Napoleon Hill
If a salesman of Ford automobiles drives up to his prospective
purchaser in a Buick, or some other make of car, all the arguments
he can present in behalf of the Ford will be without effect.
Once I went into one of the offices of the Dictaphone Company to look at a Dictaphone (dictating machine). The salesman in charge presented a logical argument as to the machine's merits, while the stenographer at his side was transcribing letters from a shorthand note-book.
His arguments in favor of a dictating machine, as compared with the old method of dictating to a stenographer, did not impress me, because his actions were not in harmony with his words. Your thoughts constitute the most important of the three ways in which you apply the principle of suggestion, for the reason that they control the tone of your words and, to some extent at least, your actions.
If your thoughts and your actions and your words harmonize, you are bound to influence those with whom you come in contact, more or less toward your way of thinking. We will now proceed to analyze the subject of suggestion and to show you exactly how to apply the principle upon which it operates. As we have already seen, suggestion differs from Auto-suggestion only in one way - we use it, consciously or unconsciously, when we influence others, while we use Auto-suggestion as a means of influencing ourselves.
Before you can influence another person through suggestion, that person's mind must be in a state of neutrality; that is, it must be open and receptive to your method of suggestion.
Right here is where most
salesmen fail - they try to make a sale before the mind of the
prospective buyer has been rendered receptive or neutralized. This is
such a vital point in this lesson that I feel impelled to dwell upon it
until there can be no doubt that you understand the principle that I am
describing.
When I say that the salesman must neutralize the mind of his prospective purchaser before a sale can be made I mean that the prospective purchaser's mind must be credulous. A state of confidence must have been established and it is obvious that there can be no set rule for either establishing confidence or neutralizing the mind to a state of openness.