chapter3.3

J. Howard Lucas of Birmingham, Alabama, tells how two salespeople from the same company handled the same type of situation,

He reported: "Several years ago I was on the management team of a small company.

Headquartered near us was the district office of a large insurance company.

Their agents were assigned territories, and our company was assigned to two agents, whom I shall refer to as Carl and John.

"One morning, Carl dropped by our office and casually mentioned that his company had just introduced a new life insurance policy for executives and thought we might be interested later on and he would get back to us when he had more information on it.

"The same day, John saw us on the sidewalk while returning from a coffee break, and he shouted: 'Hey Luke, hold up, I have some great news for you fellows.'

He hurried over and very excitedly told us about an executive life insurance policy his company had introduced that very day.

(It was the same policy that Carl had casually mentioned.)

He wanted us to have one of the first issued.

He gave us a few important facts about the coverage and ended saying, 'The policy is so new, I'm going to have someone from the home office come out tomorrow and explain it.

“Now, in the meantime, let's get the applications signed and on the way so he can have more information to work with.

“His enthusiasm aroused in us an eager want for this policy even though we still did not have details, when they were made available to us,

they confirmed John's initial understanding of the policy, and he not only sold each of us a policy, but later doubled our coverage.

"Carl could have had those sales, but he made no effort to arouse in us any desire for the policies."

The world is full of people who are grabbing and self-seeking.

So the rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous advantage.

He has little competition.

Owen D. Young, a noted lawyer and one of America's great business leaders, once said: "People who can put themselves in the place of other people, who can understand the workings of their minds, need never worry about what the future has in store for them."

If out of reading this book you get just one thing — an increased tendency to think always in terms of other people's point of view,

and see things from their angle — if you get that one thing out of this book, it may easily prove to be one of the building blocks of your career.

Looking at the other person's point of view and arousing in him an eager want for something is not to be construed as manipulating that person so that he will do something that is only for your benefit and his detriment.

Each party should gain from the negotiation.

In the letters to Mr. Vermylen, both the sender and the receiver of the correspondence gained by implementing what was suggested.

Both the bank and Mrs. Anderson won by her letter in that the bank obtained a valuable employee and Mrs. Anderson a suitable job.

And in the example of John's sale of insurance to Mr. Lucas, both gained through this transaction.

Another example in which everybody gains through this principle of arousing an eager want comes from Michael E. Whidden of Warwick, Rhode Island, who is a territory salesman for the Shell Oil Company.

Mike wanted to become the Number One salesperson in his district, but one service station was holding him back.

It was run by an older man who could not be motivated to clean up his station.

It was in such poor shape that sales were declining significantly.

This manager would not listen to any of Mike's pleas to upgrade the station.

After many exhortations and heart-to-heart talks — all of which had no impact — Mike decided to invite the manager to visit the newest Shell station in his territory.

The manager was so impressed by the facilities at the new station that when Mike visited him the next time, his station was cleaned up and had recorded a sales increase.

This enabled Mike to reach the Number One spot in his district.

All his talking and discussion hadn't helped, but by arousing an eager want in the manager, by showing him the modern station, he had accomplished his goal, and both the manager and Mike benefited.

Most people go through college and learn to read Virgil and master the mysteries of calculus without ever discovering how their own minds function.

For instance: I once gave a course in Effective Speaking for the young college graduates who were entering the employ of the Carrier Corporation, the large air-conditioner manufacturer.

One of the participants wanted to persuade the others to play basketball in their free time, and this is about what he said: "I want you to come out and play basketball.

I like to play basketball, but the last few times I've been to the gymnasium there haven't been enough people to get up a game.

Two or three of us got to throwing the ball around the other night — and I got a black eye.

I wish all of you would come down tomorrow night.

I want to play basketball."

Did he talk about anything you want?

You don't want to go to a gymnasium that no one else goes to, do you?

You don't care about what he wants.

You don't want to get a black eye.

Could he have shown you how to get the things you want by using the gymnasium?

Surely. More pep. Keener edge to the appetite. Clearer brain. Fun. Games. Basketball.

To repeat Professor Overstreet's wise advice: First, arouse in the other person an eager want He who can do this has the whole world with him.

He who cannot walks a lonely way.