimes is not on a child's diet. . . . When guests make pencil diagrams on the table cloth, the waiter wants to say: "You poor fish, where were you brought up?" That would not be nice to a cash customer. Instead, he places WITH TESTED SELLING 79 a pad of paper beside the savage, saying in a helpful tone of voice: "Paper would be easier to write on, sir." One of the cruellest problems of restaurants is people "with- out self-starters," who do not know enough to go home when they have finished their meal. Persons who have sense enough to come in when it rains and even to leave the theatre when the show is over, sometimes continue to sit at their table for an hour after it has been cleared, though there is no cabaret or other entertainment. That other guests are waiting for their places and that waiter and restaurant are losing money by their inconsiderateness, never strikes them and yet they must not be told. After a while the waiter asks if he can get them another cup of coffee or something. If that fails to move them, the head waiter arrives with a beaming smile to ask if anyone has taken their order yet. The waiter corrects him in a horrified whisper, saying that they have finished long ago. If that fails to have the desired effect, someone places on the table a "Reserved" card with the information that the party is expected in a few minutes, but perhaps they would like to sit at some other table. That will move most; anyone, especially if there isn't any other table. It seems that such pests are called "wrecks" because they have to be "towed away." When a pistol grip protrudes from a guest's pocket some- thing must be done about it or other guests will lose appetite. The man may be an honest plain-clothes policeman or he may be a gangster. In either case it has been found that such a cus- tomer does not like to have the gun called by any of its common names. The magic phrase to make him cover the weapon and smile is: "You seem to have something dangerous sticking out of your pocket." Another thing about which many people are sensitive is the pronunciation of words and no one likes to be corrected, par- ticularly by a waiter. Suppose, for instance, a guest orders cho- colate mousse, and calls it "mouse" instead of "moose." By either 80 RUNNING RESTAURANTS name this dessert tastes the same, but should the waiter, knowing the proper way to say that word, deliberately mispronounce it, just to keep from embarrassing the guest? If he does, the guest may later learn from his wife or other authority the right way to say it, and then feel the waiter was trying to make a fool out of him. In which case, he probably will not return to that restaurant and in these highly competi- tive days, a waiter's livelihood depends a good deal on his ability to get and hold steady customers. Ordinarily a waiter should repeat each item in an order, but when a word is mispronounced he should simply write it down and say nothing and if the guest afterwards learns better, he will be happy in thinking the waiter was every bit as ignorant himself. Another time when a waiter should hold his tongue is when a guest comes in to breakfast with a grouch, or suffering from a "hang-over." A number of phrases were tried out, but none of them worked, not even a simple "good morning." It may be a "rare day in June," but so far as that guest is concerned there is nothing good about it. The best thing to do is put a cup of coffee in front of him, before he has time to ask for it, and then get his order quickly and correctly, without asking him to re- peat it. He should be served quickly, too, for once he has food in his mouth he can't talk, and no matter what a grouch says, it's almost sure to be a complaint. If two guests start arguing over who is to get the check, the waiter should size them up quickly, and if one is bluffing, he should give it to the one who really wants it. In that way, both are satisfied. Sometimes a v.a : ter sees a guest start out with somebody else's overcoat, but it would never do to intimate that this was intentional, for that might result in a scene, and maybe a damage suit. The magic phrase here is: "I believe you have the wrong coat, sir." If the man is honestly embarrassed, it will do no harm to tell him that a bishop did the same thing the other day. Dishonest persons may possibly eat in restaurants but the waiter must never suggest such a possibility. If one tries to pass WITH TESTED SELLING 81 counterfeit money, he should say sympathetically: "Someone must have given you a bad bill." If a woman enters a restaurant by herself, it is a mistake for the head waiter to ask if she is alone. Perhaps her husband or sweetheart may have deserted and that word "alone" is like a slap in the face. "A single table?" may be bad in case she is an old maid because the word "single" is not good for her appetite. The right phrase is "table for one?" Here is just one example of how "Tested Selling" can build good will and increase sales. Even if you don't run a restaurant, you should be able to find ideas in this article that can be applied to your own business. For, after all, the success of any kind of selling de- pends on the relationship that the salesman establishes with his prospect. So remember the rule: Plan your sales tal\ from the prospect's point of view. Serve the sizzle the way he wants it. The Right Words Will Ma\e the Prospect Say "Yes" 13 IT'S THE PUFF IN THE PIPE THAT SELLS IT Tobacconists find sizzling sentences that sell more pipes and more tobacco. They use the human-interest method. o YOU LIKE TOBACCO THAT WON*T BITE?" ASKS THE TOBACCO salesman for the well-known Middleton Tobacco Company. Of course you like tobacco that doesn't bite, and with that sentence one of Herbert Middleton's crack salesmen is get- ting you interested in some of the company's special Walnut Mixture. "Here is a way to keep your pipe clean and cool," says an- other salesman, educating his customer in the proper use of a certain type of pipe cleaner. He knows that this kind of selling is real invisible selling and that it arouses the desire to own. It's the "puff" in the tobacco that sells you. That is what you buy the "puff," the "whiff/' the "cleanness," not the price tag. Wally Frank, a famous New York tobacconist, has a book- let filled with sizzling selling sentences that make you buy pipe after pipe and more and more tobacco. He has found the sizzle in smoking! 82 THAT SELLS IT 83 He raves about his "wine-cured tobacco, aged two years in wine kegs." It makes your mouth water for some. He tells you about his "hickory-cured tobacco, smoked over hickory logs" and you can smell the hickory. Ah-h-h, the pipe of peace filled with Wally Frank's blends. He has "brown Irish roll" and "black Irish roll"; he has "brandy cask mixture packed in white oak staves." Boy, where's my pipe! He even has tobacco that "wives like to smell" and tobacco with an "aroma that pleases others." He sells you first by appealing to your own taste and then to your valuation of the opinions of others. Good two-way selling. HUMAN-INTEREST SELLING One of the finest ways to make a sale is by telling your customer interesting educational things about whatever you sell where it came from, how it wa& made. This human- interest side of any product excites the desire to own. Try it ! Wally Frank describes his Canadian Forester Briar Pipe by saying, "It takes extra-long blocks of this beautiful thirty- year old Mediterranean root briar to make these pipes. They must be made by men who are experts; otherwise the boring, which is especially difficult to make in a long shank, will not allow for proper freedom of draft." He tells customers that his Baronite Pipe is made in Gouda, Holland, "of clay found only on the banks of the River Meuse. It is porous. The Royal Goedewaagen Society has been manufacturing pipes of this clay for over four hun- dred years." 84 IT'S THE PUFF IN THE PIPE The story behind these pipes is what makes you buy the story that you know will make each puff one of romance. So remember this selling point: Sell the story behind the product; sell through educa- tion. The more a customer knows about a product, the more quickly he buys. The best news stories are the ones that are crammed with human interest; the best sales stories should be the same. LET YOUR PROOF TELL THE STORY One of the best demonstrations of the effectiveness of proof is the method used by the salesmen for Carl Wollmer's Panther Oil and Grease Company of Fort Worth for selling a special type of grease for use in sub-zero weather. Know- ing that one minute of proof takes the place of an hour of sales talk, this company worked out an excellent bit of show- manship to prove the value of this sub-zero grease. When the salesman goes to call on a dealer, he takes with him a small black "magic" box filled with dry ice. On top of the dry ice are two little tin pans. As he begins talking to the dealer, he offers to make an "interesting free test of grease." The dealer, his curiosity aroused by the little black box, consents to the test. The salesman then puts some of the grease the dealer car- ries into one of the tin pans, and some Panther grease in the other. As he closes the box, he tells the dealer that some- thing very interesting will happen in a few minutes. In the meantime he tells the dealer stories about Panther oil and grease, and how they are made to withstand the lowest tern- THAT SELLS IT 85 perature. He emphasizes the benefits to be gained from using Panther products. Never once does he as\ the dealer to tdkf his word for a single statement! He is waiting for the proof he knows he will have in a few minutes. After a short time he lifts up the lid of the box and takes out the two pans. He stirs the little panful of Panther grease with his pencil, and, at the same time, invites the dealer to try to stir the grease in the other pan. It is frozen solid I As a final piece of showmanship, the salesman takes some Panther grease in the palm of his hand and rubs it around to show the dealer its viscosity. The enormous contrast between the Panther product and the dealer's brand is all the proof that is needed to convince the dealer. One minute of demonstration ta\es the place of one n hour of conversation. ROOFING MATERIALS SOLD ON THE ROOF This same company also handles roofing supplies and has worked out some interesting ways to sell them both word of mouth and direct mail They have decided that the best place to talk about roofing material is on the roof! So they set out to find ways to get prospects on their roofs, and they asked me for our ideas to contribute to their selling manuals. Here's a "Tested Selling Sentence" that proved to be a mighty good one: "Have you been on your roof since the last storm?" Since the man nearly always answers that he has not, 86 IT'S THE PUFF IN THE PIPE the salesman would immediately suggest that they go up on the roof to see what damage had been done. Another approach developed at our Panther Sizzle School was: "May I go up on your roof? I'm inspecting them for dam- age done by the summer heat!' Before the salesmen began using "Tested Sentences" like the above, they had tried to interest prospects in roofing by discussing it with them in their places of business, but they found that the prospects were much too busy answering the phone, taking in money at the cash register, and talking to customers to pay attention to their sales talk. When the system of "getting them on the roof" was put into practice, sales definitely increased. THE SIZZLES IN AIRLINE SERVICE American Airlines, another of our clients, has developed a tested approach for selling its air travel plan to businessmen. The salesman who says to a secretary, "I'd like to talk to Mr. Jones about air travel services," gets the usual answer: "Some other time he's busy now." So the American Airlines salesman uses this tested piece of invisible selling: "I'd likf to see Mr. Jones about his last flight!' The secretary immediately begins to wonder what hap- pened on that flight and hurries in to tell her employer that an American Airlines man wants to see him about "his last flight." Then Mr. Jones begins to wonder about it. He lets the salesman in and is greeted by: "On your last flight you paid cash, didn't you ?" "Sure what's wrong with that?" THAT SELLS IT 87 "You paid $6 too much. You could have saved that with a travel plan." "A travel plan? What's that?" "I'll explain it to you. You buy $500 worth of air service for only $425. In this way. . . ." How much better this clean-cut approach. Nothing tricky, nothing high pressure. Just sensible selling invisible selling with a clever twist, to be sure, but not an unfair one. The rule: Ifs those first ten words again! Of course, one of the big sizzles in airline service is the stewardess the young lady who radiates so much cheer and good will. She knows her invisible selling, too. For example, she never says: "Hoo\ your safety belts there's a storm ahead!' This talk of safety belts and storms naturally frightens passengers. She says instead: "If you'll fasten your seat belt, you'll be more comfortable in the weather ahead." What she says on a flight and the way she treats passengers often determine whether the passengers will fly back or resort to some other means of transportation. She is so important to airline business, in fact, that Amer- ican Airlines had us work out a report of the best things for airline hostesses to do and say. Knute Wilson prepared the booklet from our findings, and it is astonishing how often just a slight change in wording or tetfynique will mean the difference between a ticket sold and a ticket not sold. But please, airline executives, stop the smoking inplanesl The business you may lose by stopping it will be more than made up for by the people like myself who, even though 88 IT'S THE PUFF IN THE PIPE they enjoy smoking, are willing to forego it to have clear air in the small cabin of an airplane. Pan American flights are made much more pleasant because of one sign, "No Smoking Allowed" a rule that the company enforces. You should, too! FIND THE PUFF IN WHAT YOU SELL So review all these selling hints and pointers these ideas that have come fresh from the firing lines right out of the mouths of successful salespeople. There's a hidden "puff" in everything you sell, just as there is in Wally Frank's and Middleton's tobacco. It's up to you to find it. Begin your search now, and remember: There's a sizzle hidden in every product or sales ideal The Sizzle Is the Shortest Route from You to the Prospect 14 SELL THE DREAM IN YOUR PRODUCT NOT THE NIGHTMARE || The "dream" is what people want emotionally. The "need" is what they must have. The "nightmare" is what waives them up with a start. // M IDDEN IN EVERY PRODUCT YOU SELL OR SERVICE YOU PERFORM is a "dream" appeal. By this, I mean a "castles-in-Spain quality" that moves people emotionally. There is also a "need" quality. We need a certain product for its value as food, clothing, shelter, self-protection, or something else. For example, a woman walks into a department store with a number of needs on her mind. She needs a dress to cover her; she needs shoes to walk in; she needs food for her family. These are her need paints. Her dream points are the things she dreams about. She dreams, for instance, of a dress that will make her look as slender as her favorite movie star; shoes that will make her 89 90 SELL THE DREAM IN YOUR PRODUCT feet small and graceful; food that will make her guests or family rave about her culinary ability. So remember this rule in selling whatever you sell: Find the dream point and you'll sell faster I DON'T SELL THE SEAMS SELL THE "AH'S" A woman needs a dress because she must have her body covered. That is the recognized need behind her visit to the shop. The dream is to have a dress that men will "ah" and "oh" at when they see her in it. The clever salesperson knows this and sells the "ah's" and "oh's" in every dress. She shows her customer a new style and says, "This dress has a real Joan Bennett waistline, hasn't it?" The woman immediately imagines herself looking like this actress and begins to speculate on the number of "oh's" and "all's" she will get from her husband and friends when they see it on her. Certain customers like to provide a big "oh"; others want simply a gentle "ah." You must learn to judge the degree of "ah" or "oh" the person wants to arouse. One woman may want to gain the mere raising of eye- brows when she enters a ballroom. In showing her a new evening gown, you must play upon the delicacy of the lines, the subtle daring, the modified "oomph." Another type may want to arouse much stronger recognition. She's looking for the "wow" points in the gown. She wants some- thing that will make her boy friends and girl friends shout out, "Wow, what a dress!" She sees only the "wow" points in what you sell. NOT THE NIGHTMARE 91 THERE'S A LITTLE BEAU BRUMMEL IN ALL MEN Every man has a little of the Beau Brummel hidden away in him somewhere. Maybe his weakness is loud neckties, or shorts, or pajamas, or some other bit of haberdashery. The tip here, then, is to be on the lookout for the Beau Brummel in your customer, and to play tactfully up to it. Is he wearing an inexpensive shirt, suit, and hat but a real Italian foulard tie? Then ties are his weakness. Sell him ties. Show him one and say, "This is a fine, new pat- tern, exclusive with us." He'll like being exclusive on his one weak point. Many men admire the way some other man wears his ties, shirts, shoes, hats, or something else. They wish they could wear theirs the same way, but somehow they lack whatever it is that makes it possible. They're always look- ing for clothes with someone else in mind. They may want a topcoat like the one they saw Adolphe Menjou wear in his latest picture. They don't tell this to the salesman; but that's their dreani. That's the dream for the alert salesman to sell to. Our work for F. R. Tripler and Company, the well-known men's shop on Madison Avenue in New York City, also helped to prove that the salesman who caters to a man's dreams his castles in Spain sells more merchandise than the one who harps on the fine texture and the fine quality. The facts behind the product are important, of course, but only after an emotional appeal has created a desire on the part of the customer to own the product. Men and women buy their clothes because of the impres- sion they will maJ^e not because one garment happens to have better wearing qualities or better material in it. Long 92 SELL THE DREAM IN YOUR PRODUCT life is important, but it is secondary to the effect produced by the garment when worn. "It has that cross-country look, sir," says one Tripler sales- man, and the man looking at the postboy vest becomes inter- ested. The salesman then tells him the story of how the vest originated among the postboys at the races in England bright vests, to identify them in the crowds. According to Albert Free, president of Tripler's, the story behind the postboy vest sells it just about every time. So remember this worth-while selling philosophy: Tell the story behind what you sell. The story will mae the sale. SO SELL THE STORY Sell your customer the human-interest angle, when you're showing him a cameFs-hair or an alpaca topcoat; tell him all about the animals where they live, how they live. This kind of information shows the customer that you know your merchandise and builds up his confidence in you. Sell the story and the goods will take care of themselves. "This raincoat, made of the lightest material in the world, comes from Australia. Feel how light it is," says the sales- man, and a sale is made especially when the salesman rolls the coat into a small ball to emphasize its compactness and invites the customer to put it in his overcoat pocket. A fine example, incidentally, of our third Wheelerpoint "Say It with Flowers." "This new suit has broad football shoulders," says another salesman, and the customer decides to buy it, right then and there. A salesman in another store lost just such a sale, however, NOT THE NIGHTMARE 93 by saying, after a glance at his customer's big shoulders, "You have unnaturally broad shoulders hard to fit." The man's ego, his "Beau Brummel," was injured. Back at Tripler's, though, that same customer bought the suit, because the alert salesman said, "You have fine broad shoulders, sir. Ever play football?" Oh, boy! Was that man flattered! Then, after getting the man really interested in the suit, the salesman went on to explain that it would need some careful alteration "to bring out your shoulders to best ad- vantage." Did the man hesitate ? No, sir. He liked the idea of hav- ing those broad shoulders "played up." AND DON'T FORGET THE SHOWMANSHIP The clever salesman in Bond's men's furnishings store in Fort Worth makes many a sale by twisting the trousers of the suit he is showing to prove to his customer that they return to their original shape. Every man dreams about a suit that never needs pressing, so this salesman twists the trousers and says, "Watch them return to their original shape! No wrinQcsstzr A girl selling in the kitchenware department of Titche- Goettinger's large department store in Dallas takes an expen- sive Wearever cooking utensil and hits the edge of it with her pencil. The pan resounds with a loud, clear ring, and the salesgirl says to her customer, "That's how you can tell real metal, madam." Showmanship again invisible selling. The action of hitting the pan, and the sound it produces, appeal to the customer; many sales result. 94 SELL THE DREAM IN YOUR PRODUCT "It drapes as gracefully as real linen," says one salesperson, displaying an inexpensive type of tablecloth in the Hecht Company of Washington, D. C. Having caught the cus- tomer's attention with this "Tested Sentence," she proceeds to drape the cloth artistically over a small table saying it with gestures. More showmanship, more sales, according to C. B. Dulcan, president. "Here, sit in this chair, sir," says another salesman. "It's our new napping chair." The man sits in it, thinks of the many after-dinner snoozes he could have, and buys in Wil- liam Taylor's of Cleveland. "Glasses fit into these arms and won't fall oflf and break," says a furniture salesman, showing porch furniture that has this new device in it. Small details but it is often those small details that make the sale. The story behind the merchandise again. Find the story and you find success. WILL IT DO SOMETHING FOR THE CUSTOMER? A woman looks at a dress and asks that question. She looks at furniture, clocks, slippers, glassware everything and says, either to herself or aloud, "Now, if I buy that, what will it do for me?" "Will it make my husband love me more?" "Will it make my friends envious ?" "Will it make me more com- fortable ?" "Just what will it do for me ?" So no matter what you sell, from insurance to rowboats, from hosiery to derricks, show the other person what it will do for him mentally, physically, or otherwise. For instance, a woman buying a dress may want it for several reasons: to hide a weakness in her figure; to flatter HOT THE NIGHTMARE 95 a good point; to make her appear taller or more slender; to accentuate something about her that she considers her big asset. If you want to sell her, you've got to be able to recognize these reasons for buying. A WORD OF CAUTION One reason for the return of so much merchandise in America today is that high-pressure salespeople play up the dream appeal too much forgetting the need entirely. They sell "that slenderizing effect" so persistently that the woman buys, forgetting all about her need to minimize a sway back or some other defect. But, when her husband sees her in it that night, he tells her all about the defect, usually in a not-so-pleasant way, often with a real horse laugh. Back goes the dress, the dream part of it ruined by the nightmare effect it produced. So take paper and pencil and put down all the "dream points" and all the "castles in Spain" in what you sell. But, when you do, be sure you keep in mind the need points so the article will stay sold. SOME SIZZLES FOR READY-TO-WEAR Here are a few good selling sizzles for ready-to-wear sales- people: "That dress has such interesting lines." "That dress harmonizes nicely with your complexion." 96 SELL THE DREAM IN YOUR PRODUCT "This gown will accentuate your hair (or some other feature)." "I see you appreciate good quality and style." "This style is made especially for people with red hair." One of the big problems in all ready-to-wear departments is getting the customer into the fitting room; once she is there, the chance that she will buy is much greater. Most women merely wander around the department until some salesperson comes up to them. If the approach is: "Like something in dresses today?" "Anything special in mind?" "Are you being helped?" well, you won't get many cus- tomers into the fitting room. But try these sentences, developed by us in the El Puerto Liverpool store in Mexico City: "Did you know the new dresses have a higher waist- line?" (mentioning some new style trend to per\ up interest) "Would you like to try on a dress that accentuates height like magic?" (for obviously short people) "If you'd like to be among the first to wear a new style, just try this one on." (all women want to be first with a new style) "Do you think you could wear this style ?" (challenge to customer's ego) "I'd like to see whether you can wear this draped neck- line." (appeal to curiosity") "Let's see which of these styles looks best on you." (Wheelerpoint 4 Don't Ask If, Ask Which) And here are some sizzles to use once the customer is in the fitting room. Remember that each dress has its indi- NOT THE NIGHTMARE 97 vidual selling points and that these points vary from season to season; nevertheless many sizzles like the following are perennials, and they're the kind women love to hear: "This dress will make you seem taller? "This style slenderizes the hips." "This neckline flatters your face." "This dress has a very graceful skirt." "This type of sleeve makes your arms look shorter? "This skirtline shows off your legs." These are the "dreams" of many women, and you can always take a garment, find some way in which one of the above sentences will apply honestly, and so help your sale along the road to success. GAIN CONFIDENCE IT MAKES SALES To make any sale successfully you must gain the confi- dence of the customer or prospect. You gain confidence by being honest by telling the truth. Whenever, in handling ready-to-wear, you can use any of the following sentences, you will win confidence: "Frankly, this dress is not very becoming." "This is not so slenderizing as it might be." "I believe we can find something better looking." "It seems tight to me is it?" "This is really not your type; I'm sorry." "Before making up your mind, let's try another." The salesperson in any business who gushes, who is always saying (about every item displayed): "Isn't this lovely?" "Doesn't this look adorable?" "It's just made for you," "How 98 SELL THE DREAM IN YOUR PRODUCT exciting so beautiful," loses confidence, and sales. Custom- ers catch on quickly to the insincerity of this type of sales- person. So praise, when it will be appreciated, and when you can do it honestly, but be the first to recognize something that will not be 100 per cent satisfactory to the customer. Be the first to say, "I don't think that looks so well on you." Gain confidence and you gain sales. THE RIGHT NAME SELLS In our work for the ready-to-wear departments of various stores in the United States, Mexico, and England we found that giving names to certain dresses increased the dream appeal. For example, such names as these: Prisdlla Model for the Joan Bennett type; Duchess of Windsor Model for the sophisticated; Ginger Rogers Model for the college-girl customer. Such names were found to appeal to the types of people who wear them who want to imitate the celebrities for whom the dresses are named. The right name can mean the difference between the success or failure of an item. The Hoover Company, for example, has a cleaning device which it calls The Dirt Finder. The cleaner also has a headlight signal that tells the housewife when the bag is filled with dirt. The device is called a Time-to-Empty Signal. Names like these tell the purpose of the item. How much better this is than calling the headlight a "warning device" a phrase that might set many women to wondering why a warning device should be put on a cleaner. To warn her when the rug is being chewed up ? NOT THE NIGHTMARE 99 So go over your product or service and pick out interesting, descriptive names for its various features. And don't forget to work out the big "dream points" in whatever you sell; find the castles-in-Spain qualities that bring "ah's" and "oh's" from people. Play up to the Beau Brummel in the men and to the "glamour girl" in the women. Find the things that people dream about the things they'd buy if they had plenty of money and show them how your product is the answer to their dreams. But be sure to temper the dream points with need points to 1(eep the goods sold. Don't sell the dress; sell the "oh's" and "ah's" in it. Sell the interesting new gadget on the shoulder, not the fabric. It's the nosegay that sells the dress not the seams! Sell the effect and forget the price tag. One last suggestion and this applies not only to ready-to- wear but to all goods sold to women: Remember the husband be sure you sell him, too. The husband foots the bills and is always quick to find fault with the things his wife buys just to save himself money. Fortify your customer with sound information that she can pass on to him; tell her how practical it is, how good a bargain she is getting, how well it will wear, and all the other points that will win over her husband when he says, "What! Another new dress? What do you think I am, a millionaire?" So give her the facts to pass on to him. He isn't interested in the nosegay, the buttons from France; he's got to be sold on its practicality. Remember the sales philosophy behind this chapter no 100 SELL THE DREAM IN YOUR PRODUCT matter whether you sell coal, or steamships, or French per- fumes: Find the dreams in your customer, his castles in Spain. Then show how your product can bring these dreams to realization. Sell the dreams, but don't forget the need points if you want to l(eep it sold. First Ten Words Are More Valuable Than the Next Ten Thousand 15 THE "FLOWERS-IN-THE-YARD METHOD" OF CLOSING A SALE Always compare the unknown with the foown things people cannot understand with things they can understand for example, the flowers in the bacl^ yard. r\ SALESMAN SELLING A PRODUCT DESIGNED TO REMOVE DIRT from rugs, furniture, and so forth was coming to his wits' end. He had tried three of his best closing arguments ojnt the woman and had asked her three times to buy. Still she said, "No." Suddenly he said, "Where does your child play on rainy days, Mrs. Brown?" "Why, in the house," he was told. "Then," said the salesman, "this rug is your child's rainy- day playground!" He pointed impressively to the little piles of dirt he had placed on the rug (to demonstrate the effec- tiveness of the cleaner) and continued, "And that dirt is your child's rainy-day sandpile!" How horrible! What a thought! Little Mary playing in that awful dirt the salesman had emptied from the cleaner after cleaning the rug. Gracious! 