The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-12-06
INSTITUTE
GENESEO DRAWS
MANY VISITORS
Ben r. Nardaman, Business Fxnar
Gives Opening Address - Over
200 People in Attendance,
Especial Correspondence

Geneseo, ILL.,, Dec. 6.-The ar,,
meeting of the Merchants ana
Community Institute, which Is h.
ing conducted under the ausnjeo.
of the business and professional n
terests of this city. was held a,
Mystic Workers hall last evening
There were nearly zoe persons
present
The speaker of the evening va,
Ben r. Vardaman, business and
community expert, who was intro
duced to the audience by Rev Z
W. Porter Shirley. His topic was
The Master Salesman" MIR. Var.
daman is man of wide obserya.
ton and experience who tells his
story clearly, concisely and force
fully, Dealing with The Master
Salesman" in the broader view and
purpose Of being an individual who
assists in the betterment of his
community, Mr. Vardaman descrih-
ed him as necessarily being an eY-
pert in his particular business
The Master Salesman" also re-.
allies the needs and desires Of his
buying public and knows how 10
properly supply that need or sat
isfy that desire with goods whi1a
he knows and sells intelligentlv
To do so, he employs salesmansbiD
Craftsmanship, in its essence"
said Mr. Vardaman, is the ability
to lead people. SaleEmanship Is
primarily. ability. Thirty-four per
cent OF the legally recorded bust
ness failures in this country in the
last six years were due to incom.
petency-to inability. Salesman
ship is also a scientific thing. Ac.
cording to definition of Herbert
Spencer: Science is organized and
classified knowledge. So by organ
izing the fundamentals of business
and classifying the experiences and
practices of business, it naturally
becomes scientific bat still plainly
practical. The third great recog-
nized fact of craftsmanship is that
it is a mental problem
In the mental processes OF a
sale first comes the approach. This
stage is accomplished by personal
introduction or contact. by bill
board or other form of advertise
ment, which turns the prospective
purchaser toward the salesman
The successive stages following to
the accomplishment of q sale are
getting the customers attention,
arousing his interest; prompting
the desire to buy, and then induc-
ing the resolve to own"
Mr. Vardaman in continuing his
address drew the attention of his
hearers to the three elements Of
sale, which are ID the salesman;
% the goods; 80 the customer.
The master salesman has person
atty; good cheer; a strong mem
DRY for people and things; will
power, and then a complete knowl-
edge of the goods which he IS sell
ing.
During his talk Mr.. Vardaman
told OF many personal experiences
which may befall any purchaser,
the recital of which illustrated the
point under consideration. In clos
ing his address, he was heartily
applauded by the audience, which
had with keen interest heard the
first talk OF the institute program.
Speaks This Afternoon.
Mr.. Fardaman's address for this
afternoon at 1870 was The Patriot
ism of Community Cooperation
He will close his part Of the pro
gram this evening at 1870 O'Clock
when be will continue in the
thought OF The Master Salesman
by presenting his address, Max
ing a Sale" An attendance larger
in numbers than that q last eve
ming is anticipated.
Ray Morton Hardy, a recognized
authority on communitF A2d social
efficiency. will be the speaker on
the program tomorrow. At l.5V ID
the afternoon he will use his ad-
dress. playing the Game ana a.
1880 his topic viii be The Dynam-
les of Modern Business
The entire series Of talks ana
addresses which are given al ms
institute are free to all who WISH
to attend.