Chapter 20

AVOID WORDS THAT WRINKLE THE OTHER PERSON'S BROW

There is one big lesson to be learned from Roosevelt-Landon campaign.   The days of the “Perils of Pauline” are over.   Don't spoil a sale with butter fingers.

MOVIE PRODUCERS are changing their ideas of the average mentality of audiences.   It used to be about 12 years, but now it is going upward.   This means that the hokum of yesterday is no more, that the days of the “Perils of Pauline” are over, and that the hero fighting the Indian on the edge of the cliff gets laughs instead of gasps.

The fact that the American mind is growing up is not realized, unfortunately, by all copywriters, advertising people, radio people, and others who are trying to win the public to their way of thinking.

The old-fashioned preacher could frighten people into going to church on Sunday with his “Hell and brimstone.”   Today this doesn't succeed, as any preacher will tell you.

People like a good show.   They like to hear Al Smith speak on the radio, but they only laugh when a politician talks about the country “going to the dogs.”   The old “dinner pail” appeals have gone with the wind.

Many a young child tells his mother today, “You can't scare me -- there's no such thing as a bogeyman.”   And people don't believe in Santa Claus anymore.

Little boys used to be frightened by policemen.   Not today.   Intelligence is banishing fears.

People are laughing today at many advertising appeals.   The old medicine man has been reborn in the pages of the American press.   The clever manufacturer, however, is the one who has an advertising agency that is subtle in its appeal and has the image of the medicine man buried deep behind sound logic and sensible reasoning.

Don't get me wrong: People today still buy from emotional urges, but the emotional darts that stir their instincts in the action today must be “telegraphic” -- not the “wooden arrows” of the Indian. 

We are in a day of the “magic eye,” of television, of electrical impulses flashing back and forth invisibly.   So must sales language fly -- invisibly!

USE “INVISIBLE” SALES WORDS

If you let the other person become CONSCIOUS he is being sold, he will wiggle the situation around with a lot of arguments that put you on the defensive.

Big words, fancy phrases, and bombastic tones are not invisible but obvious.   They attract attention to you -- not to what you are saying.   So if you would win the other person to your way of thinking, remember this rule: Clothe your appeals in invisible language!

Invisible language is the everyday language of the masses.

If we understand quickly and readily what the other person is saying without having to wrinkle our brows and thought, we are absorbing the story.

A hosiery sales girl says to the woman who has just purchased a dollar pair of stockings in William Taylor's department store in Cleveland:

            “Does one of your stockings wear out faster than the other?”

The woman naturally informs her that one stocking always gives way before the other.   Seldom will runs appear simultaneously in both stockings.   The clever sales girl says:

“Then it would be advisable to buy TWO PAIRS of the SAME COLOR so that you can alternate in case one stocking tears or runs accidentally.”

Simple language.   No coined expressions.   But on one occasion that I know of, this store sold out of a certain box of stockings that contained three pairs wrapped as a gift.

If the young lady had said: “You can get three pairs for $2.85,” the woman would say one pair was sufficient.   But by using logic she cleverly induces the woman to buy the second pair, and then she says:

“If you buy the third pair, you can have it for only $.85.   You see you get a bargain on the third pair.”

A PRESIDENT USES TESTED SELLING

The choice of words and the astute salesmanship used by President Roosevelt during the 1936 elections were classical.

Salesman Landon and Salesman Roosevelt each started out selling the same prospects.   They each had about the same “product.”   Salesman Landon, had the edge on Salesman Roosevelt, because he had 85% of the newspapers and nearly all the big businessmen on his side.   But Salesman Landon violated fundamental selling principles that many a door-to-door salesman would have observed instinctively.

First, he talked more about his competitor's product than about his own.   He told what his competitor's product was failing to do instead of telling the benefits and advantages to be secured from his own.

Second, he called his competitor names, and he referred to his competitor by a name, whereas Roosevelt usually referred to his competitor by the impersonal “they.”   A good salesman seldom dignifies a competitor by using his name. All competition is known to the Hoover man as a “Bojack.”

Third, Salesman Landon “oversold” himself.   He didn't seem to sense when to stop talking about himself and against his competitor.   He talked himself quickly into a sale and then out of it.

Fourth, he used that language that the public failed to comprehend and language the public knew to be trite, bombastic, and old-fashioned in the game of politics.   He used the worn-out “fear campaign,” with such phrases as “the country's going to the dogs” and “Roosevelt and Ruin” and “grass growing in the streets.”

ROOSEVELT USED WORD MAGIC

On the other hand, Roosevelt gained the confidence of his prospect.   He used language the “prospects” understood.   He would say something amusing, cheerful, hopeful, and logical, such as this:

“Four years ago the White House was like an emergency hospital.   Businessmen came to me with headaches and back aches.   No one knew how they suffered, except old Doc Roosevelt.

“They wanted a quick hypodermic to relieve the immediate pain, and a quick cure.   I gave them both.   They got action.   In fact, we cured them so quickly and efficiently in Washington that now these same people are back, throwing their crutches into the doctor's face.”

President Roosevelt knows the value of choosing words, of using “Tested Selling Sentences.”   He knows that some words sell people and others do not, and he makes certain that he uses only language tested to stamp itself on the mind of his prospect directly and instantly, and to remain there forever.

That is why the American public “bought” from him in the last election.

The rule is a simple one:

Talk in language the other person can understand without having to wrinkle his brow.

