J. I. Holeomb
SALESOLOGY
of the
BUTfER-KIST
POPCORN and
PEANUT
MACHINE
Bii
J. I. HOLCOMB
HOLCOMB CS, HOKE MFG. CO.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, U. S, A.
Copyright 1922
Holcomb & Hoke Mfg. Co.
Seventh Edition
FOREWORD
PREFATORY NOTE
7
9
Don't Misrepresent
Chapter
I THE MYSTIC (?) ART OF SELLING 11
Unnecessary to be Mind
Reader (13)
Mind Reading Idea Nonsense (15)
Study Human Nature in
General (16)
Science Beats Stories (17)
Be Sure of Yourself (19)
II UNDERLYING SELLING PRIN¬
CIPLES 21
Analyze Every Canvass (26)
Building for Confidence (27)
Knowledge Builds (28)
Study the Various Lines (30)
Talk Optimistically (32)
Dealing with Pet Worries of
Prospect (34)
How Would It Sound to You? (36)
III OUR ENVELOPING IDEA 38
IV THE BASIS OF YOUR CANVASS 40
Capitalizing Resistance (40)
Meet Conditions as They are (41)
An Argument for Every Con¬
dition (42)
The Survey (44)
(a) Things About the Town (45)
(b) Detailed Information (52)
V OPENING OF SALES.
59
Equipment (59)
Entrance (59)
Approach (62)
[3]
VI SOLICITATION 69
Your Problem (70)
More Money for Him (71)
Explanation of the Machine (72)
Butter-Kist Buttering (75)
The Age of Machines (76)
Repeat Sales on Right Goods (78)
Big Profit in Butter-Kist (79)
Don't Oversell (83)
How to Use Our Reproduced
Testimonial Letters (86)
Some Apt Phrases for Your
Canvass (90)
Most Money per Sq. Ft. (91)
Figures Talk Louder than
Words (92)
Helping Prospect to Set
Figures (95)
Advertising Value (100)
One Owner's Experience (101)
Machine Self-Advertising (101)
Publicity Value of Machine (102)
An Electric Sign—Plus! (104)
No Investment in Raw
Material (107)
A Cash Business (107)
Rapid Turnover (107)
Future of the Popcorn
Business (109)
Butter-Kist Machine in a
Store (112)
Butter-Kist Machines on the
Sidewalk (113)
The Ideal Way (114)
For the Children (116)
Expanding His Business (117)
Price—How to Handle (122)
Asking the Price Too Soon (125)
Making Him Ask the Price (125)
Ready to Close (129)
VII APPROACH TO CLOSING 128
Ready to Close (129)
VIII CLOSING THE ORDER 133
Indecision and Procrastina¬
tion (136)
Psychological Moment for
Closing (137)
This Man Forgot to Close (138)
[4]
IX INTERESTING METHODS OF
DEMONSTRATION 140
How Some of Our Men Work (140)
X HOW ADVERTISING HELPS YOU
SELL 144
Inquiry Approach (150)
XI TURNING INQUIRIES INTO SALES 148
XII HOW TO SELL OUR ADVER¬
TISING 151
People Look for Machine (153)
XIII WHY YOU SHOULD (SELL
CARTONS 156
XIV CO-OPERATION WITH MACHINE
OWNERS 161
XV COMPARISON WITH OTHER
MACHINES 163
Butter-Kist-—The Machine of
Today (164)
Butter-Kist—Machine Sells
Popcorn (165)
No Real Competition (168)
Sell the Idea (169)
XVI PROSPECT WANTS TO BE A MAN¬
UFACTURER 172
XVII "DON'T WANT TO GO IN THE
POPCORN BUSINESS" 175
XVIII THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF
PEANUTS 177
Part of the Butter-Kist Propo¬
sition (178)
XIX LIVE AND LEARN 180
XX YOUR TERRITORY 182
Develop Your Territory (185)
XXI AROMA OF BUTTER-KIST 187
XXII "MUST SEE THE MACHINE" 189
XXIII WANTS TO ASK HIS WIFE 197
Selling Through the Wife (198)
XXIV SELLING THE BANKER 201
XXV HAS A SILENT PARTNER 203
[5]
XXVI SELLING THE FOREIGNER 204
Finding the Owner (205)
XXVII HAS ISEEN THE MACHINE—BUT! 208
XXVIII JUST STARTING IN BUSINESS 211
XXIX THE HUMAN SENISES IN RELATION
TO OUR MACHINE 213
XXX AID TO SODA FOUNTAINS 215
XXXI POPCORN AND CREAM 217
XXXII HOW TO TALK PROFITS 218
Compare Butter-Kist Profits (221)
Talk 150% Profit on Popcorn (222)
Dwell on Yearly Profits (223)
XXXIII TALK PROFIT—NOT VOLUME 224
Talk Small (228)
Statements to Avoid (228)
XXXIV WHEN IS THE BEIST TIME TO SEE
"HIM"? 230
