Masonry Magazine February 1965 Page. 17
THE SELLING PARADE
by CHARLES B. ROTH, America's no. 1 salesmanship authority
The Selling Parade by Charles B. Roth is another new feature added by masonry. Watch for it in all future issues of the magazine for the entire Masonry Industry. Cut out this article and future articles and place them in your business file for further reference.
Don't Be A Selling Delinquent
All the delinquents aren't teenagers, habitating beer joints, racing hotrods, breaking into stores, or smoking marihuana, my friend the salesman told me.
"A good many of them are in my profession," he added. And to my look of disbelief he added this:
"There is only one cause for delinquency that is lack of discipline. The word delinquency, by the way, merely means failing to do what is required by duty or law.
"Most salesmen abide by the law all right, but they are delinquents in doing their duty as salesmen."
My friend, no moralizing bluesnose but a real red-blooded life-loving guy, had more to say and I let him say it.
"We salesmen have a hundred chances a day to be delinquents. Every time we fail to make a call because the prospect is tough, we are delinquents. No cop will pick us up for it, but we should have a stronger cop than one in uniform checking up on us all the time. I refer to our consciences."
To my question of how a salesman can tell whether he is a delinquent or not, my friend replied:
"There is a simple rule. Ask yourself each day if you are doing everything you ought to be doing. If you can answer yes, you are no delinquent, but if you have to answer no, you are."
Eye On The Ball, Remember
A star's qualities in selling or elsewhere my friend said, depend upon one thing. What one thing I wanted to know. The place where your eyes are, I was told.
I hope this answer is not enough for you, because it was not for me. I asked for details. I got them. I pass them on to you.
"I was a football player in college," the salesman said. "I learned more on the football field, from one man, than I learned elsewhere in my life.
"The man who taught me so much was Robert Zuppke, coach at the University of Illinois while I was there."
"A wonderful coach," I contributed.
"But more than a wonderful coach - a wonderful man," my friend said.
"Zuppke taught us from our first day that our most important job was to keep our eye on the ball. Keep your eye on the ball, keep your eye on the ball, keep your eye on the ball-he told it to us a thousand times.
"His belief was that if you had your eye on the ball, you were in the game, but the minute you lost sight of the ball you were out of the game.
"When I started in selling, I tried to follow the old Zuppke formula and keep my eye on the ball.
"What was the ball? It was the sale, of course.
"As long as all that mattered to me was the sale, the immediate sale, my eye was on the ball. And I was safe. When I allowed myself to be diverted into thinking that a pleasant interview was enough, that a promise was as good as a signed order, that wasting time in the name of contacts was all right, I was in danger.
"Whenever I found myself tempted to wander from the ball, the sale itself, I remember Zuppke-his admonitions.
"He did more for me than any other man ever did."
Know Your Working Characteristics
Many salesmen, I find, are insulted when you tell them they ought to be working harder. Why, they work themselves to the bone as it is, and you want them to work harder.
Actually, the salesmen who are the most insulted are usually the most successful time-wasters and loafers. Their tragedy is they don't know it.
How can you tell whether your working characteristics are right? I'll tell you. Rate yourself. I am going to give you a few simple rating questions. Rate yourself as High, Above Average, Average, or Low on these. Be fair. Be fearless in looking at the result.
Rate yourself:
1. As a self-starter who doesn't have to be pushed or prodded.
2. As a finisher.
3. As one who can work without supervision.
4. On inability to work under pressure.
5. On inability to concentrate.
6. As an organizer of a selling day, week, or month.
7. On willingness to tackle unpleasant, or difficult assignments.
8. On willingness to assume responsibility.
9. On learning from mistakes and not repeating them.
10. On stick-to-it-iveness in the face of trials and setbacks.
How To Sell The Uncertain Customer
To many of us one of the most unpleasant customers we deal with is the uncertain customer the one who cannot make up his mind.
Salesmen who have no difficulty with this customer follow a simple formula: They show a deep personal interest in him; they find out what his interests are; they make a sincere effort to help him make up his mind: they take it easy don't try to push too hard for an order.
Cut out this article and future articles and place them in your business file for further reference.
FEBRUARY 1965 © CHARLES ROTH, All rights reserved.
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