101 102 THE "FLOWERS-IN-THE-YARD METHOD" "The life insurance people/' continued the salesman, real- izing immediately that his fear appeal was proving more successful than any of his previous benefit appeals, "have discovered that there are millions and millions of tiny germs in the dirt of a rug. A good thing children have a lot of natural resistance, isn't it?" "GOD BLESS OUR HOME" To think that little Mary was being subject to this danger every rainy day every time she played indoors, as a matter of fact. Mother had begun to weaken. She wasn't particu- larly impressed by the labor-saving aspects of the cleaner, but the health angle was very important to her. This story worked beautifully until women began to be conscious of high-pressure sales talks. Then prospective cus- tomers would think a minute and say: "That's all very well, but what's the difference between the dirt in the yard, where my daughter plays on sunny days, and the dirt here on my rug?" That had salesmen stopped for quite a while. It was a perfectly good question, and many a good salesman crum- bled under its sound logic until some "Tested Selling Sen- tences" were devised. Invisible selling in a new light. "That may be true, Mrs. Jones," says the salesman, seem- ing to agree with her, "That may be true, but," and his but is a large one, "you wouldn't take this dirt and put it in your flowerpots, would you?" He waits for the woman to say that of course she wouldn't. Then he continues, going to the window, "But loo\ at the lovely flowers growing in the dirt in your bac\ yard!" Invisible selling again. OF CLOSING A SALE 103 The woman is halfway impressed and all the way im- pressed when the salesman says, "You see, the dirt in your backyard is washed by the rain and dried by the sun. It's wholesome dirt. The dirt in your rug is dirty dirt' 9 and he makes a face, "collecting at the base of your rug." The woman buys fast. COMPARE THE UNKNOWN WITH THE KNOWN Thus the salesman had put one principle of persuasion into effect: He had compared the unknown story about the germs in the rug with the fyiown facts about flowers growing in so-called wholesome dirt. He linked the unknown germs with the familiar flowers that could be seen in the woman's own back yard. "As beautiful as the sky up there," says one salesman; and another says, "It's as reliable as your bank." Similes are always good "soft as down," "strong as iron," "light as feathers." Compare, compare always compare! HIS FAVORITE CHAIR When Mrs. White complains that her husband will object, because he doesn't understand about such things as clean dirt and dirty dirt, the salesman has a problem. But a sizzle salesman finds a way to make the invisible dirt visible just as he makes his sales talk invisible. He creates some such selling device as this: "Mrs. White, which is your husband's favorite chair?" She points it out. The salesman takes his cleaning kit and 104 THE "FLOWERS- IN -THE- YARD METHOD" begins to clean it the seat, the back, the sides, everywhere the dirt may be. Once he has cleaned Mr. White's favorite chair, he does an unusual and startling thing he empties all the dirt from his cleaner right bacl^ on the chair. "Why why did you do that?" "Now, Mrs. White," says the salesman, "when your hus- band comes home, you ask him to sit in that dirt." "He won't sit in that dirt!" "I know he won't want to, but you just say, 'But, dear, you've been sitting in that dirt all along! " A remark like that is dynamite to the husband. To think he has been sitting in all that dirt and never realized it! It's enough to make any husband agree on the spot that a cleaner is necessary. Again dramatic comparison between the unknown and a known quality invisible dirt in the upholstery brought to the surface where it can be seen. This is good selling always. THE FOUR- VERB CLOSE To emphasize the fact that a prospect should buy his product, one Hoover salesman uses a four-verb closing argu- ment. Verbs are good. They are strong. He says, "You want it; you li\e it; you need it; you can afford it. Why not buy it ?" Most prospects find this as hard to resist as the famous Hoover close: "If the Hoover goes, the dirt stays; but, if the Hoover stays, the dirt goes. Now tell me, which do you prefer?" OF CLOSING A SALE 105 What woman can say leave the dirt and take the Hoover ? You can get as many as seven verbs into one of these closes. I've heard Wally Powell, director of sales education for the Hoover Company, rattle off that many. And it's very convincing to the prospect to hear all these specific reasons why she should make an immediate purchase. The point of all this is the simple sales rule: Compare the unknown with the \nown the things people don't understand with the things they do. the "Uttle Trices" That Often Put Us Over 16 HOW TO CHART THE MIND OF A PROSPECT // you tyiow what a prospect is thinking and saying to himself during an interview, you'll \now how to fit the right "Tested Sentence" to him. I HE JOHNS-MANVILLE SALESMAN CALLS ON THE PROSPECT, raps on the door, and, the minute the woman comes to the door, he holds a magazine toward her and says: "This is your new free copy of '101 Ways to Improve the Home/" The woman unhooks the screen door (as was intended), and the salesman is about to hand the magazine to her when suddenly he turns to page thirteen and says: "Before I leave this copy with you, let me point out a few interesting things. Here is Mrs. Green's kitchen before and after the Housing Guild did it over, and here " The flies begin to get into the house, and the alert sales- man (as planned) says: "My, I'm careless. I wouldn't leave a screen door open in my own home. I'll just step inside and keep the flies out." He steps inside making sure to lock the screen door behind him, so some other salesman won't find it open and wdT{ right in! 106 OF A PROSPECT 107 The milkman selling chocolate milk knocks on the back door, and the minute the woman appears, he pats the side of a bottle and says: "Feel how cold it is!" Seeing the milkman feel the bottle himself first, the woman instinctively takes hold of it. Once the bottle is in her hands, the salesman backs away two feet and puts his hands in his pockets (so the woman can't hand the bottle back) and starts his sales talk. These are two good examples of "Tested Door Ap- proaches." Yet they didn't "just spring up" out of thin air. No one with a shaggy head of hair, a pipe in his mouth, and a wild- eyed look had a brain wave, with these approaches as the result. ^Jfcsting takfs the place of brain waves today! To chart the mind of a prospect you must know his thoughts, the unspoken thoughts that go on in his mind while you are talking to him in faqt, even before you talk to him. Here is an example from the chart that Arthur Hood, head of the Johns-Manville Housing Guild, and the Tested Selling Institute built for the lumber dealers. CHARTING THE MIND OF AN AVERAGE J.-M. PROSPECT When the salesman presses the bell at the woman's door, she is perhaps in the kitchen baking a cake, or getting chil- dren ready for school, and she says to herself: "I wonder who is at my front door I hope it is not an- other salesman. I'm busy." Knowing that this is what the woman is saying, the 108 HOW TO CHART THE MIND salesman can't ask her if she's busy, or if she would be interested, because he'd get the wrong answer. Instead, he uses the door approach above and offers her a free copy, which she can't resist. He gets inside, and, once she lets him in, the woman immediately says to herself: "Now, why did I let him in. Let me see how to get him out quick. I've a cake to bake." Knowing that this is on her mind, the salesman says quickly: "I know you are a busy woman. This won't take long, Madam, and it will show you how to get more leisure for yourself." Thus he meets the "inside thinking" of the woman and takes the "edge," so to speak, off her very own thinking. COMES NOW THE PRESENTATION Successful in his approach, in toning up the woman to the best receptive mood he can get her into by "anticipating" her thinking, the salesman gets at once into his presenta- tion. He talks for three minutes, knowing that if he talks longer, the woman will begin to say to herself, "I wish he'd let me say something." He lets her say something. Then he talks on, telling the story of the Housing Guild, knowing from experience the words that will interest the prospect, such as: "This will brighten up your kitchen." "More pantry space. . . ." "The play room upstairs. . . ." "A tile bathroom. . . ." OF A PROSPECT 109 "Just like Mrs. Ritz's new home. ..." "No down payment necessary. . . ." "As easy to buy as that refrigerator. . . ." He has changed lack of interest into interest. He knows that the woman is bound to have something in the house that needs improvement; she might want a room remodeled or a den or a fruit cellar added. By her interest he decides which thing she wants most, concentrates on it, and then realizes that the woman is thinking, "That's a fine idea, a new sewing nook, but it must cost a lot." He answers the cost question by showing that she can buy a sewing nook on the same type of easy purchase plan as for a refrigerator or radio. Thus he anticipates cost and makes it sound easy. THE HUSBAND COMES IN The salesman knows that the woman will wonder next what her husband will say, so he anticipates her objection in this way: "No doubt you'd like to talk this over with your hus- band?" Of course, she must talk it over with her husband. A very considerate salesman, she thinks. After gaining good will in this manner, he attempts to convince the woman that it isn't necessary to consult her husband. Whether or not he is successful, he is ready for the next step. The woman may talk with her husband, but first she is bound to think about this man and his company. 110 HOW TO CHART THE MIND SO HE BEGINS SELLING HIS COMPANY He begins showing testimonials. He shows pictures of sewing nooks that his company has put in other homes especially the homes of some of her neighbors, or at least people she knows. He displays his work. He builds his company up as the best people to do business with. After the woman is con- vinced of the reliability of his company, the salesman knows that she will begin to think, "I wonder if I can get it cheaper elsewhere." HE SELLS THE PRICE It is natural for all buyers to wonder if they can buy what you have offered cheaper elsewhere. Knowing this, the salesman shows that the price of lum- ber, labor, and supplies is the same no matter what company does the job. He is tactful. He doesn't ever come out and say, "Now, I suppose you think you can get this cheaper elsewhere?" Rather than cause embarrassment, he meets the "hidden ob- jection" in a clever manner by showing his price sheet and explaining that the price is bound to be about the same who- ever does it. ; \ THE LAST BIG OBJECTION S ..-*' By this time the woman is sold on the idea, but the sales- man will have one more obstacle to hurdle. The woman will probably be thinking, Til buy, but I'll buy later." Before she can put this objection into words, the salesman answers it by showing her the benefits and advantages that will be gained if she buys now. He makes her realize that OF A PROSPECT 111 there is no reason for waiting that there is, in fact, every reason for buying now. With a final sizzle he makes it easy for her to say "Yes." And the sale is made! This is the system of charting the mind of the prospect. Try it in your own business. Find out what your pros- pect is thinking and anticipate his objections. You'll talk less and sell morel The rule is this: Know what goes on in the mind of the prospect, and you'll tyiow what to say. You Can't Outsmart Prospects But You Can Outguess Them 17 TAKING THE GUESS AND GAMBLE OUT OF REBUTTALS Knowing in advance the leading objections of a prospec- tive customer helps you to plan a "Tested Rebuttal" that will ta\e some of the guessworJ^ out of answering ob- jections. I HERE ARE, OF COURSE, MANY VARIETIES OF OBJECTIONS THAT customers will use, but, even so, it seems to me that they all fall into one of three general classifications. Once we know the real reason behind an objection, we are much better equipped to handle it, so here are my three basic classes of objections, with simple recommendations for handling each type. FIRST: HONEST OBJECTIONS Most people are honest, although sometimes they may be mistaken. Two armies, fighting each other, may each believe it is in the right that God is on its side. It may be perfectly sin- cere, though wrong. Honest objectors really believe their objections are justified^ 112 OUT OF REBUTTALS 113 but they want more information from you even so. Other- wise they would have said "No" to you in the first place instead of offering an objection. Treat these people sympathetically! Be understanding with them, and give them the addi- tional information they want. Meet their honesty with honesty of your own. Above all, be patient with them and never condescending. Remember that buying your particular product may not be an everyday matter with them and that their objections are genuinely designed to get information from you. Often a husband will bring up some objection so that he will have an answer from you that he can use on his wife. Wives do the same thing. Or a partner will do it to have an answer ready for his associates in the firm. Any number of "honest objectors" will raise this type of objection so that they can use your answer to convince some- one else. They must justify their purchase to some other person. Hence, when you get an honest objection from a prospec- tive buyer and you can nearly always recognize this kind of objection always answer it honestly, and give the objector the information he desires. Give him the facts. SECOND: TEST OBJECTIONS These "tests" objections are usually brought up by a pros- pective buyer who wants to see whether you really know the product or service you are trying to sell him. Businessmen, particularly, like to test you out in this way. So be on the alert for a test objection. And meet it squarely by showing how well you do tyow your stuff. 114 TAKING THE GUESS AND GAMBLE Don't feel that your customer is trying to cross-examine you; remember he has a perfect right to test you out. So show him that you do know what you are talking about. Display your knowledge but never in a cocky way. There's not much point to winning an argument if you lose a sale, and a friend in the bargain. Show the person who wants to test you that he can have confidence in you and the company you represent. Many people feel that they can learn about a product best by raising a lot of objections. It is their subtle way of getting information from a salesman without obligating themselves. Rather than ask point-blank for a certain detail, they will at- tempt to get the information by asking a "test" question. The way to handle test objections then is simply to meet these test objections squarely to show that you fyiow what you're tedding about! THIRD: STALL OBJECTIONS Some people use a "stall" objection to cover their attempt to get out of buying. If you can recognize this type of objection, don't waste any more of your time trying to sell such a customer. Let him go his merry way. But, if a customer seems to be stalling simply because he cannot make up his mind, then sidetrack the objection with some such remark as "I'm coming to that in a minute" or "I'm glad you brought up that point. I'll explain it in just a moment. Now. . . ." When you're not quite sure whether or not the customer is stalling, keep right on selling. But don't take his minor objections too seriously. Pass over them as lightly as pos- sible. OUT OF REBUTTALS 115 Once a customer's objections begin to sound sincere, how- ever, you have a real prospect on your hands. Then it's up to you to turn a liability into an asset by changing this staller into a genuine prospect. You can do it by being completely sincere with him. He'll reflect your sincerity just as quickly as an audience reflects the humor or pathos or mystery of a play. The point to bear in mind in this chapter is this: A preplanned sales tal\, a "Tested Rebuttal" is im- portant if you want to. remove the guess and gamble from a sale. Get Action with Action 18 TURN YOUR "LEMONS" INTO "LEMONADE" When prospects hesitate, don't you hesitate. Here are some things to say to put a sizzle into your sales. These will help to turn sour lemons into sweet lemonade. I ERHAPS THE BIGGEST OBJECTION YOU HEAR THESE DAYS IS "I can't afford it." No one can afford to buy something he's not completely sold on; this objection is simply a sign that you must do more selling if you want your prospects to want what you have. People want only what you ma\e them want! Nobody reaches for a telephone and says, "Send over about $20,000 worth of insurance policies, will you, Joe?" Few people sell themselves insurance nowadays, so when a prospect tells you he can't afford to buy your insurance, come back with a smile and a few sizzles like these: "You can't afford to take a chance, either, can you?" "You can't afford to leave your family unprotected, either." "You can't afford to risk poverty, either, can you?" "You can't afford to worry all the time, either, can you?" 116 TURN YOUR "LEMONS" INTO "LEMONADE" 117 How many "you-can't-afford's" can you work up in con- nection with the product or service you sell ? NOW TWIST THE IDEA AROUND Once you have convinced the prospect that there are cer- tain things he "can't afford either," then come in with such sizzles as these: "You can afford five dollars a week, though, can't you?" "You can afford to invest in protection." "You can afford to have the best for your family." "You can afford to stop worrying, can't you?" "You can afford to let us handle your problems." First you tell him the things he can't afford and, in doing so, you seem to agree with his objection. Then you turn right around, and, using his same "can't afford" argument, you show him what he can afford. Isn't this technique for handling the fellow much better than the old method of trying to bully him into buying by saying, "Why, of course, you can afford to buy. Anybody can"? You can't afford not to use this system, can you ? WHAT TO DO AS YOU SAY THESE SIZZLES What you do is as important as what you say, so when you use your sizzling sentences, be sure to dramatize them. For example, when you say, "You can't afford to take a chance, either," go to the window, and point to the traffic jam in the street below, or make some other similar gesture to fortify what you say. 118 TURN YOUR "LEMONS" INTO "LEMONADE" When you say, "You can afford five dollars a week," take a few bills out of your pocket and point out to the prospect how little it will really cost him to get sufficient protection protection he needs. When you talk about worrying, wrinkle your brow, touch it, or indicate in some way that he'll be worrying until he gets protection. By making all these gestures, you keep the eye of the pros- pect busy, as well as his ear, and he can't close a busy eye, can he? Show him a pocketful of bills from the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker when you say: "And you can't afford to have your widow worried by such bills as these, can you, Mr. Jones ?" Show and say, tell and do at the same time. (Wheeler- point 3 "Say It with Flowers.") Demonstrate but always demonstrate to sell. Don't be an actor. Be a salesman who acts. Synchronize your words with appropriate action; smile; be cheerful. Push the policy closer. Keep your pen in full view so that you won't have to bring it out suddenly and scare the prospect and \eep on tcdfyng. WHEN THE PROSPECT SAYS, "I'LL BUY LATER" This remark is an admission that the prospect is more than halfway sold but not quite enough to make him write out the check. You've often heard a prospect say, "I believe in insurance. I'd like to have some. You've got the type of thing I want, and I think I'll buy. . . ." You smile but too quickly TURN YOUR "LEMONS" INTO "LEMONADE" 119 because he goes on to say, "but I think I'll buy later. Per- haps in the fall." When a prospect says that, Don't tell the prospect he's crazy not to buy at once. Don't look disappointed and annoyed. Don't start in on a long string of arguments. If you do, you'll only make the prospect glad he's hesitat- ing. His real reason for delaying is probably one of two: either he wants to think it over a little longer or he wants more proof. He may even want to do some more thinking about you. He may be repeating to himself, "Shall I give this man my business ?" HERE IS WHAT TO DO First thank the prospect for deciding to buy. Show him that you appreciate his business. Look pleased. Then say something like this: "Thank you. I'm glad you've decided to take out this policy, and I like men who really want to think things over for, once they buy, they become my best customers." Notice the effect such remarks have on the prospect. He smiles back at you. He likes you for thanking him and for complimenting him up on his good judgment. While he is in the agreeable frame of mind, you can begin, in a quiet manner, with some of these sizzles: "Let's go over this together, now, to see what you will save by waiting until fall." "You won't be saving yourself any worry, because any minute something may happen to you." 120 TURN YOUR "LEMONS" INTO "LEMONADE" "You won't be saving your family from the bills that will come in." Sit back and look perplexed yourself. Be the family doc- tor for this fellow. Show him, suddenly, that all postpone- ment saves the man who has made up his mind to buy but wants to wait is the small amount he would be paying by the week, or month, or quarter whichever plan you have outlined to him. And that is so little compared to the advantages of buying right away! Many a prospect, when this is explained to him, can be made to sign up at once. And no matter what you sell, this argument often comes up. So put this principle to work for you. It brings results. It's not what it costs, but what it may save that counts most. The "Lemon" Metres Delightful "Lemonade" If You Know How to "Squeeze" It 19 WHEN THE LADY SAYS, "SEE MY HUSBAND" Show her that she is the boss of her own home, just as hubby is the boss where he worlds. Asf{ her, "What day of the wee\ does hubby do the house wor\?" I HE LADY OF THE HOUSE WAS SWEEPING OFF THE FRONT PORCH. Her hair was wrapped up in a white cloth, and she had on an apron. She was the picture of the typical American housewife. A salesman selling a household labor saver (it can be any- thing that saves women work) approached her. She sensed he was a salesman, and the dust flew faster and in his direction. The salesman opened the conversation with his best "Tested Approach": "I'm here, madam, to help you cut down on your house- work, and you do want to do that, don't you?" What woman could say "No" to this approach? She couldn't say that she enjoyed cleaning up after a husband and a few kids. She grunted that she was always interested in saving her 121 122 WHEN THE LADY SAYS, self some work, but she didn't give the salesman much to trade on. However, he continued: "Here is an article that will cut down on your backaches, madam; just look how cosily it works." She watched him work it. She soon found herself work- ing it, for the salesman had said tactfully, "Here, try it your- self and give me your opinion of this." AH, BUT COMES HUBBY It seems that the one argument women voice most when they want to "pass the buck" is to see their husbands. Hubby, the little man, is the red boss of the house. But is he? The salesman with the labor-saving device heard the woman invite him to see her husband, and he said at once: "What day of the wee\ does your husband do the house- Horrors! What a question! The woman quickly assured the salesman that her husband never did the housework, and this was just what the salesman wanted to hear. He replied: "Then, madam, it is your own back that aches from house- work, your own head that throbs, your own hands that hold the brooms, the mops, and the brushes!" "Well I " stammered the woman, not knowing quite what to say, for the salesman was so darned right! She muttered something about something, but the sales- man turned a deaf ear, and said to her: "Your husband never consults you about labor-saving devices for his office, does he?" No. ''SEE MY HUSBAND" 123 "And should he want a new typewriter or a new hammer and saw, he never sends the salesman to see you, does he?" No. "Then don't you think he would want you to buy your own equipment for the house, in order to relieve him of that job?" Yes . "I'm sure he would and if you'll just put your initials here, we'll get this installed at once and won't hubby be proud of your businesslike methods." YES, BUT SUPPOSE HUBBY OBJECTS "Now, Mrs. Jones (that's your name, I see from the mail box), you say your husband might object?" "Yes. Two dimes a day here and two dimes there soon amount to dollars." "But, Mrs. Jones, look at it from this angle. You'd spend ten cents a day to save your husband a lot of work, wouldn't you?" Yes. "You'd spend ten cents a day to know that his work was lighter, and that he'd come home less tired and more cheer- ful, wouldn't you?" Yes of course. "Then, don't you think he would spend ten cents a day to save you from backaches and headaches and have you less tired and more cheerful when he comes home from work at night?" Sure, hubby would! That's a powerful argument for the woman who says, "See my husband." 124 WHEN THE LADY SAYS, BUT HUBBY MAKES ALL THE DEALS "Yes, I know it is nice to consult your husband, even though you have made up your mind but only this morn- ing " And the salesman proceeds to tell the woman what Mrs. Smith down the street said about being boss of the home; how things had changed in the past few years; how today women run the house and are independent. He gives the woman courage. He fortifies her with what other women are doing. He makes her feel that she is no longer a mouse but a business woman. He flatters her business ability. He admires other things in the home, and if necessary he says: "Did your husband pick out that refrigerator?" No . "Did he pick out the radio?" Not exactly. "Did he pick out the curtains ?" My gosh, no I "Did he pick out " No no no! "Ah, then you are the boss in your home you do buy all the things yourself! So, madam, here is the place for your approval right below my name." SELL "NELLIE/' NOT "ELMER" All husbands are known to the Hoover salesman as "Elmer," and all wives are called "Nellie." Sell Nellie, and you won't have to sell Elmer. Make the woman realize that this is the twentieth century, "SEE MY HUSBAND" 125 and today women do not need to consult their husbands to spend money. Make the woman realize that she is boss of the kitchen, the living room, the bedroom every room but the den. Make the woman realize that she is relieving hubby of a lot of work if she can make up her own mind what she needs and then buys it. Make the woman feel that she is the modern executive of the modern home, and that, as president of Home, Inc., she can make her own deals, and after all what does hubby \now about kfeping a house clean anyway? What does the Old Man know, or care, about such things used by the woman as brushes, vacuum cleaners, and paring knives. Or what does he know about clothing for Willy, and all the devices and things that are sold to the woman for her benefit and comfort ? Sell Nellie and let Elmer take care of himself. BUT IF YOU MUST SEE ELMER If it is a case of seeing Elmer, then leave your device with Nellie as a good excuse to return. If hubby answers the door when you return, say: "Did Mrs. Jones finish with the cleaner I left her?'' Suppose he has it right at the door and hands it out to you so you can't get inside, and says, "We won't be interested. Thank you for showing it, though." , Don't worry. Have a good come-bacJ^ sentence, such as: "Did Mrs. Jones clean it ? I've got to make a delivery of this tonight, and my company won't permit me to deliver anything dirty." 12* WHEN THE LADY SAYS, If he doesn't know whether or not it's been cleaned, he'll have to let you come in and find out for yourself. As you start your cleaning job, you say, "This will take only a minute. These models are very easy to clean." And then you explain how it is done, and get him to watch you do it. Before you're through, he will be wanting to do it himself. You're in. He's interested. The sale is under way when Nellie comes downstairs. Hubby has become interested, but he balks when he hears the price fifteen cents a day. You can say lots of things, but one salesman likes to put it this way: "Mr. Jones, when you eat in a restaurant, you usually tip the waitress, don't you?" Naturally, Mr. Jones will say that he always does. "About how much do you tip her?" He will say that the tip varies according to the price of the meal, but, in order that the salesman won't think him stingy, he will probably say that it is usually fifteen to twenty-five cents. "That's generous for a small meal, sir. How much do you tip your own wife on the other days, when she serves you at home?" He won't have a very good answer for this, so the sales- man can say: "Now, don't you think, Mrs. Jones, it would be a good idea for your husband to tip you the same as he does an unknown waitress?" Mrs. Jones will naturally agree, and the salesman can continue: "Then, Mr. Jones, your wife could use that money to buy "SEE MY HUSBAND" J27 this device, and she will be saved a lot of backaches and doctor's bills and she'll be happier at night and her food will be better and life will run more smoothly for you." And so another sale is chalked up to a "Planned Presenta- tion" that sizzles. And the moral to this ? Sell Elmer if you have to but sell Nellie if you can. Only Pools Thinly the Public Arc Pooh 20 PUTTING THE SIZZLE INTO CALL-BACKS Here is where many sales go on the rocJ(s, because the sales- man so often as\s, "Have you changed your mind?" No customer wants to admit he's that wea\-willcd. JOE DOKES, PAPER SALESMAN, WAS GOING FROM OFFICE TO office selling his stationery supplies. He was quick to let his potential customers' "See me some other time" influence him cause him to give up quickly. So Joe had more than the average number of call-backs to make. Many of his prospects simply asked him to call again. Others offered stiff objection, and refused to buy at the time but were gracious enough to let Joe call back. Even at that, Joe kept failing on his call-backs. There was only one reason for this failure, as I saw it, and that was the opening statement he used on his second approach: "Well, Mr. Smith, have you changed your mind?" Smith would sit back, smile, cross his arms and with great strength of character reply, "Nope. Haven't changed my mind yetl" So Joe would leave with, "Well, some day you will. Mark my words. And, when you do, be sure to call on me. Here's my card again." 128 PUTTING THE SIZZLE INTO CALLBACKS 129 Smith smiled, took the card, and said to himself, "I never change my mind. I'm no weakling." Joe Dokes proved himself a Joe Dokes. PUTTING THE SIZZLE INTO JOE The trick in the call-back is to start where you left off. You want to get an immediate "Yes," not a "No," from the prospect. Asking him whether he has changed his mind puts you right behind a sales eight ball and leaves you with a "No" to hurdle right off the bat. Suppose, however, you were to start your discussion by bringing up the most important objection voiced by the prospective customer when you last visited him. Then you'd be on common ground. You could start right off with a "Yes," by wording your approach along these lines: "Last time I was here you said that your only reason for not buying my supplies was that you preferred Allison's line. Is that right?" How could the customer help but agree with a remark like that a statement that immediately starts you off on an even footing, with a positive viewpoint. Of course he says, "Yes, that's my main objection. Why?" Now you have set the stage for a real discussion of your products no antagonism, no argument, no polite dismissal. You can come right back with something along this line: "Well, I've been thinking over what you said last time I was here, and after looking into Allison's line I agree with you that they carry a very fine grade, but. . . ." From there, you can break right into your presentation of the sizzles in your own line of goods being sure to point out the benefits and advantages to your customer of what 130 PUTTING THE SIZZLE INTO CALL-BACKS you are trying to sell him. Once you have met his big objection sincerely, he's bound to listen to the rest of your story. And you've made a successful call-back. ALWAYS GIVE A PROSPECT A GRACIOUS "OUT" It's always good policy, on your part, to give a prospective customer a gracious "out," as Dale Carnegie has often said. When you leave him a loophole some way to save his face, if he wants to change his mind you'll get much farther. Saying, "I told you so," "After all, I know," "It's time you woke up," "I knew you'd come around to my way of think- ing," or "So I sold you at last," only irritates the prospect, and, more often than not, loses sales. So always leave a graceful opening for the prospect, so that he can change his mind and buy. KEEP SALES MOVING FORWARD NEVER LET THEM GO BACKWARD Never bring up a point that has already been settled; you only get the prospect arguing about it all over again. Don't hash up what's over and done. Once an argument has been settled, successfully, don't revive it with, "Well, you re- member how you kept saying. . . ." Off goes the prospect again, as the result. You fight back, but too late. You're hit; you may sink. But, on the other hand, don't ever overlook an argument that may need further discussion one that may have been abscessing in the prospect's mind all along. Keep it out in the open until it is solved. Don't let a molehill objection grow into a mountain. PUTTING THE SIZZLE INTO CALL- BACKS 131 Don't let a moth ruin the whole garment. Turn light on it. On a call-back you usually have one moth that must be kept in the light one last molehill argument that has not been settled satisfactorily for the customer. Start off your discussion with this argument. Use it, first, to start the sale off with a "Yes," and, second, to bring up the answers you now have ready. That's the sales rule for the call-back. Put it to work for you at once, and watch how smooth your call-backs become. And tell Joe Dokes about it. And be sure to give the prospect an "out," so that he can change his mind easily if he wants to without being thought a weakling. Here's the point to remember: Start the sale where you left off by bringing up the pros- pect's most important objection. A Change of Words Often Brings a Change of Mind 21 QUOTING PRICES IS AN ART YOU CAN EASILY ACQUIRE Learn the art of quoting prices so that they seem smaller than they really are. MaJ{e the prospect want the article more than the money. CHARLES LlSCOMB, SALES MANAGER FOR THE VlCK CHEMICAL Company (makers of Vicks Vaporub), told me that on a trip to Birmingham some time ago he found a druggist who would always quote prices on an article as "59 cents and 79 cents." He omitted the lowest price. Of course, when a customer came in and asked for the lowest-priced size, the druggist would always get it for him immediately. He never tried to high-pressure his customers. Why invite the sale of the lowest-priced size by showing it? Good salesmen know how to quote a price so that it sounds like less than it really is. Knowing how to do this is an art. If, for instance, a real estate salesman says that a lot costs nineteen hundred and thirty-four dollars, that sounds like a high price. So he says, instead, "Nineteen thirty-four," 132 YOU CAN EASILY ACQUIRE 133 Try this art of omitting the word dollars. Say, "Twenty," or "One fifty." Just a detail but the type of detail that counts in the long run. LUCIEN LELONG'S RULE OF THREE I had the pleasure of looking over Lucien Lelong's "Seven- teen Ways to Make More Sales" and I like particularly their system of quoting three prices for their perfumes high, medium, and low. Showing these three price classifications enables the cus- tomer to inspect all three kinds and to choose the price line she prefers. Showing only the highest-priced perfume may drive away many a customer who feels that she can't afford to pay such prices. You spoil your chances of a sale by displaying only the best, when so many customers can afford only the low- or medium-priced grades. When a customer begins to show interest in a particular price range and you can usually tell which it is show her three more articles in the same price range. Don't show her more than three; that only confuses her and makes it difficult for her to decide which she wants; and it slows up the sale. In fact, you can often sell the "I can't make up my mind' r customer faster by showing her as few items as possible, Narrow the selection down for her yourself. She'll appre- ciate it. You can practically say, "Buy this one!" Many customers need just such a push. Not all but many. The "I'll think it over" buyer often needs a mental shove. It's a fact that some customers must be told to buy and buy now! 134 QUOTING PRICES IS AN ART THE TICKET IS INSIDE THE POCKET I stopped in front of a little store in Taxco, Mexico, re- cently to inspect the things displayed in the windows and showcases. An alligator-leather article in the front window appealed to me. The shop was one of those places where the manager often stands around in front of his store, so I went up to him and asked, "How much is that case there in the window?" The fellow said, "It doesn't cost much. The ticket is in- side the pocket. Step in and I'll look." I found myself inside the shop. Now that was good selling. He knew the price all right, but he also knew that, if he told me outside the store how much it was, the chances were that I would merely thank him and go along my way. So he induced me to come into the store by saying, "The ticket is inside the pocket." Our experiments in the Pennsylvania Drug Company's store at the corner of Forty-fifth Street and Broadway in New York City (where many tourist customers pass) proved that, when anyone asked the price of an article in the show- case, it was advisable not to say y "It's five dollars like to see it?" The price always seemed too high. All prices are too high until we get to the point where we want the article more than the money. So we had the salespeople take the article out of the show- case, hand it to the customer, and say something interesting about it, such as, "This is the new deep-dish ashtray. Ashes won't blow all over the floor. Isn't that a fine idea?" In this way the customer would have the ashtray in his YOU CAN EASILY ACQUIRE 135 hand, the idea of a deep-dish ashtray would interest him, and he'd see the price right on the article. No high pressure; just good invisible selling again. ANOTHER WAY TO QUOTE PRICES Here is a method of quoting prices that gets customers interested in the higher-priced lines without seeming like high pressure. First, place the article the customer has asked for in front of him. Always give the customer what he wants; that's the way to build confidence. Then show him a slightly higher-priced article and men- tion some interesting feature of it in a good "Tested Sen- tence" that will whet his desire to inspect it. You now have two articles out on the counter, but you take the chance that the customer may still want to stick to the article he asked for originally. Often the slightly higher- priced article has only a few advantages over the one the customer wanted to buy. But a third article, more expensive than either of the other two, usually has many advantages over both of them. So place a still higher-priced article in front of the cus- tomer. Say something interesting about it. And here is what frequently happens to your customer he sees how much better the highest-priced article is than the lowest-priced one he wanted to buy; he can't afford to buy it, but he realizes how unattractive the lowest-priced article now looks by comparison. So he meets you halfway and buys the medium-priced article! 