Masonry Magazine August 1968 Page. 22
SMOOTH SELLING
by George N. Kahn, Marketing Consultant
TAKING A RISK
Several years ago I knew a young advertising man who quit his job to open his own advertising agency.
My friend, Don Larick, was long on drive and imagination but short on capital. He needed at least one big client to really get on a firm footing. Then his chance came. He bid for the account of a leading coffee firm.
But Don's heart sank at his first interview with the company's advertising manager. He learned that other agencies, including some of the city's largest, had submitted elaborately prepared presentations. Don, who was barely meeting his rent, could not hope to duplicate them.
He thought fast.
"I don't work with elaborate portfolios," he told the ad manager casually.
"But how else can we tell if you can do the job?" the manager asked.
Don knew that the final decision would be made by the company's board of directors.
"Do you think your board would appreciate a good idea if they heard it?" he asked.
Assured that it would, Don requested an audience with the board.
My friend made a brilliant oral presentation with the aid only of a few notes on the back of an old envelope! He got the account and went on to become one of the most successful advertising practitioners of his time.
Don acted boldly, a step that salesmen might well emulate.
Are You Playing It Too Safe?
The old adage "nothing ventured nothing gained" is a good one for a salesman to remember.
It's easy to play it safe. In this way you attain a nice level of mediocrity. Your children may not be able to attend college or you won't get that Bermuda vacation, but you will be safe. Too many salesmen seek this way out. The pity is that this is supposed to be a dynamic profession. Our whole economy literally moves on salesmanship.
The "safe" salesman rarely if ever breaks new ground in his territory. He never goes after the really big ticket if it means sacrificing any time from his "tried and true" routine. He is fearful of pushing a new product that may have great potential. He would never dream of correcting a customer, even though the latter would have more respect for him. He dreads taking over a new territory.
The Nature of the Risk
The risks I suggest are along the line of intelligent business practice. Of course it may be safer to spend two hours with an old and assured account, but sometimes devote one of those hours to calling on a tough but potentially productive prospect.
It may be safe to stay with proven principles, but new selling ideas are being developed almost every day. Experiment with some of them. It may be the best thing you ever did for yourself.
Some salesmen are so faint-hearted they won't even take a chance when they have nothing to lose.
Bart Harman once took over a well-established territory. He had been told that one particular customer, ABC Company, had been buying 10 gross of the product every call for many years. At his first call on the firm, Bart introduced himself, mechanically wrote up the order and departed.
The next day he was called at his home by his irate supervisor who said he had received word that the ABC outfit had purchased 100 gross of the product from a competing firm.
When Bart checked back the next day with the ABC firm the explanation was frustratingly simple.
"You didn't ask me if I wanted to increase my order," the purchasing agent said. "Your competitor did."
In Bart's case there was no element of risk. He merely had to ask a simple question. But it's surprising how often this simple question doesn't get asked by salesmen.
Way to Advancement
The bold and enterprising salesman will always catch the eye of his superiors.
Nick Kalb, sales manager for a huge Mid-West appliance manufacturer, tells of one bright lad who scooped up an order from under the noses of veteran colleagues who had been trying for years to snag it.
"I was district manager then," Nick recalled, "with a force of 25 men."
"We had been angling for years without success to get a big department store which was buying thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from our competitor. Their appliance buyer was as firm as the Rock of Gibraltar in refusing to even listen to our presentation.
"One of my freshman salesmen, Ted Marrison, decided one day to gamble with an idea. He marched into the appliance buyer's office and announced: "Mr. Spinner, I'm determined to get an order from you by the end of the month. I'm temporarily dropping everything else-my other customers, prospects to work on a presentation for you."
"The buyer was dumbfounded," Nick said. But he finally managed to say to Ted:
"You're taking an awful chance, young man. My answer will probably be no after you've made your presentation."
"Ted went ahead anyway," Nick continued. "For the next month he gave up a virtually assured income to research and prepare a bangup presentation for Spinner. When it was ready, he called for an appointment and was told to come around the next day.
"Ted delivered a masterful presentation," Nick went on. "He knew that department store inside and out and made such convincing points that Spinner could not help but give him an order-and a whopping one. That store was our customer from then, on. And Ted tripled the income he had lost in that month. He took a gamble and won. But the stakes were big and he knew it."
This is the kind of courage and cool headedness that pays off for a salesman. Even when you're taking a beating, don't be afraid to try something new or take a chance.
Here is a self test to let you see if you are sufficiently aggressive to take a risk if the situation calls for it.
You should get at least five "yes" answers.
1. Do you occasionally vary from your sales routine?
Yes No
2. Does the idea of taking a gamble interest you?
Yes No
3. Do you sometimes tell a prospect or customer that he's wrong? Yes No
4. Do you ever make a really hard stab at getting the big order? Yes No
5. Are you open to new suggestions and ideas in salesmanship?
Yes No
6. Do you emulate successful salesmen in Your firm?
Yes No
7. Do you avoid playing it safe?
Yes No