Joseph Francis MacGrail

It is defeat that turns bone to flint, and gristle to muscle, and makes men invincible, and formed those heroic natures that are now in ascendancy in the world. Do not, then, be afraid of defeat. You are never so near to victory as when defeated in a good cause.—Henry Ward Beecher.

The manager of a big insurance company not long since asked me what books I would recommend for putting stamina into a salesman who wilted under a direct “No.”

“We have in our employ,” he wrote, “a fine mannered, well-educated and very intelligent man. We have thoroughly educated him in the technical part of our business and have done our best to perfect him in salesmanship, but he is not attaining the success we believe he should. His defect is his inability to continue a conversation with a party who abruptly tells him that he is not interested in life insurance. He states that in a number of such instances he has been unable to say a word, his throat becoming dry. From the above description it might appear to you that the man was wanting in courage. We, however, do not believe this to be the case as his record in the past does not justify that conclusion.”

How do you stand up under a “No”? Do you lose heart? Does your cheerfulness vanish? Are you conquered then and there? Or does it only act as a stimulant to more determined effort? Does it brace you to meet opposition, put you on your mettle, or do you wilt under it?

A salesman who is made of the right stuff thrives upon opposition. He braces up under rebuffs, rises to the occasion in proportion to the difficulties to be overcome.

Socrates said, “If the Almighty should come to me with complete success in His right hand, and an eternal struggle for success in His left, I would take the left.” It is through struggle, through bravely meeting and overcoming obstacles that we find ourselves and develop our strength.

A successful business man tells me that every victory he has gained in a long career has been the result of hard fighting, so that now he is actually afraid of an easily-won success. He feels that there must be something wrong when anything worth while can be obtained without a struggle. Fighting his way to triumph, overcoming obstacles, gives this man pleasure. Difficulties are a tonic to him. He enjoys doing hard things, because it tests his strength, his ability. He does not like doing easy things, because it does not give him the exhilaration, the joy, that is felt after a victorious struggle.

Some natures never come to themselves, never discover their real strength, until they meet with opposition or failure. Their reserve of power lies so deep within them that any ordinary stimulus does not arouse it. But when they are confronted with obstacles, when they are ridiculed, “sat down upon,” or when they are abused and insulted, a new force seems to be born in them, and they do things which before would have seemed impossible.

Whenever a motive is great enough, an emergency large enough, a responsibility heavy enough, to call out the hidden reserve in our nature, latent energies spring forth which astonish us. The thin-skinned, sensitive salesman succumbs to the first breath of opposition or discouragement.

It is unfortunate to allow the customer ever to say “No,” but do not let a “No” overwhelm you. Remember this is your test. If you stick to your guns and don’t show the white feather a “No” will bring out the best that is in you. Whenever you hear “No,” call to mind men like Napoleon and Grant, who thrived on opposition and rebuffs.

It is not an easy matter to find salesmen who are capable of coping with all sorts of antagonism. But they are the ones in demand. Such men are not easily argued down—they can put up a stiff fight against every kind of opposition. Where the weak salesman retires from the field beaten, the man with grit and stamina is only taking his second breath. He does not let a rebuff or two phase him. Some salesmen are so weak that they cannot even maintain their own individuality in the presence of a prospect with a strong, vigorous mentality. He will annihilate their arguments in a twinkle. They fall down before his onslaught and say, “Yes, I guess you’re about right, Mr. Blank. I hadn’t thought of that before. But I guess you know best.” They cannot hold their ground, maintain their arguments, because they allow themselves to be drawn out of their current of mental vibration, to be overcome by the current of the stronger mentality.

I know two salesmen who go out from different houses over similar territory with the same line of goods. One of them sells four or five times as much in a year as the other. One man starts out with the expectation, the determination to sell, and, of course, he gets a very large salary on account of his great ability to sell. The other man gets a very small salary, just barely enough to enable him to hold on to his job, because obstacles seem so great to him. He returns oftener with excuses for not selling than with orders. He has not the ability to annihilate difficulties, to overcome obstacles, which the other man has. He brings back to his house small orders, or none, because he cannot overcome the objections of his customers, cannot convince them that they want what he has to sell.