136 QUOTING PRICES IS AN ART It isn't quite so good as the highest-priced one, but it's good enough and this mental compromise with himself often satisfies the customer. He's happier about having a better article than he came in for, and you've made a better sale. Increase your average sales by showing but by showing tactfully! HOW MUCH WOULD YOU LIKE TO PAY? You ask the credit jeweler how much the down payment is on a watch. There's a sign in his window that says, "Fifty cents down and fifty cents a week." You know this. He knows it, too. But, even so, when you ask him how much you have to put down, he doesn't say, "Fifty cents." He says, "How much would you like to pay as the down payment?" He puts it right in your lap, and, if your best girl is along, the chances are you'll offer to pay more than the fifty cents. Experience shows you'll make it anything from three dollars to ten. The same thing happens when it comes to the question of the weekly payments. Again, the jeweler puts it up to you, and; once more you offer to pay anything from a dollar to five dollars a week. The jeweler benefits because he used the right words. The rule to remember is a simple one: your way to sales success by picking your words with care. It's all in what you say. A Sucker Is an Honest Man in the Hands of Croats 22 THE "FIFTH-AVENUE-BUS METHOD" OF QUOTING PRICES You may get your foot in the door in ten seconds, but, if price quoting scares the prospect, you re out again in ten seconds. One system of quoting price is to ma\c it seem small. V-/H, IT IS NICE," SAYS THE WOMAN, "VERY NICE BUT, AFTER all, even twenty cents a day is a lot." The salesman seems stuck. The woman has expressed keen interest in his product, but now all of a sudden, she starts hedging. "You see," she continues, "Twenty cents a day here, twenty cents a day there and soon it's a dollar a day here and a dollar there, young man." Quite right. Quite right. The salesman bites his lips. Where's the sizzle to get him out of this? What's the right "Tested Selling Sentence" to use? He has it. He remembers the old Fifth-A venue-bus sys- tem of making a price seem small by comparing it with some everyday expenditure in the life of the prospect. He says, "Mrs. Jones, you are so enthusiastic about this product, I want you to have it. I'll make a deal with you. 137 138 THE "FIFTH-AVENUE-BUS METHOD" All I want you to do is to take your hat and coat, ride down to Gimbels on the Fifth Avenue bus, go into the home furnishings department, and sign your name. If you'll do this for me once a day for six months, I'll give you this handsome labor-saving device." Wait a minute, young man. That sounds too simple. Do you mean that all the lady has to do is put on her hat and coat, take the bus to Gimbels, and sign her name and, if she does for, say, six months, she gets the labor saver for nothing ? "Sure," the salesman goes on. "Is it a deal?" YOU BET IT'S A DEAL! What can the lady lose ? She can't find any flaw in that arrangement. To make sure, she says, "I don't have to pay you a single thing? No hitches anywhere?" "Nope," insists the salesman. "No hitches. It's an honest- to-goodness deal. Will you agree ?" Of course she'll agree. "Well," says the salesman, "I'll do something even nicer for you. I'll save you those trips down to the store." (What! Say, what's this all about?) "Yes, madam. It will take a lot of time and energy to go to Gimbels once a day for six months. It will get tiresome. You'll waste a lot of time. You'll get cold on cold days and wet on rainy ones." (Say, he's right. Hadn't thought of that.) "So I'll save you that trip. You just save the two dimes a day it would cost to ride down to Gimbels to sign your name. You just put the two dimes a day in this little bank here. OF QUOTING PRICES 139 I'll pick it up once every week, and you'll get this labor- saving device without going to Gimbels." Thafs fair, isn't it? JUST ANOTHER WAY OF QUOTING PRICE What can the woman do? She said she'd spend two dimes a day to go to Gimbels, which indicates she has two dimes a day to spend. Then she suddenly realizes that the two dimes a day the trip to the store would cost will pay for the device. The rule is just this: Compare price with something simple. Make price seem inconsequential, by comparing it to what the prospect does in her daily life. One salesman says : "// costs no more than two cigarettes a day." Another says: "// costs no more than one cigar a day" Still another says: "// costs no more than a bottle of milt^" Comparing price with such common, everyday things is good salesmanship. It's an excellent method of taking the ice out ot price f MAKE THE PRICE SOUND AS SMALL AS POSSIBLE Always slide over price. Never quote a price and then stop dead sort of hanging on to your breath in the hope that the prospect won't say it's too much. Avoid bringing up price too early before sufficient desire to own the product has been created. If the prospect asks 140 THE "FIFTH-AVENUE-BUS METHOD" about price too early, pass over it with such statements as: "I'm coming to the price, but first. . . ." "The price is not so high that it will prevent you from buying, if you so desire, but first. . . ." "The price is very low, madam, but first. . . " Don't glide over the price with such blunt statements as: "The price won't interest you now." "We'll discuss the price when we come to it." Recognize a prospect's premature desire to know the price, but try not to mention it. Keep price in the background, until it becomes very small in comparison to the benefits and advantages to be gained from purchase. Make the prospect feel that "Price won't make you want it, or keep your from having it." HOW ONE SALESMAN DISARMS PROSPECTS One salesman has a way of disarming his prospects before selling them. He says: "I see you aren't going to buy today, but sometime you will, and as long as I'm here, I might just as well make good use of the time and explain this product, and how it can be bought when you want it? This puts the prospect at ease. He realizes that the sales- man realizes he isn't going to buy, so he relaxes, and in so doing gives the salesman a real chance to sell him. The salesman is casual. He doesn't try to sell that is, too obviously. He uses invisible selling. He outlines benefit after benefit, until the prospect says something like: "Those are certainly nice things. By the way, how much do they cost when I plan to buy one, that is?" OF QUOTING PRICES 141 The salesman outlines the price. Then as an inducement he adds: "I know you aren't ready to buy, but if you did by chance buy today, I could give you three dollars for your old one and that would almost take care of your down payment." The prospect sees a chance to save three dollars. He is tempted. He often decides to buy then and there, simply because the salesman put the prospect at ease with one "Tested Sentence": '7 fyiow you aren't going to buy today, but " The whole idea can be summed up in one short phrase: Mal^e prices seem small. Make the price seem small by comparing it with cigars, milk, soap the everyday necessities. Compare price with things the prospect owns radios, refrigerators, and other items around her. Break price down into its smallest daily amount. Don't say, "It costs a hundred dollars." That sounds big. Say, "It costs ten cents a day." And, if you want to split hairs still more to make a price seem even smaller than ten cents a day, say, "It costs only two nickels a day," or, "It costs only ten pennies a day!" it sound easy to ownl TAKE THE "ICE" OUT OF PRICE Getting in the door of a home or office is one thing. Stay- ing in is another. Staying when you quote price is an art. By chance you may get in but quoting price is not chance, it is a science. The salesman who quivers with fear when he quotes prices passes that fear on to the prospect. 142 THE "FIFTH-AVENUE-BUS METHOD" The salesman who dwells on the price makes a mountain out of a molehill. The salesman who lets price crop up too early in the sale, and who continues to discuss price at that time, in an attempt to qualify it, seldoms sells. But the salesman who discusses price at the right time is the fellow who makes the sale. The salesman who brings up price tactfully gets places. The salesman may say, "D0 you wonder why we call this our 750 model?' 9 "Why do you call it the one fifty model, young man?" asks the prospect. "Because" says the salesman, "it costs only one fifty a weeJ(l Isn't that good news?" And, when the prospect says even fifteen cents a day is too high, he smiles and says, "You spend that for knick-knacks, don't you?" She does. She knows it. He knows it too, so he says: "You want it, you need it, you can afford it so why not have it?" She buys. The rule? Melt the "ice" out of price by making it seem small. Put the "It" into Profit with "Tested Selling" 23 SIZZLEMANSHIP PROCEEDS FROM THE KNOWN TO THE UNKNOWN In the gentle art of persuasion, proceed from the to the unknown from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Compare the new with the old. A SALESMAN TRIES TO EXPLAIN THE NEW DEVICE HE'S SELLING for removing dirt from the base of rugs. He calls the action of the mechanism "positive agitation," which means nothing at all to the woman. He's talking .about something entirely new and strange to her, and he's getting nowhere fast. Suddenly he changes his tactics. He says, "How have you been getting your rugs cleaned before, Mrs. Brown? I bet your husband beats them for you. Isn't that so?" Yes, that's it, all right. Most husbands know what it is to haul the rugs out in the yard, spring and fall, hang them over the clothesline, and beat them until all the dust and dirt is gone. This procedure is a familiar one to Mfs. Brown. The salesman then leads from this familiar picture to the action of the device. Proceeding from the known to the unknown, he says, "Now, that's exactly what this little beater 143 144 SIZZLEMANSHIP PROCEEDS FROM THE KNOWN does in here. It takes the place of the beating on the clothes- line. // beats the rug as it sweeps the rug." The woman gets the idea of "positive agitation" in no time. SELLING THE KNEE-ACTION IDEA Some time ago, an automobile company announced that its new model was to have what was called "Interplanar Front* Wheel Spring Suspension," but my survey for one of the distributors showed that the name was missing fire com- pletely. It was too technical. Then, all of a sudden, the name of this feature was changed to "knee action," and it was advertised by showing a picture of the spring suspension alongside of a picture of a man bending his knee. People got the idea fast because they were shown the new beside something that was old and familiar to them. "It fizzes in your stomach the way soda water does in a glass," says the drug salesman, and he sells a new type of medicine simply by comparing it with something familiar to the customer. Remember the art of persuasion is to proceed from the known to the unknown, from the familiar to the new or strange. SIMILES PERSUADE The right simile will often help to clarify your meaning to a customer who seems perplexed. "This car rides as smoothly as a baby carriage," says a salesman to convey his idea. "It feels like having your hands in soft water," says an- other to describe how smooth something is. "You wouldn't put a ball and chain around your wife; yet TO THE UNKNOWN 145 tying her down every Monday for five hours over a tub amounts to the same thing," says the washing machine sales- man, and he drives home his point. TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW If you talk about what you know, and know what you are talking about, the customer will be able to understand those new devices and gadgets you are selling. It's dangerous for a speaker to get up and talk on a subject he knows little about. It's just as dangerous for a salesman to use such expressions as "Well, this is new to me, too" or "Now, let's see how it works" or "I think it goes this way." Eliminate such expressions from your vocabulary by know- ing your merchandise. You've got to know more about what you sell than your customer does. If you don't, you'll find yourself in many a tight spot. One company has its salesmen spend three days taking apart and putting together the household article it sells. This training eliminates any awkwardness on the part of the salesmen in handling the product. Handle your product like a professional! Make it look cosy to use. One salesman pushes a vacuum cleaner from him and pulls it back easily by the cord, as he says, "See; it's as easy to operate as a baby carriage. Here, try it yourself." And don't forget to say things like "Try it yourself," "Hold it yourself," "Touch it," and "Smell it." Phrases like these are always good to use when you want to make a customer familiar with something strange or new. People often object only because they don't understand. 146 SIZZLEMANSHIP PROCEEDS FROM THE KNOWN So make them understand by making them familiar with what you sell, by having them try it out themselves hold- ing, touching, or smelling it, when possible. Very often a customer's own senses tell her more than your words can. SELLING IS LIKE EATING OLIVES After you get the sale started, it's easy to keep it going just as easy as eating olives after you get that first one out of the bottle. So watch your opening statements. If your customers understand your first ten words, they'll listen to many more. In our work for the Mayflower Warehouse people, in cer- tain cities where their moving vans operate, we again learned to watch the approach. For example, if the salesman, intent upon getting an order for moving furniture, should forget to wipe his feet as he entered the house, or should touch pictures and leave finger marks, the woman would be likely to say to herself that his company would ruin her belongings. One effective sentence for moving van salesmen was found to be: "That's a fine painting you have there, Mrs. Jones." Because he recognizes something of value, she realizes that he appreciates it and will respect it. He gets the order. The salesmen for this company show their clients that they know their business. They talk in language their customers understand. They tell them about the rubber shoes their truckmen wear; the rubber buttons on their coats that pre- vent scratching the furniture; the way the truck is padded to protect the goods from breakage. They educate their customers in the art of moving, and through this education they win sales. The more customers TO THE UNKNOWN 147 know about what you sell the quicker they buy. Never forget this selling principle. ADMIRING THE LADY'S FRONT YARD The moving van man's technique, built up by our Tested Selling Institute, included such important details as having the man admire the front yard when the lady of the house came to the door. His first remark was, "You certainly have a good-looking front yard, Mrs. Jones." That won her over quickly. Inside, he may speak about the dog or canary, if there is one, while he looks around at the furnishings to be moved. He never refers to himself as a truckman; he calls himself a "representative." Truckmen aren't supposed to know any- thing about valuable furnishings. He makes many such remarks as "This is a very handsome vase, Mrs. Jones. It must have been very expensive," or "These are beautiful dishes. They'll have to be packed very carefully." He has a professional way about him the air of one who knows his business. The woman recognizes this, and it gives her confidence in him. He doesn't lean on furniture; he doesn't look sloppy. His buttons are all on; his shoes are shined. He looks like a really efficient businessman, and this intangible air about him gets him many orders. He never belittles his competition, or says things like "Take my word for it, lady." People today are sales-talk conscious and have outgrown taking any salesman's word for anything without plenty of demonstration and proof. Every good selling sentence should be reinforced with proof to get action. 148 SIZZLEMANSHIP PROCEEDS FROM THE KNOWN "Dry cleaning the rugs before packing them keeps out the moths," advises the salesman, and he wins more confidence not to mention an extra sale. "Men don't like packing, do they?" he says, and, when the woman tells him how her husband hates moving, he makes another extra sale by saying, "Why not let our men do most of the packing? You'll save the cost by not having things broken." No matter how you talk, these are still danger sentences: "We do good work." (Prove it.) "You can't go wrong with us." (Prove it.) "You'll like us." (Is that so?) But these are the kind of sentences customers like to hear: "Every piece is covered with thick quilts." "No two pieces of furniture ever touch in the truck." "Our drivers slow up at the smallest bump." I have given these examples from the moving business to show again that, no matter what you sell, the same basic principles of salesmanship apply. The intricacies of moving are not a familiar subject to many housewives, but the salesman can educate the woman in it. He can lead her from the things she is familiar with into the unfamiliar. With this method, she understands his conversation and likes it. So put this sound principle of selling to work for you: Compare the new with the old. Proceed from the tyiown to the unknown in the gentle art of persuad- ing people. If You can Sett in 7,000 Words, Why Use 24 BURY THE DEAD WORDS HAVE THEIR DAY Horse-and-buggy words fizzle nowadays. Don't put a barbed-wire fence around your words. Use sizzles the shortest route to a sale. I HE SALESMAN WHO STOPS BY A PROSPECT'S OFFICE AND SAYS, "Just thought I'd drop in was passing by anyway," gets no< where today. Neither does the fellow who says, "Thought I'd stop by to sell you a bill of goods*" Moss-covered sales openers like these should be done away with; it takes bright, sparkling words to put you across today. Words have their day, even as you and I. Sales talks should fit in with today's trends, the same as styles and songs do. Fit your talk to the market. Modernize your vocab- ulary. Streamline your sentences. Make them sizzle. You can't use relics, except in an antique shop. "How about some . . .?" and "How ya fixed for . . .?" are out of date. Avoid words like these words with whiskers, long white whiskers. They are too overworked to sell any longer. They're duds. Bury them. 149 150 BURY THE DEAD- SELLING CANDY WITH SIZZLEMANSHIP The big sizzles in candy, we found in our study for Porter King of King Candy in the southwestern states, are the following: Thoughtfulness Kindness Big-heartedness Love Friendship These are the reasons you buy candy. And here is how to get these ideas across to customers who come into a store and say, "I want a box of candy." First ask, "Is it a gift?" Then say, "Do you prefer a particular kind ?" The answers to these two questions will provide the basis for a sale. (Remember that getting necessary information from the customer right at the start is a vital part of any sale.) The next step, we learned from the candy salespeople we worked with, is getting boxes of candy into the customer's hands, immediately. When the candy box is actually in the hands of the customer, it sells twenty-one times faster than it does when it is on the counter even if it is lying right at the customer's fingertips! Here are two "monkey see, monkey do" sentences that get the box into the customer's hands: "Isn't this a beautiful box!" (Handle the box.) "This is a very attractive wrapping, isn't it?" (Point to it.) Once the sale is under way, say at least one important WORDS HAVE THEIR DAY 151 thing about the candy. Use one of the following sentences: "Isn't this a fine box ? It contains thirty varieties of the finest chocolates in the King line." "Here is America's finest milk chocolate assortment in a smart-looking box." "This assortment is for people who love rich, dark chocolate." There are hundreds of other sizzles that can be used, but these will give you an idea of how to get a sale of candy, or any other similar product, under way. We even worked out ways to sell the two-, three-, and five- pound boxes instead of the one-pound boxes. For example, here is a "larger sale" sizzle from our list: "The two-pound box will double the enjoyment, and it is twice as impressive." One fine approach sentence to use when a customer was purchasing other things was: "Have you tried King chocolates lately?" That good old word "lately" again, which implies that something must have happened recently that the customer had better inquire about. And none of these words needs burial. STAY AWAY FROM WORN-OUT WORDS Never use such words or selling phrases as: "To make myself clearer. . . ." "In other words. ..." "What I meant to say was. . . ." Words like these never get you anywhere. They're tired and all worn out. They're dead. Bury them. 152 BURY THE DEAD The fellow who says, "Now to make myself clearer," is telling you how dumb he is, because he's really saying, "I didn't get it right the first time, so I'd better tell you again." And the fellow who says, "Let me clear this up for you," is saying that you are dumb. The salesman who is always saying, "Frankly speaking," "Honestly," and other things along the same line, is really implying that he isn't always frank and honest. Avoid people who overexplain. A salesbarber should trim the whiskers off of selling words like these. Watch out for the "soft-soap sentences" often used by the type of salesman who gushes the person you know is not at all sincere, when he oozes out such remarks as: "Your pleasure is our pleasure." "We have your interests at heart." "You're an intelligent person; now. . '. ." These sentences belong in the morgue. They're dead and should be buried. And never use such expressions as: "Well, if you really want something cheaper. . . ." (Say, "Less expensive.) "I know my business. I've been in this store twenty years!" (Who cares?) AVOID THE RISK OF UNTIMED WORDS The peanut vendor's cart has a whistle with just one "toot" to it, but it is the right toot for selling peanuts. Find the right toots for what you sell, and then use them WORDS HAVE THEIR DAY 153 sparingly and time them right. Asking for an order too soon is as bad as never asking for it at all. "I'm not interested in your proposition," said a prospect, and the salesman replied, "You haven't heard my proposition yet." The man listened. When a prospect said, too early in the sale, "What will it cost me?" the alert salesman said, "I'm coming to that. But first let me show you what it will do for you." Later on, he said to the same prospect, "The price won't make you want it, but it won't keep you from buying it if you're interested. Now, here is how it works." Words li\e these are timed right. "Is your mind closed to new ideas," asks a salesman of a hard-boiled prospect the type that just can't bear to admit he has a closed mind. "When do you plan to die?" asks an insurance salesman, and the prospect, famous for throwing insurance salesmen out of his office, was forced to say he didn't know. This gave the salesman a quick chance to say, "We can show you about when you may die." "Some day your brain is going to dull and your hands will get tired," says another salesman, selling a protection plan, "and then who will take care of your children and your wife charity?" Words like these are all well-timed for opening up the minds of difficult prospects who say "No" quicker than they think. DON'T DROWN IDEAS IN WORDS Never use so many words that you cover up your ideas. Don't lose brilliant thoughts in spongy words. Keep your 154 BURY THE DEAD language clean cut. Use simple words the kind that are easy to understand. Some words appeal only to the eye mundane, for exam- ple. When you say a word like this one, the mind doesn't catch its meaning half so fast as when you use an ear-word like worldly. So choose ear-words in "sizzlemanship selling," not pedan- tic eye-words that only a few people are able to understand readily. Don't attract attention to your words but to your ideas. Selling is a trick, but it is not trickery. You aren't sup- posed to pull rabbits out of a hat only to tell your customers the benefit to them of buying what you sell, and to back up those benefits with proof. Asking too bluntly, "How about taking a dozen. You can use them, can't you?" annoys a customer who still buys only one toothbrush at a time. "Now, how about giving me the order?" often gets the answer, "What for?" Suggest don't shove. Expose your goods and present your selling sentences; then sit back and let the customer buy, without his being con- scious that he is being sold. Remember, you never hear the sales tdl^ that sells you! Invisible selling is here. Be invisible never obvious. EXPLAIN EDUCATE DONT SHOUT The fellow who explains best, in a nice, kindly way, sells best. When a prospect says he doesn't understand, a poor WORDS HAVE THEIR DAY 155 salesman says, "Well now let's go over it once more!' and the tone of his voice indicates that he is annoyed with the customer. But the good salesman says, patiently, "Many people find this hard to grasp; let me repeat it for you." Make the other fellow feel good. Say, "I had a hard time understanding it myself." Don't show impatience. Don't be sarcastic. And don't shout. The "cop" shouts. The modern officer explains. Bury your old, dead words. Long live sizzles! TALK ABOUT WEDDINGS, NOT FUNERALS Talk about good times, not hard times. People like to hear about weddings, not funerals. Radiate cheerfulness and optimism. Your customers will reflect it if you do. A valet in the Statler Hotel in^Cleveland got an extra tip from me because, instead of handing me my suit at the door, he said, "Do you mind if I hang it up?" Notice he said, "Do you mind" not "Let me hang it up," which would have been too obvious. A bellman, when he checked me in, hung up my coat without saying a word. Then he put my suitcase on the rack; unhooked (but did not open) it; and inquired whether I had any suits I wanted pressed or any laundry that needed attention. He got business from me especially when he said, "Peo- ple are certainly traveling a lot these days. Business is real 156 BURY THE DEAD good. Is this room all right, sir?" He sold optimism. I bought. The right word will often sell, even when the price tag is too high. It all sums up to one idea: Modernize your words as you have modernized your- self and what you sell. Bury dead words you owe them that one last rite. Get Rid of Unsafe Words Before They Get Rid of You 25 SANTA GLAUS ALWAYS WEARS A RED SUIT Beware of "something for nothing" appeals. "Our loss your gain" has gone with the wind. You can't cheat an honest man. Low-pressure selling maizes more sales today than high-pressure steam. I HE WORD "SALE" HAS LOST ITS TRUE MEANING. EVEN EXPRES- sions like "made to sell for " aren't fooling most people to- day, simply because merchants havp prostituted these phrases and the public can't be fooled all the time. The public sees through the false whiskers and behind the tinsel of the event called "Special Sale from regular stock made to sell for much more formerly priced much higher!" People know merchandise fairly well, because merchants have educated them in values; so don't try to hoodwink peo- ple by putting a Santa Glaus expression on your face and remarking, "I lose money on every one I sell but it's fun being in business helping people." The salesman should never keep repeating, "Honestly" "Frankly speaking" "Now, I wouldn't tell you something 157 158 SANTA GLAUS ALWAYS WEARS A RED SUIT that wasn't true, would I?" "You believe in me, don't you?" Such a salesman has a guilty conscience. Honest salesmen take their honesty for granted and don't try to impress peo- ple with it by saying "honestly" and "frankly." "Do you want a clean home and no backaches?" asks a washing machine salesman at the front door, and he gets the positive answer he wants. He doesn't wear a Santa Glaus uniform just a plain business suit. DON'T USE ROUTINE SELLING WORDS Often the main difference between a successful sales per- son and a failure is in the words they use. The failure uses plain, factual, uninteresting sales language routine words. He talks about "how practical" and "how economical" his product is. The successful salesman says, "You will have more time for bridge," and "The savings of this economical sewing machine will buy you a new hat." One sells the facts the other sells the sizzle. Change factual information into a sizzle and watch what happens to you. The bootblacks in front of certain Southern cleaning and pressing establishments have a new twist these days. They say, "Shoes and suits pressed!" And they sell two ideas. Nothing brilliant, but something different. One Dallas bootblack on Akard Street goes his brothers one better by shouting, "Take the shine off your pants and put it on your shoes complete job, twenty-five cents!" Another fellow shouts, "Shines five cents a foot!" These people are just being a little different. And they SANTA GLAUS ALWAYS WEARS A RED SUIT 159 get further than the fellow with routine language, who says, "Shine ten cents!" The point is this: Every business has its routine words but it also has its sizzles. Change your jactual information into sizzling, selling material. MAKE YOUR LANGUAGE COLORFUL A garage advertises, "Service while you rest." How much better the word "rest" than the word "wait"! People don't like to wait, you know. "Service Department" is 1940 "Repair Department" is 1920. One sizzles; the other fizzles. A salesman selling cameras in Marshall Field's had real sizzle when he said, "You will be able to see yesterday to- day." Colorful expression, that. He continued, "It will make your baby's smile eternal." Of course, he first made sure that the prospect had a baby. But his next sizzle would apply "to anyone: "It will help extend your vacations forever." Now, as to the make of lens well, he touched upon that; but mainly he was selling the effect of the camera and what it would mean to the user in later years. His language was colorful, and he continued with such interesting phrases as "captures life" and "preserves the pres- ent/* He is a real Marshall Field sizzler. THE WORLD'S BEST SIZZLEMANSHIP I don't like to admit this, but the world's finest sizzleman- ship is in the streets and on certain border radio stations in 160 SANTA GLAUS ALWAYS WEARS A RED SUIT Mexico. The man who sets up his stand with his "shill" has only five or ten minutes to make sales, so he talks fast and to the point, with plenty of Wheelerpoint 3, "Say It with Flowers." And he cleans up. He hasn't time for long introductions. He hasn't time to use a lot of meaningless words. He must talk with one eye on the corner to watch for the cop. So his words are color- ful and "telegraphic." Try being colorful and telegraphic yourself. Stand on the corners once in a while and watch these fel- lows sizzle. Note the two things they do most talk tele- graphically, and demonstrate! These two things put them across. What do they talk about? What do they demonstrate? This one thing: what you get in the way of benefits and ad- vantages if you buy what they have. Now, isn't that all you buy for to gain something? So use this simple "formula from the streets" yourself: Talk telegraphically. Demonstrate lots ! Give proof plenty! That's all the street vender does. THOSE BORDER RADIO STATIONS The border radio stations are forbidden in the States be- cause they don't edit their advertising copy, and because they sell medicines not approved by the medical boards and offer services of doctors for ruptures and other surgical ills. So the radio stations go across the Texas border into old Mexico and broadcast all night long. SANTA GLAUS ALWAYS WEARS A RED SUIT 161 Now, if you want to learn something about powerful sell- ing appeals, listen to a border station. These stations must be appealing, because they cut in on big radio stations in the States and this is keen competition. Yet you find yourself listening to them. I don't advocate making radio announcements like the ones on these stations, but I certainly recommend that you listen to them if you want to get a flavor of real sizzleman- ship. For example, one of the advertisers is a society that col- lects funds by conducting a "prayer room," in which pray- ers are offered for your sick husband or wife. You are asked to send a "love offering" (money), and