Chapter 24

A LESSON IN SALESMANSHIP AT THE SEASHORE

 Selling is like fishing.   He must make sure hook with food the prospect likes.   Joseph Day sells Carnegie a building.

FLUKE ARE FISH common in salt water.   And they are quite abundant around Long Island. I like to fish for fluke.   It is an interesting sport at times, although fluke are lazy fish.   They are thin and wide.   Some people call them “door mats.”   They are white on the bottom and dark on the top.   This is for protection.   The dark top is invisible from above the fish.

The fluke swims close to the bottom of the sea.   It is easy going and is influenced by the tides.   When the tide begins to flow, the fluke is stirred up, permits itself to move in the direction of the tide.

To catch the fluke, you attach a live killie, a small fish about two or three times the size of a minnow, by its tail to hook with a 3 foot leader and a sinker that takes the killie down close to the bottom of the sea.   The killie swims around trying to get away from the hook that is holding it by its tail.   The fluke opens its mouth, takes the killie head, and holds it for several minutes.   The fisherman doesn't realize this.

After a while the fisherman becomes restless and begins moving the line up and down, and the killie begins to slide out of the fluke's mouth.   The fluke is evidently warned that is going to lose the killie and so he takes the killie entirely into its mouth.

HOOKING THE FLUKE

If the fisherman stops moving the line, the fluke continues to hold   the killie in its mouth, but if the fisherman again moves the line, the fluke becomes fearful of losing the nice morsel and swallows the killie entirely.   He is then hooked.

Now the experienced fisherman knows this eating habit of the fluke.   He raises his anchor and allows his boat to drift with the tide, so that the killie is drifting on the sea bottom when it comes upon a lazy fluke.   The fluke takes hold of the killie, and, immediately feels the killie start drifting away, and, fearing he will lose his bait, swallows it and is hooked.

Therefore, if you want to catch fluke, keep the line moving up and down.   Drift with the tide and you will float by the lazy fluke.   On the other hand, if you let the bait alone, the fluke will merely hold on to the killie, and perhaps decide to release it.

SAME PRINCIPLE IN SELLING

How true this principle is in selling an idea to your friends or your business associates, or in selling anybody anything.   Let them feel you are overly anxious, let them feel the supply is unlimited, and they will postpone buying.   But let them taste what you have to offer, then start pulling the bait away from them, and watch certain types of people make a lunge and get caught in your sales trap.

There comes a time in many a negotiation when it is advisable to remove the offer, explaining that the time limit is up and you must offer it elsewhere.   This is the point where many people will buy -- quickly.

If you let a prospect feel that two other people are bidding for your services, his interest will be aroused.   People want what other people want.   It is a human trait.

THE GREGARIOUS INSTINCT

We love crowds.   We like to bump elbows with people.   It is the mass surge in human beings.   It is called the “gregarious instinct.”   Sheep huddle together.   Other animals huddled together.   People go into restaurants that are crowded.   They like stores with small aisles that fill up quickly.   Many stores deliberately have small aisles and tiny elevators.   People feel that the store is selling good merchandise if many people are in the store.

Remember the story of the fluke.   Remember that your prospects are lazy on the whole and will not “take you up” until you begin to tug the bait tactfully, making it jump up and down, or threaten to remove it entirely.

Be on the alert for the “fluke type of buyer.”   When you find him, handle him with the “fluke method.”   If you find a “trout buyer,” sell him on-the-fly.

Withal, don't forget the rule: Catch the prospect or the fish with the kind of bait he likes, and not with what you like.

“You” is a greater money securing word than “I.”

ANOTHER FISH STORY

A few weeks ago I took my fishing pole and called on an old friend of mine, J. A. Greulich, who spends considerable time fishing.   We went to a new fishing station to try our luck.   On approaching the station to buy our bait, Jay asked the attendant how the fish were biting.

            “Fine,” said the fisherman.

            “What kind of bait do you sell?”

            “What kind of bait you like?”   Replied the attendant.   “We have all kinds.”

Well, said Jay, it isn't what I like, but what the fish like.   Tell me, what are the fish biting on in these waters?

The attendant told him sand worms, so we bought some and caught a nice mess of fish.

Now that incident, which was humorous to start with, gradually took on a new light to me as the day went on.   I fashioned out this rule: Catch fish with the bait they like, not the bait you like.   In other words, I like a good juicy steak, but the fish would not bite on steak.   They want what they like.

In selling, this same rule applies, use the bait that the prospect will like.   That is why many salesmen find out in advance the likes and dislikes of a prospect.   If he is a rabid football fan, then familiarize yourself with some football technique.   But if he detests football games, never, NEVER talk about football games.

Every housewife knows this rule of winning and holding the man through his stomach, and she feeds him the food he likes.  

JOSEPH P. DAY MAKES A SALE  

Joseph P. Day, New York's foremost realtor, was sitting in the Empire Building in Lower New York, discussing new offices with Elbert Gary.   Day wanted to change Gary's mind without resentment.   Gary wanted to move into better offices to oblige the young directors who were coming into the company.

According to E.T. Webb and J.P. Morgan, in their book Strategy in Handling People, this is the way Day changed Gary's mind:

            “Judge, where was your office when he first came to New York?”

            “Why, it was in this building,” replied Gary.

            After a short pause Day asked, “Judge, where was the steel Corp. formed?”

            “Right here in this very room.”

Day let these two single selling sentences sink into Gary's mind.   In a few seconds they struck home, and Gary exclaimed, “We were born here -- we've grown up here -- and here is where were going to stay!”

The art of changing the other person's mind without resentment is to let him change it himself, by laying certain facts, tactfully, before him and letting him munch on them.

Mr. Paul Lewis, associated with me, told me of his neighbor up in Riverdale, Connecticut, who catches fish on rainy days, sunny days, cloudy days; on winter, spring, fall, summer days.   He immediately cut some open.   He sees what kind of food the fish have eaten that day.   He then knows what bait to use to catch the fish.

Of course we can't dissect the prospect, but we can find out what is on his mind, what kind of “mental food” he likes, and then feed him his own food. 

I may like spaghetti, but I would not fish with spaghetti if I wanted to catch fish.   I'd use the bait the fish like.   If I took a client to dinner, I would not order for him the food I liked but the food he liked.

How do you find out the “mental dishes” he likes?   By inquiring before you attack!   By asking questions -- by being a “question mark” and not an “exclamation-point” interviewer.

Lord Chesterfield once said: “By observing his favorite topic of conversation, you will discover a man's prevailing vanity.”

Let the other fellow do 99% of the talking.   Learn by listening! 

That is a way to find out what is on his mind; and once you have this information, feed him the “mental dishes” he likes.

The rule is simple:

“Feed him the bait he likes -- and you will sell him!”

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