I once saw an advertisement of a big firm for a manager, which, after describing the sort of man wanted, and saying that no other need apply, closed with, “The man must be able to cope with antagonism.” Now, the trouble with the unsuccessful salesman I speak of is: he is not able to cope with antagonism. He hoists the white flag the moment the enemy confronts him. He has no fight in him, and surrenders before a shot is fired. When a prospect or customer puts up an objection he is done. “Well, I guess perhaps you are right,” he says, “it may be better for you not to buy now.” This salesman lacks stamina. There is not enough lime in his backbone, not enough iron in his blood. He is a good honest soul, but he lacks the virility that characterizes the great salesman.

Remember that every weak strand in your character, every hindering peculiarity, every unfortunate habit, will cripple your sales and mar your success. Sensitiveness, timidity, shyness, lack of grit or courage, all of these weaknesses are virtually cutters-down of your ability to sell. Timid, shy or sensitive people are often morbidly self-conscious. They are always analyzing, dissecting themselves, wondering how they appear, what people think of them. These things keep the mind diverted from its real object and are all destroyers of concentration and power.

Over-sensitiveness is a very serious handicap in salesmanship. The man who is not able to take his medicine with a smile, who is not able to cope with a surly, a cantankerous, a quick-tempered or a sharp-tongued customer, has no place in salesmanship. In other words, a great salesman must be able to carry on his selling campaign at the points where the ordinary salesman falls down. To do this he must not be thin-skinned. He must be able to stand all sorts of abusive talk under which the sensitive, over-refined salesman quails. He must be ready to push on vigorously at the point where the salesman who lacks grit will quit and turn back. He must be able to stand having pepper and salt sprinkled on his sore spots without wincing. He should keep one thing continually in mind: that his business is, at all costs, to make a sale.

This does not mean that a good salesman must have a rhinoceros hide; that would make him unfeeling, unsympathetic, and he would lack the human quality which is so essential in salesmanship. Nor does it mean that he should be pugnacious or over-aggressive. It simply means that he must be able to antidote and neutralize the prospect’s thrusts, however cruel or aggravating. In short, while keeping perfect control of himself, remaining pleasant and agreeable throughout, he must be able to put up a stiff fight, a dignified, manly fight that will leave him master of the situation.

This is where the timid or over-sensitive salesman falls short. He is thrown completely off his base by the vigorous thrusts and arguments of the rough, energetic business man who doesn’t stop to choose his words. He feels injured at the slightest reflection upon his ability, his truthfulness, the character of his goods, or his house. I know a salesman of this sort who will never make his mark, who flares up, “gets up on his ear,” as they say, whenever his sensitive, sore spots are touched. He lacks that masterfulness and superb confidence in himself which make a salesman proof against abuse or opposition. The self-confident man is impervious to the slights or slurs that make the sensitive man shrink into himself. He is too sensible of his own dignity to let them interfere with his business. When the small man, the peppery or morbidly sensitive man, feels that he must protect his “honor,” even if he lose a sale, the big, broad man knows that no one can hurt his honor but himself, and that it is best served by refusing to feel hurt or insulted where in reality no insult is intended.

Another point that works to the great disadvantage of the timid or sensitive salesman is this: he is afraid to make what is called the “cold” or “straight” canvass; that is, to approach people without having a “lead” or an introduction. This is a great weakness, and very often false pride is at the bottom of it. The man feels above his task. Again, ignorance of goods or of selling principles will cause a man to lack confidence in himself, and then, naturally, he is timid, fearful, for he foresees the failure that awaits him when he calls on a customer. Ignorance is timid; knowledge is bold, courageous. It is not enough to have possession of yourself if you don’t also have possession of your business, that is, if you are not thoroughly grounded in the principles of salesmanship. Thus grounded, if you adopt the right attitude toward your business and toward yourself, nothing can keep you from success.

