How I Raised Myself From Failure

by Frank Bettger

PART FIVE Pocket Reminders Don’t try to throw the hawser—throw the heaving line. The approach must have only one objective—selling the sales interview. Not your product—your interview. It is the sale before the sale. The foundation of sales lies in getting interviews. And the secret of getting good, attentive, courteous interviews is in selling appointments! The secret of making appointments is to stop swinging for a home run, and merely try to get on first base. First, sell the appointment. Second, sell your product. The best way to outsmart secretaries and switchboard operators is never to try! Be honest and sincere with them. Take them into your confidence. Never use trickery or subterfuge. If you want to be a star in the selling game, you’ve got to have your fundamentals—the ABC’s of your job—so firmly in your mind, that they are part of you….” Write your sales talk out word for word. Keep on improving it. Read it and reread it until you know it. But don’t memorize it. Try it out on your wife, your manager, another salesman. Give it until you love it. Knute Rockne said it: “Drill… Drill… Drill.” Make the most of dramatization. “One demonstration is worth more than a thousand words.” Let the customer perform. Let the customer help you make the sale. “Never forget a customer; never let a customer forget you.” New customers are the best source of new business … new customers! Follow up referred leads while they are sizzling hot. Report results—whether good or bad. Play po...