Man to Man

But everything seems so well, odd. I'm I'm not even sure I know who I am. Well, we can certainly straighten you out on that. You're Bill Turner. 82 West Maple Street and you're in the hardware and sporting goods business. But why am I here? Partly worry, partly lobster. Worry? That's right. Worry. Worry over your sales volume. Sales volume? But my sales are good. Have been right along. Mhm. Yes, they have. But there's a day coming when merchandise is going to be plentiful and competition very keen again. How good is your volume of business going to be then? That's the $64 question that's been giving you restless nights and wrinkles in the forehead lately. And well it might, too. But what's lobster got to do with all this? Considerable. In your enthusiasm to show Mary a good evening out on your wedding anniversary last night, you had a whole lobster and quite a large one, I might add. And numerous olives served in thin-shelled glasses and surrounded by amber fluid. Between worry and lobster, well, in a word, Bill Turner, you're having a dream. This? A dream? It sure is. Hm. About time to start, too. Um one thing more. Yes? Just who are you? Me? I'm your better self. My what? Your better self. Everybody has one, you know. Your subconscious self. And he's more or less responsible for this whole thing. Your dream, I mean. The experts will give you some sound help on your sales problem. Elmer Wheeler, popularly known as America's number one salesman. And Rivers Peterson, managing director of the National Retail Hardware Association. And now, if you don't mind, the trouble with you, Bill Turner, is that you If you don't mind. Well, it isn't as if he doesn't know better. You see, Bill, you've been satisfied lately with just sitting back easy and poking the keys of the cash register. Now, that's not selling. And like he says, you know better. Just like every good salesman knows that come the time when merchandise is plentiful again and competition more than just a word again, it's going to take some real effort to keep the volume of business up where it is now. Now, don't get me wrong. You aren't slipping up on everything. Why don't we run over to your store for a minute? See some of the things you are doing to ensure continuance of your present volume of business. But but we can't go down to the store this time of night. May I remind you again, this is a dream. And in dreams, you can do anything you darn please. Thank you. To the store, then. Take your window displays, Bill. You have a right to be mighty proud of them. What's the matter? Something wrong? Wrong? Oh, no. No, everything's just fine, I guess. As I was saying, your windows are real attention getters, Bill. There isn't a store around that does a better job of following the association's promotion guide. That duplicates the suggested window trim so carefully. And inside your store, modern lighting, modern fixtures, plenty of aisle space, shopping islands with swell mass and feature displays. As for stock, you've got a good selection of quality merchandise. Complete lines in each department offering a wide variety of merchandise to customers. Now, this is the sort of quality merchandising that not only gets folks coming into a hardware and sporting goods store, but just as important, it keeps them coming back. So, you are keeping up on merchandising, Bill, but your salesmanship, that's something else again. You've been slipping there. And as your better self, it's my duty to see that something is done about it. That's why I brought you here, to see the experts. Guess this is where we come in, Pete. I guess it is, Elmer. You first. Okay. Bill, Elmer Wheeler has five selling principles that people in every field of selling have found most helpful. Maybe you've used them in the past. But he hasn't lately, that's a cinch. Oh. Excuse me. Certainly. And Bill, I know from experience that the application of these principles can be a tremendous factor in building and holding store volume. Thank you, Pete. Now, Bill, these principles are designed to make your sales more accurate, foolproof and faster. Take principle number one here, for example. Don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle. It's the sizzle that sells the steak and not the cow. Hidden in everything you sell in life is a sizzle. The sizzle is the tang in the cheese, the crunch in the cracker, the whiff in the coffee and the pucker in the pickle. In lawnmowers, for example, Perfectly logical in a dream, perfectly logical. This machine will give your customers lawn the most perfect haircut in the neighborhood because it cuts smoothly and quietly and is easy to push. Take pressure cookers. It's the guarantee of a perfect dinner every time in less time, which in terms of the sizzle is husband happiness. In firearms, it's a lifetime of fun a customer will get shooting a precision-made gun like this. Lifetime of fun. That's the nubbins of a real sizzle on firearms that will lead to many a sale. But in getting up your sizzle sentences, remember principle number two. Don't write, telegraph. By this, I mean your first 10 words are more important than your next 10,000. In fact, if your first 10 words aren't the right words, you won't have a chance to use the next 10,000 because your customer will walk away