this money is placed in the prayer room and entitles you to one prayer. The society has an "action getter," too. To those who are prompt with their offerings, it gives away, without cost or obligation, a booklet entitled, "How to Pray." It is best, according to the announcer, to subscribe to a three- or six-week period of prayef "to make sure that your loved one will recover." This also entitles you to a lower rate. And, finally, proof is given. Believe me, it is proof. Here is a letter I recall being read as proof of the value of sending money for prayers in the prayer room: My husband couldn't work. He stayed in the house all the time. Since sending you my Love Offering and having my prayers in the prayer room for only ten days, my husband has improved so much that he won't stay home at all now. So here is more money for another prayer, to keep him at home more often. Now, that's merchandising! That's not overlooking a single detail. Yes, it does take advantage of gullible people, 162 SANTA GLAUS ALWAYS WEARS A RED SUIT and that isn't anything to brag about but it is aggressive selling, and not routine. DON'T WEAR A RED SUIT Only Santa Glaus wears a red suit. Don't you wear one. Dress like a businessman not the movies' conception of a traveling salesman. The derby, the slick suit, the gay tie, and that flashy, gold- plated fountain pen will handicap you. They tip off people that you are a "salesman," and you are lost before you start. Dress conservatively. Fancy clothing attracts attention to you not to what you say or to what you sell. The moment the prospect sees you enter his office, he sizes you up and forms his opinion of you. That first ten-second look at you tells him whether he likes you- or dislikes you. Look your part but don't burlesque your part. Don't be a wolf in sheep's clothing. You can't fool the three little pigs by putting on sheep's clothing. Nor anybody today. People have become sales-talk conscious. They are on to high-pressure tricks. They have had them used too often on them. Frequently they have sons or daughters or hus- bands in the selling game. These people study selling and talk about it at home. When you enter the home, all your tricks are known in advance. So don't try to use words about "something for nothing" "doing you a big favor" "last chance" because people know that Santa Glaus comes only on Christmas. "Something for nothing" is bad business psychology to- day. SANTA CLAUS ALWAYS WEARS A RED SUIT 163 So just be natural and normal, and tell benefits and give testimonials. And remember the old "street formula": telegraphically. Demonstrate lots! Give proof plenty! Be a Character Not a Caricature 26 THE OLD MAN PLAYS A FIDDLE, AND THE AUCTIONEER SELLS IT FOR $100 A story with a moral that shows it's the sizzle that sells the and not the cow. liOW MUCH AM I BID FOR THIS FIDDLE?" ASKED THE AUCTION- eer ____ "One dollar? Who'll bid two dollars? Who'll bid two? . . . Thank you. Now, who'll bid three who'll bid three?" No one wanted the old fiddle. It was dusty. It was old. What good was it ? No one would bid three dollars. "Going for two dollars going for two dollars," continued the auctioneer. "Who'll give just one dollar more?" No one would, so the auctioneer was about to sell the fiddle for two dollars when an old man stepped to the plat- form. "One moment," he said, and took the fiddle. He dusted it off carefully. He tuned it up. He put it to his chin, and began to play a song of long ago. The music touched the hearts of the coldhearted bidders, who were gathered in this ancient home to buy up the an- tiques. The music brought tears to everyone's eyes. Lumps 164 AND THE AUCTIONEER SELLS IT FOR $100 165 came in their throats as the man played his wistful old song. The old man finished his piece. He patted the fiddle. He put it down on the auction block, wiped a tear from his own eyes, and hobbled off the platform without saying a single word. Not one word, but no word was necessary. The auctioneer broke the silence. His voice was lower as he asked, "What am I bid for this fiddle?" "I'll bid ten dollars," said one man. "I'll bid twenty-five," shouted another. A third stood up and cried out, "I'll give you one hundred dollars for the old man's fiddle!" What happened to make that old fiddle suddenly sell for a hundred dollars? The old man put life into it! His music appealed to the heart while the auctioneer was appealing to the mind and the heart is closer to the pocket- book than the mind. So remember this important point: Direct your sales tal\ at the prospect's emotions not his reason, "Pacts are necessary, but it's the emotional appeal that ma\es the sale. Sell the Sizzle Not the 27 THE "HOW AM 1 DOIN'" CLOSING TECHNIQUE A short cut to selling success the art of finding out how you are doing in a sales interview. JlM HAD BEEN DOING A FINE SELLING JOB. HE PAUSED IN HIS demonstration for a moment, wiped the sweat from his brow, and asked his customer which of the four articles he liked best. "Well," answered the prospect, "I sort of like this one, but it seems to me your price for it is out of line." Jim came back to his selling job, but this time he pro- ceeded to show the prospect how simple it was to purchase what he was selling, and how the price was really secondary to the benefits to be received. Jim made the sale. Why ? He hadn't been using any brilliant selling gems. He was just using ordinary selling language, pointed up, to be sure, in sizzle fashion, but nothing spectacular. Yet he sold a tough prospect. Why? 166 THE "HOW AM I DOIN'" CLOSING TECHNIQUE 167 JIM ASKED HOW HE WAS DOIN' Yes, sir, Jim paused long enough in his demonstration to say, in so many diplomatic words, "How am I doin'?" He didn't want to spend a lot of time on a phase of the selling job that wasn't going over, or fail to put enough time on some phase that needed more effort. This "How am I doin'" technique is a good one. Of course, it doesn't mean coming right out and saying, "Well, buddy, how'm I doin'?" It consists of diplomatically check- ing up with the customer or prospect, several times during the sale, on how you are getting along and whether you're on the right track. You want to know whether you are getting across, whether you are missing out on something and the right choice of words will get this information from the person you are selling. "Isn't that a fine-looking chair?" says the furniture sales- man, testing out how he is doing with his prospect; and he hears, "Yes, it is, but, you see, what I really have in mind is a lounge, not an upright." So off goes the salesman, now on the right track because he inquired how he was doing. Ask the other fellow how you're doing once in a while. MORE EXAMPLES OF THIS TECHNIQUE "Gentlemen," says the president of the company, trying to sell a new idea to the board of directors, "when should such a proposal be put into operation?" "Before we consider that," replies one director, "I want to know more about the financial end. The idea is oJ^ay, but how about the money side?" 168 THE "HOW AM I DOIN'" CLOSING TECHNIQUE He tipped his hand to the president. The president had asked how he was doing and had found that he had success- fully sold the idea; so no more pressure was needed there. But he had skimmed too lightly over the financial side. He began on this phase of the sale and won out. That's why it is good in every sale, once, twice even five times, if necessary to ask, "How am I doin'?" not in these obvious words, remember, but tactfully. "Do you like riding in this type of car, Mrs. Smith, or the other one?" asks the salesman, and he learns that his pros- pect prefers the coupe. So he immediately stops talking about the sedan. "How often would you use this cleaner, Mrs. Jones ?" asks the cleaner salesman, and he hears, "I'd use it every day, but I'm afraid that new device would soon wear my rugs away. It seems overefficient." Ah, so the salesman has sold the woman the idea of a cleaner but still has to convince her that it would not injure her rugs. He starts talking about that end of the sale and Wins out. FERRET OUT HIDDEN OBJECTIONS Buried deep in everyone's mind there is usually a series of objections to what is being sold to him. Some objections are easily brought to the surface, while others are not. Now, if you want to make a sale sure-fire, don't let a hid- den objection cloud it up. If the prospect keeps the objection to himself, that is bad, because, if you know what it is, you may be able to answer it to the customer's satisfaction. One way of getting many hidden objections into the open is the "How am I doin' " method. It often prompts the cus- tomer or prospect to tell you the real reason for his hesitation. THE "HOW AM I DOIN'" CLOSING TECHNIQUE 169 For example, the salesperson in the store says, "Madam, don't you think this green dress is very becoming?" The woman thinks a moment and says, "Yes, it is becom- ingbut, well, I have been told by my friends that green makes me look pale. Does it ?" The hidden reason for the hesitation of the customer comes to light. The salesperson shows her a dress of the same design in pink and says, "This color highlights your complexion, and it is the same design as the other." A sale is made. The electric shaver salesman says, "Where does your beard grow toughest?" and he hears, "Right under my chin and I don't think that any electric shaver will work there." He, too, has told the salesman what he wants most in the product, and the salesman just naturally comes back with a sales talk and demonstration that show how his shaver gets under the chin perfectly. The young lady in the silverware department says, "How many pieces do you want to buy?" and she learns that what the woman can afford and what she needs are far apart, so she immediately shows a set that can be built up "from time to time, as your needs grow." You'll go far by asking occasionally, "How am I doin'?" You'll keep on the selling track, too, and you won't find that you are selling along a line that doesn't interest your pros- pect. EVEN IN CEMETERY SELLING The cemetery-plot salesman says, "It is better to have one and not need it than to need it and not have it." He pauses. The prospect accepts the challenge and says, "But my home is three thousand miles away in New York City." 170 THE "HOW AM I DOIN'" CLOSING TECHNIQUE He has tipped his hand, and the California salesman says, "The cost of sending a body back to New York, plus the one added ticket required by the railroad, almost makes up the amount necessary to buy a small plot." He continues, "Besides, you will want your family in Cali- fornia, where you can put occasional flowers on the grave. You have chosen this part of the country to live in, and here is where you'll want to be buried." The man is interested now. He sees the cost of shipping bodies back home. He agrees to look at some memorial property not cemetery lots, for that's too horrible a thought. The salesman points to property high on a hill beneath some pines, and says, "Isn't that a fine spot? Just where you'd want to be eternally. You like it, don't you?" The man replies that he does, but that he is afraid the old folks would find it hard to walk up the hill. By asking how he was doing at this point, the salesman learned that he must show property close to the gate. He does, and he makes a sale. EVEN IN SELLING THE WIFE The man's wife is horrified when he comes home and tells her that a cemetery-plot salesman is going to call on them that evening. She thinks that buying a lot before it is needed is waste of money. She is adamant when the salesman calls. Suddenly, during the interview, the salesman says, "You see the benefits of a lot close to the gate, don't you?" Yes, she does, but she says, "I don't like the idea of any lot anywhere until we die." This is a tip to the salesman, who immediately says, "Did it ever occur to you what may happen if you don't have a lot and your husband dies ? All at once you will be faced with THE "HOW AM I DOIN' " CLOSING TECHNIQUE 171 the problem of covering cemetery after cemetery, trying, at this terrible time, to make up your mind. You will be prey for every high-pressure salesman. It may be winter or a rainy day. You will be needed most at home when such trouble occurs. Isn't that true ?" She sees things differently, but adds, weakly, "We need the money now for other things." That tells the salesman to change his sales conversation to cost, so he says, "But, when that terrible day comes, it may follow weeks of illness or may result from a sudden accident. You will need money for doctor bills, the undertaker am- bulances, perhaps and may not have much money to use for a good lot at that time." The husband sees the point. He sees himself heading for Potter's Field, takes over the interview, asks for the contract blank and buys some memorial property. That's sound selling selling before a need arises. After all, isn't everyone a prospect for these fellows ? And this salesman made the sale because he asked, "How am I doin'?" often enough to keep him on the right track. You can answer objections more easily and more quickly if you know what they are. So remember: Pause in your sales tall^ as many times as necessary and as\ tactfully, "How am I doin'?" the Right Question to Get the Right Answer 28 SELLING THE SIZZLE IN ELECTRIC SHAVERS A "Tested Selling" sales course is developed for Reming- ton and Rand Close Shavers, and sales go s\y high. MORNING I RECEIVED A TELEPHONE CALL FROM GERALD Hughes, of the General Shaver Division of Remington Rand in Bridgeport. "Say, Wheeler," he said, "can you find the sizzle in electric shavers ?" "Well, we've found them in Barbasol, and I guess we can find them in your electric shavers," I answered. "Swell," he said, "you're hired to put some sizzles in our sales. We're going great but we can use even more wind behind our sailboat. Ed Hickey, here, says come right up." So I went up to Bridgeport and met Ed Hickey, general sales manager, and we went off on a hunt to find out what sells electric shavers. From the results of our investigation we developed a sales course for salesmen selling the Close Shavers. Then we formed a "Sizzle School" and, for the best sizzles submitted by salesmen taking part in it, we gave "Grade- A Sizzle Diplomas." 172 IN ELECTRIC SHAVERS 173 The success of the course prompted Ed Hickey to put out 90,000 shavers as the "Sizzler Elmer Wheeler Model." It might be of some interest to you to see this sales course, so, with permission, we quote from a few of the twelve les- sons on the new art of sizzle selling. No matter what you sell, you can adapt these findings and experiences to help you. LESSON 2. HOW TO SPEAK TELEGRAPHICALLY It is one thing to make the steak sizzle in the kitchen and quite another thing to keep it sizzling when it reaches the table. That's where it does the selling job, by making mouths water. To make your selling more accurate, fool-proof, and faster, put Wheelerpoint 2 into practice: "Don't write Telegraph!" When you are suddenly face to face with a customer, you usually have only 10 short seconds to catch the fleeting interest of the other person, and if you don't say something mighty im- portant in your first ten words you will lose that person mentally, if not physically! Your first ten words are more important than your next 10,000! In fact, if your first ten words aren't the right words you won't have a chance to use the next 10,000 or even 10 words! Cultivate the habit of boiling your sizzles down forget the hoofs and hide, get down to that sizzle and speak it while it's still red hot. People haven't time these days for long "verbal letters." They want the story telegraphically! THE SECRET OF THE APPROACH People shopping are usually day-dreaming. They are build- ing "Castles in Spain." You say something to them and they respond with a "No," automatically, from force of habit. 174 SELLING THE SIZZLE Rule One, therefore, to bear in mind in approaching customers is to: MaJ(e it hard for them to say "No" automatically I For instance, a man happens to pause by a display of Reming- ton Close Shavers. If you were to say, "Interested in an electric shaver?" he would reply "No" mechanically. Try this when he approaches and is looking at shavers : "Do you li\e a close shaver. Sir?" Most men do, and most men will say they do. This offers you a chance then to say something important about the Rem- ington Shaver you can't say about any others except the Rand. "It shaves closer because of the new type shaving head which is 30% thinner than any other shaving head." The five cutting surfaces on this Shaver give you the oppor- tunity to say: "The Rand or Remington Shaver shaves on all sides." Another good approach is to say: "What do you thinly of the new 24-hour shavers?" He won't know what you mean but will be interested. He will no doubt say, "What do you mean, the 24-hour shaver?" You have your opening. Then crash through with a follow-up sizzle and explain that, owing to its five cutting surfaces, the Rand or Remington Close Shavers will give him a shave that will last 24 hours. "// shaves on all sides" Remember that phrase, SEND YOUR WORDS SPECIAL DELIVERY If you want your letters received, what do you do? First you send them special delivery and second you insure them! You know then that the other person will get the letter and read it. That same technique applies in selling in stores. Insure your words by testing them. Try out a few approaches. Do they get attention? Do cus- tomers stop when you say, "How about some toothpaste today?" or, "How ya fixed for shaving cream?" Chances are they won't stop with these worn-out sentences, IN ELECTRIC SHAVERS 175 but try others until you find that combination of words that best "rings the bell." Usually they'll be telegraphic words or those with special delivery stamps on them to insure attention right at the "front door" of your counter. First you line up your sizzles in what you are selling. You line them up in the order of what people like. Then you learn how to boil them into lo-second messages. You forget the hoofs and the hide. You make every word count by not using a single word that doesn't make the sale move forward. You weed out all the unnecessary "and's," "if s" and "but's." You inventory your words as you do your stoc\. You have a "planned" (not a canned) sales plan developed from the time the customer first approaches the counter, until you use your first sentence to get up interest, until you are success- fully answering all objections and questions. So, in concluding this lesson on "Sizzle Selling," remember this second great rule: Say the Sizzle Telegraphically! LESSON 3. HOW TO USE SHOWMANSHIP The oldest Sizzle in the world is, '*Mary, I love you!" but those words unsupported by action fail to get action. Action speaks as loud as your words. What you do as you speak your words is the framework of those words, and just as the frame around the picture makes the picture "stand out" so do your "actions" support your words. The third rule, then, in getting yourself across with others is to follow Wheelerpoint No. 3, "Say It with Flowers," and don't let your words hang in mid-air by themselves! Support your words with showmanship! SELLING REMINGTON SHAVERS WITH ^FLOWERS" The Remington and Rand Close Shavers offer excellent ex- amples of adapting this "flowers" technique. For instance, you can say, "See how it fits the hand!" Hand it 176 SELLING THE SIZZLE to the customer, and while the customer is holding the shaver say, "You like the way it fits your hand, don't you?" This is a leading question to get a "Yes" answer, and usually does. Another "flower" statement is to balance the shaver in your own hand a moment, then holding toward customer say, "Isn't this well balanced, li\e a good golf club?" TELEGRAPH THESE AND REACH FOR THE ORDER PAD Plug the Rand Shaver into a socket (remember it works only on alternating current), and as you do say, "It starts instantly 1" Remove the plug, hand to customer, and say, "Try it yourself!" The customer will put the plug in and have the thrill himself of having the shaver start up in his own hands. It is a fine selling technique, used extensively by good automobile sales- men. The alert auto salesman quickly lets you get into the "driver's seat" to get the thrill of handling the car yourself. Take this tip: let the customer get into the "driver's seat" as early in every sale as possible. Here is another telegraphic statement which helps you get closer to the customer's pocketbook. Plug in the Remington Shaver, spin the wheel, and at the same time say, "See how easily its starts" When ever a customer can -feel, hold, touch, or smell the thing he is interseted in buying, the sale is well on the way. "Feel how light it is?" is another way tested to get the Rem- ington Close Shaver into the hands of customers, and no doubt you are by now inspired to think of many more "flower" state- ments to get action from the customer. SYNCHRONIZING SIZZLES WITH SHOWMANSHIP Have you ever noticed that most men test out a shave by rubbing their hands over their faces to see if they can feel whiskers? Do this gesture yourself, saying: "This shaver ma\es your face feel as smooth as a child's!" IN ELECTRIC SHAVERS 177 Suggest he test it himself. Get him to use the shaver on one side of his face, or on one spot then rub his hand over that spot to test for whiskers! Say, "The Remington Shavers whis\ your whiskers awayl" That's putting showmanship into your sales story that's mak- ing your hands earn a sale for you that's getting action with action that's the drama behind the words that keeps them from hanging helpless in mid-air by themselves! Synchronize your sizzles with showmanship! LESSON 7. HOW TO CLOSE SALES Many salespeople are successful in getting customers up to the close, and then for some reason or other the customer slips through their fingers. What's wrong? The closing technique is wrong! One of the finest closing techniques I know is expressed in our fourth Wheelerpoint, "Don't asf^ if as\ which!" By this I mean always give the customer a choice between something and some- thing else, never between something^and nothing. APPLY THE "WHICH" TECHNIQUE TO SHAVERS Whenever you have the customer to the top point of the sale, where it is time for him to make a quick buying decision, don't say, "Well, will you buy?" You may hear a "No." Instead say: "Which do you prefer, this snap button carry- ing case or the lizard grain jewel case for your Remington Close Shaver?'' Or: "Do you want a $-hour or a 24-hour shave?" Or: "Which do you prefer, lathering and brushing, or just running over the whiskers with this dry shaver?" His mind will begin to figure the uses of the cases, and when he finally says, "The snap button will be better because I travel a lot," then he is committing himself, and you can reach for the 178 SELLING THE SIZZLE order pad and say: "Will you take it with youor shall I send it?" Give him a choice to keep his mind busy. BE A QUESTION MARK NOT AN EXCLAMATION POINT SALESMAN The good rule to remember in this lesson is : Be a low-pressure question mar\ salesman, not a high-pressure exclamation point salesman. The difference is this: The exclamation point salesman tries to high-pressure his customers with such statements as: "You're a fool if you don't buy!" "Listen take my advice buy it!" "You can't go wrong on this, Mister!" These statements never made a sale. They have gone out with the salesman with the cigar, the derby, and the gold-plated foun- tain pen. Low-pressure selling is here to stay. Try it when you are selling the Rand or Remington Close Shavers. It's the technique of the question mark salesman who says: "How often do you use this?" "Where will you hook it up?" "Which design do you like?" These questions bring out answers that you want; answers that help the customer make up his own mind, and then when you feel it is time to close, close on a detail a minor point such as color, design, price, or style. Close on a minor issue! LESSON 8. HOW TO USE THE "MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO" TECHNIQUE Did you ever notice the peanut vendor eating his own peanuts? Sure you have, and he knows that if you see him eating them your mouth will water for some. IN ELECTRIC SHAVERS 179 You watch a man use an electric shaver and your hands itch to hold it, and run it over your own face. The "monkey see, monkey do" instinct that 9 s what this isl It's in all of us because we are no more than grown-up children, with adult ideas, perhaps, but still many childish in- stincts, one of which is being a mimic. So Rule One, to get people to touch, hold, feel, or smell what you have to sell is to touch, hold, feel, or smell it yourself first then hand it to the other person! Watch him do the same thing you did! AN OLD SCIENCE OF SALESMANSHIP MODERNIZED Seeing is believing, you know, and touching is to get proof! People today want proof. The salesperson who gives proof sells fastest. There is only one proof of how good apple pie is, and that proof is to eat it. There is only one proof that an electric shaver will give the two things men want most (close and fast shaves), and that is to let them use it! Hook up a Rand or a Remington Close Shaver (remember the Rand is A.C. current only). Have it up and ready for action. As soon as a customer is near by, *start it up. The hum will attract his attention. Start using it on your own face. This will make him want to do the same thing. The "monkey see, monkey do" instinct. Hand it to him, saying, "Here, try it yourself it shaves close and fast!" (Of course, remember to sterilize the shaver head in alcohol before you hand it to him or use another shaver yourself.) He'll try it for a few seconds, then no doubt put it back on the counter, because few men make up their minds THAT fast to buy anything. Get him to pick it up again by running one of the Remingtons under your chin, saying: "It gets right under your chin, sir, where most shavers fail to do a good job try it!" Once more he is touching, holding, and using the product! Thus you are proving to the man that here is one shaver that really does what 180 SELLING THE SIZZLE the advertisements say it will do: give a smooth shave, and a fast onel So don't hesitate to give proof. Get the products into the customer's hands where they can, with their own hands, on their own faces, see that the advertisement didn't oversell the shavers. Say the Sizzle telegraphically, with bouquets of action, but be sure to say the Sizzle with PROOF! LESSON 10. HOW TO SPEAK YOUR SIZZLES DISTINCTLY No matter how well made the car is, from motor to uphol- stery, it won't move if a io# gasoline pipe line is clogged or the spark fails. The automobile is only as good as its spark! You are only as good as your voice delivery ! Consider for a moment that the little dog has only one word and one tail to wag, but it's the "tone" behind his woof and the wag of his little tail that sells you anything his heart desires. Take a tip from the little dogwatch your own bark, your own wag! One rule never to lose sight of in the home, out socially, or in your business is: "Watch your bark!" WHEN THE COFFEE IS PRETTY BAD There are two big moments in your daily sales life that you must guard against, else you will lose friends and sales : 1. The first hour in the morning. 2. Just before closing time. At these two times you are at a low ebb. Things irritate you. Perhaps the coffee was pretty bad for breakfast perhaps it is raining, and you are down in the dumps. A customer comes in rather early. She is a fussy person. She wants to "see something in gift razors." She annoys you with her fussy attitude. IN ELECTRIC SHAVERS 181 Your voice begins to tighten up. Your chin sticks out. You don't dare tell the old fuss-pot what you think of her attitude, but your voice tells her! She senses your dry tones your tinge of impatience your veiled sarcasm. She doesn't buy. You lose one customer she tells others you lose many friends. Watch that first hour in the morning. Next watch those few moments before quitting time. You've been on your feet all day. You're pretty tired. You are all set for a good meal at home, when in comes a last-minute customer. Worse yet, he's one of those fellows who "can't make up my mind." He dallies around, looking first at one shaver, then an- other. Unconsciously you tap your pencil on the counter, impatiently. You become crisp with your words. You talk as little as possible. You might even venture a glance at the clock on the wall. Just little things, mind you, but the customer is like a barome- ter. He registers every atmospheric change. You haven't said anything wrong. But it was how you said it not what you said I Watch this hour of the day, too. Many a last-minute customer is a purchaser, not a looker, because he knows the store is about to close. Handle him with kid gloves. Act as though you had all night to wait on him, and watch him speed up the sale. It's as much how you say your "Tested Selling Sentences" as what you say! So take a tip from the little dog watch your bark and your wag. LESSON 12. HOW TO GET OTHERS TO LIKE YOU No matter how much merchandising knowledge you have no matter how many "Tested Selling Sentences" you have mastered, you will never be a big success as a salesman if people don't like you personally. To like you is to like what you sell. If you want to get along better with others, if you want more happiness in your home and more social success as well as greater business gains, use these four new Wheelerules. 182 SELLING THE SIZZLE THE FOUR NEW WHEELERULES Wheelerule i. "Don't thin\ I thinly yout" The biggest word in your vocabulary is the word "you"; the smallest word is "I." Other people are interested only in "my dog," "my car," "my family," "my shaver." Cultivate the habit of talking about the interests of others. Be "you-minded." Avoid the obnoxious word "I." To do this think "you" and not "I." Learn how to tell the customers, "This will give you more shav- ing pleasure." "You will get a better shave with this." "ou will like this." Think in terms of other people start them talking about their interests, their troubles, their problems. Don't talk about yours. This is the first law of making people like you. Make it your first law, too, and then you are ready for the second earmark of a likable person. Wheelerule 2. "Use a little gravy" All men like gravy, and most women like plenty of fancy icii^g. You will get yourself across more quickly with others with a little pleasant flattery than you will with a disinterested or sour attitude. People who use a little gravy now and then find that they have more friends than those people who use only vinegar. Getting people to respond to your way of thinking often boils down to the amount of gravy or icing you are willing to dish out. Don't be thrifty with your gravy of "thank you's." Learn, too, the Emily Post of how much gravy and icing to serve. Too much of either sickens a person. These words are sure to back-fire into your face : "I told you so ." "Here, use it this way!" "I suggest" is more persuasive to people than "Do it!" "I imagine" is far better than "I'm positive!" IN ELECTRIC SHAVERS 183 Don't make the other person feel that he made a poor invest- ment or used bad judgment. Give him an "out." When selling a Remington Close Shaver, don't be overly positive in your statements. "You're wrong" is bad. It is better to say: "Here are facts you may wish to consider." "Do you think this principle is good?" "Perhaps if you held it this way ." If you will humble yourself to give people a kind pat on the back, with a little gravy of consideration; if you will suggest instead of ordering; then you are moving forward on the road of human relationship, and you are ready for the third point in winning people to you, which is: Wheelerule 3. "Fragile handle with care!" You wouldn't think for a moment of carelessly grabbing hold of a package marked "Fragile handle with care." You wouldn't lift such a package with hooks, or drop it suddenly or forcefully. Yet you will hook a person with a barbed word! On the back of everyone is an invisible sign, "Fragile handle me with care!" You don't see the ^ign, but it is there just the same. Learn the art of using "kid glove" language with strangers. A snappy .reply a thoughtless retort and you send a barb into somebody unintentionally. One quick way to thrust a word hook into a person is to blurt out, "I don't agree with you!" It's much better to say, "Do you mean " or "Was this what you had in mind?" Remember this third Wheelerule in getting along with others. It will save you many a friend and many a sale. Handle people with care. They are fragile. Now for the fourth principle in making people like you more. Wheelerule 4. "Stop before you're stopped!" Leave people smiling, not frowning. Learn when to stop talking, socially as well as in selling. Protect your retreat! Don't be a chain talker! 184 SELLING THE SIZZLE When customers must walk away from you to stop your line of chatter, you have lost them. Learn when to stop talking and let the customer start talking. Be a good listener first a good talker second. You never learn anything while your mouth is open! Find out what the customer wants : a fast shave, a close shave, a pleasant shave. What is on his mind? He'll tell you if you let him and this knowledge is valuable in closing the sale. So, remember, Stop before you're STOPPED! HOW TO BE AN EXAMPLE TO YOUR CUSTOMER The last important thing to remember about this question of your selling personality is first impressions. What are the first impressions your customers get of you? Do you tell your customers about the "24-hour shave" your electric shaver will give them with whiskers on your face? Not only does this give the customers a first impression of shabbiness, to say the least, but it's a poor advertisement for your merchan- dise. Be an advertisement for your products and give a first impres- sion of being well-groomed. Not only will it mean a great deal to you, personally, but it will give a better impression of the store. People like to feel that they shop at "nice" places. HOW TO "KEEP SMILING" Keep smiling by taking it easy. People who strain and worry at their work don't smile easily. Smile because the first thing the customer sees over the counter is your face. Smile because nine times out of ten the customer will smile back. Smile because you want to smile. Make it sincere, friendly and cheerful. All of which sums itself up to this : People who like you will like what you have to sell. If they don't like you, they won't take the time to inspect your goods. IN ELECTRIC SHAVERS 185 MAKING PEOPLE LIKE YOU People who like steaks well done are upset when you serve them rare steaks. You must learn one rule about yourself: Serve yourself the way the other person wants you. Avoid peculiarities of speech or habit that offend. Always sniffling, always scratching your head, or stroking your beard; always tapping with your foot, your pencil; always using such words to end sentences as "see," "listen," "you get me" all this annoys people as much as sand in spinach. Yes give 'em spinach but wash out the sand. Getting people to like you, to buy from you, to shift around to your way of thinking, boils down to: 1. "Don't think 7 think you!' 2. "Use a little gravy." 