Throw off your shyness, your morbid sensitiveness, your timidity. Get rid of your lack of faith and courage. Confidently expect that you are going to be a great salesman, a distinctive one, a salesman with individuality, with originality, with inventiveness, a man of resource and power. Never allow yourself to think that anything is true about you that you wish to be otherwise, because the thought you hold in mind is the model of your life building. Think faith, think courage, think strength, and you will develop those qualities.

The reason why so many of us build so slowly and so poorly is because we are constantly destroying our building by shifting our model. One day we have confidence in ourselves, and our mental model is full of courage, hope and expectancy, and the life forces build accordingly. The next day we are in the dumps, have no faith in ourselves, are discouraged, and of course these are the models for that day’s building, destroying the building of the previous day, and thus many of us go through life, building up and tearing down.

Be consistently courageous, hopeful, confident in yourself and in the power of your Creator to make you what you long to be, and nobody, nothing on this earth, can down you.

There is everything in flinging out a superb confidence in yourself, a firm belief that you are going to win. Expel all doubt and fear, all uneasiness, from your mind and approach every prospect with the expectation of success.

“Courage,” says Emerson, “comes from having done the thing before.” Your first success will give you the momentum that will push you on to the next. Every achievement adds to our self-confidence, the great leader of all our other faculties. If confidence does not go ahead, the other faculties refuse to go on.

Every time you conquer what you undertake, you add so much to the power of all the faculties you possess. Just as a snowball grows larger and larger as it rolls down hill, so our lives grow larger, richer, with each experience. We lose nothing of what we achieve. It is all added to the life-ball.

Not long ago I asked a very successful man, really a “born salesman,” what he considered the essential qualifications for good salesmanship. He put in the first category of qualifications: confidence in your goods, confidence in your firm, and confidence in yourself, plus enthusiasm, plus earnestness, plus perseverance, plus hard work, plus enjoyment of your work. In the second place he put: general knowledge of merchandise. In the third place he put: personality, and under this heading he included, honesty, neatness of appearance, poise, courtesy, sincerity, and temperance. The natural born salesman, he said, possesses all of these things, and in addition, tact, shrewdness, and understanding of human nature.

Now, there is nothing in this list of qualifications that is not within the reach of every honest intelligent youth who has enough stamina and will power to make his life a success.

You are a child of the Infinite; you bear the stamp of the Creator, and you must partake of His qualities. It is up to you, then, to make good; it is your duty as a man to show your origin, to stand your ground, to maintain your independence, your self-reliance, your dignity, against all attacks. It is up to you to stand for something in your life work, to be counted as one to be reckoned with in any transaction. It is your own fault if you are sucked out of your own plane of vibrations by a bully, a fighter, by any one, be he great or small. Selling honest goods is an honorable pursuit. Bring out your God-given powers. Improve the qualities He has given you and make your work, make your life significant. Don’t be apologetic; don’t be afraid; don’t cringe or wilt under opposition. Feel the importance and dignity of your work and let others feel that you feel it. Say to yourself, “I too am a son of God, the equal of this or any other man. I am going to maintain my poise, my individuality, my faith in myself, no matter what he says. I am as self-reliant, as independent, as forceful as any other man. I shall not be cowed by any one. I am not going to be downed by an obstacle.”

You will find it a wonderful help in overcoming obstacles in every phase of your work to assume a victorious mental attitude, and to carry yourself like a conqueror. If you go about among your fellows with a defeated expression in your face, giving the impression that you are not much of a man anyway, that life has been mostly a defeat, and that you don’t look forward to any success worth while, you certainly cannot hope to, and never will, inspire confidence in others; if your face, on the other hand, glows with the expression of victory, if you carry a victorious attitude, if you walk about the earth like a conqueror, a man victory-organized, you are headed toward victory. Nothing can keep you from winning out, because—and don’t forget this—Success begins in the mind.