from you physically if he doesn't float away from you mentally. Now, take a selling situation in your own store. All right. Suppose you have a customer for a toaster. What would you say? Mrs. Smith, high you fixed for toasters these days. Couldn't use another one, could you? You sure wouldn't make many sales using words like that, would you? Now, if you really want to make a sale, try the sizzle. Mrs. Smith, how would you like to make your husband smile every morning? These automatic toasters make the toast every day the way he likes it. You beginning to catch on to this sizzle method of selling? First, you find the sizzle and then you telegraph it. Now, for principle number three. Say it with flowers. By this, I mean it's as much what you do as what you say in a sale. You must learn how to synchronize your sizzles with showmanship. Back up your words with actions and gestures. Say you are a customer. You come to a window featuring sporting goods. A gun catches your eye. Okay, you come inside. Now suppose I were the salesman and you were the customer. You, too? Why, yes, I came along this time, Elmer. Positively amazing. Say, Pete, why don't you demonstrate this point? Well, all right, Elmer, I'll be glad to try. Thank you. Now Bill, suppose I were a salesman in a hardware store and you came in as a customer to look at a gun. Would I just stand there with my hands in my pockets and talk? If I did, the farther my hands went into my pockets, the farther your hand would get away from your pocketbook. Why? Well, what do you do with a gun? You feel it. You sight it. You put it to your shoulder. You sight it at an imaginary bird. You try its action. Now knowing that, am I going to let that gun stand there in the rack and let your interest die? Indeed, I'm not. I'm going to take this gun and first of all, I'm going to hold it for a moment or two myself. I'm going to try to register with you my admiration for it. Then I am going to give it to you, Bill, and let you try the feel of it. Let you try the action while I talk to you about how proud you are going to be to own a fine gun like that. What a lifetime of pleasure you are going to get from using it. In other words, by my every word and action, Bill, I am going to try to get you to think of that gun as your gun. This third point, Bill, is a mighty important point. Mighty important. To put it in a couple of words, demonstrate, but demonstrate to sell. We come now to point number four. Don't ask if, ask which. Always give the other fellow a choice between something and something, never between something and nothing. Say a customer comes into a store to look at drills. Don't ask him if he wants drills, but which he wants, the carbon or the high-speed. Don't ask if, ask which. Do you get it? We come now to the fifth and final point to make your sales more accurate, foolproof, and faster. Watch your bark. Watch your voice. It's as much how you say it as what you say that counts. All right, Bill. Let's say you're going to sell an automatic washer. Go to it, but remember, watch your voice. Watch your tone sizzle. Mrs. Brown, this washer has a one-piece all-steel cabinet. Now that makes it strong and sturdy. And the whole washer is finished inside and out in lifetime porcelain. Porcelain outside for lasting beauty. Porcelain inside for lasting cleanliness. That's the way, Bill. You're sure catching on to this sizzle method of selling. Remember, Bill, it's how you say what you say. To summarize in my own words, remember, it's not so much what you want to say as what the customer wants to hear that makes sales. Thank you, Mr. Wheeler. You see, Bill? Five darn good selling principles. But have you been practicing them lately? You know, just between you and me, I think that I say, just between you and me, I think Hey. One dream at a time, eh? As I was trying to say, now's the time to get back in the old selling groove. But one thing you've got to remember, whatever selling techniques you use, however you arouse desire, appeal to a customer's interest, answer his objections, justify price, you've got to do it with facts. Isn't that right, Mr. Peterson? Absolutely. Success in selling nearly always depends on how well you know the products you sell. This is especially true in our field. So many times people come into the store to ask for advice on products, information about features. To such people, the man who waits on them is both an authority and an advisor. He sells the products. He should know all about them. Well, Bill used to be on his toes pretty well when it came to keeping informed on products, Mr. Peterson. Why, I can remember back when Bill was making a sale one time. Let's try this one for size. Oh, I like the color. It's nice. But tell me, how will it clean? Oh, this material cleans very well. However, you can remove ordinary spots yourself simply by sponging them with a damp cloth. On grease spots, a little spot remover does the trick. Doesn't cleaning take the life out of the coat? Not with this coat. Actually, it works the other way around. So while reducers the repellent quality of the coat, proper cleaning refreshes it. You certainly used product knowledge to advantage in that sale. Tell me, Bill, where did you learn those facts about the hunting coat? Well, to tell you the