The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-03-01

u wcnlsn who lad sent. note of in
quily to the offics. in reply to our let
GER. ! Foellecaae her house one morn
ing and sent M. ny card. frankly stat
ing that 9 had ean,e from the firm
When the mail came back 1 knew by
her manner gus. the tone in which the
mistress had sert the message.
Ms. Plank wasr'i I'D If Mr.. Sell
Ter cared to come the Leyt afternoon,
she woIid see LIin'
"Humph, / knew sher attitude. L
was a troublesome book agent and
nuisance, and she wasn't going to take
the books, anyway, Nevertheless,
went back the next afternoon, sent UP
my card, and pretty soon 1 heard the
rustic of skirts on the stairs. | always
made ii point to sit. a little distance
from the door. Why2 oh, so that the
woman would have q chance to see
that l WAS a gentleman, to put it brief
~. didn't want her to plump right
into me and commit herself to an atti-
tude of defiance or contempt before she
had a chance to decide whether she
really wanted to treat me that way
This woman came down, spoke to
me without more than half glance
toward me, and was evidently bent on
getting ria of me as soon as possible.
Well, 1 think [ disarmed her at the
start by speaking conrteously- she
asked me to sit down. l did, but l
didn't plague her about taking the
books. Don't flash your order blank
the first thing. Try to interest the per
son in the book just as you would a
friend. / reused this woman'S inter-
est, and after we had talked about the
work for awhile, l brought the CONVEX
sation TO rather an abrupt close.
I've detained you long enough,
said. IN fill out your order and not
keep you any longer.
she kept me, however, another
twenty minutes, and. when / left. asked
me TO come for the check the next day.
| said we would send for it. No; she
was careful to whom she gave checks,
and would rather 1 came for it. Very
well; 1 would come. The next day,
after giving me the check, she said that
| must excuse her for speaking of it,
but she was surprised to find a man of
my seeming intelligence engaged in
selling books. l thanked her for the
compliment.
do other houses employ men of
your ability? she asked.
They have the best men they can
get I said @
".Wen, 1 shall have to reconsider my
opinion of book agents, she laughed.
But why don't you do something else?
Go into a brokerage office, or some
thing like that
Have you a brother, madam
Yes eagerly. That's why spoke
TO you. He's in a brokers' office.
should think you
May ] ask his salary"
" Twenty-Five dollars a week
Yes Well, you see, get S15 a
week. and that explains, perhaps, why
don't go into the brokers' Office
Z" Seventy-five dollarsr she eX-
claimed She thought minute, and
then said, slowly: Il wonder-if Char
ley-wouldn't like-to try this BUSH
ness?'
LAS L explained to you. it isn't so
hard for a solicitor to get into house.
ponds upon his treatment of the wo-
man after he gets in. And the way he
treats her. / may add, depends on the
woman herself Very often l have
found frankness the best plan.
Mrs. Blank. ] would say, I am Mr..
Seller of such and such a firm. l am
plain. everyday bookagent, Mrs. Blank,
and l apologize for intruding on you,
but as the firm asked me to come and
as it pays me for khis very work, have
no discretion in the matter. l don't
know whether you want even to look
at this book, and if you don't l hope
you will say so candidly, without any
regard for my feelings
THAT sort Of attitude often pays best.
1t is like the tramp who bluntly asks
for a dime to get a drink. Many a man
win give it TO him because of the hon
esty of the appeal"
rs it hard to get into the office Of
busy MANI
"Oh, no! You can always get in. The
trouble is after you're in. I'll tell you
how sold work to a certain million
aire He had built a public school and
given it to a little Connecticut town.
That was my handle to work with. /
went to his office and found the ante
room full of people waiting to see him.
The attendant came for my card. L
sent it in with the message that want
ed to see him about something in con-
nection with the school. 1 suppose there
were a dozen cards ahead of mine, but
1 was sent for at once.
Mr.. Blank ] said, I want to see
you about a work which the principal
Of the school has seen and expressed
desire to have in the library there.
"'Who sent you?' sharply.
g" Nobody. The principal said he
wouldn't ask you to buy the work, be-
cause you have spent so much already
Did he say he wanted it"
HE did Which was true.
What is it?'
1 lOlu MN.
How much?'
Zone hundred and fifty dollars
'' You say he expressed a desire for
it?'
" He did
Send it up to him.
81 sent it the next day. Don't you
see that the successful solicitor is the
man who informs himself of some vital
point of attack and then conducts the
attack in the way which fits that par
ticular case? If ] had wasted three
minutes of that mans time in an effort
to palaver or work him up to the sub
| ject, he'd have sent me off so quickly
I'd have been dizzy. A successful
scheme which is popular among solicit
tors for good houses is to make calls in
a carria ge. This is particularly effec
tual in small towns, where, as a gen.
eral thing. people do not decline to re-
ceive carriage folks.
Il know of man who makes regu-
lar trips to certain small cities where
he knows the best people, is entertained
socially and is welcomed as he deserves
to be- He is a college graduate, a gen
/ tleman. and an interesting fellow in
every way. He never posters people to
buy but simply makes a. personal call,
! talks cleverly and entertainingly about
things, shows them incidentally the
books he has, and takes their order if
! they want to give 1t.
80 !, oh anal hNn