Saturday a Good Day to Sell (231)
Night Work Pays (231)
Handling Interruptions (232)
Command the Interview (234)
XXXV TALK FROM THE CUSTOMER'S
VIEWPOINT 236
"I Don't Blame You in the
Least" (237)
Play to His Vanity (239)
Getting Him to Say "Yes" (240)
XXXVI DOES NOT HAVE THE MONEY 241
Other Lines of Argument (244)
Hard Times (245)
Face Conditions (246)
XXXVII PROSPECT WANTS A GUARANTEE 249
XXXVIII DON'T MISREPRESENT 250
XXXIX NO EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS 253
XL PROHIBITION BOOSTS BUTTER-
KIST BUSINESS 257
How Prohibition Boosts General
Business (259)
XLI HOW BIG WILL THE BUTTER-
KIST BUSINESS GROW? 261
A Vision of the Future (264)
[6]
Foreword
THIS book is not Theory. It is based on
Facts and Experiences. The common
complaint against Talks and Books on
Salesmanship is that they tell you what you
ought to do, and fail to tell you how to do it.
In this book, we have tried to tell you not
only what you should do, but we have told
you how to do it.
The plans dealt with have been used in
making sales by the executives in this busi¬
ness, and by every successful salesman on
our force.
We have not only told you that you must
get the confidence of your customer (which
is another way of saying you must make him
believe you) but we have told you several
ways to gain his confidence.
We have at least showed you the line of
thought to pursue- to enable you to get the
confidence of those to whom you are talking.
We have mentioned objections that you
might meet in selling the Butter-Kist ma¬
chine, and have told you how to answer these
objections.
We have told you that you should try to be
a scientific salesman, and have given you
dozens of illustrations "how."
We have not tried to arrange this book in
complete logical sequence. We are not en¬
deavoring to give you words to use in your
solicitation. We are giving you thoughts.
[7]
You are to build the language around these
thoughts.
We don't expect you to talk by rule—but
by common sense. We want our men to
think, study and anayze, then work and then
think some more. That is the main purpose
of this book.
We do endeavor, however, to give you
every thought or argument that has been
brought to our attention since we have been
in this business. As one of our men aptly
put it, "what you find in this book should
give you the knowledge of this business
which you could not obtain for yourself in
five years' work."
Salesology has been carefully gone over by
every executive of our Company, and every
point that we know of that has been brought
up in the sale of our machines has been
elaborated upon.
Do not try to sell Butter-Kist machines un¬
til you have thoroughly and studiously read
every word of this book. (There is a great
difference between reading and studiously
reading.)
[8]
Prefatory Note
Don't Misrepresent.
Don't sell a machine unless you feel
that it will make a good profit on
the investment for the purchaser.
Don't make promises you cannot
fulfill.
Don't forget that we are as much
interested in a customer after he
buys the machine as at the time
of the sale.
Our business is one in which you can
sell goods on their merits. Tell
the truth. Be honest with the
customer, with yourself and the
firm.
[9]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER I
THE MYSTIC [?] ART OF SELLING
YOU hear and read a great deal about
scientific salesmanship. That is a fine
phrase, but we are sure it frightens a
great many men, because they interpret it
to mean that there is something mystical
about selling goods.
Scientific salesmanship is just plain com¬
mon sense applied to selling goods.