3. "Fragile handle with care!" 4. "Stop before you're stopped." Now that you have read this brief digest of the Rem- ington Rand sales course, see if you can apply these ideas to your own business. Many of the "Tested Sentences" given here can be used in selling any product. In fact, they will help you in your social relationships as well as in your business. Remember: MaJ(e other people li\e you and they will be more lively to UJ(e what you are selling. Serve Yourself as Others Want You 29 SIX "PASSWORDS 1 ' THAT WILL SELL HAIRBRUSHES FOR YOU Here is the famous selling plan for the Stranzit Brush, the hairbrush of the Pro-phy-lac-tic Brush Company. Six "'Tested Passwords" that built sales. r\ WOMAN ENTERS A DEPARTMENT STORE TO PURCHASE A new hat. As she passes the drug counter, she notices a display of hairbrushes. She pauses. This is the pause that sells people! It's just a one-moment pause, but it's long enough for the salesperson to ask: "Are you in the open much, madam?" Naturally the woman will reply that she is in the open quite a lot these days. So the salesgirl brings out the sec- ond "Tested Selling Sentence" given to her by the Pro- phy-lac-tic Brush Company: "The sun and air remove the natural oil and these Stranzit bristles bring it bac\. Lool^l" The customer looks with great interest, and then the salesgirl comes out with the third "Tested Selling Sentence," 186 HAIRBRUSHES FOR YOU 187 which explains exactly how the Stranzit Brush does its work: "These bristles penetrate thickest hair and, by massag- ing the scalp, restore natural oil!' I personally saw these "passwords" that we developed increase sales forty per cent in one Fifth Avenue store and ten per cent in three other stores. In one Boston store, according to the Pro-phy-lac-tic Company, they increased sales of Stranzit Brushes two hundred per cent! THE POWER OF "TESTED SELLING" What is this selling plan that so increased sales of brushes ? Can it help you ? Certainly it can, and here it is. First, the company employed us to find out what people wanted most in hairbrushes, and we did. Then we formed selling sentences to express these things in simple language. We gave these sentences to salespeople in all kinds of stores and asked them to use the sentences under normal condi- tions, on normal customers, in the normal course of a sale. Sales went up everywhere. The salespeople, you see, were saying something definite instead of repeating, "How you fixed for a hairbrush ? We have a special on them today." After the sentences were thoroughly tested on the public, they were placed on colorful 3%-by-5-inch cards and put into an envelope marked as follows: STRANZIT TESTED SELLING SENTENCE KIT SIX PASSWORDS TO INCREASE YOUR HAIRBRUSH SALES Advertisements were run in trade papers announcing that this kit would be given away free to salespeople. Thousands wrote in for them, and sales went up. 188 SIX "PASSWORDS" THAT WILL SELL The following slip was included in the envelope with the cards as an explanation: (Front) TO YOU, AMBITIOUS ^SALESPEOPLE To help you sell more Stronzit Brushes, the Pro-phy-loc-tic Brush Company has engaged the services of the Tested Selling Institute. The retail sales talks which are furnished by this Institute to sell Stranzit Brushes have been selected by means of a thoro test on prospective cus- tomers in a number of various types and kinds of retail stores. The Wheeler "Gravitation Method" of measuring the reaction of sales appeals on retail drug store customers, weeds out bad phraseology and leaves only the proven "TESTED SELLING SENTENCE" with its correct "TESTED TECHNIQUE." We know that greatly increased sales have been made by using these sentences. If you use them you will boost your sales without resorting to high-pressure selling methods and without offending the most sensitive pros- pect. Here is a new approach to help you sell more Stranzit Brushes. May we ask your careful co-operation that we both may benefit? Thank you. PRO-PHY-LAC-TIC BRUSH CO., Florence, Mass. (Reverse) THE STORY BEHIND TESTED SELLING Elmer Wheeler, former newspaperman, has made a LIFETIME study of sell- ing sentences with their techniques. He knows which sell and which don't. He has formed the world's FIRST and ONLY Word Laboratory, whose sole business is testing word combinations and making them more effective. Mr. Wheeler's famed libraries of "TESTED SELLING SENTENCES" with their "TESTED TECHNIQUES" contain over 105,000 word combinations and selling methods. They have been actually tested by such of his clients as: The Hoover Company, Johns-Manville, The Texas Company, Hotels Statler Corp., R. H. Macy fir Co., Stern Brothers, The May Stores and by over 1700 drugstores! WHAT IS A "TESTED SELLING SENTENCE"? A "TESTED SELLING SENTENCE" is Mr. Wheeler's copyrighted term for a sentence that will make MORE SALES than any other single sentence. It is one that has been tried on hundreds of customers, and has produced results with SCIENTIFIC PRECISION. Every retail store realizes only too well that its success depends to a Sreat degree upon the words that come out of the salesman's mouth as he FACE to FACE with his customers. The sentences spoken by the SALES- MAN should be "TESTED SELLING SENTENCES" to remove the guess and gamble from his efforts. And here are the six cards (or "passwords") : HAIRBRUSHES FOR YOU 189 (Front) Elmer Wheeler Says: "Don't Sell the Steak . . . Sell the Sizzle" What we mean by the "sizzle" is the BIGGEST SELLING point! The MAIN REASONS why the customer will buy! The good waiter realizes he must sell the bubbles not the champagne bot- tle. The grocery clerk doesn't sell the pickles, but the pucker not the cof- fee, but the whiff! It's the tang in the cheese that sells it. Therefore: Don't sell the price tag SELL HAIR GLAMOUR! Don't sell con- struction SELL EASE OF USING! Don't sell the wood SELL THE MASSAGE IN THE BRUSH! Don't sell the brush SELL THE STRANZIT STROKE! Hair glamour Is the BIG Stranzit "sizzle" the construction is the "cow"! There is ONE BIG QUESTION running through the customer's mind as you are showing a Stranzit Brush: "What will the Stranzit Brush do for Me? 7 ' Therefore, almost everything you SAY or DO must be said and done in such a way that it ALWAYS answers this important question! In other words you must develop a need for the Stranzit Brush in the mind of the customer, for until the customer realizes a need you will make little sales progress! (Reverse) TESTED SELLING SENTENCE No. 1 (Increased sales 200% in a Boston Department Store) APPROACH: "Do you STRAND your hair when brushing it?" Technique: Use this "attention-getter" after all regular sales. Re- gardless of reply, show Stranzit Brush to customer, point to bristles, and say: FOLLOW UP: "These wave-like bristles separate the hair Into strands, and by going THRU the hair, assure THORO brushing!" Explanation: One purpose of the exclusive, irregular bristle trim of the Stranzit Brush is to help strand the hair, which is the professional way. The wave-like bristles go THRU the hair divide it and give each strand individual brushing. Flat, regularly-spaced bristles merely skim over the surface, and just a small part of the hair is given attention this way. Only Stranzit assures FljLL and COMPLETE brushing of the thickest hair. STRANZIT Strands itf (Front) Elmer Wheeler Says: "Don't Write TELEGRAPH" By this we mean get the customer's IMMEDIATE and FAVORABLE attention in the fewest words possible! A good sales presentation should USE AS FEW WORDS as possible! Any word that does not make the sale, endangers the sale! Therefore MAKE EVERY WORD COUNT by using "telegraphic" statements! HOW TO APPROACH CUSTOMERS Customers form "snap judgments!" They "make up" their opinions about you in the FIRST TEN SECONDS. Give them a brief "telegram" in these first ten Seconds so that their opinion will be in YOUR favor! 10-SECOND MESSAGES THAT GET THE CUSTOMER'S IMMEDIATE ATTENTION 1. "Have you ever used a SCIENTIFIC hair brush?" 2. "Does your hair brush spoil your wave? 3. "Is your hair inclined to be oily or dry? Use these "opening statements" to arouse the customer's interest in Hair Brushes. Don't depend on sharp tricks or high-pressure. Make your "tele- grams" carry CURIOSITY and Interest! Don't sell the brush sell the TINGLE! 190 SIX "PASSWORDS" THAT WILL SELL (Reverse) TESTED SELLING SENTENCE No. 2 (Doubled sales in a leading Eastern Department Store) APPROACH: "Does brushing your hair ever take out the wove?" Technique: Use this sentence after every regular sale. Regardless of customer's reply, show Stranzit Brush, point to irregular bristles, and say: FOLLOW UP: 'These bristles ore SCIENTIFICALLY SPACED so os not to pull out the wove!" Explanation: If all bristles are the same length in a hair brush, there is a decided PULL which removes the waves. With Stranzit Brushes only WIDELY SEPARATED points touch the hair at the same time which leaves slack in the hair to prevent "stretching" out of the waves. STRANZIT (Strands it) ... Mokes the Wave ehavel (Front) Elmer Wheeler Says: "SAY IT WITH FLOWERS" "Say It with Flowers" simply means PROVE your statements! You have just 10 short seconds and TWO ABLE HANDS to sell the customer and so you must FORTIFY your words with performance! You must BACK UP your selling "sizzles" with SHOWMANSHIP! You know how little the perfunctory "Thank you" of some clerks means! It lacks the reinforcement of sincerity! SYNCHRONIZE YOUR "SIZZLES" WITH SHOWMANSHIP Fitting ACTION to your selling statements is the THIRD "ear-mark/' then, in the sale of a Stranzit Hair Brush. Show it up set it down hand it to the customer balance it go through the motions of using it compare it with another keep your hands busy! Make the customer SEE FEEL TOUCH HANDLE almost "SMELL" the "health" it will bring them, and "TASTE" the thrill of having a Stranzit run through their lazy scalps and make them tingle alive with thrills! Make your hands EARN a living for you! Don't be a "fizzle" salesman be a BIG TIME "SIZZLE" salesman! (Reverse) TESTED SELLING SENTENCE No. 3 (Increased sales in leading Chain Drug Unit 420%) APPROACH: "Do you have difficulty KEEPING YOUR HAIR IN PLACE after a shampoo?" Technique: Use this approach after every regular purchase. Regard- less of reply, show Stranzit, point to bristles, and say: FOLLOW UP: ''Stranzit bristles brush thru the hair instead of |ust over the top. They stimulate a greater flow of natural oil, which keeps the hair in place." Explanation: Shampooing the hair removes the natural oil that keeps it in place. The Stranzit bristles are specially spaced to penetrate the hair, stimulate the scalp and glands and evenly distribute the natural hair oil from the base of each strand to the very tip. Oil that is thus evenly distributed helps keep the hair from getting unruly it keeps it in place. STRANZIT (Strands it) is a Hand-Massage WITHOUT the effort! HAIRBRUSHES FOR YOU 191 (Front) Elmer Wheeler Says: "Don't Ask IF Ask WHICH" By this we mean you should always frame your words (especially at the close of the sale) so that you give the customer a CHOICE between something and something, never between something and nothing! You will find a Stranzit sale moving SWIFTER to a successful "close" if you ask leading questions, like a good lawyer does, making it easy and natural for the other person to say, "Yes!" "Hook" the long, curved arm of a Question Mark around your customers, and you will draw them nearer the cash register but be sure you ASK THEM QUESTIONS THAT GET THE ANSWERS YOU WANT! Neverask the prospect IF he wants to buy but WHEN, WHERE, and HOW! THESE QUESTIONS WILL GET THE ANSWERS "YOU" WANT "How often do you brush your hair once or twice a day?" 'Did you know that only the Stranzit Hair Brush has this wave protector?" You don't want to use a brush that will take the wave out, do you?'* Ask the RIGHT question especially at the close and you'll get the an- swer YOU want and the order will follow quickly! (Reverse) TESTED SELLING SENTENCE No. 4 (Tripled sales for a 42nd St. Store) APPROACH: "Do you know the PROFESSIONAL WAY to brush the hair?" Technique: After every sale use above approach. Regardless of reply, show Stranzit Brush, demonstrate its use, and say: FOLLOW UP: "This is the recommended way, brushing from the bottom up and out like this. . . ." (give phantom demonstration). Explanation: Women are always interested in learning new ways to greater hair beauty. The proper way to brush hair is from the bottom, up and out. Each stroke should go to the very tip of each hair, be- ginning at the base of the neck to stimulate circulation. Train women HOW to brush their hair and show* how only the Stranzit bristles can go thru the hair, and you will sell the Stranzit. Tell them they don't have to be hair experts to use the Stranzit for greater hair beauty. STRANZIT Saves Its Cost ... In Hair Waves Otherwise Lost (Front) Elmer Wheeler Says: "Watch Your Bark" Upon your "bark" hinges the test of how much your sales words on the Stranzit Brush will succeed or fail for your VOICE is the "carrier" of your message ! The finest "sizzle" that you telegraph in 10 words, in 10 seconds, with a huge bouquet of "flowers" and lots of "Which," "When," "Where" and "How" FLOPS if the voice is flat! Avoid a mechanical, monotonous voice. Inflect! Emphasize! Lower raise talk slowly then speed up dramatically! Vary the tempo of your words. This makes you "interesting" to the listener. Don't be a "Johnny-one-note." Learn to play the full organ of your vocal chords the entire range! Not just one note! Be the director who can go from INSTRUMENT to INSTRUMENT! Above all AVOID tone and voice "peculiarities" that attract attention to themselves rather than to your message. 192 SIX "PASSWORDS" THAT WILL SELL (Reverse) TESTED SELLING SENTENCE No. 5 (A sure-fire attention-getter . . . sold a large percentage of customers in leading stores.) APPROACH: "Are you out-of-doors much?" Technique: Use this "attention-getter" immediately after every regular sale. Regardless of answer, show Stranzit Brush, point to bristles, and say: FOLLOW UP: "The sun and air remove the natural oil ... and these Stranzit bristles bring it back/' "They penetrate thickest hair, and by massaging the scalp re- store natural oil." Explanation: The scientifically spaced bristles of the Stranzit are de- signed to PENETRATE the thickest hair. By so doing, the scalp and oil glands are stimulated and produce natural oil. The special bristles then distribute this oil EVENLY through the hair causing the sun- dried hair to re-gain its beauty. When using this sentence in Fall or Winter months substitute words "cold and wind" for "sun and air." STRANZIT Stimulates Hair Oil ... With Little Toil! (Front) How to Use "Tested Selling Sentences" To Build Your Own Soles Presentations Now that you have read these few cards, go over them and pick out the "Tested Selling Sentence" and "Tested Technique" that most appeal to you. Choose one sentence to approach the customer to secure IMMEDIATE at- tention then select one or more follow-through statements and techniques. Use these sentences for a week or so and then select another combination. As illustrations of how you can build your own talks, we offer 2 examples: APPROACH: "Here is a SHORT CUT to good hair grooming." Technique: Salesman holds Stranzit in full view and reach of customer. FOLLOW UP: "These bristles are SCIENTIFICALLY ADJUSTED to clean, POLISH AND massage the hair, all in one operation." "Which brush do you prefer the white or natural bristles?" APPROACH: "This is our new EASY-TO-CLEAN hair brush." Technique: Salesman holds Stranzit so customer is looking down at bristles. FOLLOW UP: "These Bristles ore so placed they are TANGLE-PROOF, and can be cleaned in a jiffy." "Do you like the dark or light bristles?" (Reverse) TESTED SELLING SENTENCE No. 6 (Increased sales 300% in a prominent 5th Ave. Department Store) APPROACH: "Has your hair brush these wave-like bristles?" Technique: After all regular sales, show a Stranzit, point to wave-like bristles, and use the above Tested Question. Regardless of the reply, say: FOLLOW UP: 'They penetrate the thickest hair, and thoroly clean and mas- sage the scalp!" Explanation: Every woman delights in a good hand-massage. When she sees the Stranzit bristles and you tell her they are spaced to give the scalp a good work-out, she'll be interested. Sell by showing! By Demonstrating! "You may forget to stimulate the scalp but the Stranzit bristles won't forget!" STRANZIT ... The Beauty Parlor's Only Rival! HAIRBRUSHES FOR YOU 193 This sales plan helped Stranzit salespeople, and it can help you. You will be able to twist many of these good selling phrases around to fit your own particular product, sales idea, or service. Go over what you say when you sell. Discard the worn- out words and replace them with "Tested Selling Sentences." And remember this point: Plan your sales presentation in advance, and you will always be ahead of your prospect. Streamlined Words Speed Up Sales 30 PUTTING THE SIZZLE INTO POLICE DEPARTMENTS* Selling law is the same as selling insurance or an airplane; you must find the sizzle. The sizzle in police departments is the officer himself. LlKE THE PILOT IN A TRANSPORT PLANE, THE OFFICER IS THE most colorful figure in connection with the sale. He's the sizzle all right, and, unless he's a bully or a "copper," he's the best advertisement the city has. Granted that the officer is the sizzle, let's see how we can make an officer out of a cop how the basic principles of salesmanship can be applied to selling the law. Here are four tested rules, based on our police work in a number of cities, for making cops into officers: WHEELERULE ONE: DONT BE A FERDINAND THE BULL! The center of the street is the showplace of bad and good manners. It is the arena where the officer loves to work, but it's a place the "Ferdinands" stay away from. * This chapter is a re*sume* of an address delivered by the author at the Forty- First Annual Convention of City Marshals and Chiefs of Police Union of Texas, in Dallas, June 13, 1939. 194 INTO POLICE DEPARTMENTS 195 The cop depends entirely upon the blast of his whistle for results; the officer uses his intelligence in handling traffic problems. The officer uses his head; the cop uses his sum- mons book. The officer looks forward to preventing violations, but the cop lets them happen. He doesn't anticipate. The officer is prophylactic the cop therapeutic. The first always tries to prevent the disease, but the second is always trying to cure something that could have been prevented. The officer has little time for political curb conferences, but the cop would rather lean against a lamppost "just smell- ing the lovely flowers" like our old friend Ferdinand the Bull. The officer loves to get out and handle the crowd the way they want and like to be handled. Rule number one, therefore, for being an officer instead of a cop is: Be more officer and less buttl WHEELERULE TWO: SELL LAW NOT WISECRACKS! If you want to put the "sir" into officer, put this second rule to use: Sell the law and not wisecracks. The cop, when he approaches a violator, resorts to wise- cracks. He is quick to shout: "Where you think you're goin' to a fire? Can'tcha see the lights? S'matter, ya blind ya wanta kill a few more people on my beat?" He's the corner wit. He has one eye on the motorist and one on the people collecting at the curb so that he can see how he's going over with them. If the law-breaker is from out of town, he continues: "Where you from, Chicago? Well, they may run against 196 PUTTING THE SIZZLE red lights up there, but not do^n here. You should be put in jail. It's birds like you we're! out after. . . ." On he goes, with the motorist unable to say a word. Maybe the driver is in the wrong; that's no reason for his having to be a stooge for a wisecracking cop. The cop is the corner wit the Eddie Cantor of the four corners or thinks he is. When a traffic violation occurs, the one thing to remem- ber, if you want to handle the situation like an officer and not a copper, is: Name the law that has been violated! Explain it to the lawbreaker. Education will cure more traffic evils than a summons book. When people are made to understand that they have violated a traffic ordinance, they'll respect you for telling them so in a nice manner. Even though they get a ticket, they'll say: "That officer was rightl" But if you give them a ticket without explaining the law, they'll immediately run to their nearest "friend" to get it fixed. Most people are willing to take their medicine, provided you convince them that they were really in the wrong, and do it graciously. Learn how to arrest people with dignity! Selling law and not wisecracks also applies to signs on safety. Don't try to put up smart-aleck posters and signs the kind that make your city noted for its wit and not its safety record. Sell law on your signs. Keep wisecracks off. Wisecracks may make motorists chuckle with amusement at your small- town wit until they hit a child. Concentrate on the law and not on humor! INTO POLICE DEPARTMENTS 197 The second Wheelerule, then, for becoming an officer is: Go heavy on explanations and light on wisecracks. Education will cure more traffic ills than a summons bool(. WHEELERULE THREE: WATCH YOUR BARK! One of the biggest differences between the Keystone com- edy type of cop and a modern officer is his voice! The chief trouble with most cops' voices is that they are too loud. As my friend Commissioner Olander of the State Police in Michigan puts it, "Your words tell me your thoughts; your tone of voice tells me your mood. Every time you speak, you touch somebody with your voice." There's sound philosophy in these words for any officer, anywhere. "You were exceeding the speed limit, sir," is the way to address a violator of the speed law not, "Hey you ! What's the big idea goin' fifty?" And never call anybody "buddy," "my fren'," or "you mug." Remember a cdm voice helps to solve most difficulties. Tell don't yell Show your smile not your teeth. Don't delay over making out a ticket, if you've decided one is in order. Hesitating may make the driver wonder whether you are stalling for a little bribe. And don't let smiles or stories about "me and Judge So-and-so" influence the sale of the summons ticket. But remember: Don't issue a ticket sell it. Convince every motorist you stop that he deserves the ticket you are giving him. 198 PUTTING THE SIZZLE Good salespeople never force merchandise on you. They sell you on why you should have it. So sell law but sell it with dignity. You're not a bogy- man out to frighten people with a loud voice. You are a businessman of the city whose job it is to sell the law. Wheelerule Three for putting yourself across with the public is: Tal\ as one businessman to another. Sell the law violated, but sell it with dignity. The louder you the less persuasive you are t so: Tell don't yell! WHEELERULE FOUR: SIZZLE DON'T FIZZLE The fourth and final rule for putting the "sir" into officer, for becoming a modern officer instead of an old-fashioned cop, is: Sizzle don't fizzle. Everything an officer says or does is noticed by hundreds of citizens and tourists. The traffic officer is probably seen by more people than the mayor or the head of the chamber of commerce. So, in order to sizzle, a traffic officer must be a combination of John Barrymore and Disraeli he must be good looking and a diplomat. He can't afford to walk slowly toward a violator, and jam up traffic for blocks, just to bawl him out because he didn't see the light change. The modern traffic officer gains the respect of people. He is the Roosevelt of the street corner. He stands on his own two feet and doesn't drape himself all over a car door, with one foot on the running board. He doesn't tilt his cap to the back of his head. He doesn't en- gage in "curb courts"; he lets the judge decide the case. INTO POLICE DEPARTMENTS 199 He is friendly and understanding patient with com- plaints. He's tolerant of tourists and always gives them polite and clear instructions when they ask for information. He knows that "thank you" is the best sizzle in the world for getting himself across with others for winning friends. Summed up, the officer is Mr. City himself, standing on the best corners of any city, selling the law. He's the cham- ber of commerce's best advertisement. He tells and never yells. He's the sizzle in traffic safety that never fizzles. So if you want to be an officer instead of a cop; if you want to put the "sir" into officer follow these four sales rules, written for you by me, a common citizen, a salesman: One: Don't be a 'Ferdinand the Bull. Two: Sell law not wisecracks. Three: Watch your bar^. Four: Sizzle don't fizzle. Every Police Officer Is a Salesman 31 "TESTED SELLING" FOR DOCTORS AND DENTISTS // Nellie Smith loses a sale because her phraseology is poor, little damage is done; but if the doctor jails to sell the neces- sary operation, death may be the result of his lac\ of sales- manship. WH THEN PRETTY NELLIE SMITH, DOWN IN THE BIG DEPARTMENT store, uses the wrong words and fails to sell some under- wear, no serious damage is done. If she keeps on losing sales, she'll probably get fired, but there are other jobs. On the other hand, if you need an immediate operation, and the doctor isn't able to sell you on the importance of having it, death may result! Every doctor and dentist should have a course in salesman- ship. And they should learn how to use high-pressure sell- ing, too, when it comes to a question of saving someone's life. But the doctor must be honest. He can't use his selling ability for persuading patients to have operations that aren't needed. Too many people feel nowadays that doctors oper- ate unnecessarily, and the few dishonest doctors who do this have harmed the profession as a whole. 200 FOR DOCTORS AND DENTISTS 201 This kind of crying wolf causes patients to lose confidence, so that, when a genuine operation is necessary, they refuse to be operated upon, and death often results in serious cases. Doctors should remember this first rule of salesmanship for their profession: Learn how to sell the patient on an operation when it is necessary, by not crying wolf when it isn't. Be an honest sales doctor. \ TALK TO A DOCTOR ABOUT SELLING A well-known doctor friend of mine came over to me one day for some ideas on selling, but I must confess I got more from him that he got from me. His psychology of handling children interested me. He said you must be very firm with them; even when holding their hands, you must do it in such a way that they feel your strength. Shaking even the slightest causes a child to feel that you are not sure of yourself $ but the doctor who is firm inspires the child's respect. "Never lie to a child," advised the doctor. The child will see through the lie no matter how white it may be, and he'll lose confidence in you. You can't do much with a child who doesn't have faith in you. "Tell him when you will hurt him," the doctor told me, "and tell him when what you are going to do won't hurt. That will give him confidence in you." His method of selling a child on an eyes-ears-nose-and- throat examination is interesting. First he looks into the child's ear, for, says the doctor, "There's seldom anything about his ear that will bother or frighten him." When the child has relaxed during the ear examination, 202 "TESTED SELLING'* the doctor begins to inspect his nose. Then, by the time the mouth examination begins, the child is completely relaxed and won't have a gagging sensation. Should the examination stick frighten him, the doctor sells him by saying, "Just a stick of wood, son. I didn't hurt your ear or nose, did I ? Well, I won't hurt your mouth. Now open wide." SELL THE FLOWERS NOT THE ETHER The wise physician dresses up his reception room. He makes sure it has an air of cheerfulness and pleasantness. And he makes sure his nurse is capable-looking and attrac- tive. The impression she makes on patients is mighty im- portant, and every doctor who is successful realizes this. He watches the first ten-second impression his nurse and his front office make on the public. If the front office is filled with flowers and sunshine, and minus pill bottles and the old stretcher in the corner, the doctor is well on the way to establishing success in those first moments he is with the patient. Next comes his office. Here his diploma should be dis- played prominently on the wall. That builds confidence. It creates atmosphere like putting an American flag and a picture of George Washington on the wall behind the con- gressman who is giving a talk. A few books, a cabinet with instruments in it, perhaps a slight medicinal odor but never the strong smell of ether. Sell the flowers of health, not the ether of sickness. You can cure many a patient with the sunshine of good humor. Avoid the pessimism of remarks like "This looks serious" or "Hm-m-m. I'd better think this over." FOR DOCTORS AND DENTISTS 203 Be Mr. Optimism. That's what you're being paid for. Sell your pills, if you will, but sell happiness and cheer- fulness with each package. Even if you have a son you're trying to put through medical school, let your patients, as a whole, not as individuals, pay your bills. Be honest with people and they'll be honest with you. It's the flowers on your desk and in your voice that people pay for. Not you. You are only the instrument to health. SELL HEALTH NOT APPENDECTOMIES The doctor who greets his patients with, "Well, what's wrong with you today?" is about as welcome as castor oil. The greeting of doctors is as important to their success as the floorwalker's is to the department store's. "How are you?" leaves you open to, "Well, I wouldn't be here, if I weren't ill, doctor." Compliment your patient on something personal. Say, "That's lovely dress, Mrs. Jones," or "I hear you gave a fine talk at the Men's Club, Mr. Smith." "You're not so sick that I can't fix you right up, Mrs. Brown," says the doctor, and he makes Mrs. Brown feel bet- ter immediately. Ta\e out the appendix if need be but sell health always. THE OLD CASTOR-OIL DOCTOR LIVES ON Many people prefer nowadays to go to the specialist, but deep down in most persons' hearts is a fondness for the old family physician who reeked of castor oil; the old fellow with the stethoscope round his neck. The Dafoes of the world live on. 204 "TESTED SELLING" Modernize your technique and your instruments, but be sure you keep that old-fashioned air of dependability around you. Selling is a part of the modern doctor's training. He can save a life with proper sizzlemanship. It is part of his kit when he makes his call. He is preacher, a doctor, and a salesman all rolled into one. How to say it is as important to the man who prescribes for aches and pains as it is to the salesman who sells tangible wares to his customers. The doctor is his own best advertisement. What he says, how he handles himself, the air of confidence he has sells or unsells him, despite his diploma or his ability. So take a tip from this doctor friend of mine and learn how to sell your way to success. HOW DENTISTS CAN SELL PATIENTS The dentist who says, "I'd pull it out, if I were you," offers you no better reason than that he would have it out if he were in your place. People don't care what you want; they're only interested in what will benefit them. So the modern dentist uses a "Tested Sentence" and says: "It will save pain later on." A doctor might use the same sentence to sell an opera- tion, adding the words: "It may prolong your life by years." The idea, of course, is to show the other person that the operation you advise will mean something to him, more than to you. The dentist sells a necessary gold inlay by saying: "It will last longer and cost less in the long run." FOR DOCTORS AND DENTISTS 205 He sells a porcelain cap for the patient's front tooth by saying: "You won't be able to tell it from a real tooth!" Sentences like these tell the other person the benefits he will receive from your work or advice. High pressure does not belong in the profession of caring for the health, but sound salesmanship does. The difference between life and death often lies in the words used by the physician. The thoughtful dentist, I've noticed, keeps his instruments behind his patient. He always works with his tool kit out of the patient's sight so that the patient will not be frightened unnecessarily. His nurse is always cheerful and smiling. It's important for her to be, because she usually stands where you see her as the dentist does his drilling and cutting; and the sunshine she radiates cheers you up and makes the drilling seem less annoying. The modern dentist is a psychologist. You don't see what he puts into your mouth. You don't get a big fright when he starts to use his chisel because you don't see it. All his instruments are out of sight. He doesn't get your mouth full of cotton, then ask you what you thought of the baseball game the day before. He doesn't keep pressing the drill, until you leap up in pain. He knows when to ease up on the drill, so that you can relax. He talks about something .interesting to take your mind off the drilling. He says, in advance, "This will hurt a little, but not much." You brace yourself for the jolt, which is much easier to 206 "TESTED SELLING" take than the unexpected burn with the millions of years of fear you go through between each jab of pain. Psychology applied to dentistry that's all it is. Here's the point to keep in mind: Whether you are a doctor or a dentist or a salesman, sizzlemanshif will help you find the road to success. Ifs as Much How You Say It as What You Say 32 COMMANDER WITHERSPOON GIVES A POINTER FOR SELLING "GOBS" ON RELIGION The Gobs turn out to see a movie because of the expression, "No children allowed." The Marines get a tip and so can any salesman from this chapter., V^OMMANDER WlTHERSPOON, CHAPLAIN AT THE PfiNSACOLA Naval Station, had me address his men on the value of words in conducting their personal lives and in performing their duties* As a result of our talk, the Marines who guard the