Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-04
BUSINESS CAREER
OF PETER FLINT
A Story of Salesmulship BY
Harold Whitehead

meht; ASK nour questions ciedrlU aud oite all
must ss stoned aacs fHS TSoss ," hsS GSsrs1 a1s
tiers ,fl BE- Ss @ eoiann % Tnc q"Ss most
iHto Tie story 'S % peteT Fit Ffi%'e'S '0 DC '0''"
CCrX
Nov for the ideas l got from the sales
AN manship class. What Jethro Jones said
was ssmething On these lines:
Esiou remember that l showed that in SELL
ing an article 1t was not the article itself
that the customer bought. but the service it
rendered or the satisfaction it gave and
such like.
The desire for that service or that salts
faction aroused the buying motive or reason
for buying.
Thus. If wish to sell insurance (here
Francis nudged me) I must make NV sales
talk appeal to the instinct which no insur-
ance can satisfy. Cautiousness or the desire
Tor protection Ia the instinct most salts
ned when people buy insurance. Therefore.
what one says about ones insurance should
appeal to that instinct
TO talk about the gain from insurance
would be to appeal to the instinct of acolsl-
tiveness or desire for gain but as other kinds
OF investment will show a much greater per-
centage OF interest, our Offering does not
satisfy The instinct we appealsto
We must vary our appeal according to
the KIND of customer we are trying to sell
TO- fof instance, If we tried to sell an auto
moble TO young sporting blood we would
speak OF the speed at which the car would
travel. the smart. stylish lines of that car
and that the car is a fashionable one That
would appeal to instincts peculiar TO that
type OF customer and If our car had speed
ana style, II would satisfy these instincts
and SO arouse in him the desire to POSSESS
the car, o''
IN on the other hand, we wanted to sell
that car to fussy. nervous old gentleman
we would show how reliable the car was that
the brakes were very powerful. and thai II
was as comfortable to travel in as II is sir
ting in an easy chair These things appeal
TO this type of customer
here we give two different lots of facts
ABOUT the same car. Both lots of facts are
quite true, yet reverse them and see how ye
Would repel, rather than attract, the prospec
tive buyers " -
Again, when woman buys a pearl neck
lace, she buys to satisfy her barbarous in
stinct of personal adornment or her vanity
She does not buy because pearls arc a GOOD
investment e0'N
The salesman, therefore. remarks ON the
purity or the pearls. the perfect matcbinp OF
them. how they enhance her striking beauty
tthus appealing to her love of praise, He
doesn't tell her that there Is so much ma rho,
Naiue on the pearls. or that so many dollars
worth OF gold was used in making tbero for
10 10 go would be to appeal to an instinct
''' 'o' S"iH' NilcH tnat necklace would
not satisfy.
'Of course, at times, we find peopla WIN
buy diamonds and other precious stones in
order 10 nave their assets in a form easy 10
carry-Jews frequently do that-so at times
we must reverse the appeal to instincts
we Know. however. that our goods fro
maze Tor some definite purpose and thar
purpose whatever 1t may be satisfies some
human instinct CT instincts. Therefore we
can plan a sales talk that will be directed
at the normal instinct our goods are aimed
to satisfy.
In addition to this. however. there ore
instincts peculiar to the customer For in
stance, the social climber can he appeaIed to
through the instinct OF imitation Tell her
that Mrs. Nuggets, of Riverside Drive owns
one OF your automobiles and that will make
her want one.
\ Sometimes people will buy through fear-
Just to stop a competitor getting goods Splte
often causes sales, although strongly depre-
cate any appeal to evil motives such as fear
hate, revenge, spite. etc Sell goods by an
pealing TO worthy instincts and a satisfactory
sale follows. Sell by appealing to, unworthy
instincts and dislike and dissatisfaction Is
the general result"
Gosh 4, but that man Jones can give us
more to think about in a couple of hours
than any man ever met ] begin to feel I
don't know the first thing about selling" |
said to Francis after the class was over
"A realization of ignorance il the first
dawn of knowledge" said Francis.