A READY-MADE RULE

The John's-Manville man is in the neighborhood again.   He is still interested in explaining Arthur Rhodes new Housing Guild plan of buying home improvement on the down-payment plan, just as you purchase the refrigerator or a radio.   He has planned his sales arguments, as you read some chapters before.   He steps up to Mrs. Smith's front door and presses the button.   When Mrs. Smith comes to the door, he gives his name and mentions the John's-Manville Co., and then says:

            “This is your free copy of 101 Ways of Improving Your Home.”

Mrs. Smith reaches for the booklet, but he turns to page 16 and says:

“This is a picture of a kitchen we just finished for your neighbor.   Isn't it delightful?”

He shows her several other pictures, and then says:

            “Pardon me, I'm getting your home cold.   I'll just step inside.”

If it is summer, he says:

            “I seem to be leading in the flies.   I'll just step inside.”

HE PUTS HER AT EASE

Once inside, he puts the woman at ease by saying:

“Just sit down and make yourself comfortable, Mrs. Smith.   I know you must be on your feet a great deal.”

She sits down, still desiring to see more of those interesting pictures, but he wants to win her immediate liking for him, so he says:

“What lovely curtains you have.   You must be an interior decorator at heart.   Did you pick them out yourself?” 

She is quite flattered and proceeds to explain with great pride that she picked out the curtains and, in fact, the furniture also. 

Say something about the home, if you want to make your prospect like you immediately.   This is a good rule for any door-to-door salesmen to remember -- a good rule for you to remember even when you are making a social visit. 

FIVE EFFECTIVE WAYSTO MAKE THE OTHER PERSON FEEL AT EASE 

The John's-Manville man has, on the tip of his tongue, five things he will say during the first few minutes he is with the prospect to make her feel at ease, to “break the ice,” to get her interested in home improvements.   He will use one or all of these five statements:

1.         “Do you tire easily in the kitchen?”

2.         “Are your heat and light bills high?”

3.         “Is your living room to dark?”

4.         “Do you enjoy games like ping-pong?”

5.         “Is it difficult to keep your home warm?”

Each one of the sentences is tested to make the other person respond the way the salesman wants them to. 

THE HOME IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE FAMILY 

The home is the thing that is dearest to people.   No matter how humble it is, it is still home.   Get people discussing their home in their daydreams about den's, about larger kitchens, or about the extra room in the attic. 

Here are a few more “TESTED SELLING SENTENCES ” that will win people to you quickly:

“You certainly have a cheerful home.” 

“These rugs are very attractive.   Did you pick them out yourself?” 

“Any money spent on a home is well invested, isn't it?” 

“It takes more than a carpenter with a hammer to make a room as lovely as this.   Was it your idea?” 

When you are in the other person's home, talk about that home. You will win his affection very quickly if you follow this simple rule of putting people at ease. 

THE BORDEN PRINCIPLE 

Richard C.   Borden, sales manager for the milk division of the Borden Co., told me how he applies “Tested Selling” on back porches to get women immediately interested in bottled malted milk.   They tried many methods, sentences, and back-door stunts.   The one that works best to date is to rap on the door and when the woman comes to the door to hold a bottle of the chocolate malted milk toward her and say: 

          “Feel how cold this is.”  

Once the woman has the bottle of chocolate malt in her hands, the salesman asks her to help herself to a drink. He follows her into the kitchen. 

How much better this method of getting into backdoors and making people TASTE your product than the old method of asking them, “Would you be interested in buying our chocolate malted milk with your regular milk?” 

The driver will say something about the “lovely kitchen,” and the “pretty curtains.”   He will use the “Rule of You” and ask: 

          “What is YOUR opinion of this chocolate malted milk, Mrs. Jones?”  

She will tell her opinion.   People like to give opinions. 

If you make other people “feel at home” during the first 10 seconds they are with you, you will have won them over for many a minute to come. 

HOW TO HANDLE IT PROPERLY 

The best words, the best technique, and the best voice delivery can be spoiled if you have butterfingers and fumble what you are selling. A good salesman cultivates good hand movements. He handles the cheapest pearl necklaces if it were worth a million. His attitude toward what he is selling is important, for it reflects favorably or otherwise on the prospective owner. 

Never grab hold of the item. Never fling it down on the counter. Don't take hold of it as if it were a sledgehammer or a monkey wrench. Never set the article down with a “bang.” Or drop it, or slide it toward the customer. Handle it with care. Create value. Operate dials, switches, and so forth, carefully, not “slam bang” but with delicacy, and so heighten the worth of what you are selling. Unfold the contract carefully . Hold the pen gently. These are small details in the sale -- but important ones.   The touch counts!  

Make your movements seem simple to the prospect, so she will feel the gadget is easy to operate.   Keep saying: 

            “This is all you have to do.”

            “This simply presses down.”

            “Doesn't this operate easily?”

            “Isn't this convenient to use?” 

GET ACTION WITH ACTION 

If the prospect has been discouraged with some article and brings up the objection that it was hard to handle or operate, don't tell her this is not true. Say, “That was true of the old-fashioned ones.   But now see how easily these new models work.” 

Get the prospect to take active part in a demonstration, for this keeps up interest and prevents her mind from wandering into a field full of objections. 

People like to take part. Let them. Let them operate it. Let them “run the big show.” You be the master of ceremonies.   Say: 

            “Here try for yourself.”

            “See how easy it is to use.”

            “Doesn't this work easily?”

            “You'll like using this.”

            “Isn't this handle comfortable?” 

Desire to possess comes with handling, trying, and working the article to be purchased. Let the other person feel, smell, and taste what you are selling.

Say it with flowers! 

 Prev | Table of Contents | Next