station have revised their approach sentehce. When you drive up to enter the yards, a Marine steps up to your car. He used to say, "You haven't any cameras, have you?" A fine example of a leading question to get an answer but not always the answer the Government wants, for when you are approached in this manner, you usually say that you have no cameras. Today this expression has been changed to: "What kind of camera have you in your car?" Many people, taken off guard, state the type of camera they have, and in this way the Marines are eliminating the risks resulting from the taking of pictures in the yards. You 207 208 COMMANDER WITHERSPOON GIVES A POINTER are asked to leave your camera with the Marine until you return. Ask a "what" question it works. HERE'S A STORY BY THE COMMANDER It seems that one of the sailors took movies of Shanghai. They were educational and interesting, but perhaps not so entertaining as Hollywood movies, so attendance was poor. One day Commander Witherspoon took the usual adver- tisement of "Life in Shanghai" and, for the new gobs, added one more sentence, "NO CHILDREN ALLOWED." The house was packed for the first time! "It shows you what words will do," said the good chaplain, who is very well liked at the post. "You know," he went on, "if you could find a substitute for Hell you'd be doing us chaplains a favor. The word Hell used to be a good sizzle to get people to come to church but not any more." It seems that even in the Navy the pastors have their problems of selling people on going to church. They realize that their Sunday "show" must compete with the beach, golf, and the feather beds of long Sunday snoozes. Everything needs a sizzle, and churches are no exceptions. HOW ONE PASTOR SELLS THE SIZZLE One pastor I know advertises in the "How to" manner of the mail-order house for example: "How to Get Religion Quickly" "How to Wrestle with Money Problems" "How to Win a Wife and Hold Her" FOR SELLING "GOBS" ON RELIGION 209 The "how to" is a good way to sell a church, for the days of merely advertising "Samson and Delilah" are over with. Today, if you want to get an audience, you should say: "How Delilah Captured the Love of Samson" Many people stay away from church, but, when Billy Sun- day or Amy McPherson came to town, they'd flock out in droves and leave enough money in collection plates to build many a church. Billy Sunday put on a "show." He sold religion. He didn't jam it down people's throats by saying, "The devil will get you if you don't watch out." Amy, of course, out-does George M. Cohan with her flags, her music, her "entrances," and her "exits." She gets across her religion on a band wagon with a calliope at the end. Sell-don't "preach." Make religion interesting that's your sales rule. ADVERTISE WITH A BOX-OFFICE APPEAL The alert preacher today asks himself, "Will it bring them to the church on Sunday?" If the sermon will do this, it is worth considering. The theater manager asks himself, "Will it sell tickets?" If the show won't sell tickets, he won't put it on. Yet how many preachers ask themselves on Thursday, "Will my sermon bring them in on Sunday and make them glad they came?" That's the test of a good sermon. I may get myself disliked by comparing religion with showmanship, but each is selling an idea, and selling must 210 COMMANDER WITHERSPOON GIVES A POINTER enter religion to combat the selling of pastimes that keep people away from Sunday services. Now don't get me wrong. Don't read things into this chapter. Don't carry it to the extreme. I'm not advocating that churches put pictures of Samson and Delilah in their lobbies; I'm not suggesting that ban- ners be put out in the street advertising the guest preacher as "The Tallest Preacher in Any Church in Person." It is not my purpose to commercialize religion but only to awaken sleeping preachers and make them realize that getting the story of Christ across to people is religious sales- manship. Putting religion across, getting people into church on Sun- day, and increasing the collections boils down to a few rules. The most important one is: Tell your story in the way people want to hear it put box-office appeal into your sermons. for the Sizzle in Whatever You Sell 33 PUTTING THE "SURE" INTO INSURANCE Your armchair chats with prospects are more important than a President's fireside chats at least they are to you. You are the dictator of your sales talJ^. Put some sizzle into it and you't won't fizzle. M, i ORE INSURANCE MEN, I'M TOLD BY THE PUBLISHERS OF OUR first book, Tested Sentences That Sell, purchased this book than any other group of salespeople, and then came the re- quest to interpret these points specifically for insurance. Realizing that an insurance salesman knows more about selling insurance than anyone else, I held clinics of sales- people who sell all forms of insurance. These clinics were held in many cities throughout the country. In many other cities I gave our talk, "Word Magic," and inspired hundreds of people to pass on their best sentences and methods for selling insurance. I gathered a great deal of information about selling insur- ance from the "result stories" of salesmen who had put the five Wheelerpoints into practice, and here is some of it. These ideas are not one person's but many persons', for, as 211 212 PUTTING THE "SURE" INTO INSURANCE Bruce Barton has said, "Everybody knows more than any- body." SIZZLE DON'T FIZZLE It costs no more to sell a two-dollar steak that sizzles than it does to sell a thirty-cent hamburger that lies on the plate fizzling. You use no more gas and oil and shoe leather to sell a $10,000 policy than you do to sell a $1,000 one. Rent remains the same; so does upkeep everything, in fact, except your sales talk. To sell a $10,000 policy you must use $10,000 sales words on your prospect. You must avoid "depression words" like these: "Yes, I know times are hard, but. . . ." "Well, he won't always be President. Now. . . ." "How about a $10,000 one?" "I don't suppose I could interest you in. . , ." These words fizzle. They won't take care of your pros- pect after he's sixty-five; and they won't take care of you till you're sixty-five. BE DICTATOR OF YOUR OWN SALES TALK What you say today, in front of your prospect, is more important to you and to him than what the dictators say tomorrow. Sell for today, and you'll live for tomorrow! Side-step that oldest objection in the world: "Let's wait till we see what happens." Why wait? We'll have another President. There'll prob- ably be other dictators. What of it? PUTTING THE "SURE 11 INTO INSURANCE 213 You are dictator where your prospect is concerned you can dictate what you want him to do. Get a good approach worked out a good approach for him a few "Tested Sell- ing Sentences" for the presentation, and some good, hot sizzles for your close. Walking up to a secretary and saying, "Do you think Mr. Jones will see me today?" will bring the usual response: "He's busy." So will such approaches as: "Could I have a minute of Mrs. Jones' time?" "How's the old boy feeling today, Sister?" "Please give this card to Mr. Brown." "I don't suppose I could see the boss today." There are any number of good approaches you could use instead of these. Work up some "Tested Approaches" of your own the kind that sizzle, the kind that put the "sure" into selling insurance. POLICIES CANT SIGN THEMSELVES The best-looking merchandise doesn't sell itself, and the nicest dotted line won't sign itself without the intelligent persuasion of your sales talk. You gain attention, hold it, and get the signature with words! Sign language is no more. A deaf mute may succeed in getting things done without making any sounds, but not an insurance representative. Remember, as we said in Tested Sentences That Sell, that the cigar-store Indian never made a sale he had no human voice. All he ever did was to attract you to the place of business, where a bright young fellow sold you a 214 PUTTING THE "SURE" INTO INSURANCE two-for-a-quarter cigar with the sizzle, "It won't unravel in your mouth while you are smoking, sir." So your first point in building a sales talk with "sure" in it is to find the right approach. DON'T BE DEPRESSION-MINDED Your frame of mind counts for a lot. Medicine won't help, if you've made up your mind it won't even before the doctor gives it to you. Don't be like the old fellow from Baltimore, the perpetual pessimist who, when the first train was due at the station, said, "It'll never get here a big thing like that." When the train came puffing down the track, the pessimist said, "They'll never be able to stop it that's a cinch!" Once the train had come to a halt in the station, he mur- mured, "Well, it stands to reason they won't be able to get it to move." Even when the train had started up and disappeared round the bend, the old pessimist, sunk in his depression thinking, shook his head and said, "That's the last you'll ever see of that trainl" It's all in your viewpoint. It's up to you to pick the right words to use on Joe Lieber- wich, or Tony Pasquali, or Mike McGregory on every sin- gle one of your prospects. Choose words with a smile in them. Don't be depression-minded. And remember: are the boss of your sales tal\, so plan it to get results. Use sizzlemanship to put the "sure" into insur- ance. The Right Words Will Help You Make Money 34 SELL THE ILLUSION NOT THE "BICARB" The best-cooked meal often ends with a dose of "bicar- bonate" in the t(itchen t but the good hostess }(eeps your mind on the sizzles and off the possible aftereffects. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY OR DO IF YOUR WIFE SERVED YOU HER special biscuits with an order of "bicarb" on the side ? You'd get pretty mad and probably feed the biscuits to the dog if you didn't like him. But your wife is smart. She sells you the butter and the biscuits; she makes your mouth water. What if you do get a stomach-ache later on? The movies sell adventure, and not the strips of film, or the eyestrain you may get. People who succeed create an illusion about themselves and what they sell; they let the fizzles take care of them- selves for every person and every business has its weak points. Remember to highlight the strong points and pass lightly over the weak ones. That's an important sales rule for you and for your sale. 215 216 SELL THE ILLUSION SELL THE STORY NOT THE BINDING A book may fall apart if the binding is cheap; but, as long as you like the story, you'll manage to keep the pages to- gether and read on until you are through. Tlie theater may not be air-conditioned, but if the movie is filled with romance and adventure or other illusions you enjoy, you'll buy the pasteboard necessary to get you in. The theater sells the story not the pasteboard ticket! Do the same yourself. Find the illusion about you that people like and admire, the part of you that is as individual as your thumbprint; it can be anything about you that makes people like you. Do they think you are a great card player, a good sport, fine at golf, a topnotch bowler, a story teller de luxe, an honest man, a crack salesman, a fine family man ? What do people like most about you ? That's your illusion your sizzle. Sell it and not the fact that you think people who play cards are bores, or that golf is a silly game, or that you hate funny stories, or that your wife thinks only your valet can get along with you, and he only because he has to if he wants to keep his job. SELL THE LOVE NEST NOT THE PLASTER It's the love nest that the newlyweds buy, not the plaster, or the bricks, or the wallpaper, although the plaster and bricks and wallpaper are, of course, necessary. The furniture store sells happiness in the home, not the size of the down payment. The preacher sells the marriage certificate, and not the divorce papers. NOT THE "BICARB" 217 The lover, under the illusion, gets married, buys the fur- niture, and moves into the house not once "seeing'* the bicarbonate in the pantry. Walter Winchell has sold himself as the "talking key- hole"; Charlie Chaplin's moustache is his trademark that and his derby and cane. These two men cast their illusion over people. John Barrymore is still "The Great Lover." Illusions and more illusions to cast over people, so that you get across with them better than if they had seen the backdrops, and the glaring floodlights, and the peanuts and chewing gum under the seats. You don't talk about your faults to others you sell your illusion. Once you've decided on the personal illusion you wish to create, and know it will please people and make them like you, then find the illusion in what you sell. If you sell insurance, sell protection not the dotted line. If you sell home furnishings, sell the easy purchase plan not the trouble of meeting the monthly payments. Sell the illusion of Gibraltar in your business, or whatever other symbol of reliability that trade-marks your company as secure. If your company operates in New England, sell the security and caution of the people who live in that part of America; if you live in the South or the West, find the illusion there and trade on it. SELL THE ILLUSION NOT THE STARK REALITY The honeymoon is over, say the newlywed husbands, when they see their young wives in curlers instead of curls. The illusion has gone. 218 SELL THE ILLUSION The happy bride smells of the kitchen now, and not of gardenias or Cape jasmines of the old South. She caught him with a curl, and lost him with a curling iron. The illusion of a curl in the moonlight won him, even though he later found that the curl cleverly covered a wart on her neck. Don't be a confidence man with suave manners and a deceitful heart but sell the illusion. You can use the tricks of the trade for the illusion, but remember that selling is never trickery. Sell the trick not trickery. SELL THE ADVANTAGES NOT THE COST The reality of life is buried beneath illusion. People don't like to go to a movie that has an unhappy ending that is, American people don't. And they don't like salesmen who grunt, who are depres- sion-minded, who talk about their family troubles, who complain about their company, or find fault with the Presi- dent of the United States. Be cheerful not gloom-minded. Sell optimism, not pes- simism. Sell the illusion of good business, and watch people flock to you. And maintain the illusion to the very last! You are the stagehand in your sale. Don't let down the backdrops until the audience has left the theater. Don't let the light go out until the last person is out on the street. Pick your "Tested Selling Sentences" first to create the illu- sion about you of a man who knows his product whose NOT THE "BICARB" 219 word can be depended upon then set the stage for your plans and your company. SELL THE CIGARS NOT THE ASHES ON THE FLOOR In our work for Johns-Manville, we sell the love nest and not the monotony of long winter evenings, or the time spent worrying about when the money will come in for the rent. In our work for The Hoover Company, we sell cleanli- ness, and not the cost per month, or the fact that every housewife is cursed with rugs to keep clean. In our work for the Texas Company, we sell the fact that the oil stays full longer, not that the oil may slide past pistons. In our work for R. H. Macy and Company, we sold the smartness of thrift in the "Tested Selling Sentences" we devised for employees. In our work for American Airlines, we sold flying hotels and speed, not crashes on mountain tops. In our work for Cudahy Packing, we sold happy bus* bands, not the ham. In our work for J. D. Williams, mail-order house of Eng- land, we sold reliability, and not the fact that the garments might not be the right size, as is so often the case when apparel is bought by mail. In our work for Carta Blanca Beer, of Mexico, we sold enjoyment not the "burps" or the "fat" in the beer! The finest beer has its "burp," and so has the finest sales- man, and the finest company. But if you sell the sizzle, the "bicarb" will take care of itself. No one is perfect; no company is perfect. 220 SELL THE ILLUSION The sparkle of the silverware is the sizzle we worked up for International Silver, and we sold it, not the "trouble involved in keeping their fine silverware sparkling. Sell your sparkle; not your dull points. How? By remembering the Five Wheelerpoints to get yourself that job, that promotion, that sweetheart, or that order; to get yourself more happiness in the home, more social suc- cess, or greater business gains. And, in summary, the Five Wheelerpoints are: i. Don't Sell the Steak Sell the Sizzle! It's the sizzle that sells the steak and not the cow; the sizzle in you first, then in your plan. Find your sizzles and you find success. 2.. "Don't Write TELEGRAPH." The slow waiter can spoil the chefs best sizzling steak; so learn the art of verbal shorthand learn how to get across "telegraphically" with people. 3. "SAY IT WITH FLOWERS." "Happy returns of the day" mean much more when you say it with a bouquet of flowers. What he did told the girl as much about him as what he said; so learn how to synchronize your sizzles with showmanship. 4. Don't Ask If Ask WHICH! Always give the other person a choice between something and something never between something and nothing. Ask the questions that get the answers you want. NOT THE "BICARB" 221 5. Watch Your Bark! Your voice is the carrier of your message. The finest sizzle in the world, dressed up telegraphically with bou- quets of action, and many "whichs," flops with a thud if your voice is flat. It's as much how you say it, as what you say! All of which sums up in this one "Tested Selling Sen- tence": Don't thin\ so much about what you want to say as what the other person wants to hearl Sizzle + Salesmanship = Sizzlemanship ELMER WHEELER'S SALES ALBUM In the following pages are presented many ideas and sen- tences for selling a variety of products. Several sales plans developed by Tested Selling Institute in its work with vari- ous clients and miscellaneous sentences gathered from Elmer Wheeler's Word Clinics throughout the country are in- cluded. Although you may be selling some item not covered by the sentences in this collection, you will be able to twist many of these word combinations around to fit your own particular needs. Note: These sentences are offered not as "Tested Sen- tences" but as sentences worthy of testing. They were de- veloped by students of Elmer Wheeler's "Sizzle Schools." HOW TO SELL NEW HOMES, INSULATION, AND REMODELED KITCHENS I HE FOLLOWING SELLING SENTENCES WERE DEVELOPED IN "SlZ- zle Schools" conducted for Arthur Hood, of the Housing Guild of the Johns-Manville Company, in San Francisco, Cleveland, Chicago, New York, Memphis, and other cities. The material included here is only a sample of the Hood sales course, but it is enough to give any salesman many ideas for increasing his sales. NEW HOMES PRESENTATION It's cheaper to own than to rent. There is prestige in being a home owner. As comfortable as a good hotel. As much fun as a country club. This plan is as dignified as Mount Vernon. As much yours as you. A home of your own is worth a loan. A new home is the foundation of an estate. As proud as a parent. As secure as a mint. 225 226 HOW TO SELL NEW HOMES As private as your thoughts. Enjoy home life. You will have more than rent receipts. Make your family an owner in the business of living. Designed for you. Reflect your own personality. Be a real American citizen. A home for your grandchildren. As independent as a bank. Like a dream come true. As safe as the Golden Gate Bridge. Pride of personal possession. As happy as innocence. As beautiful as an evening gown. As durable as flint. To be happy and to feel secure. Be an owner. A castle that weathers all storms. As good as bank stock. As beautiful as music. As pleasant as a raise in pay. As convenient as the highways. Enjoy it as you pay. Money invested in the home is tangible wealth. You can pay for it for less than you are paying in rent. The ideal way to save money. Own the roof over your head. You are paying for it; why not own a home? Pay for it with rent checks. You can have financial security. Your present rent or less will pay for this security and happiness. More health . . . fewer doctor bills. Permanent ... no costs after final payment. It increases your wealth. It breeds contentment. You are your own landlord. Do something for your family. INSULATION AND REMODELED KITCHENS 227 Happy headquarters for your family. You have earned this reward. The most-needed and soundest investment. Paid out of wasted rent money. Retire in your own home. You have to live somewhere. The best savings account in the world. A man's home is his symbol of dignity. WHICH SENTENCES Which do you prefer rent receipts or an equity in your own home? Which do you prefer a home and garden or a noisy apartment? Which do you want cross ventilation or stagnant air? Which would you like for the exterior cedar grain or stucco ? Which type of home would you like Colonial or English? Which of these plans do you prefer? Which of these styles in windows do you want? When shall we go to the bank tomorrow or Monday ? Which terms do you wish 2 years or 15? Which gets your $20 a month the landlord or the estate? Which type of doors do you wish? Which do you prefer a name or just a place to stay in? Which do you prefer a deed or rent receipts ? Which side do you want the front entrance on ist or B street? Which home do you prefer ? Which do you want a porch or a patio? Which pattern do you prefer? INSULATION PRESENTATION Even temperature all year around. Reduce your fuel bills. Fireproof as a piece of ice. 228 HOW TO SELL NEW HOMES Healthful as the ocean breeze. Waterproof as a duck's back. Fire resisting as a stone wall. The guardian of your life. As warm as wool. Cool as a swim. Fireproof as a fire hydrant. Vermin proof as a moth ball. Keeps the home in the shade. A jack knife and a hammer will install it. Pays for itself. If you can hammer a nail, you can apply it. Warm in winter cool in summer. Saves 20 to 35 per cent fuel. As modern as a new day. As cool as a downtown theater. Just nail it on. Cool as a cave. Pay your light bill with savings on fuel. Keeps climate in and weather out. An overcoat for the house. As comfortable as a feather bed. As healthful as a vacation. The first cost is the last cost. It will save its cost in fuel bills in five years. One good doctor bill will cost you more than this improvement. You have already paid for it at least once. Safety for your family and pocketbook. Will keep the house dry. No more drafty rooms. When you hear the fire engine, relax it won't be your house. You are paying for it whether you have it or not. It never wears out. Enjoy what you pay for. You get a blanket of health and protection around your house. A press card couldn't get a fire through these fire lines. A tropical home in the winter a seaside resort in the summer. INSULATION AND REMODELED KITCHENS 229 You are losing money right through your walls. Don't buy heat for the neighborhood. In the winter it keeps warm air in and cold air out. You want your family to be comfortable, don't you? You owe it to yourself. It's a fuel bank; let it save you some money. You may have this protection for $5 a month. SHOWMANSHIP Sentence Keep cold out heat in. Cuts the gas bill. It's made of rock. No heat comes through. It's fireproof. Feel how soft it is. Feel the blanket-like thickness. It's nonabsorbent because it's made from limestone. See how it deadens the sound. These letters from satisfied cus- tomers prove its worth. You have it now in your refrig- erator. Showmanship Wrap burning cigarette in in- sulating material. Display bill. Hold out a stone. With alcohol torch melt penny and then try it on material. Hold lighted match to it. Hand piece to customer. Hand piece to customer. Show piece of limestone. Stamp on piece with feet. Show letters. Point to refrigerator. WHICH SENTENCES Which type of financing do you prefer? Which shall we use the semi-thick or the more efficient full- thick? Which will be most convenient today or tomorrow? Which do you want a fireproof or inflammable home? 230 HOW TO SELL NEW HOMES Which do you prefer a variable temperature in your home or an even one? Which do you prefer low or high fuel bills? Would you rather sleep comfortably or sweat all night? Which do you prefer heat inside or outside? Which part of the house shall we begin on? Will you notify your architect of the change or shall we? Will you give me a check or shall I put this on account? Which do you want to supervise the job or leave it to me? ANSWERING OBJECTIONS Objection Costs too much. Too heavy. I can do without it. Not needed in this climate. Colors are not bright enough. I want to talk with my hus- band. Too much fuss. Weather is bad. Can't afford it. Answer The first is the last expense. Your fuel bills cost too much, too, don't they? The cheapest roof per year you can buy. You pay for it anyway; why not get what you pay for? Its weight is half that of slate or tile. Without comfort? You do believe in greater home comfort, don't you? More important here than at the North Pole. Neither are nature's permanent colors bright. Good idea how about 8 or 8:30 tonight? We have special equipment that protects surroundings. We can start at the first break in the weather. You can't afford not to have it because it will pay dividends. INSULATION AND REMODELED KITCHENS 231 Objection Answer Later. It would cost but five dollars to have this comfort now. You can enjoy the added com- fort now. Get along without it. You will enjoy it more than the money. Wouldn't you feel better if you knew your children were pro- tected from winter colds with no-draft floors? Hard to apply. As easy as lumber cuts like wood. REMODELED KITCHENS PRESENTATION Designed to save you steps. Comfortable as a good bed. Sanitary as the food you eat. As beautiful as a flower. As convenient as a pocket. As valuable as a bank deposit. As economical as a telephone. Compact as a fitted case. A place for everything. As attractive as a new car. As appealing as a new hat. As cheerful as a Spring day. A modernized workshop. f Easy to clean as a mirror. As new as the morning paper. Puts your work at your finger tips. Saves energy to enjoy the dinner. You spend more pleasant hours here. 232 HOW TO SELL NEW HOMES SHOWMANSHIP Sentence Showmanship Everything within reach. Extend arm. This modern kitchen is a step Pace off steps between stove saver. and refrigerator. Sec how easily I can wash this Wash sample. finish. Every modern kitchen labor- Show picture. saving device. Just look at these modern kit- Point out pictures in magazine. chens. Look at the difference. Hold sample of finish against present wall. WHICH SENTENCES Which do you prefer this finish or the softer texture? Which would you like this cabinet or that one? Which do you prefer a kitchen with a breakfast nook or a sepa- rate breakfast room off the kitchen? Which would you prefer a planned kitchen or just some cabi- nets? Which contractor do you prefer? Which shall we paint it blue or green? Which do you wantflush doors or the panel type? Which will you choosea double or a single sink? ANSWERING OBJECTIONS Objection Answer Too high. Quality is not cheap. Three or four coats of paint will cost this much. Can't afford it. It can be paid for in the easy manner you buy your car. INSULATION AND REMODELED KITCHENS 233 Objection .Later. I can get it cheaper. We are satisfied with the old one. Don't want the mess. House isn't worth it. Color is too dull. Answer Can you afford to wait? These are Guild Trade Stand- ard specifications and prices. A lower price can be made, but you get what you pay for. You would like your kitchen to be as stylish as Mrs. Brown's, wouldn't you? You wouldn't be satisfied with a 1920 model car would you? Under the Guild way, coordi- nated work makes the least possible inconvenience. Make the house worth it by do- ing it. Color is solid, not a veneer, as the color is permanent. Highly colored products re- quire two or three coats of paint, which will cost this much in a few years. HOW TO SELL BUTTER AND EGGS OEVERAL YEARS AGO WE DEVELOPED A PLAN TO INCREASE SALES for the Bickley Butter and Egg Company of Philadelphia. First we told the sales force what to say to dealers in order to sell them more Bickley products. We gave them "Tested Selling Sentences" to replace the old-fashioned "Need any eggs today?" and "How's your butter?" Then we developed sales ideas for the dealers, for we real- ized that, if the dealers increased their total business, they would be certain to sell more Bickley goods. We incorporated these ideas in "flash sheets," which were distributed to the dealers each week by the salesmen. In the next few pages are reproduced some of these "flash sheets" that helped Bickley dealers build sales. 234 HOW TO SELL BUTTER AND EGGS 235 HOW TO SELL THE "LOOKER" WHO ASKS PRICE Flash Sheet No. i Ever ask a peanut vender how much a bag of peanuts costs and notice that as he tells you the price he holds a bag before you in full view and within reach of your hands? There is real sales^ manship in this humble selling technique which you can use! Applied to the selling of food, it simply means that whenever a customer points to something on the shelf, or on the counter, and asks, "How much is that?" do not reply until you either have the article in your hand or pass it to the customer. Many sales are made in this simple manner to "lookers" who merely wanted price only to find that when they saw the article closer, or held it, they had an impulsive desire to buy it! Merchandise in the customer's hands sells 21 times faster than on the counter, in the case, in boxes, or on the shelf I This is a scientific fact! Try it yourself! Sell faster by immediately showing and describing. 236 HOW TO SELL BUTTER AND EGGS OVERCOMING COMPETITIVE PRICE Flash Sheet No. 2 It very often happens that a store near by, selling the same merchandise as your store, will price an item either the same as or below your price. In cases such as this customers usually say: "The store down the street sells it oo# cheaper." You should reply: "Very often our competitors watch our specials and meet our prices but only temporarily! 9 This reply impresses the customer from a business viewpoint, and keeps her as your regular customer. Never belittle a competitor's store. Instead, use the above "Tested Selling Sentence," which is the way leading department and chain stores of the country build business from the customer who always tells you the price is cheaper down the street. Overlook her statement once you have spoken the above, and immediately start using "Tested Selling Sentences" that bring out the leading merchandising points of superiority of your own product! This is a good way to overcome price objection without of- fending either the customer or the man down the street in your line of business. Tact setts more goods than price tickets. HOW TO SELL BUTTER AND EGGS 237 HOW TO SELL MORE COFFEE Flash Sheet No. 3 "This is a blend of the finest shade-grown coffee! After a customer has made her purchase don't ask her if she "wants anything else." This is bad selling. Instead, hold a pound of coffee before her. Smell of it yourself; then invite the woman to smell of it and use the above magic sales words. You will find that 9 out of 10 women will smell of the coffee and will like its fragrance and even if they don't buy at once they will have this coffee in mind and will try it at a later time. Be sure to use this "trick of the trade" on your best long-profit coffee. After you use the above sentence use this one: "You get more cups per pound of this coffee, madam." Explain that shade-grown coffee is the finest and richest, be- cause the sun hasn't dried out the coffee bean. Because it is grown in the shade, the coffee has a richer flavor that requires less coffee to a cup. "Anything else?" "Something in coffee?" won't sell coffee. The above two selling sentences will sell your best brand of coffee. Try it on your next 10 customers and convince yourself! A Bictyey "sales builder' 9 238 HOW TO SELL BUTTER AND EGGS SELLING BY SMELL Flash Sheet No. 4 "Doesn't this have a fine flat/or, madam?" After completing an order, especially one that consists of bak- ing ingredients, show your best brand of vanilla and say the above sentence as your opening "attention-getter." While speaking the sentence, remove the cork from one of the bottles, smell of the contents, and then offer the bottle to the customer to do likewise. This simple "trick of the trade" will cause the customer to in- stinctively do the same. She will take the bottle in her own hands to smell of it. Once the,bottle is in the customer's hands the sale is half made! This principle of smelling of a food item before handing it to a customer and then remarking "how fine it smells" is good salesmanship. It applies to any grocery item that has a good fra- grance, and will help make the sale more quickly if the customer smells the fine fragrance! Another BicJtfey "tric\ of the trade' to help you sell more of your goods HOW TO SELL BUTTER AND EGGS 239 IMPORTANCE OF YOUR HANDS IN A SALE Flash Sheet No. 5 How do you handle your merchandise? As if every can con- tained diamonds? As if every egg were made of the finest Italian workmanship? As if every pound of butter were worth many, many dollars; and as if each loaf of bread, pound of tea, coffee, sugar, or whatever you are selling, were "worth a fortune"? If you do, you are right! If you fumble your goods or slam them on counters, you are not building your business. Your hands play an important part in every sale, from soup to nuts! You should cultivate efficient hand-movements in displaying mer- chandise. Hold each item with extreme care. Slovenly handling of merchandise merely means to a customer that you do not value it very highly! Cultivate the professional manner of showing merchandise that is associated with a sales person who is well versed in all the selling features of the item being shown the customer. You can make your most inexpensive item take on the impor- tance of. value and worth if properly handled and displayed with "hands that sell." Watch your hands. Keep them, nicely manicured and clean at all times. Show your merchandise in a clever manner, with hands and fingers that fairly "speak." Let your hands help sell that more expensive coffee, can of sardines, or swiss cheese! Put your hands to work for you, and they will help you in- crease your sales. A Bictyey sales builder 240 HOW TO SELL BUTTER AND EGGS OPENING AND FOLLOW-UP SENTENCES FOR MILKMEN TO SELL BICKLEY EGGS Flash Sheet No. 6 (a) Attention Getter (b) Follow-Up 1. (a) "Do you like poached eggs, Mrs. Jones?" (b) "Bickley's eggs are especially selected for perfect poach- ing." 2. (a) "Try this Bickley egg in any style you like." (give egg free) (b) "I'll call in a day or so to see how you enjoyed its flavor." 