THE SELLING PARADE
A
DIGEST
DF
tty
SUCCESSFUL
C H A R L E S
B .
SELLING
IDEAS
R 0 T II
©Chas. B. Roth
J3ewcire Repetitions
In one of his best plays, Wil
liam Shakespeare has a line
about a certain woman’s protest
ing her virtue so much that
everybody began to suspect she
hadn’t any. If she had kept still
about it, she would have passed
for a paragon of that quality.
It was her repeated protestation
that aroused suspicion.
The other day a salesman re
minded me of that woman by re
peating a certain claim so loudly
and so often that I began to sus
pect that, in place of being an
advantage in his product, it was
actually a weakness. So I didn’t
buy. If he had kept still about
that point or had treated it cas
ually, I ’d have bought.
We all know that repetition is
one of the strongest of all sell
ing weapons, properly used.
Improperly used, it is one of the
most dangerous and hazardous.
For it has two dangers. The first
I have mentioned: constant and
too frequent repetition may in
fer weakness. The second is even
more fraught with disaster. It
is that the repetition may amuse
or bore the buyer — and an
amused or a bored buyer never
buys.
You can overcome these dan
gers in two ways. Get him to
make the point you want to drive
home, and then repeat it in his
words. He’ll believe those. He
won’t be bored by them. Or
work it into a transition— or
bridging phrase — thus: “We
have already discussed that
point, and I don’t want to em
phasize it unduly. However,
there is one thing I want to tell
you.” You see, if you admit you
have discussed it, he won’t be
come suspicious if you mention
it again.
h e re *
/7
B a rre l
P ro fit /
\IJeuer oCoSe a 'Jriend
The late Arthur Brisbane,
writing about the famed artist
Charles Dana Gibson, paid Mr.
Gibson the highest compliment
it is possible for a human being
to receive.
“Mr. Gibson is a man who
never lost a friend,” wrote the
famed editor, “who never de
served to lose one.”
Think that over— a man who
never deserved to lose a friend.
And then in place of using the
word “friend” as the last word
in the sentence, substitute the
word “customer.” Have you
ever lost a customer? That’s an
absurd question, of course, but
it is also a serious question, be
cause your success in selling
depends, not so much upon indi
vidual sales, as upon the number
of friends (customers) you can
make—and keep.
Live One
/
THE IDLE HOUR . . . Here’s
a “ live one” to pep up your
“ take” . . . 1 2 0 0 RE Holes
. . . . 5 / per sale . . . . Slot
symbols . . Takes in $ 6 0 .0 0
. . . . Total average payout
$ 2 9 .3 4 . . . . Average profit
$ 3 0 .6 6 . . . Additional profit
from RE Arrangement $ 3 .0 0
. . . . Total average profit
$ 3 3 .6 6 . . . THICK 3 DIMEN
SIONAL DIE-CUT board.
SUPERIOR PRODUCTS
14 N. P E O R IA ST.
42
AUTOMATIC AGE
© International Arcade Museum
C H ICAG O , IL L .
January, 1942
http://www.arcade-museum.com/