Never Say Die

MANY YEARS AGO, A YOUNG FELLOW came into my office and wanted a job selling insurance. He had been driving a bread truck selling bakery goods house-to-house. He had no money and was living with his wife and little baby boy in the home of his wife’s folks. His shiny blue suit showed signs of wear, but it was clean and well pressed.

He was a stranger in the city and most of his experience had been in mechanical work. He had attended high school, but didn’t finish. So, I was in a dilemma. I knew the odds were against him.

But I was struck by his “look of courage.” He didn’t have much to offer, but this didn’t daunt him. He looked me in the eye and said he’d just like a chance. He wasn’t cocky or chesty -just poised and determined. How could I turn such a fellow down? Fortunately I didn’t.

It was a long hard struggle. From time to time he had to get part-time work with a transfer company hauling barrels. He and his young wife bought a cheap lot in the outskirts of the city and built a little two-room home with their own hands during the week ends and evenings. Another baby boy came along. Meantime he was getting a foothold in selling. He overcame discouragements that would have stopped most men cold. Why was this? It was because he had iron in his blood and had made up his mind that he would not quit. He gained year by year, and is now a leader in his city of about a million people. He is chairman of his church board, an officer in his service club, and trade association. He has a lovely lake waterfront home, two automobiles, and a cruiser. One son is a salesman in his own organization and the other is an honor student in the university.

All this has come about because he just wouldn’t say die!

THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALITY

Courage is the number one quality! Every salesman knows the heart-breaking days that come periodically. The “sure sale” that peters out; the poor credit risk that eats up the profits for a month; the buyer who deserts his old salesman for no apparent reason; the long succession of turn-downs; the days when his spirit is at a low ebb and it takes all the willpower in the world to keep going-all these and more are familiar to every salesman.

Why does he keep at it? Most salesmen have wondered about that themselves. Isn’t there an easier way to make a living? It’s really quite a mystery why some men hang on as long as they do. Probably it is due to their spirit of adventure and love of independence. They like the ever-changing picture each day. They’d wither up and die if they had to sit in an office behind a desk eight hours a day. They rebel at the thought of working under a “boss.” Every now and then a successful sale gives them a thrill that more than compensates for the days and weeks of frustration and despair. WINSTON CHURCHILL

We are all thrilled by the fierce courage of Winston Churchill-a man who will go down in history with Caesar, Napoleon, and other men of destiny. In England’s darkest days he literally saved his beloved island from the Germans. His famous speeches are classics. Listen-

We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. Again-

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. . . . You ask: ‘What is our aim?’ I can answer in one word: ‘Victory!’ Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.

Winston Churchill, with his bulldog tenacity, set jaw, and determined attitude is the very personification of courage.

ATHLETES AND SALESMEN

A courageous attitude seems to be natural to great athletes and great salesmen. But-those who don’t possess this blood-red quality can acquire it. How do I know this? I know because I did it myself. As a young man just out of college it would have been absolutely impossible for me to strike out as a salesman in a strange city. But ten years later I did it. How did I develop such a frame of mind? It is a simple story-I finally realized that the men who were getting ahead in the world were no smarter than I was; they didn’t have any better education; they didn’t have a more pleasing personality; they didn’t have any more friends either. They had just one big thing I didn’t have-they had the guts to get out on their own and fight for business. They weren’t hampered by thoughts of whether it was “nice” for them to urge me or anyone else to buy. They just simply went about their business, putting one foot ahead of the other, day in and day out, asking people to buy. Meantime I was growing older, in a salary job where I could be fired any day.

I finally screwed up my nerve, resigned a good job, sold our house, and I jumped in my car with my wife and drove from Iowa to Los Angeles to become a salesman. Did this take grit? It sure did. How did I muster up the courage to do it? It was simply that I knew that it was now or never. I was 34 years old and the fork in the road was right there-either I’d be a slave all my life to some one who could fire me any morning, or I’d fight for the right to call my soul my own. Was it easy? I should say not! Was I scared? Yes, indeed! So, from first hand experience I know that a man who is naturally timid and fearful, can talk himself into an attitude of fortitude and determination. You can do it too-if you really want to do it.

The best thing you can do when you are not really brave, is to act that way anyway. This reflects in your consciousness and you’ll soon really feel that way.

GREAT PHILOSOPHERS LAUD COURAGE

Plutarch said, “Courage consists not in hazarding without fear, but being resolutely minded in a just cause.” So don’t think that you can turn on your “Courage Button” and banish all your fears. It doesn’t work like that at all. But you can promise yourself that you’ll act courageous. Then first thing you know, your fears will vanish.

