Automatic Age

THE SELLING PARADE
A DIGEST
DF
By
SUCCESSFUL
CHARLES
B.
SELLING
IDEAS
ROTH
©C has. B. Roth
^ b o n ’t W J h .A f t e r
’£ m
Jack Spencer, one of the finest
salesmen I have ever known,
confessed to me that there was
only one customer on his list
whom he couldn’t crack.
“ What kind of a customer is
he?” I asked.
“ He’s a wanderer.”
“ What is that?”
“ He is a won't-stand-stiller,”
said Spencer. “ He walks around
when you try to talk to him. And
if you don’t follow him you don’t
sell him.”
“ Do you sell him?”
“ No.”
“ Then walking after him isn’t
the answer, is it?”
“ Maybe not.”
“ Want to know what to do
with a wanderer?”
“ Of course.”
I told Spencer that the way
to tackle these neurotics who
walk all over the lot is not to
follow them at all. It isn’t ever
necessary. There are ruses you
can use in anchoring them to one
spot long enough to make them
listen to what you say. Here are
a few of them:
(1) Have something to show
them which requires a table or
a desk— a roll of papers, draw­
ings, etc. Invite them to see
what you have. Maybe curiosity
will do the trick for you.
(2) Get them so much inter­
ested in you—by talking about
them — that they’ll forget to
walk. That walking stuff is just
a trick to keep from buying; a
defense mechanism.
(3) Refuse to talk to a man
until he can give you his atten­
tion. Make an appointment to
see him at some other time, un­
der more favorable conditions.
Don’t walk after ’em. All you
get is sore feet.
E U
W a n ’> M u ff
There used to be a game, when
you were a child, called blind
man’s buff. I don’t remember
the rules exactly, but I think one
player was blindfolded and then
the other players scattered and
he was supposed to catch them.
The first one he caught was it,
and became the blind man.
Catching anybody under such
circumstances was pure acci­
dent: the odds were all on the
side of the players that could
see.
Many salesmen I know persist
in playing this ancient and un­
profitable game. They make
blind calls, and when they sell
it’s pretty much chance.
Why, just the other day, a
salesman came in to see me. He
stepped in, started to talk, “ Mr.
. . . Mr. . . . Mr. . .
he stam­
mered; then, realizing he had
forgotten the name which is in
large type on the door, he step­
ped outside, read the name and,
with a triumphant air, came in
and said: “ Mr. Roth? My name
is So and So.”
I smiled. I couldn’t help it.
Here was a man trying to sell
me, yet he hadn’t intelligence
enough to compliment me by
making sure he knew my name,
if not a lot more about me, be­
fore he called.
44
AUTOMATIC AGE
© International Arcade Museum
If he had spent five minutes
questioning the elevator girls or
the cigar counter woman he
could have found out who I was,
what kind of fellow I was, my
business, something of my inter­
ests and habits; and if he’d been
willing to spend a half hour look­
ing me up, he could have found
out all he needed to know about
me to do a good job of making
the sale.
But instead he played blind
man’s buff!
-A p p r e c ia t e
IJo u r
C u sto m ers
I am quite sure that all of us
are guilty, at times, often, maybe
I should say, of not appreciating
our customer enough and, as a
result, of selling him short.
For example: Maybe just last
week you sold a man a $10 order
when you could have sold him a
$50 order, even a $100 order just
as well.
A sales executive was telling
me the other day about his ex­
perience in the book business.
One salesman working for him,
sent out to quote on a job, quoted
on 1,000 books. The buyer
bought in 50,000 quantities. It
insulted him to be taken for
small change, so be bought from
an oth er p u b lish er. Another
salesman working for the same
firm was asked to quote on a
single copy of a book, but he
quoted on 1,000 copies instead,
and got an order a thousand
times as large as the buyer had
intended placing.
( Continued on page 47)
September, 1941
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