Part 9

What a different picture you will see when you have had a touch of success. When you are no longer dependent upon others for your existence; when you no longer get up in the morning with the dreadful worry of another day of torture before you. When you no longer think of marriage as a means of securing a home. And what a difference it makes when you are successful and can afford to dress the way you have dreamed of, and can associate with the cultured young men and women you have so often envied. How different it would all be if you could afford to live in the sort of home you have fancied! This is the reward of success. And the difference between success and failure is expressed in these few simple words:

“I will start to-day—NOW—to learn the things which will make me successful. If servant girls, clerks, factory girls, stenographers, and every other kind of girls can succeed in learning salesmanship and rise from their humble positions to the top of the ladder, I too will succeed! I must succeed! I have firmly determined to start now!”

If you had bought a hat, a pair of shoes, an overcoat and a dress, and two weeks later discovered that you had outgrown all of them, would you be interested in seeing some one who had a plan to sell these clothes for you and get more money for them than you originally paid? Would you listen to them?

Would a man who owned a furniture store listen to you if you would tell him you had a plan which would permit him to get all his money out of the dead stock he had in his store? We mean such things as odd chairs, tables, rugs, etc.; things which he had bought over a year ago and for some reason couldn’t sell.

Of course he would. He would be willing to spend two hours finding out how you could do it. Surely, you will not admit that you could not tell him this plan. You don’t have to tell it just the way we will tell it in this book. Tell it in your own language. Tell it just as you would relate it to a girl friend. The simpler your words the more effective they are. He isn’t interested in big, fancy words. He wants you to be yourself and tell him facts. Here is the way we would talk to Mr. Brown, who owns the furniture store:

“Good morning, Mr. Brown. I wonder if you would be good enough to let me explain a sales plan to you. The plan which I would like to tell you about is one that has been successfully worked in many furniture stores throughout the country. It is especially designed to clean up odd pieces of furniture which are dead stock with you, and does not require an investment on your part until you have tried it out and have found it successful. If it works, you want it. If it doesn’t work, you don’t want it.”

What happens next? Well, if you owned the furniture store and had a lot of odd pieces of unsalable furniture, wouldn’t you be interested in hearing of some plan to get your money out of this dead stock? All right, then what will Mr. Brown say?

“If you can show me a way to get half of my cost out of my dead stock you are just the person I am looking for. Go ahead and tell me your plan.”

Wouldn’t you feel the same way Mr. Brown feels if you were in his place and some one had approached you in this manner? You see there are no mysterious tricks in salesmanship. Just put yourself in the other fellow’s shoes and say the thing that would sound reasonable and interesting to you—common sense, that is the keynote.

Now we will tell Mr. Brown all about our plan:

“You know better than I do, Mr. Brown, how the average woman’s mind works. She wants something for nothing. Bargain is her watchword. She will actually buy something she doesn’t need simply because she thinks it is a bargain. I once saw a woman buy two picture frames at $1.98 each, which were marked ‘Reduced from $3.’ After she had bought them I heard her husband ask her what she intended to do with them. He told her they had no pictures to put in the frames. She answered: ‘Yes, John, but think only $1.98.’ Later I was in another store and saw the same frames selling regularly at $1.75 each. I have repeated this incident, Mr. Brown, to show you how a woman’s mind works, for my plan to sell your dead stock is a big bargain sale that has been worked successfully all over the country. Here is a set of seven books. We call them the Woman’s Library, for they cover the six most interesting subjects in the world to women. Before I go into the details of my plan to dispose of your dead stock, I want to tell you briefly what there is about this set of books which makes women want to own them. Remember, I am not trying to sell you books. In fact, I am not trying to sell you anything. I am simply offering a plan whereby we can both profit. I will sell the books and your dead stock. You will get your money out of the dead stock and I will make a profit on the books. Mind you, I do not ask you to invest a dollar in books. All I ask is your cooperation. Now, as I started to say, it will be necessary for me to explain the nature of these books in order to convince you that women will snap them up like hot cakes. If you were a woman, I know you would appreciate their strong appeal and salability.

“This is ‘The Book of Good Manners.’ It tells you how to do and say the right thing on all occasions. It tells you how to introduce, what form to use when you introduce an elderly man to a young girl, a distinguished man to a group of people, etc. It tells you how to acknowledge an introduction and when to shake hands. It tells when and how to make formal and informal calls; what should appear upon calling cards; how invitations should be written, sent and acknowledged; how to acquire perfect manners at the table; when and how to use the knife, fork and spoon; how to eat asparagus, olives, corn on cob and other foods so difficult for most of us; in fact, every conceivable question which women are interested in is answered. It is simply a dictionary of etiquette. Do you know, Mr. Brown, that almost every woman in this town feels the need of this book every time she entertains or calls on her friends? Every woman has been placed in many a humiliating position simply because she did not know the rules of etiquette. It is surprising how little most of us really know about good manners. Here is a simple little test which not more than one woman out of a dozen can answer.” (You hand Mr. Brown a folder with the questions printed on it. He will probably smile and remark that he doubts if he can answer them. While he looks at the folder you continue talking.)