One large sales organization has recruited many college men. The manager says he soon discovered that there was little if any correlation between physical and moral courage. Some of the greatest football stars who were veritable tigers on the football field were shrinking violets when asked to approach new prospects. On the other hand, some apparently bashful and timid men made their calls without hesitation. This has been my own experience, too. One of our very best salesmen is a man who emphatically declares that he is a physical coward. (I’m sure that in a real emergency he would not be.) Nevertheless he has exhibited a brand of moral courage I have never seen Excelled. He has overcome practically every foe a salesman can meet. I’ll tell you more about him later in this book, but he is a perfect example of mental and emotional courage -the kind every really top salesman must possess.

FEED YOUR MIND

As boys we all liked to read about Robin Hood, Daniel Boone, Buffalo Bill, King Arthur, Cortez, and other bold men. As men we like to read and hear about champion salesmen, captains of industry, and national leaders. This is as it should be too. Most of us are hero-worshippers at heart, and we get a lot of inspiration from it.

Every month good book
s on selling, mental attitude, and inspiration come off the presses. By reading them, we will be reminded of good techniques we have used, but discarded. In them we read of methods that will make us better salesmen. Some of these books are written by men well known as leaders in their fields. A five dollar bill invested in a good book may revolutionize a salesman’s life. If necessary we may economize somewhere else, but not in feeding our mind.

It’s a queer thing, but most of us will spend hundreds of dollars for vitamins, special diets, and aids to digestion and the building of our bodies, but we seem to be reluctant to invest money in our most precious asset-our minds. So we should watch for these books and magazine articles that will help us keep our fires burning brightly. DON’T GET DISCOURAGED

Selling is like fishing. We never know when the next cast may land a good fish. And we never know when the next call may land a good order. One day about four o’clock, I was standing on the corner of 7th and Hill in Los Angeles. It seemed a little late to make another call, and yet it was a little early to go back to the office. I decided to go across the street and make a cold-canvas call “just for fun.” Making cold calls was not fun-but I was determined to do it.

I went to the top floor of the building and walked into the office of a glove importer. I frankly told him I was a salesman and had time for “just one more call” and he was elected. He said he had some salesmen out and he wished they would make “just one more call” every day. We visited a few minutes and I asked to see the gloves that he sold. They were beautiful French gloves for ladies and were quite expensive. I admired them, as I could certainly most sincerely do.

On his desk he had a picture of a fine looking little boy about three years old. I asked him if this was his son, and he replied that it was.

Then I asked if he had any plan set up for his son’s educational trust fund. He asked me what that was, and after I explained it, he was enthusiastically in favor of my proposition and wrote me a check.

This incident has made thousands of dollars for me. Many, many times remembering this has bolstered up my courage to go ahead when it would have been far easier to skip the whole thing. Every salesman has had adventures like this. Think about them; dwell on them; and then forge ahead; don’t quit.

ADVICE FROM SHAKESPEARE

Read this from Shakespeare’s Macbeth:

Macbeth: If we should fail? Lady Macbeth: We fail! But screw your courage to the sticking place, And we’ll not fail.

It is said that 37 percent of all salesmen who fail lose because of discouragement. The very word “discouragement” tells the story-lack of courage. So if this is true, as it certainly seems to be, it is paramount that we who sell, should continually think about it and “screw up our courage.” The very best cure is to compel yourself to do what you fear. Every man reading this book knows how true this is. The thing we fear the most is usually formidable because it is unfamiliar. The more we put off tackling it, the worse it becomes.

So the next time you have this fear-dragon attack you, grit your teeth and go ahead. You will be agreeably surprised, and you won’t be so fearful next time either. Never say die!

HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS CHAPTER 1. Courage is the greatest asset a salesman can have. With it, he pushes ahead to victory. Without it, he is defeated before he starts.

2. Courage can be cultivated by any man who is determined to do it. The “taking the bull by the horns” attitude will win the battle. Acting courageous will produce the real thing. Try it!

3. Fear is natural and really an ally. It points out dangers that might be overlooked. But a salesman must not let it stop him. He must forge ahead.

4. Literature is full of inspiration for the man who will read. Feed your mind-it’s more important than your stomach!

5. Force yourself to do the thing you know you should do. Don’t be a quitter. Face the issue-it’s a victory to you as a man if you go ahead, regardless of the outcome. But if you give up to fear and don’t even try, you’re a coward for sure-and doomed to failure.

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