Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-25
is
LEARNED and NOT
INHERITED; KREBS
Leading Principles Of Success Laid
Down in Lecture on Psychology
of Business.
ACQUIRE POWER OVER OTHERS
Study of Character as Manifested by
Certain Uniailing Signs of First
Importance.

the assertion of DR.. Stanley l. KrebS
in his evening lecture at the Rock
Island chautauqua last night His
subject was THE Psychology of Bus
mess" and his address was a helpful
one to everybody and especially to
those whose business it is to sell. The
speaker was laboring under the handi-
cap of overwOrked vocal organs and
his time was too short to enable him
to go into detail, but he laid down
some general principles which form
the basis of the science with which
he deals
All human endeavor falls under one
Of five heads production, distribution,
government, teaching, and religion.
craftsmanship is part of the work of
distribution.
To effect a sale there must be four
things-the salesman, the customer,
the goods, and money If any one of
the four elements is left out there
can be no sale. From the salesman's
standpoint the important thing is the
customer and the way he is handled,
and the first thing to be done is to
Judge your party and gain his conf
dence
Statesmen Made, Not Born.
The salesman is made, not born.
Some are a little better fitted for the
work at the outset, but none can sue
coed without long, careful prepara-
ton. 1t requires study and hard work.
Many successful statesmen do not IN
derstand the principles upon which
they work, A great number, when
asked the most important feature of
their equipment. say it is tact. Tact
is important, but it is but one element
Tact is merely the ability to say the
right thing to the right person at the
right time in the right way. The
speaker gave several humorous illus
tratiOns to show where tact falls
down
The salesman's study is to gain the
power to control the other fellow.
There is no short cut to this. Some
believe palmistry Will reveal the
things the salesman should know.
Others have faith in phrenOlOgy, and
there are advocates of astrOlOgy and
physiognOmy. Even scarpology, OF the
art OF reading character by the man
ner in which one wears down the heels
Of his shoes. is coming into vogue in
some quarters. DR.. Krebs warned
his hearers against all these methods
Of acquiring power over the other
fellow. None. he pointed out, is taught
or recognized by the great universe
ties which have included in their
scope all the classified knowledge that
man possesses. The speaker advised
those who would master the science
of business to steer clear of any meth
Cd not recognized by standard schools.
Those who pin their faith to any Of
these elusive "OlOgieS' place themselves
in the way Of losing much valuable
time and effort and Of being misled
70
way is to go from the known to the
unknown, not to proceed from the I'M
known TO the known, as theorists are
apt to do
Guides for Salesman.
In sizing up a customer there are
several well defined methods at the
command Of the salesman. The dress,
actions, manner of speaking and the
mobile parts Of the face are depend
able guides If a mans dress is Of
the ordinary style and he evinces no
noticeable peculiarities, the thing for
the salesman to do is to get down to
business without loss of time. If there
is anything about him to indicate the
unusual in his mind, it will be we'll to
take it into consideration and make a
play for the weakness or the hobby
which lies behind; in other words, to
make the approach which will arouse
the interest and inspire the confidence
of the buyer. The clue to character is
the thing which no successful sales
man disregaTds.
There are only three pure types of
character with which one must deal.
One is the intellectual type, the sec
ond the heart type and the third the
viii type OF course there are many
variations. Dr.. krebs put on his hat
and gave an imitation of the manner
in which these three might be expect
ed to greet the salesman.
Looks for Service.
The intellectual man is Of the cal
cuIating mein. He listens silently,
usually with head bowed forward and
often with hand to his brow. He holds
himself aloof. He is cold and selfish.
He is not usually much impressed
with appearances, and it is well to
make the appeal to him on the basis
of the merits of the goods. He will
want TO know how long they Will wear.
the service that may be expected, and
the price.
In dealing with the heart type of
man and with most women, appear
ance is an important feature. The
heart type is open, free and generous.
re usually IeSdTuS the SG4lSSllau
frankly and draws as near as possible
to him to give him the best possible
chance. This sort of man wants to
hear all about it and is the easiest Of
the three types to deal with.
Quite q different program should he
followed in handling the will type To
make an effective approach a man of
this sort must be knocked down, fig
uTativeIy speaking, before he becomes
impressed. He usually enters boldly
and with a manner that challenges
controversy His voice is loud and he
manifests an evident desire to i'm
press everybody with his Importance
The wise salesman adopts his own
method and tries to be just a little
more aggressive than he Like likes
like" is the motto of the successful
salesman in fitting his talk and ac-
tions to suit the whims of his Gus
toners.