3. (a) "Do you know why hospitals use Bickley's eggs?" (b) "Because they contain health vitamins" 4. (a) "Wouldn't it be convenient to get your eggs with your milk?" (b) "You will like that country tang in Bickley eggs." 5. (a) "Wouldn't you like your eggs delivered fast from the farm?" (b) "Our speed delivery service brings them to you in rec- ord time." HOW TO SELL BUTTER AND EGGS 241 OPENING AND FOLLOW-UP SELLING SENTENCES FOR MILKMEN TO SELL BICKLEY EGGS Flash Sheet No. 7 (a) Attention Getter (b) Follow-Up 1. (a) "Do you like sweet or salt butter?" (b) "Then you will enjoy Bickley's fresh churned butter." 2. (a) "Wouldn't it be convenient to get your butter with your milk?" (b) "You will like Bickley's dairy-fresh butter!" 3. (a) "Do you bake much?" (b) "Many cooks prefer Bickley's butter, because it creams so easily!" 4. (a) "Have you had Bickley's sunshine-vitamin butter lately?" (b) "It is made from pasteurized cream which keeps you feeling healthyl" 5. (a) "Would you like to be sure that your butter is fresh?' 9 (b) "Butter delivered with your milk assures you of its freshnessl" HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS llERE ARE SOME MORE "FLASH SHEETS" THIS TIME TO HELP dealers to increase their sales of meat products. These sheets are a few of the ones we developed in our re- search for a Chicago packing company. They were issued to dealers periodically through the company's contact men. 242 HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS 243 SUGGESTING HAM AS AN EXTRA SALE Flash Sheet No. i "Would you like to reduce the time it takes you to cook a ham?" This sentence will ring the bell, especially with the woman who does her own housework. She has dreamt of the day when she will have a cook and six maids. The closest she will come to it is finding food that can be prepared quickly. Her husband likes ham best of any meat because it has such a fine flavor, but the housewife has avoided it because of the time and trouble it takes to prepare. So ring the bell with your open- ing sentence. Pick up a Puritan ham and hold it in full view and reach of the customer. Say: "You can by one-third with this ham it requires no parboil- ing." Again if the customer hesitates remind her that you can cut the ham into sections. She will have a roast for dinner tonight, slices for tomorrow's ham and eggs and the shank for soup. Not to mention slices of the roast for the children's school lunch. Sell your products by suggesting their application to your cus- tomer's needs. Imagine yourself in her place. A family of 6 to serve 21 meals a week to. She runs out of ideas and the family howls for something different. Have suggestions ready and sell her more meat and greater variety. Selling success depends upon your spoken word. 244 HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS SUGGESTING HAM AS AN EXTRA SALE Flash Sheet No. 2 "Hasn't this ham a fine, country-cured aroma?" Take advantage of the customer's memories of country break- fasts of ham. The smell of the ham will make her mouth water. You will bring into play not only her eyesight, but her sense of smell in making the sale. In this case, too, take advantage of the "monkey see, monkey do" instinct. Smell the ham (with a good deep breath) and pass it to her to do likewise. Say: "It's a Puritan ham and comes from the heart of the corn belt" Try to keep in mind the fact that ham is the most nutritious of muscle meats. The customer may not know that, so, especially if she has growing children, remind her of it. It can be verified in Department of Commerce reports. Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the words. Fancy words like fancy clothes call attention to you rather than to your mer- chandise. Selling success depends upon your spoken word. HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS 245 SUGGESTING HAM AS AN EXTRA SALE Flash Sheet No. 3 "Have you planned your meals for the weekend?" The customer's reaction to this will be, "My heavens no. What would you suggest?" Step in and answer that desperate house- hold question, "What'll I have for supper tonight? The family is tired of everything." Answer the question for Friday's dinner and end the worry of unexpected guests over the weekend. Hold up a Puritan ham and say: "You can settle plans for three meals now with a Puritan ham." Point out to her that she'll have a roast for tonight which can be sliced cold for unexpected guests or Sunday evening supper and that slices can be cut off for Sunday morning ham and eggs. This sentence is especially good for the customer with a small family. She doesn't buy a ham because there's too much of it. "You. can't finish it in one meal." Remind her of ham sand- wiches, cold sliced ham, creamed ham. Find simple ham recipes to suggest. Develop the habit of suggesting menus to your cus- tomers and cut the length of time each sale takes. The selling word is mightier than the price tag. 24* HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS SUGGESTING HAM AS AN EXTRA SALE Flash Sheet No. 4 "How does your family prefer ham ba\cd or boiled?" Put your customer's mind on a seesaw with this question. She isn't deciding between ham and nothing or ham and beef but between ham and ham I She can't answer "No" to this one. When you have her answer, pick up a Puritan ham in one hand and give it a brisk slap and hand it to the customer to feel. Say: "Then you'll especially like this Puritan tender ham." Never approach the subject of ham with such questions as "How about a ham today" or "Do ya want a ham?" The an- swer, "No, not today," comes, automatically and without thought. Get the customer to think about a ham. Use the merchan- dising approach. Start with a "sizzle" about the item she is look- ing at. Ask her a leading question. Get interest quickly telegraphically. Learn the art of ''seesaw selling!' HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS 247 HOW TO CLOSE A HAM SALE Flash Sheet No. 5 Based on Wheelerpoint 4: "Don't Ask //Ask Which." 1. "Shall I send it with your order or will you ta\e it with you?" 2. "Witt you ba\e it for supper tonight?" 3. "Shall I cut it in two parts or leave it whole?" 4. "Shall I cut off slices for tomorrow's breakfast or leave it whole?" 5. "Which would you prefer sweet potatoes or squash with the ham?" 6. "Will a twelve-pound ham be sufficient?" The outstanding characteristic of these sentences, as you will discover, is the difficulty of saying "No." Force the woman to make up her mind, but don't let her de- cide between ham and nothing. Make her decide between ham and ham. A simple question, well chosen, often clinches a wavering sale. How many sentences like those above can you make up? Test out your sales vocabulary and knowledge of your customer's re- actions. Don't say, "How about ham today?" Don't say, "How ya fixed for ham today?" Be specific. Ask leading questions, like a good lawyer, questions that make it hard for customers to say "No" and easy to say "Yes" like the 6 "Tested Selling Sentences" above. Be a question-mar^ salesperson. 248 HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS SUGGESTING BACON AS AN EXTRA SALE Flash Sheet No. 6 "Have you tried country-cured bacon?" The sizzle in this sentence gives your customer visions of a country breakfast with brown curls of bacon decorating a platter of fried eggs. Her mouth waters for it. Hand her a package of Puritan bacon and say: "This bacon comes from the heart of the corn belt!' Don't be fooled by the simplicity of these sentences. It's their simplicity that makes them effective. Fancy words, like fancy clothes, attract attention to you rather than to your merchandise. Draw her attention to your, product telegraphically and keep it there with short, effective words in short sentences. How many ways to cook bacon do you know of? Start today to collect simple bacon recipes. Suggest them to the undecided customer and watch your bacon sales mount. Don't sell the stea\ sell the sizzle. HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS 249 SUGGESTING BACON AS AN EXTRA SALE Flash Sheet No. 7 "Do you broil or fry bacon?" The customer will have to stop for a minute to find her an- swer. Watch her take a deep breath as she remembers the de- licious smell of frying bacon. Her mouth will water and a great light will dawn. "Bacon for tomorrow's breakfast!" she'll say to herself, "So much easier than pancakes." Hand her a package of Puritan bacon and say: "This bacon won't lose it's hickory flavor no matter how you cook it." Cultivate a cheerful, sincere smile. Meat, especially pork, is connected in the public's mind with cheerful occasions. Make buying the meat a cheerful occasion, too, by your attitude. Cultivate the simple, effective words in your vocabulary, but avoid the traditional sales sentences that have been worn thin. The public has heard "How'r ya fixed for" and "D'ya want any" so much that they have the answer, "Not today, thank you" ready. Your customer won't even think how she's fixed for bacon or whether she wants it. She'll just smile mechanically and say, "Not today." Find the "sizzle" in your product; put it over the counter in ten seconds and hear a different answer. It's the sizzle that sells not the hog. 250 HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS SUGGESTING SHORTENING AS AN EXTRA SALE Flash Sheet No. 8 "Would you like to save on shortening?" Turn the love of the "almighty dollar" to your advantage. Would she like to save? "Explain quickly, young man. How can I save on shortening." Pick up a can of White Ribbon shortening and hold it in full view and reach of the customer. Say: "This fine quality White Ribbon shortening is (oo#) cheaper than the other brands." Tell her that White Ribbon is an easily digestible shortening that won't give off that hea.vy black smoke at ordinary cooking temperatures. Keep in mind the fact that you are handling food. The cus- tomer wants proof that it is clean. So keep your hands and store apron spotless. Replace merchandise that you are showing back on the shelf, but only as a last resort. It would be better to place it in the customer's market basket. Say it right and handle it right. HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS 251 CLOSING A SALE OF SHORTENING Flash Sheet No, 9 "Shall I send it with your order or will you ta\e it with you?" "Will you need it to prepare lunch or dinner?' 9 "One or two cans?" "Shall I send the economy-size can?" Read over these questions. Is it easy or logical to answer "No" to them? Use them gently and in a quiet tone of voice. Don't let the customer think, "High pressure." Gently "force her" to decide between shortening and shorten- ing. Be a good lawyer in your selling. Ask leading questions. El- mer Wheeler, in his best seller, Tested Sentences That Sett f teaches you never to ask a customer "does he want to buy" give him choices. Ask the questions that will get the answers that you want. Give the customer her choice between something and something. Don't as\ if asl( which I 252 HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS SUGGESTING LARD AS AN EXTRA SALE Flash Sheet No. 10 "Have you had French fries lately?" Follow up your question by suggesting that she have French- fried potatoes tonight with the roast. Most women will object because French fries are so much trouble and fuss. Wipe out her objection with your follow-up sentence. Say: "Puritan lard will make better, crisper French fries easily with- out mess." Explain to the customer that she can use the Puritan lard over and over again. The lard is dry rendered and will cook the po- tatoes without cooking smells. Remind her that she will find cooking directions on the can. Start now to find out simple ways of using lard. Vary your ap- proach from day to day and person to person. What are the tasty ways of using some of the other products on your shelf? Frame some of them into simple sentences that will make the customer's mouth water. Try to sell something extra to each cus- tomer you have today by answering that perpetual question, "What'll I have for dinner tonight?" Ma\e to extra sales each day. HOW TO SELL MEAT PRODUCTS 253 CLOSING THE SALE OF LARD Flash Sheet No. n "Shall I send it with the rest of the order or will you ta\e It with you?" "How many packages will you need?" "When do you want it delivered?" Elmer Wheeler, in his best seller, Tested Sentences That Sett teaches you to ask a leading question, like a good lawyer. Ask the question that will get the answer you want. Give the customer a choice between something you want him to do and something else you want him to do. Never make it a choice between doing something and nothing. Ask a customer "Which?" "Where?" "Whom?" "How?" or "What?" Never if but which. Don't ask the customer, "Do you want some lard?" but "How much!" A simple question, well chosen, often clinches a wavering sale. How many sentences like the four above can you make up? Test out your word skill. Don't as\ if ast^ which I HOW TO SELL GROCERY ITEMS H ERE IS A LIST OF SELLING SENTENCES THAT HAVE BEEN DE- vcloped or discovered in research for such clients as Macy's and Gimbels in Philadelphia, Safeway Stores in Texas, cer- tain Kroger stores in Cleveland, numerous independents for Cudahy Packing Company, and Carta Blanca Beer Company in Mexico. These sentences have not been tested by Elmer Wheeler or his staff, but they have been used successfully by salespeople at grocery counters, and many of them seem to be effective as is. PRESENTATION SENTENCES You'll need no persuader to make children drink this. (Malt) Like peanuts, you can't stop eating them. (Crackers, etc.) It has a kitchen-fresh flavor about it. (Many foods) Even children like spinach this way. (Spinach noodles) This caviar comes from the center of the barrel. (Caviar) They can be served right from the glass. (Hors d'oeuvres) Not an ounce of waste in a can-load. (Ox tongue) It is made from fresh spring water. (Ginger ale and soda) It is cured slowly to retain all its natural flavor. (Canned meat) They make the drink taste better. (Crackers, etc.) 254 HOW TO SELL GROCERY ITEMS 255 They arc so placed in the box as to prevent breakage. (Crackers) It is prepared by an expert chef. (Many foods) The taste is packed with its full flavor. (Many foods) No waste all food. (Canned food) It is hard and firm and does not melt away. (Soap) This has a real coffee flavor. (Coffee) Just the thing for the party to make it perfect. (Many foods) The fruit is hand crushed to avoid bitterness. (Fruit juices) It is prepared with the same care as vintage wines. (Vinegar) They are specially packed to keep their garden flavor. (Canned vegetables) It will bring out the full flavor in the meat. (Sauces) This is a good body builder for your dog. (Dog food) Your husband will like this kind with crackers. (Cheese) This will make a prize baby out of your child. (Many foods) SHOWMANSHIP Sentence Showmanship Hasn't this cheese a fine flavor? Offer piece to customer, (Cheese) Don't you like the snap in this Offer piece to customer. cheese? (Cheese) Hasn't this coffee a fine aroma? Let customer smell of open tin. (Coffee) Just look at the fine color of Give customer a coffee bean. this bean. (Coffee) These leaves are picked from Show a few leaves in hand to the top of the plant. customer. (Tea) Look at the fine color of this Hold open can toward cus- tea. tomer. (Tea) APPROACH AND FOLLOW-UP SENTENCES Cheese: 1. Do you like mild or sharp cheese? 2. You will find this unusually (mild, sharp). 256 HOW TO SELL GROCERY ITEMS 1. Have you served imported cheese lately? 2. You will like the flavor of this imported cheese. 1. Do you like to keep cheese handy for unexpected guests? 2. This will keep a long time and not dry out. 1. Would you like something different in cheese taste? 2. You'll like the different taste of this cheese. Canned meat: 1. Arc you ever forced to get dinner on short notice? 2. This can be served in less than ten minutes. 1. Do you like the flavor of real ox tongue? 2. This is packed with the full flavor in each can. 1. Cooking on hot days is a lot of bother, isn't it? 2. Your dinner is ready with a turn of the can opener. 1. Does your family like good home-cooked corned beef? 2. Expert chefs prepared this and it tastes like home cooked. Beverages: 1. Do you use ginger ale or soda in your home? 2. This is very fine (ginger ale, soda) for home use. 1. What is your favorite summer fruit drink? 2. This big bottle will fill glasses. 1. Have you ever used our spring- water carbonated soda? 2, It brings out the real flavor of every drink. Sardines: 1. Do you prefer Norwegian or Portuguese sardines? 2. Let me suggest this particular (Norwegian, Portuguese) brand. 1. How many people in your family like sardines? 2. This can contains just enough for . 1. Did you know that these sardines come all the way from Nor- way? 2. They were smoked and packed on the sunny shores of Nor- way. HOW TO SELL GROCERY ITEMS 257 Coffee: 1. How do you brew your coffee? 2. This is a really fine coffee for (drip). 1. Does your husband like good coffee? 2. This is the kind that husbands buy when they shop alone. 1. Is your family fussy about coffee? 2. This coffee will please anyone's taste. 1. Do you serve demitasse on occasion? 2. This Mocha and Java coffee makes fine demitasse. Tea: 1. Did you know that the leaves of this tea are hand picked? 2. Hand picking eliminates leaves that produce bitter tea. 1. Do you prefer a green or a black tea? 2. Try this brand and let me know if it pleases you. Soap: 1. Do you like flakes or chips? 2. These (flakes, chips) will make clothes whiter. 1. Would you like a long-lasting soap? 2. This soap is made not to wash away quickly. Honey: 1. Have you ever tried a little honey on grapefruit? 2. It's a new thrill for breakfast or dessert. 1. Have you served honey and crackers for dessert lardy? 2. It is a good change from crackers and cheese. Preserves and jellies: 1. Do you prefer jelly or whole-fruit preserves? 2. You will like the orchard freshness of this (jelly, preserve). 1. What is the favorite jelly of your family? 2. I am sure they will like the flavor of this. 258 HOW TO SELL GROCERY ITEMS Cereals: r. Would you like something easy to serve your family for break- fast? 2. This can be served direct from the box to the bowl. Dog food: 1. Is your dog a hearty eater? 2. This will fill him up at small cost. 1. How old is your dog? 2. This is the right food for his age. Crackers: 1. Have you ever eaten tomato-flavored crackers? 2. These have the true flavor of ripe tomatoes. 1. Do the tastes of your family differ? 2. This assortment will please every taste. 1. Does your husband like a sweet or dry cracker? 2. This cracker is made especially for the men. 1. Do your crackers dry out if not eaten up at once? 2. See how these are packed to prevent drying out. 1. Would you like something different in crackers? 2. These are different from the usual run of crackers. Vinegar: 1. What kind of vinegar do you use on salads white or cider? 2. This is our finest vintage vinegar. HOW TO SELL SHIRTS I HESE SENTENCES ARE THE RESULT OF ELMER WHEELER*S RE- search for the Cellophane Division of DuPont, the men's de- partment of Macy's, and Esquire magazine for its series of articles on "Tested Selling." Again they are listed exactly as they were developed or found in the rough at selling counters. None have been tested by Elmer Wheeler or his staff. PRESENTATION SENTENCES Button-down collars look neat even on the hottest days. Button-down collars won't curl up on muggy days. A white shirt will fit any occasion. A white shirt is the perfect setting for any necktie. The French front irons smoother. Notice the fine even stitching in this shirt. No man can have too many white shirts. A man always has use for white shirts. A man always looks good in white shirts 1 for business or dress. 259 260 HOW TO SELL SHIRTS SHOWMANSHIP Sentence It has a million windows. It is as light as a fountain pen. Feel the soft texture. Notice the high gloss. It's as cool as a cucumber. It has an action back. The collar won't ride up on your neck. Showmanship Hold a mesh shirt up to the light. Hold pen in one hand, and shirt in the other. Rub hand on back of shirt, and hold shirt toward customer. Hold shirt at angle to light to show gloss. Hold shirt to cheek or back of hand, and then offer it to customer. Show pleats, pull them apart, and then swing your shoul- ders back and forth. Put fingers inside your collar to show that it won't ride up. APPROACH AND FOLLOW-UP SENTENCES 1. Do you ever work with your sleeves rolled up? 2. This half-sleeve shirt gives the same effect. 1. Do you remove your coat during the summer? 2. This shirt looks as smart with the coat on or off. 1. Do your shirts cling to you on muggy days? 2. Oxford cloth won't cling as much as other cloths. 1. Do you ever wear your collar open in the summer? 2. This two-way collar can be worn open or closed. 1. Does the muggy New York climate bother you at times? 2. These mesh shirts have a million air-cooled windows. 1. Do you like comfort across your shoulders? 2. These pleats will give you comfort. HOW TO SELL CURTAINS AND BEDSPREADS I HE FOLLOWING SENTENCES ARE LISTED EXACTLY AS ELMER Wheeler and his staff developed them or discovered them in research for Stern Brothers, R. H. Macy, Sears, Roebuck, and J. D. Williams, English direct-mail house. They have not been tested by Elmer Wheeler or his staff. PRESENTATION SENTENCES The yellow color will give a sunshine effect in the room. The dots are pressed through and won't wash out. It is lined, and you can make the bed more easily. It will make the room look very cozy. They have body because they are lined. It will give the illusion of height. It will soften the light in the room. They are interchangeable throughout the house. SHOWMANSHIP Sentence Showmanship It is all ready to hang. Run blunt end of pencil through finished hem. 261 262 HOW TO SELL CURTAINS AND BEDSPREADS Sentence Showmanship It has a million windows to let Hold curtain to light. in light and air. It will hang gracefully in the Gather curtain into soft fold. room. The dots won't fall out. Shake curtain. The tie-backs can't blow out Hook onto your pencil. the window. It looks like velvet but wears Run hand over smooth finish, like iron. and then hold toward cus- tomer. The child won't be able to tear Tug curtain gently. them easily. It is wrinkle proof no ironing Gather curtain into ball, and necessary. then allow it to spring back into shape. APPROACH AND FOLLOW-UP SENTENCES 1. Have you ever seen a water-spun curtain? 2. It is spun under water and won't shrink so much. 1. Doesn't this look as smooth and soft as velvet? 2. And it wears like iron just feel of it. 1. Do you want curtains ready to hang? 2. These are ready to hang. 1. Do you want something that doesn't require dry cleaning? 2. These require no dry cleaning. They can be washed at home HOW TO SELL BRAKE LININGS I HESE SENTENCES ARE LISTED EXACTLY AS THEY WERE DEVEL- oped or discovered in the rough at service stations in Elmer Wheelers's word research for the Tilden Brake Service Com- pany in New York and New England. None have been tested by Elmer Wheeler or his staff. APPROACH SENTENCES What do you want most in brakes ? Have your brakes been bothering s you lately ? Are your brakes as efficient as the day you bought the car? Have you full confidence in your brakes, sir? When were your brakes relined last? Does your car slide forward when the brakes are applied? Have you seen our new brake linings? Does your car pull to one side when you apply the brakes? What does your mileage read? Does your car shimmy ? Do you have to pump the pedal to get brake action? Can your car stop instantly? How far does your car roll when the brakes are applied at thirty - five miles an hour? Do your brakes feel sticky? Are your brakes squeaky? 263 264 HOW TO SELL BRAKE LININGS TRADING-UP OR EXTRA-SALE SENTENCES You can obtain unlimited adjustment service during the life of the lining for only three dollars more. For only three dollars more, you get twice the service. The heavy-duty lining is tougher, and requires fewer adjustments. Just look how your drums are scored. There is no charge for installing new cables while the brakes are being relined. See how frayed your cables are. Feel the difference in these two linings. Does your clutch grab hold fast? Tight cables harden your brake pedal and shorten the life of your linings. The small cost of grease retainers will save the big cost from greasy linings. New cables will reduce the pedal pressure that tires you out. The cost per mile is less. The cost per stop is less. FOLLOW-UP SENTENCES If your brakes were visible, like your tires, you'd quickly relinc them. To tyi w Y ou can st P k better than to hope you can. In case of accident, good brake linings mean much to the law. This is the type of lining used on police cars. Did you know defective brakes are a major cause of accidents? Have you ever said, "If I had only had my brakes attended to"? Your brakes are the cheapest form of life insurance. You can't afford to bargain with safety. The cost of a pack of cigarettes per day pays for these brakes. Isn't it a great feeling to know you can stop the car when neces- sary? Which do you prefer the cost of brakes or a law suit? These linings will give you that sure-stop feeling. When hydraulic brakes are leaking, they are as dangerous as a leaky tire. HOW TO SELL BRAKE LININGS 265 It's a misfortune when you can't start a calamity when you can't stop. Watch our men work they are all experts in the science of relining brakes. Our mechanics use slip covers to prevent soiling your car, Our scientific friction meter tells the holding power of your brakes. If these new linings prevent one accident, they've more than paid for themselves. Our heavy-duty job lining is made to fit each brake shoe. Let me show you why we can't adjust those brakes. Have you passed the state inspection? Watch the job and see how we install them. Six times more wear than the original lining. When rivets ride on the brake lining, it's time to relinc your brakes. Cost of brake lining is cheap car insurance. Notice that the pedal goes all the way down to the floor board. The same action all year around. When lining is thin, it's the danger signal. Takes the pig squeak out of the car. Which would you prefer standard or heavy duty? We can make your brakes tops. In half an hour you can drive with safety. Our jobs pass the state inspector. You will now have a brake you can depend on. Do you know your wheels may lock? You won't have to keep your mind on the brakes. You can save the drums by having the job done now. Leave the car now, and notice the difference when you get it back. You certainly take great pride in keepirig your car in good con- dition, don't you? Those scored drums are tearing the lining and ruining your chances of stopping. If you reline now, you will save your entire braking system. 266 HOW TO SELL BRAKE LININGS You can make better time more safely in traffic with reliable brakes. Equalized brakes make steering safer and more enjoyable. You wouldn't ride on a flat tire neither should you ride on flat brakes. Life insurance can't save your life but good brakes can. When the emergency arises, your brakes must be reliable. To tyow you'll stop is one of motoring's greatest pleasures. Driving farther will prove dangerous and costly. You will get accurate and equalized braking power. If your pedal is spongy, air is passing through the master cylinder. One accident would cost many times more than new linings. Let me show you the type of lining you should use on your car. The better the brakes the faster and safer the stop. Your lining is dead. You can't get bargains in safety. Did you know your drums are being ruined? You are fortunate you came in when you did. Uncertain brakes make uncertain trips. Our brakes don't squeak they stop. Your car is only as safe as your brakes. It is less costly to reline brakes than straighten out fenders. The fellow with bad brakes gets bad legal breaks when accidents occur. The cards are stacked against you don't gamble. The price of an adjustment would almost cover the down pay- ment. We can do it for you while you wait. Two hours of your time now may save hours of lost time from an accident. Your brakes are all burned out they're gone! Once we have overhauled your braking system, a child will be able to stop your car. When safety is concerned, don't economize. Your drum is like a hack saw, filing away your linings. Greasy brakes slide you into accidents. HOW TO SELL BRAKE LININGS 267 You spend money for food to eat why not a few pennies for brakes to keep you alive? Would you ride on a bus that had no brakes? You have roller coaster brakes they lack friction. Fix them oncebut fix them right. Our master reline saves unnecessary adjustments. When the accident occurs, be on the safe side of the law with good brakes. In case of accident, don't let the other fellow say it was your fault because of faulty brakes. An emergency stop can't be bought at the moment it is needed. Pumping a pedal takes time you may not have in an emergency. Would you like your brakes to work as they did when the car was new? Will you wait for the job, or shall we call you when it is finished? You'll ruin the new lining unless the drums are smoothed out. You'll never regret buying quality. You'll forget price the first time an emergency arises. You'll forget the price long before you forget the quality. Within an hour we can remove the guess and gamble danger from your car, with a brake job. After all, you don't reline brakes as often as you buy gas. The cost per mile for gasoline is greater than the cost of brakes. You put gas into the car for power but power that is uncon- trolled is dangerous. SHOWMANSHIP Sentence Showmanship Watch this cylinder it is Show customer how the brakes frozen! operate. Feel how scored the drums are. Show and have customer touch parts. Your brakes drag, don't they? Shake wheel, illustrating wear. Do your brakes feel sticky? Pull fingers apart and make sticky motion with mouth. Do your rear wheels styd? Show why. 268 HOW TO SELL BRAKE LININGS Sentence Have you passed this test? The cost for this safety will be. ... Just feel the difference. See this destructive grease? These brakes will stop as fast as this. This is your brake lining. Brake lining is cheaper and safer than new fenders. Here's your trouble. What would you do if the wheels locked? This set is especially made for your car. Showmanship Show inspection seal. Quote price, letting customer see price book. He sees as well as hears the price and is not as likely to object. Have customer feel heavy-duty linings. Show how grease on brakes ruins them. Slap hands smartly together. Hand customer his worn-out lining. Hold lining toward customer and place hand on fender. Show "horrible examples" on "morgue board." Lock fingers tightly and nod head. Show set listed for his car. MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES I HE SELLING SENTENCES GIVEN IN THIS SECTION WERE GATH- ered in Word Clinics conducted by Elmer Wheeler in vari- ous cities throughout the country. As will be seen, they were designed to be used in selling a great variety of prod- ucts, ideas, and services, and many of them can also be adapted to other sales items. These sentences are some of the best ones submitted by salesmen attending the Word Clinics, but none of them have been tested by Elmer Wheeler or his staff. SIZZLE SENTENCES FROM WICHITA, KANSAS, WORD CLINIC APPROACH SENTENCES We've found that your tires are in the danger zone. (Tires) Here is a new style that is becoming to you. (Clothing) Have you made certain that your children will have an educa- tion? (Insurance) Are you interested in perfect office records? (Business equip- ment) Here is an oil that will preserve the life of your motor. (Oil) This is the shirt of the month. (Clothing) 269 270 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES Wouldn't you like to make more profit from your station? (Oil, wholesale) You have a good car you need a good gasoline. (Gasoline) Do you like a single- or double-breasted suit? (Clothing) I made that same mistake yesterday and do you know what it taught me? (Traffic safety) Isn't that bouquet a breath of spring? (Flowers) Isn't this color combination beautiful? (Flowers) Let me show you the kind of movies you can make. (Movie cameras) Here's how easy it is to make movies. (Movie cameras) How would you like to have everyone in town know about your special tomorrow ? (Newspaper advertising) Lots of men would want these suits; tell them about them in the Eagle. (Newspaper advertising) Do you want your business to prosper? (Businessmen's associa- tion) Have you arranged the investment of your wife's insurance, or have you left that to her? (Insurance) Is your insurance arranged so that it will stay out of court for all time? (Insurance) Did you increase your ice cream sales last month? (Ice cream, wholesale) We can fix it in a jiffy. (Tire service) Will a dozen of those California oranges be enough? (Oranges) How many coats of paint did you use the last time? (House paint) This garment is a March first Vogue number. (Clothing) Have you seen the new Rippletone bond for letterheads? (Sta- tionery) Did you ever eat our crisp waffles ? (Waffles) See the snug fit at the wrist. (Gloves) How big is your family? (New homes) I would like to check your watch for the correct time. (Watches) There are many new ones for you to select from. (Furniture) Wouldn't those look nice on your shelves? (Potato chips, whole- sale) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 271 I want to put a five-dollar bill under your alarm clock every morning. (Income insurance) Have you ever used a candid camera? (Still cameras) Unusual shape, isn't it? (Vases) Splendid light for reading. (Lamps) Our bread has more slices per loaf. (Bread) I'm here to check your protection of your valuable documents. (Office equipment) Six people out of every seven will as\ you for this. (Piston rings, wholesale) Your work will be easier with this saw. (Hardware) We have the systematic savings account. (Savings accounts) Sliced brick ice cream is so easy to serve. (Ice cream) I'd like you to see our improved stencil. (Stencils) This insurance analysis saved this man 20 per cent. (Insurance) Are you interested in full-paid or optional certificates? (Invest- ments) Have you ever used Goodyear with super twist? (Tires) You would enjoy serving your family a more delicious cup of coffee, wouldn't you? (Coffee) Have