You also hear and read a great deal about
the psychology of selling. Our understand¬
ing is that psychology is how impressions get
into the brain, and what they do after they
get there.
Everything man does, in its last analysis,
is psychological. Every building that was
ever erected—every machine that was ever
invented—every book that was ever written
—every scheme that was ever devised—every
thought that was ever uttered—had its
origin in someone's brain.
One very unfortunate thing with all of us
educated as well as uneducated, is that we
are constantly arriving at diiferent conclu¬
sions by our misunderstanding of certain
terms, words and phrases. One man will
[11]
SALE SOLOGY
utter a sentence that means one thing to him,
and the party to whom he says it makes an
entirely different interpretation and then the
"fight is on."
The selling of goods is certainly a psycho¬
logical matter. It is a play of wits. It is
one of the most fascinating things in the
whole range of man's activities.
There has been very little done to chart
the field for you. If you were a doctor, law¬
yer, architect, mechanic, etc., you would find
a library of books telling you "how to do it,"
but there is comparatively very little on how
to sell.
That ought to make it all the more inter¬
esting to us. It does make it more interest¬
ing and more profitable to the man who en¬
joys pioneering—who will keep his mind
open—be willing to learn—who knows that
the last word has not been said—and who is
constantly looking for improvement.
The basis of all business is selling some¬
thing. In every walk or station in life a per¬
son uses the qualities of salesmanship.
One of th^ best places to learn salesman¬
ship is to attend church and listen to a well
constructed sermon.
At every opportunity, study how every
orator, statesman, lawyer, preacher, or any
man in public life handles and sways his
audience.
They are doing in a slightly different way
what you are doing, and some of your best
[12]
SALESOLOGY
thoughts and expressions for your own work
will come from the study of their methods.
Take your occupation seriously. You have
a great work and are in a noble calling. De¬
termine to make yourself a scientific sales¬
man. That is a salesman using his brains.
Get the "analyzing habit." That habit of
mind and thought and attitude toward things
in general in this day and age mean the dif¬
ference between success and failure.
Webster's Dictionary gives the following
definition of the word "Salesman": "A man
who sells goods."
Another good definition is "A man who can
tumble quick."
We interpret this to mean that no differ¬
ence what line of argument is presented, or
how new and startling it is, a salesman must
have something in the back of his brain that
will enable him to successfully combat that
argument. Naturally, the fewer and simpler
the words you use to prove your case, the
better chance you have of convincing your
prospect.
UNNECESSARY TO BE MIND READER.
The successful salesman is neither a ma¬
gician nor a mind reader, nor by any means
an infallible reader of human nature.
You hear so many salesmen say that when
they see a prospect they can tell whether or
not they are going to sell him.
In our judgment this idea is preposterous,
and usually the party who says this is only a
third-rate salesman.
[13]
SALESOLOGY
The writer has time and again thought he
was going to sell when he did not, and more
often thought he was not going to sell when
he did.
Don't try to be a character reader to the
extent of letting your mind get to the point
where you figure different arguments have
to be given to each person you meet.
The successful play is not changed each
night nor each time it makes another town.
Our public men—from the nationally fa¬
mous down to the village orator—use the
same arguments when talking on certain sub¬
jects each time they speak. Some change
slightly, but most of them present their ar¬
guments word for word.
They have found out what "gets their
points over," what makes the audience cheer,
what makes the people laugh or cry. And if
you follow these speakers at different times
as I have done you will see they recognize the
advantages of "learning their piece" well and
then delivering it to the best of their ability.
To be a "one speech man" is no disgrace.
You are then following many, yes I will say
most, of America's best and most effective
speakers.
The point of all this is: Learn your argu¬
ments thoroughly, study how what you say
impresses others, and then go ahead and
present your case according to your person¬
ality, and when you are talking don't worry
about your prospect's personality, his mental
processes, or what he is thinking of you or
your statements.
[14]
SALESOLOGY
MIND READING IDEA NONSENSE
We beg of you to eliminate from your
thoughts one of the most nonsensical ideas
we believe was ever expressed as regards
salesmanship, and that is—that you must be
able to read a man on sight.