truth, Mr. Peterson, I was putting a new shipment of those coats up in the rack one day and just happened to read one of the tags. Very good. It's amazing how much information you can pick up on products just by reading what the manufacturer has printed on the label or tag. Many products carry labels giving information about the product or directions for use. But Bill never used to depend solely on this one source for information. Why, I can remember another sale when Bill was waiting on a customer. Mr. Smith, actually, you have a real tool shop in your hand. With this one tool, you can grind, drill, polish, engrave, cut, sand, saw. Well, those are just some of the things you can do. Mhm. It works on leather, does it? Yes, it does. And equally well on wood, plastics, and even glass. Now I see. Sounds all right. You'll find it's a real tool shop, Mr. Smith. Does so many precision operations not possible with other portable tools. Remember where you got the information on that? From a trade publication ad. Yes, ads, both in trade and consumer magazines, are also sources for product information. But I don't mean sitting down and reading every magazine you can get from cover to cover. That would be absurd. It's more a matter of keeping your eyes open when you do read magazines for facts you can use in selling. Now take distributors and manufacturers' representatives. They are good sources, too. Actually, every product in your store fairly bristles with questions. And these fellows can give you the right answers. Just one thing, though. You got to ask questions. If you want information, you got to ask questions. Thank you. And don't forget, Bill, that in your regular store sales meetings, you also have a swell chance to pick up useful selling facts. But these facts, this product information, can be useful not only in making sales, but also in making a lot of sales bigger. Bill has made a lot of sales like that one in the past. For instance, one time he was waiting on a fellow interested in a gun. Always been a rabbit man myself, Bill. Thought I might like to shoot ducks for a change. What do you recommend? Well, if you're after ducks, I'd recommend a 12-gauge full choke gun with a 30-in barrel. Like this one. Here's a precision-made gun that'll give you a lifetime of shooting fun, Mr. Jackson. Notice how well it's balanced, how easily it handles. The kind of gun that well, gives you a real thrill to shoot. And this model has the fastest, easiest, smoothest action of its type. No wonder it's been called the gun with a ball bearing action. The ideal gun for duck shooting. Full choke, huh? That's right. Lets you reach right out where you can get them. Use a shell with about a size two shot, wouldn't I? Well, size two would be a little better if you're after geese, Mr. Jackson. But for ducks, I'd recommend a powerful long-range express shell with, well, size six shot for all normal shooting. And I've got a shell here that gets there hard and fast with a perfect pattern every time. And before you were through, you sold Mr. Jackson not only a gun, but a good supply of shells, some decoys, and some hip boots as well. Why? Because you knew your stuff on guns and hunting equipment. And how'd you get to know so much? Believe it or not, simply from reading a couple of small booklets. Yes, you can learn a lot. You can actually become an authority not only on guns and ammunition, but on many other products just by reading manufacturers' pamphlets, circulars, handouts, and direct mail pieces. And actually, it isn't hard to pick up this information. This material is invariably attractive, easy to read, and packed with facts. Now, one of the simplest, easiest, and yet most direct ways to get information on products is to try out the product for yourself. You can always tell a better story on how to fish if you've been fishing. You're bound to be more of an authority on hand traps if you've actually used one. The whole thing boils down to this, Bill. Selling techniques are effective only so long as you have product knowledge to back up those techniques. Don't undersell the importance of this to yourself, and you'll sell more merchandise to your customers. Well, there you are, Bill. You can go on worrying about the future if you want. Or you can get back in the old selling groove again and sleep peaceful nights. It's in your lap. Think it over. And Bill, while you think it over, remember these five selling principles. First, don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle. Two, don't write, telegraph. Three, say it with flowers. Four, don't ask, give. Ask which. And five, watch your bark. And remember, too, Bill, how effective those selling principles can be when they are backed by real product information. The kind you can get so easily from tags and labels, advertisements, manufacturers' and distributors' representatives, your sales meetings, manufacturers' literature, and your own personal experience. And Bill, just one more thing. Lay off the lobster and floating olive combination before going to bed. Thank you. It's your alarm clock, you darn fool. Wake up, Bill. Wake up, I tell you. Hey, wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wow. What a dream. Yeah. Made pretty darn good sense, too. Yeah. By the way, how did you sleep last night?