by Napoleon Hill
Available in 122 free installments
Owner:
good! What's so good about it? It's a well known fact that if you sell one of a clan, particularly a leader, you can sell the entire clan. Now all I have to do is to make the first sale to the right person. I'll do it even if it takes a long time.
Again, he claims that the territory has had a crop failure for five years. What could be more wonderful? The Holland Dutch are marvelous people and they save their money. Also they are responsible and want to protect their families and property. And, as a matter of fact, they probably have not purchased accident insurance from any other insurance salesman because other salesmen wouldn't even try. For they, like the salesman with whom I am driving, would have a negative mental attitude. Our policies offer excellent protection at a low cost. Actually I'll find no competition!
I then engaged in what I term "mind-conditioning." I repeated to myself with reverence, sincerity, expectation, and emotion, "Please God help me sell! Please God help me sell! Please God help me sell!" Over and over again I repeated, "Please God help me sell!" Then I took a nap.
And when we arrived at Sioux Center, we called at the bank. Now the personnel consisted of a vice president, a cashier and a teller. Within twenty minutes the vice president had purchased the most protection our company was willing to sell, a full unit. And the cashier purchased a full unit. But the teller will never be forgotten by me because he didn't buy.
And starting with the first place of business next to the bank, we began cold canvassing systematically, store after store, office after office; we interviewed every individual in each establishment.
An amazing thing happened: every person we called on that day purchased the full unit. And there was no exception.
While riding back to Sioux City I thanked the Divine Power for the assistance I had received.
Now why did I succeed in selling in the same place where the other man had failed? Actually I experienced success for exactly the same reasons that he had experienced failure, except for the ? something more.
He said it was impossible to sell them because they were Holland Dutch and clannish. That's NMA. Now I knew they would buy because they were Holland Dutch and clannish. That's PMA.
Again, he said it was impossible to sell them because they had had a crop failure for five years. That's NMA.
I knew they would buy because they had had a crop failure for five years. And that's PMA.
Now the something more was the difference between PMA and NMA. For I had asked for Divine Guidance and help. What's more, I believed that I was receiving it.
Now this salesman returned to Sioux Center and stayed for a long tune. And each day that he was there was a record day in sales for him.
This illustrates the value of motivating another person by example, for this salesman also succeeded where he had failed because he learned the value of working with a positive mental attitude.
There are many ways to motivate a person, but a most effective way is through an inspirational book.
When you want to motivate, say it with an inspirational, self-help action book. The most important factors to success in selling are, in order of importance: (a) inspiration to action; (b) knowledge of a successful sales technique for the particular product or service ? which is termed know-how; and (c) knowledge of the product or service itself, activity knowledge. Now, these same three principles can be related to success in any business or profession.
In the story that you have just read you can assume that the salesman had knowledge of the sales know-how and knowledge of the service he was selling. But he did lack the most important ingredient ? inspiration to action.
Many years ago, Morris Pickus, a well-known sales executive and sales counselor, gave W. Clement Stone a copy of Think and Grow Rich. Since then, he has used inspirational books such as those mentioned in Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude to help salesmen develop inspiration to action. Mr. Stone knows that inspiration and enthusiasm are the life of a sales organization. And because the flame of inspiration and enthusiasm will be extinguished unless the fuel that feeds it is kept replenished, Mr. Stone has made it a habit to see that his representatives receive inspirational, self-help action books frequently. And this is in addition to weekly and monthly publications that are intended to act as mental vitamins.
If yon know what motivates a person, yon can motivate him.