“Incidentally, Mr. Brown, one of our methods of making people realize the need of this book is to ask a lot of questions in our ads, similar to the questions you are reading. You see our plan is to make them realize that they are continually committing social blunders which make them appear crude and common in the eyes of their friends. When I explain about these other books I will show you how we handle the advertising and copy of ads which have proved very successful.

“This volume is called ‘Color Harmony and Design in Dress.’ It is difficult for a man to understand what a problem it is for a girl or woman to buy the clothes which are becoming to her. You see certain girls can not wear certain colors. For a girl to appear ‘at her best’ she must know what colors harmonize with her hair, eyes and complexion. If she is too stout, she must know what designs and colors will make her appear slender, and on the other hand, if she is too thin, she must know how to make herself appear in proportion. And then there are the tall ones whose problem is to decrease their height by the camouflage design and color combination; the short ones who have the problem of increasing their height. Perhaps this sounds silly to a man, but you know how vain most women are, Mr. Brown. They will spend their last penny for a box of powder or something that will make them beautiful. Of course, I am an exception (?) ahem!” (This remark will bring a smile and relieve the strain for a moment. Mr. Brown will pass a few complimentary remarks which you will take good-naturedly, and continue.)

“I know that you are not interested in hearing all about a woman’s troubles, Mr. Brown, but as I said before, I must tell you this in order to show you how these books answer all of their problems. I am trying to impress you with the fact that the Woman’s Library is not a collection of ordinary books. They are the only combination of their kind published, and I will wager that every woman in this town will want them if they are put before them in the right way. They are the very keys which open the door to a woman’s most perplexing problems. They are to a woman’s life what a furniture trade journal is to your business life. You read the trade paper because you want to keep in touch with what the best type of furniture dealer is doing, and try to improve your store. It is a woman’s business to be as attractive as possible, and there isn’t a woman alive who wouldn’t grab at the chance to find out how to become more so. You can’t appreciate what a problem the average girl or woman is up against trying to buy or make clothes that magnify instead of mar her good looks.

“Now, this volume tells ‘how to prepare and serve a meal.’ It tells just how the table should be set; where each piece of china and silver should be placed; at which side of a person you should stand when serving or removing dishes. In addition to answering hundreds of these questions it contains menus for every occasion from simple home dinners to elaborate afternoon teas. Each menu is followed with recipes telling how to prepare each dish listed.

“Do you know, Mr. Brown, that not one woman out of ten actually knows these things? Do you know that every time the average woman entertains she is self-conscious and afraid she has committed some terrible blunder which ‘gives her away’ to her friends.

“The last half of this volume is devoted to ‘Interior Decoration.’ It tells how to arrange furniture and bric-à-brac to beautify the home. It tells what color draperies harmonize with certain colors in floor coverings, upholstery and walls. In short it tells how to plan a home that will reflect good taste and a genuine homelike atmosphere.

“You know how funny women are on this subject. You see it every day right here in your store when they buy furniture. How often have women displayed their total ignorance of color harmony when buying upholstered furniture from you. How often have they asked: ‘Will the blue velour upholstery on this suite match well in a room papered green?’

“This volume is called ‘Physical Beauty.’ It tells how to become beautiful; how to care for the skin, develop a good figure, remove wrinkles, double chin, freckles and all other blemishes which mar a woman’s beauty. It tells how to care for the hair, hands and teeth. Also home preparations which have been used by famous beauties are given in detail.

“It goes without saying that this volume touches one of the most tender spots in women.

“‘Avoided Subjects Discussed in Plain English’ is a book on sex. It outlines every single mystery of sex in plain English. I feel that the title of this volume speaks for itself. You know without me saying so what a strong appeal this subject carries.

“‘The Book of Culture’ contains a series of essays on subjects related to self-development. Here are the titles of the essays: (show him the book opened at the index page).

“This volume on ‘How to Make Money’ gives a number of practical ways for the average man, woman or girl to utilize her spare time profitably. Every aggressive woman is interested in ways and means of making money.

“Now, Mr. Brown, I think you will have to agree that this set of books is something every woman wants and will buy.

“Here is my plan for disposing of your dead stock: Suppose that you have a lot of kitchen tables which cost you six dollars each, a lot of chairs that cost you five dollars each, a lot of mirrors that cost you four dollars each, a lot of rugs that cost you seven dollars each, and a lot of pedestals that cost you eight dollars each. All of these are dead stock to you. Let us make up a list of the dead stock as follows:

Twenty kitchen tables—your cost each $6—your regular selling price $10 each.

OUR BARGAIN PRICE $9.98 each and the Woman’s Library given free with each table. You make the sale, collect the cash and pay me $3 on each sale for the set of books. You will get your cost out of the tables and $1 profit on each sale after you pay me for the books.