The man has not been born who can do
that; the more I think on this subject and
the more I talk about it with prominent, suc¬
cessful sales managers, business executives,
salesmen, etc., the more I am convinced that
it is the height of folly for any salesman to
waste the good gray matter of his brain, or
his time, in trying by any phrenological
method to read his prospect.
I sincerely trust this point has been made
clear to you and that you are thoroughly con¬
vinced of the soundness of these statements.
Of course, there are exceptions to every
rule, and there are a few things that your
common sense will help you to read in any
man. But they are so obvious—so open-
faced—we scarcely see the necessity of men¬
tioning them.
For example, if a man has been in the
saloon business, you do not want to talk to
him about temperance. If he is in the South,
you should not talk Republican politics. If
he is a strong Union Labor man, you don't
want to talk against the Unions.
Don't slander fat men if you are talking to
a big, jovial, round-faced, double-chinned
prospect. Don't talk the ponies to a preach¬
er. Don't tell a Christian Scientist he looks
sick.
[15]
SALESOLOGY
In making your canvass it will take all the
brain power you have to keep presenting
your subject logically, without worrying
about the size of your prospect's ears, the
color of his hair, or the bumps on his head.
Just talk like he was the same kind of a
human being you are, remembering all the
time that human nature is very much the
same in Oshkosh, Podunk, New York or
Paris.
STUDY HUMAN NATURE IN GENERAL
Of course any salesman who wants to suc¬
ceed must understand human nature in gen¬
eral. He must be a student of human nature
—in a general way.
What do I mean by understanding Human
Nature in general? I mean you must know
what appeals to the average man, men like
you and me—your chum, your brother, your
friends, your acquaintances. Analyze your¬
self, your likes and dislikes, the things that
interest and appeal to you, the ways men
have sold goods to you, why you buy things,
why you do this or that—then build your
canvass around your conclusions.
If you will do this you will come nearer
making an appealing, order-getting talk than
if you waste your time trying to study out a
system of reading your man at a glance, and
fitting your canvass accordingly.
It takes a man with supernatural powers
to really read a human mind, but the more
you know about human nature and psychol¬
ogy (how the mind works) the more you will
[16]
SALESOLOGY
be able to mold minds to do what you want
them to do, which in this case is to buy your
goods.
Looking at it in this way, you will ask
yourself what will be the motive that will
make people buy a Butter-Kist machine4
Then you will build a great deal of your argu¬
ment around that motive.
Analyzing human nature in a general way,
you will all realize that all men respect an
honest man. You will also realize that all
men are religious, even if they talk other¬
wise. You will be very careful, therefore,
to not say anything disparaging of anyone's
honesty or religious belief.
You will realize that no difference how low
in the scale of humanity a man may be, he
still has a high respect for the man who ob¬
serves the conventionalities of life, and who
has a high regard for its finer moral prin¬
ciples.
You will also realize that the one word in
the English language that appeals most to
the largest proportion of people is the word
"home."
You will also realize that everyone likes
good things to eat, and as you are selling a
Butter-Kist popcorn machine, making some¬
thing good to eat, you will keep your illustra¬
tions around good things to eat.
SCIENCE BEATS STORIES
A successful salesman needs the qualifica¬
tions of a scientist more than he needs to be
a Josh Billings or a Bill Nye.
[17]
SALE 80L0GY
The old theory of selling goods, depending
on telling funny stories, or giving a vaude¬
ville performance, is a thing of the past.
Of course a good, apt story, with a point
pertinent to what you are talking about, is
oftentimes the best way in the world to
clinch an argument, but unless you are a real
good story teller, leave stories out of your
repertoire, or practice your stories on your
friends until you know you can qualify as a
story teller.
I don't want to minimize the benefit of the
use of good stories, nor do I want to discour¬
age anyone from telling stories, but I do sug¬
gest that you never tell stories unless you use
them in the same manner that a good public
speaker does.
A good story told at the right time often
helps to advance the sale to the point of clos¬
ing. It relieves the tension, helps you get
closer to your prospect—helps you "get un¬
der his skin."
