Success
Here the ingenuity of the salesman must supply that which
cannot be set down as a hard and fast rule. I know a life insurance salesman
who sells nothing but large policies, amounting to $100,000.00 and upward.
Before this man even approaches the subject of insurance with a prospective
client he familiarizes himself with the prospective client's complete
history, including his education, his financial status, his eccentricities
if he has any, his religious preferences and other data too numerous to be
listed.
Armed with this information, he manages to secure an introduction under conditions, which permit him to know the Prospective client in a social as well as a business way. Nothing is said about the sale of life insurance during his first visit, nor his second, and sometimes he does not approach the subject of insurance until he has become very well acquainted with the prospective client.
All this time, however, he is not dissipating his efforts. He is taking advantage of these friendly visits for the purpose of neutralizing his prospective client's mind; that is, he is building up a relationship of confidence so that when the time comes for him to talk life insurance that which he says will fall upon ears that willingly listen. Some years ago I wrote a book entitled How to Sell Your Services.
Just before the manuscript went to the publisher, it
occurred to me to request some of the well known men of the United States to
write letters of endorsement to be published in the book. The printer was
then waiting for the manuscript; therefore, I hurriedly wrote a letter to
some eight or ten men, in which I briefly outlined exactly what I wanted,
but the letter brought back no replies.
I had failed to observe two important prerequisites for success - I had written the letter so hurriedly that I had failed to inject the spirit of enthusiasm into it, and, I had neglected so to word the letter that it had the effect of neutralizing the minds of those to whom it was sent; therefore, I had not paved the way for the application of the principle of suggestion.