Page:The Tales of a Traveller.djvu/68

56 Salesmen In my earlier days on the road, I had often wondered at the ingenuity and the skill of some salesmen in accomplishing results which, according to their own tales, were nothing short of marvelous. Often we would gather around a stove in a country hotel lobby, and swap experiences. I can recall now how some smart Aleck would draw a word picture showing his capacity for inveigling reluctant customers into giving him big orders. Others, not to be outdone, would tell stories indicating even greater prowess. I used to feel mighty small in comparison with these great captains of salesmanship; and while I never took those stories at their full value, they nevertheless spurred me on to think of means and devices whereby I might improve my own skill in obtaining better results.

Classification of Salesmen There were all sorts and conditions of men on the road then, as there are now. Some men are reserved in their manner, non-communicative, strictly attentive to their own business, and resentful of any intrusion upon it. You will see them consult railroad time tables, write advance postal cards to their trade, do their work in a neat, methodical manner, and retire for the night when they are through. Sharply in contrast with these are other salesmen who want you to know that they are leaders in their line, that no buyer would ever dare to refuse them a hearing, that they have humbled the biggest of them and gained their point. They will talk about shows and dances and the pretty girls they have met here, there, and everywhere. Their attire is always at the height of fashion—and a little beyond it. They display a little too much fondness for loud-checked suits, and vividly colored neckties in which nestle diamond stickpins, and finger-decorations from which other diamonds flash almost aggressively. Still others, far from being attired flashily, are careless and shabby in their appearance; their collars look frayed and soiled, their suits badly in need of pressing, and their faces as if a good application of soap and water might improve them. Another class, whose members are neatly but not gaudily dressed, whose faces and general demeanor indicate quiet self-respect, good health, and a fair degree of prosperity, neither boast nor complain about business, but meet their fellow-travelers with a dignified friendliness, and often spend pleasant evenings with them.

Of the four classes mentioned, the first and the fourth are generally illustrative of the principle of "the survival of the fittest." The self-applauded "captains of salesmanship," the "leaders in their line," seldom survive beyond their first or second trip. Acquiring expensive tastes, and developing false notions about the style which is compatible with the importance of their positions, as they see it, their traveling expenses mount higher and higher, while their business results tend less and less to justify their expenditures. They have on hand a collection of questionable stories which they tell indiscriminately, failing to realize that while they might appeal to some buyers, they will antagonize a good many others who are revolted by that sort of thing. These men deem it a wise business policy to tell the buyer what he ought to have, often being bold enough, and ill-advised enough, to tell him that he does not see the advantages in his own business.

"Why, Mr. Smith has just given me an order for two thousand of this, and five thousand of that; and Mr. Smith certainly knows what he is doing! You ought to put in a stock of it. Why be a back number?"

Needless to say, such arguments fall flat with their own weight. If Mr. Smith knows his business better than the man addressed, well and good. The other man resents the implication that Mr. Smith is a far-seeing business man whereas he is not. If the salesman enters a greenhouse and finds a batch of Lilies not up to the mark, he must make capital of it straightway. If the Lilies happen to be those