you planned today's meals ? (Food) PRESENTATION SENTENCES Our collars wear the life of the shirt. (Shirts) A clear title clears you. (Abstracts) We take your size before cleaning. (Hat cleaning) These peas are garden fresh. (Frosted foods) Why not handle a product that really sells? (Pineapple juicq wholesale) It takes just a couple of minutes to make a waffle. (Waffles) You can fly it yourself; you don't need a pilot. (Aircraft) The attractive packaging catches the eye. (Potato chips, whole- sale) We can give you worry-free leisure. (Income insurance) These are love checks from Dad after he has gone on. (Income insurance) 272 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES If you do what you have to do until 65, shouldn't you be able to do what you want to do after 65? (Insurance) This will stop a car going eighty. (Still cameras) You can see the picture before you take it. (Still cameras) Ladies' hosiery is expensive this metal desk with smooth legs eliminates runs. (Office equipment) Here is a ring you don't have to sell your customers. (Piston rings, wholesale) Notice these safety features. (Hardware) Money invested in our shares is a good silent partner, working for you. (Savings accounts) How would you like to start a savings' account for taxes to pay right along with your loan monthly? (Investment and savings accounts) Ice cream is the perfect dessert. (Ice cream) You'll notice this stencil is completely dry! (Stencils) Look at the perfect ease with which this can be read. (Stencils) Don't take chances on losing your business. (Insurance) Your investments are insured up to $5,000. (Building and loan association) Always a gentleman at the wheel. (Ambulance service) Increase the value of your home 10 per cent with this planting. (Landscaping) A balanced diet guards your health. (Food) It is fun to drive like the professionals. (Traffic safety) Leather matches leather better. (Leather gloves) Pay rent to yourself. (New homes) This hat is comfortable and fits your proportions. (Men's hats) We have perfected a carbon that will not smear. (Carbon paper) A new suit will give you more confidence. (Men's clothing) The fine size and long filler means a firm ash. (Cigars) Instant lubrication in all kinds of weather. (Motor oil) You will enjoy the comfort of these suspenders. (Clothing) Motorists like the way our oil stays clean in use. (Motor oil) This tie has a knack of keeping its shape. (Men's wear) Doesn't this shirt blend in fine with your suit? (Men's wear) Our gasoline is as smooth as a glider. (Motor fuel) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 273 Let me show you how you can get the "most safe miles per dol- lar" from your tires. (Tires) This color looks good on you. (Clothing) Your best year-round protection is safe habits. (Traffic safety) A safe community is a booster for business. (Traffic safety) A daring but correct corsage. (Flowers) If that were your baby, think how valuable the picture would be in ten years. (Movie cameras) Wouldn't you like to see again the trips you've taken in the last five years? (Movie cameras) Why keep the good news a secret? Tell everybody about it in the Eagle! (Newspaper advertising) This wool is an investment comparable to your home. (Mineral wool insulation) Our organization is a matter of self-preservation for the inde- pendents. (Businessmen's association) Only one woman can own this garment. (Ladies' clothing) Clothes for you, with you in mind. (Ladies' clothing) It has a lasting value. (Diamonds) Lifeguard outlasts two sets of tires. (Lifeguard tubes) The beauty attracts the nickels. (Coin-controlled phonographs) Balance the meal with health. (Oranges) Is your finish free from checks? (House paint) Would you like to have some soup while your steak is cooking? (Food) This is a new low-collar style that is very comfortable. (Men's clothing) Sheerness is what is noticed first. (Hosiery) Elasticity in our hose makes fewer runs. (Hosiery) Do you want to see a proof of this set in Roman or Gothic type? (Business stationery) Building a home is like an insurance policy. (New homes) A good political organization friendly to business is good busi- ness. (Support of political party) Cooking without water leaves all the vitamins in the food. (Cast aluminum wear) You use less fuel cooking your meal. (Cast aluminum wear) 274 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES SHOWMANSHIP Sentence You don't want to be crippled, do you? You can hear how fresh they are. Sec how easy they arc to use. These beans are garden fresh. This vault gives permanent protection. Our tubes will protect your family. Your name will be listed among the independent busi- nessmen of the city. Sec how strong it is. Look at the difference in qual- ity. This oil stays full. Have you ever eaten a crisp waffle? We make old hats new. The Eagle gets results. Showmanship Bring one arm sharply across the other. (Juvenile safety education) Break cracker between fingers. (Crackers) Display abstract and leaf through it. (Abstracts of titles) Hold frozen bean in one hand and fresh one in the other. (Frozen foods) Drop miniature vault in water. (Caskets) Show picture of wrecked auto- mobile. (Tubes) Show membership list. (Busi- nessmen's association) Put pan on floor and stand on it. (Cast aluminum ware) Show poorly spaced and well- spaced sample. (Printing) Hold up dip stick and point to full mark. (Motor oil) Point to picture of waffle with syrup and butter on back bar. (Waffles) Hold uncleaned hat in one hand and cleaned hat in the other. (Hat cleaning) Take out handful of money. (Newspaper advertising) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 275 Sentence Showmanship See how handy this container Grasp bottle to show how is. ridges prevent slipping and then hand it to customer. (Hair tonic) TRADING-UP SENTENCES This collar wears twice as long as the one on our two-dollar shirt; it's guaranteed. (Shirts) You need a new ribbon. (Hat cleaning) Be prepared for that unexpected guest. (Foods) This leather glove is heavier so will wear better. (Leather gloves) Two-car garage for that second car. (New home) This model is 25 miles faster. (Aircraft) Double for accident? (Income insurance) In addition this one has the coupled range finder. (Still cameras) . This jig saw has two speeds instead of one. (Saws) You can store the extra ice cream in your mechanical refrigerator. (Ice cream) For a small additional charge, "we can include drive-other-cars coverage. (Insurance) To add two feet to each tree adds two years' beauty to the planting. (Landscaping) You will need two pounds for the week, won't you? (Coffee) For three cents a day more this plan will mature three years sooner. (Insurance) Our ten-cent line is aged and cured for finer flavor. (Cigars) An empty tank produces moisture. (Motor fuel) This tie is heavier and will hold its shape longer. (Clothing) You get more value for the little difference. (Clothing) A bunch of violets in this bouquet of roses would be beautiful. (Flowers) This camera will take pictures with only one fourth the light. (Movie cameras) 276 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES Shout, don't whisper! Tell everybody the good news with a full- page ad. (Newspaper advertising) For a few extra dollars you can get this exclusive fabric. (Cloth- ing) Larger size guarantees a complete treatment. (Hair tonic) You want all five? (Tubes) The larger size will hold a spot longer. (Coin-controlled phono- graphs) Here we have a more tender cut. (Meat) This underwear is scientifically designed. (Clothing) The second thousand cost only half as much as the first. (Sta- tionery) You want the sustaining membership, don't you? (Political club) EXTRA-SALE SENTENCES These socks fit comfortably and snug around the ankles. (Cloth- ing) Grapefruit juice mixed with orange juice makes a delicious drink. (Foods) Did you have all the ingredients for your last cake? (Foods) Would you like sausage or an egg with your waffle? (Waffles) This bag matches perfectly made of the same leather. (Leather goods) Brass plumbing will never corrode. (New homes) Those lamps will go nicely on your new tables. (Fine furniture) These Northern Napkins are featured in our ads with Northern Tissue and are just as popular with the consumer. (Tissue, wholesale) Shall we include a few love checks? (Income insurance) Don't you think this blotter pad is cheap insurance for your new desk? (Office equipment) How long a belt will you need? (Hardware) Our full-creamed cottage cheese has a fresher flavor. (Ice cream) Our maintenance service insures the growth. (Landscaping) Please taste these crackers; they are not too salty. (Foods) Here is a soft dark crusher to go with your tux. (Men's hats) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 277 Here is a necktie that was made for your shirt. (Men's furnish- ings) Do you wear a belt or suspenders? (Clothing) A hair brush will facilitate the application. (Hair tonic) The hat is most becoming and completes your costume. (Ladies* clothing) You can buy envelopes to match the paper at only dollars pcf thousand. (Stationery) Cherry or apple pie for dessert, sir ? (Hamburgers) By buying the whole set, you save six dollars. (Cast aluminum wear) Do you want the fence in the same color? (House paint) Would you like your coffee now or later ? (Food) Hit while the iron's hot! Tell them about it again in the Eagle! (Newspaper advertising) Here's the case to protect your camera. (Movie cameras) Take this safety literature home to your family you want them to be safe, too. (Traffic safety) Have you seen this lovely new line of pottery ? (Flowers) You would not try on new shoes with old darned socks ? Well, the safest new tire insurance you can buy is this heavy "pinch- proof" tube. (Tires) WHICH SENTENCES Which fits into your room better a copper or pottery bowl? (Flowers) Which do you prefer a large can or two small ones? (Pine- apple juice) Which do you prefer slug-proof or a cash box full of slugs? (Coin-controlled phonographs) Which do you prefer cut corn or corn on the cob? (Frozen foods) Which will you have country roll or cube? (Butter) Which do you prefer sliced or unsliced? (Bread) Which do you prefer regular or heavy duty ? (Tires) Which do you want peace of mind or worry? (Tubes) 273 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES Which do you want this fire-proof brick or frame home? (New homes) Which roses do you like best red ones or yellow? (Landscap- ing) Which do you want borated or mercurochrome Band-Aid? (Surgical dressings) Which do you prefer cut flowers or a plant? (Flowers) Which do you prefer an early or a late delivery? (Milk) Which would you like chips that crumble or chips that are whole? (Potato chips) Which size do you prefer a trial or complete treatment? (Hair tonic) Which upholstering do you want mohair or broadcloth? (Cars) Which shall I send five or ten cases ? (Tissue, wholesale) Which do you want a crash a year, or safety for ten years? (Traffic safety) WHERE SENTENCES Where would you rather have your fireplace? (New homes) Where would you like this rose bed near the back door or in the garden at the rear ? (Landscaping) Where can you sell your property without an abstract? (Abstracts of titles) Where do you want your money to go to stay at "home" or be spent out of town with the chains? (Independent association) Where are you subjected to most accidents? (Insurance) Where would you like to set your empty bottles? (Milk) Where will these chips sell the best on your counter? (Potato chips, wholesale) Where shall we put your emblem in the center or left corner? (Stationery) Where can you find a tonic originating from a doctor's prescrip- tion? (Hair tonic) Where would you like to have the heater installed in the center of the dash or on the right side? (Cars) Where shall we deliver it here or at the warehouse? (Paper) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 279 WHEN SENTENCES When do you thaw out the peaches for serving? (Frozen foods) When have you seen a smarter shirt? (Shirts) When your friends see your new home, do you want the picture complete or without a frame? (Landscaping) When is your wife's birthday ? (Flowers) When will you need another ribbon coupon book? (Office equipment) When will you pay your dues semiannually or annually? (Businessmen's association) When may I show you a proof on your ad? (Newspaper adver- tising) When would you prefer to start this service ? (Milk) When do you give yourself treatments morning or evening? (Hair tonic) When can I pick up the title on your old car this evening or tomorrow morning? (Cars) When will you go to the eye doctor to have your glasses fitted? . (Traffic safety) When do you prefer to retire at age 60 or age 65? (Income in- surance) When does your lease expire? (New homes) WHAT SENTENCES What other vegetable do you want with these peas? (Frozen foods) What do you plan to use the suit for? (Clothing) What type of salad dressing does your husband prefer sweet or tart? (Food) What do you want your boy to do have a business of his own or work for someone else? (Businessmen's association) What do you want safety or just oil? (Oil) What day will you be home to show my men where to plant this tree? (Landscaping) 280 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES What model the Casino or Plaza? (Coin-controlled phono- graphs) What do you useblack or blue ink? (Ink) What discount bracket would you like to buy in? The six dozen or twelve dozen? (Surgical dressings, wholesale) What color handle do you like? (Cast aluminum ware) What color of dress are you going to wear ? (Flowers) At what age do you wish to retire? (Insurance) What do you prefer Grade A or ungraded milk? (Milk) What do you like most in potato chips ? (Potato chips) What kind of brush do you intend to use? (Hair tonic) What accessories do you want installed & radio, heater, and fog light? (Cars) What time is best to make delivery morning or afternoon? (Paper) What instruments do you want? (Aircraft) What good do you get out of violating traffic laws of your city? (Traffic safety) What chain do you want to go with this watch Simmons or Hamilton? (Watches) HOW SENTENCES How do you plan to use these blueberries? (Frozen foods) How would you like to have fifty cents a day extra? (Penny bulk merchandisers) How do you like the coat tight or loose? (Clothing) How do you like your steak cut thin to fry or thick to broil? (Food) How would your mother feel if you were badly hurt? (Safety) How are you going to pay your dues by cash or check? (Businessmen's association) How shall we pay the benefits ? (Insurance) How would you like to be serviced twice daily? (Potato chips, wholesale) How soon can you start your treatments? (Hair tonic) How would you like to handle the balance by check or monthly payments? (Cars) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 281 SIZZLE SENTENCES FROM DALLAS, TEXAS, WORD CLINIC APPROACH SENTENCES How fresh was the milk you received today? (Milk) Have you had your ten-o'clock Dr. Pepper this morning? (Soft drinks) Try this sweater on and note the comfort of the free-action sleeves. (Men's furnishings) The pattern of that gun will get you more ducks per shot. (Sport- ing goods) Does your home need a new overcoat? (Paint) You enjoy a good show in the evening, don't you? (Electric dishwashers) Your lighting is your best and cheapest salesman. (Electric ap- pliances) How would you like to talk personally for one minute this week to five thousand prospects? (Talking picture advertising) Wouldn't you like a holiday on next washday? (Washing ma- chines) We are selling comfort cooling. (Ventilating equipment) Would you like something unusually good today? (Bakery goods) Is your name listed correctly? (Telephone directory advertising) Are your children protected, should something happen to your wife? (Insurance) Does your Hoover have a built-in color restorer? (Vacuum clean- ers) I see you admire our pretty lamps. (Lamps) Did you listen to your radio last night? (Radio advertising) PRESENTATION SENTENCES You can always provide a check from Daddy. (Insurance) Dr. Pepper has half the potency of pure orange juice. (Soft drinks) No bulges will show under the tightest dress. (Lingerie) 282 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES No more embarrassing wiggles to keep your slip down. (Lin- gerie) These sweaters will never hinder your golf score. (Men's furnish- ings) The soft, deep pile brings comfort and luxury to your floors. (Rugs) Your friends will admire this rug. (Rugs) Picture the roast duck that gun will bring. (Sporting goods) Make your house stand out in your neighborhood. (Paint) Gives a three-coat job with two coats. (Paint) Airmaids beautify your legs, and that's important with short dresses. (Hosiery) They'll stretch when you do, and won't pop a run. (Hosiery) You are protected against fire and theft, and no salesman can call on you. (Hotel rooms) A shower if you're latea tub if you're tired. (Hotel rooms) Sixteen-inch wheels will bring the old car up to date. (Wheel sets) You're through with dishwashing five minutes after meals. (Elec- tric dishwashers) Your customers can't buy if they can't see. (Electric appliances) Electricity does not cost it pays. (Electric appliances) They see they hear they want your merchandise. (Talking picture advertising) Costs no more to operate than two average light bulbs. (Ventilat- ing equipment) Body mechanisms require food so do your facial tissues. (Cos- metics) With one voice, you can speak to thousands about your product. (Radio advertising) Here's a cake your husband will like. (Bakery goods) Smell this! (Bakery goods) Your guests will almost believe you baked this cake, (Bakery goods) It's no trouble to give your family something different every day. (Bakery goods) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 283 Your salesman is beside each telephone. (Telephone directory advertising) A child can operate this range. (Gas ranges) Makes your rugs a safe playground for your children. (Vacuum cleaners) Positive agitation is to the Hoover what a propeller is to an air- plane. (Vacuum cleaners) TRADING-UP SENTENCES Experience has shown that five programs weekly are more than twice as effective as three. (Radio advertising) This case has a felt-lined pocket. (Travel goods) Take an extra can home have it handy next time you paint. (Paint) Do you want your garage painted too ? (Paint) You can see the S.M.U. campus from here. (Hotel rooms) This large size cleans 25 per cent faster. (Vacuum cleaners) You can cut smaller slices out of the richer cake. (Bakery goods) Your name in bold type catches the eye. (Telephone directory advertising) EXTRA-SALE SENTENCES Are his toilet articles going to run around in the linens ? (Travel goods) Warm "snuggie" pants for football games. (Lingerie) This pad protects your beautiful rugs. (Rugs) Some sandpaper makes a smoother job. (Paint) Do you have a clean brush ? (Paint) Take along a box of "two-threads" for dressing up. (Hosiery) Would you like a radio to listen to the football game? (Hotel rooms) This wall lamp over your dishwasher will give you added con- venience. (Electric dishwashers) Let your sign advertise your business all night. (Electric appli- ances) 284 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES SHOWMANSHIP Sentence Under this plan you receive a check the first of each month. Dr. Pepper is pure and whole- some. These slips have rip-proof seams. This is a noncrushable hat. Our porch paint is tough. They'll stretch before they'll pop. It's constructed with the strength of a bridge. It washes in water hotter than hands can stand. Feel how light they are. The natural light increases the sparkle and brilliancy. Showmanship Display check. (Income insur- ance) Hold bottle up to light. (Soft drinks) Pull seams. (Lingerie) Smash hat. (Men's furnish- ings) Put painted panel on floor, step on it, and twist body. (Paint) Put hand in stocking down to instep. (Hosiery) Place weight on door. (Refrig- erators) Take plate out of dishwasher to show how hot it is. (Electric dishwashers) Hand cleaning tools to cus- tomer. (Vacuum cleaners) Take diamond to door and hold it up in the sunlight. (Diamonds) WHICH SENTENCES Which do you prefer an income for life after 60 or after 65? (Insurance) Which of these mountings do you like best the platinum or the gold. (Jewelry) Which heater is the right size for your needs? (Heaters) Which color do you believe would look best? (Shirts) Which do you prefer the nine-o'clock or the two-o'clock ap- pointment? (Physical conditioning) Which do you like better the bread tray or the platter? (Silver- ware) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 285 Which cut do you want in the ad this photograph or this draw- ing? (Telephone directory advertising) Which do you like best the bronze or ivory base? (Lamps) Which shall I leave you a one-day stock or two-day stock? (Soft drinks, wholesale) Which do you prefer the two-tone color or the solid? (School buses) Which do you prefer tall or short bottles? (Beer) Which would you like to have today hard or soft rolls? (Bakery goods) Which service do you desire preferred or deferred? (Telegraph) Which delivery do you prefer 6 A.M. or 9 A.M.? (Milk) Which side do you prefer the door to hang from right or left? (Refrigerators) WHERE SENTENCES Where shall our service man install your range? (Stoves) Where is your hardest rug to clean? (Vacuum cleaners) Where will you place the refrigerator on porch or in kitchen? (Refrigerators) Where do you want your name to appear among department store listings, or among dry goods? (Telephone directory ad- vertising) Where do your shirts wear out first? (Fused collars) Where do your suits show the most wear? (Two-pants suits) Where do you want to wear the jewelry? (Jewelry) Where shall I leave this case next to your cooler? (Soft drinks, wholesale) Where is the worst road your bus has to travel? (School buses) Where do you prefer the spare tire on the fender or under the floor? (Funeral cars) Where may I put up the display to increase sales? (Beer, whole- sale) Where do your hose wear out first in the leg or in the foot? (Hosiery) Where shall I send your old hat, sir? (Men's hats) Where does your house "weather" fastest? (Paint) 286 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES WHEN SENTENCES When is your room the coldest morning or night? (Heaters) When should I see your husband tonight or in the morning? (Refrigerators) When people want a radio repaired, you want to be considered, don't you? (Telephone directory advertising) When you play golf, do tight sleeves on your sweater hinder your game? (Men's sweaters) When shall I call to make the "sight-meter" test at seven or eight tonight? (Lamps) When shall we make our daily delivery morning or afternoon? (Soft drinks, wholesale) When would you like to retire with a monthly income? (Insur- ance) When do you shave morning or night? (Electric shavers) WHAT SENTENCES What will happen to Billy if you are not here to educate him? (Insurance) What size family are you buying for? (Refrigerators) What color suit do you wear most of the time? (Men's furnish- ings) What do you think of this three-light feature? (Lamps) What is your birthstone? (Jewelry) What type of seats will interest you most? (School buses) What do you prefer in the interior leather or mohair? (Funeral cars) What time do you have breakfast each morning? (Milk) What could be more convenient than to just plug in and start shaving? (Electric shavers) HOW SENTENCES How do you clean the dust from beneath your bath tub? (Vacuum cleaners) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 287 How would you like to look 10 years younger? (Physical condi- tioning) How do you want your name to appear in bold type or regular ? (Telephone directory advertising) How long do your collars stay fresh and neat? (Men's shirts) How many in your family drink milk? (Milk) How does your husband like you in black? (Clothing) How do you want this room weekly or daily? (Hotel rooms) How would you like to have the exclusive franchise on the atten- tion of five thousand people? (Talking picture advertising) SIZZLE SENTENCES FROM NEW YORK CITY WORD CLINIC APPROACH SENTENCES I feel that I can be of real service to you on towels. (Paper towels) Wouldn't it be wonderful to have someone protect you against tax errors? (Tax service) Wouldn't you like a tax service that thinks for you? (Tax serv- ice) Are you interested in collecting your past-due accounts swiftly? (Collection service) How would you like to finish a year's business without credit losses? (Credit service) Do you know where to expect your next credit loss? (Credit serv- ice) Are you interested in increasing your profits? (Credit service) Avoid the embarrassment and red tape of a lawsuit. (Automobile insurance) Do you want six thousand contacts in New York City? (Execu- tives' service) Just push the button the station is there. (Radios) As a fisherman, would you use bait you like or bait the fish likes ? (Cold cream, wholesale) How much does it cost your firm to write a letter? (Voice writ- ing machines) Does your printing earn money for you? (Printing) 288 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES Do your clients suggest to their friends that they have you make their wills? (Trust service) I can save you $25 on your personal insurance. (Insurance) Would you like to increase your income? (Tax service) Would you like an idea to increase your profits? (Business ideas service) Fireproof buildings don't burn, but their contents can. (Fireproof files) If you were to lose your records tonight, could you do business tomorrow? (Fireproof files) Do you use laundry service? (Laundry service) Do you make enlargements ? (Photographic service) Are you interested in an outstanding laundry service? (Laundry service) Do your press photographs look like you now? (Photographic service) Are you making enough net profit? (Paper containers) Have you been scraping your profits into the garbage pail, or are you now controlling the cost of individual portions with Tulip Souffles ? (Paper containers) Do you know why progressive druggists use Lily-Tulip cups at their fountains? (Paper containers) Have you ever had a let-down feeling during the day? (Candy) Do you buy candy for the various holidays? (Candy) Did you know you can bake beans in this paper package? (Paper containers) How would you like to create business instead of waiting for it? (Executives' service) Would you like to feel comfortable on hot, sultry days? (Water coolers) PRESENTATION SENTENCES Are three steps shorter than fourteen ? (Tax service) Fresh-looking packages keep profits fresh. (Food containers) Wouldn't you like to have every sale an ad? (Food containers) Could you handle a convention at your hotel tomorrow? (Food containers) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 289 Give your customer just as much and pocket the difference. (Paper containers) Put that extra cent in your cash drawer. (Paper containers) Paper allows you to concentrate on delivery no worry about re- turns. (Paper containers) Control your profits by controlling your portions. (Paper con- tainers) You needn't fear the health officer with this service. (Paper con- tainers) How would you like to increase factory production? (Canteen service) A little heat does all the work. (Refrigerators) No moving parts to wear or cause costly repairs. (Refrigerators) The only leakproof cooler on the market. (Water coolers) Won't ever cause business interruption. (Water coolers) Will improve employees' efficiency and create good will. (Water coolers) Do you consider the health and efficiency of your employees im- portant? (Water coolers) This expression has alertness and friendliness. (Photographic service) Why not enjoy more leisure? (Laundry service) Your neighbors will admire well-finished table linen. (Laundry service) Protect your vital records 24 hours a day. (Fireproof files) Increase your production by having records always available. (Fireproof files) Puts at your elbow the tested ideas that make profits for others. (Business ideas service) Show the boss a good idea, and he will pick you out for advance- ment. (Business ideas service) Less research conserves your energy. (Trust service) I cover your salesman's territory for you. (Printing) Pond's is as good as money in the bank no losses. (Cold cream, wholesale) Pond's will increase your store traffic faster than any other cream. (Cold cream, wholesale) 290 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES You know more people by contacts in 56 cities than the president of the United States. (Executives' service) Whom you know counts in new sales. (Executives' service) You can't afford to lose all you have worked for. (Automobile in- surance) Don't be ruined by an accident you couldn't avoid. (Automobile insurance) Why not sell only good accounts? (Credit service) Are your salesmen calling on poor credit risks? (Credit service) Just think of the new business you could get with the time wasted soliciting poor accounts. (Credit service) There is no better prospect list than our reference book. (Credit service) While you were using the phone, ten ratings changed. (Credit service) Maximum of good will is preserved when we collect. (Credit service) Our outlines and tables think for you. (Tax service) You stop tax losses and increase dividends. (Tax service) Wouldn't you like to save time, trouble, and taxes? (Tax service) TRADING-UP SENTENCES Your practice demands a complete tax service. (Tax service) I hope your sales increase to the point where you can use the $500 service. (Credit service) Don't leave any loop holes protect yourself completely. (Auto- mobile insurance) Buy the larger size and save 21^. You can always use Pond's. (Cold cream) Color will brighten up your printing. (Printing) Three of these files will make an ideal counter. (Fireproof files) Our finished service will give you more leisure. (Laundry service) Does your husband make holes in his socks? In our de luxe serv- ice we mend and darn. (Laundry service) An enlargement of your favorite pose at a duplicate rate will be doubly loved. (Photographic service) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 291 This finish has a three-dimensional quality it lives! (Photo- graphic service) another unit on the next floor would save time. (Candy service) Why not double your savings now by starting with two cases? (Paper containers) EXTRA-SALE SENTENCES Why not do the same with this size for soup and this for to- mato juice? (Paper containers) A beautiful frame enhances a fine portrait. (Photographic serv- ice) A miniature in color captures you in traveling form. (Photo- graphic service) We frame curtains without the use of pins. (Laundry service) Follow up your message with a clincher. (Printing) Every Pond's cream customer is a prospect for Pond's tissues. (Cold cream, wholesale) Shouldn't you cover your entire tax field now ? (Tax service) SHOWMANSHIP Sentence Showmanship The cylinder cannot be dropped Turn carton upside down and out of its protective carton. shake it. (Dictating machine) When you send for a payroll, Point finger like a gun. (Ar- do your employees take the mored transit service) chance of a hold-up? An ordinary steel file is like an Light match under top of file oven in a fire, so that prospect can feel the heat that is conducted. (Fire- proof files) This cup can't leak. Open cup so that prospect can see that it is one piece of pa- per. (Paper cups) How would you like to wear Show prospect pair of thick these? horn-rimmed glasses. (Eye- Ease paper) 292 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES Sentence This is what it cost you to be without Servel since 1937. Printing will save you the cost of salesmen's expenses in in- troduction calls. It will pay you dividends. See how soft and sweet it is. We starch collars properly. These cups control your por- tions. Showmanship Produce bank filled with pen- nies and shake it. (Refriger- ators) Display postage stamp and dol- lar bill. (Printing) Produce check. (Insurance) Feel and smell blanket and then hand it to customer. (Laundry service) Bend collar to show that it is flexible but that it retains its firmness. (Laundry service) Move finger across lip of cup to show that it cannot be over-filled. (Paper cups) WHICH SENTENCES Which issue of the reference book do you want? (Credit service) Which of these policy forms do you prefer? (Casualty insurance) Which stop shall we employ direct demand or supplementary? (Collection service) Which type of music do you prefer classical or popular? (Ra- dios) Which quantity shall we print 25,000 or 50,000? (Printing) Which do you prefer the messy iceman or silent Servel? (Re- frigerators) Which model is best for you? (Water coolers) Which do you prefer the pleated or the plain cup? (Paper cups) Which course has the most appeal to you? (Occult teachings) Which of your proofs would you prefer to be used for a minia- ture? (Photos) Which garments do you desire starched? (Laundry service) Which do you prefer rental or purchasing? (Water coolers) MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES 293 WHERE SENTENCES Where will this saving of 20 per cent go to you or your wife? (Casualty insurance) Where shall I find your laundry if you are out? (Laundry serv- ice) Where will you use this service in the legal or the tax depart- ment? (Tax service) Where do you want them placed so your waitresses can easily get them? (Paper plates) Where do you find the greatest hindrance in getting out mail? (Writing machines) Where would you like to start in the beginners' or advanced course? (Occult teachings) Where do you want the book delivered? (Credit service) Where shall we send the bill to the office or home? (Radios) WHEN SENTENCES When shall we start the service now or back in April? (Credit service) When do you want me to make this coverage effective ? (Casualty insurance) When can our inspector make a survey? (Water cooler) When would you like me to call Monday or Tuesday? (Lia- bility insurance) WHAT SENTENCES What is your most costly side dish? (Paper plates) What type of subject do you think you would enjoy? (Occult teachings) What coverage appeals to you? (Casualty insurance) What door will I use when I return front or rear? (Laundry service) What person will supervise the use of this service? (Collection service) 294 MISCELLANEOUS SELLING SENTENCES HOW SENTENCES How would you like to make the payments in installments or cash? (Casualty insurance) How would you like your laundry returned damp or dry? (Laundry service) How many people do you employ ? (Water coolers) How do you want to pay your premiums monthly or quarterly? (Casualty insui^ncc)