and which will render a service. Such things when first brought to our notice, cause us to involuntarily exclaim, "Why didn't someone think of that before?" or "How have we gotten along so many years without it ?"

Now, Representative, do you feel that way about the article you have adopted for sale? Is there any of the real self-conviction mixing itself with your sales argument,—or is your talk merely the babble created by the vision of the dollar to be yours in the end if you succeed in battering down the opposition?

After all, isn't it only the weak, the foolish that we can convince into purchasing anything that we ourselves have no faith in? Are those the sales we really feel good over? Isn't it the sale made upon the real merits of the goods-the conviction that service and value have been rendered commensurate with profits received, that gives us the real elation? How many re-orders are ever recorded from the customer lured into purchasing a thing through the oily persuasion of an orator-saleslady?

If then the orders which you value most are sold upon their merits to customers who have been brought to this realization because of your earnestness and honest convincing power,-how important it is that you yourself have the absorbing conviction that no oth

er article equals your own. Mr. Walker, in a little pamphlet recently published, conclusively proves that "Thoughts are Things." If thoughts are real, tangible things, influencing the thoughts of others, how much easier will be your labor of convincing to the extent of a sale if you are first convinced yourself.

Then there is the justice to yourself to be considered. You ave no moral right to take money for that which you believe in your own heart to be not worth the price. No company can afford to have you with them unless you are actually with them in all that the spirit of the word "with" implies.

CHAPTER V.

IMPORTANCE OF COMMITTING SELLING TALK.

M°

OST high-grade salesmen readily agree that a beginner in the art of selling should prepare and learn, word for word, a comprehensive "Selling Talk." This talk should be a carefully prepared analysis of all the advantages your article possesses, the best points in its construction, and most important of all, where it will save your prospect money or add to her convenience or comfort. In the preparation of this talk, eliminate as much as possible the "I" element. Bring constantly into prominence the "You.” The most vitally interesting thing about your proposition to the customer is "What service will it render me? What advantages will it give me which I do not now possess?" Of far more importance to her to have the assurance that the article will afford her perfect satisfaction than to know how large your factory is or how many years the inventor struggled to produce the finished product.

Here is a test you can make for yourself bearing upon what I have just written: Meet a friend some

day and talk flatteringly of yourself for fifteen minutes. Note carefully the degree of interest displayed. In about a week arrange another meeting and this time talk flattering of your friend for the same length of time. Then you can readily decide at which meeting your friend waxed most enthusiastic. Human nature is always the same, and this known truth exemplified above must be woven into your Selling Talk.

I am much indebted to my good friend, H. C. Dollison, himself a past-master in salesmanship, for much that appears in this article. His thoughts are prefaced by quotation marks.

"Have you ever tried to write out a definite Selling Talk? It is really surprising how much positive benefit comes from this plan. When you try to write out an exact statement of the proposition you will find many little points you are not clear on and you will need to look them up to write them down accurately. You will realize how much this will help you when you try it. Do not make any statements to a customer that you are not prepared to prove. Before she can share your own confidence in your line, she must be shown that your confidence is a matter of fact and not a matter of faith. Give her a reason for the faith that is in you. Can you do this clearly-concisely-effectively? "Lord Bacon was right when he said, 'Reading

maketh a full man, conversation a ready man and WRITING an EXACT man.' Do you wish to have your statements exact-explicit definite-effective? Then reduce them to writing. Trim off the unnecessary and unimportant statements. The mere process of transferring your thoughts to paper helps to crystallize your best thoughts into definite, tangible forms that will constantly recur to you when at your work and greatly increase your efficiency. Your success will be measured largely by the extent to which you use a definite, earnest, positive, convincing, straightforward Selling Talk, or statement of the merits of your goods.

"This statement of your proposition, commonly known as a Selling Talk-helps to make the sale. It must be definite, positive and thoroughly convincing. It is extremely important that you know what you want to say and how you expect to say it. Extemporaneous effort is not satisfactory. What would you think of a minister or teacher who would appear before an audience or class without a thorough preparation of what he had planned to say and how he had planned to say it? TO KNOW IS NOT ENOUGH; YOU MUST KNOW YOU KNOW TO MAKE OTHERS KNOW.

"Some of the largest concerns in the country con