It is hardly necessary for me to caution
you against stories that do not "fit in." No
shrewd salesman would drag in some tale
that did not apply, simply for the sake of
telling a story.
Just because some good salesman you know
is a good story teller don't think that is the
reason for his success and try to ape him.
After you try a story, ask yourself, "Does it
fit? Did I make a point? Did I help the
sale?"
Make your stories fit the points in your
canvass. Remember, good story telling is an
[18]
SALESOLOGY
art. Give careful thought to the impression
that your stories make. School yourself un¬
til you are a good story teller, as stories have
their place and when properly told will make
a point that often could not be made by bald
argument or cold logic.
BE SURE OF YOURSELF
Realize that you know ten times as much
about the Butter-Kist proposition as does
the person to whom you are talking. You
may not have as much money. You may not
be as large physically, but you are the better
man of the two on the subject of popcorn
machines.
You are not asking a favor of him. You
are bringing him a legitimate business enter¬
prise that will make big profit for him, there¬
fore you should feel that you are absolute
master of the situation.
There is no more fascinating game in the
world than the play of wits incidental to sell¬
ing goods—there is nothing wherein you can
exercise more of the qualities men admire—
there is no occupation that gives a better
schooling.
In our experience we have seen hundreds
of men come and go, all claiming to be sales¬
men, but sad to say, many of them not know¬
ing the first principles of salesmanship.
We have seen many men make splendid
successes right over the same territories
where others have failed.
Of course, personality counts (and by the
way, it can be improved upon), but we have
[19]
SALESOLOGY
failed in properly conveying our message if
up to this time we have not proven to you
that personality does not count nearly as
much as careful, analytical study, and the
building of a self-confident assurance.
Always feel your positive command of
your subject. Assume and act as though you
are going to make a sale, and then your en¬
thusiasm, your common sense, and the argu¬
ments we give you here, will make you high¬
ly successful and will give you constantly
increasing usefulness to us and to yourself.
[20]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER II
UNDERLYING SELLING PRINCIPLE
THE Underlying Selling Principle of this
machine is that you are bringing to the
prospect a concrete idea that will make
him big money. Make every argument you
advance relate to the idea of profits—new¬
found money (cash)—for him.
Always keep uppermost in your mind this
thought—the only reason the prospect is lis¬
tening to you is because you are holding out
to him an opportunity to make big money.
He may apparently show considerable in¬
terest in the ingenious device, but don't for¬
get that it is not the device you are selling
him—it is the opportunity to make big
money.
Back of every mental decision that makes
a man buy, there is one of five particular mo¬
tives :
First, the gain of money or profit. (This
is one of the strongest buying motives and
should be worked on hard when selling But-
ter-Kist machines.)
Second, the purpose of utility, such as buy¬
ing a machine to do some kind of work bet¬
ter, (a typewriter, drink mixer, adding ma¬
chine, etc.).
Third, satisfaction of pride, such as buy¬
ing a diamond stick-pin, or buying a five-dol¬
lar hat where a three-dollar one would do as
well.
[21]
SALESOLOGY
Fourth, satisfaction of caution—buying
insurance, a cash register, safe, etc.
Fifth, yielding to weakness—buying of
things you really do not want or canot af¬
ford because a salesman forces them on you
—buying patent medicines after reading an
ad, etc.
If you will analyze every purchase or every
sale you ever made, you will find that the
motive lying back of it always came under
one of the above headings.
If you will stop to think, you will see the
motive of money or profits is the one that
makes the strongest appeal.
We never heard of anything placed on the
market where you could make a stronger or
more convincing talk in relation to profits
and money than you can with Butter-Kist.
As the satisfaction of pride is one of the
foremost motives that causes people to buy
[22]
SALESO LOGY
goods you want to shape your canvass so as
to appeal to people from that motive.
Merchants everywhere are ambitious to be
counted as leaders in their line. They like
to see their names linked up with the leaders
in their line in their city or state. They like
to be called the leader—many use that
phrase in advertising.
A strong appeal along the line of satisfac¬
tion of pride can be made in explaining how
the Butter-Kist machine shows that a mer¬
chant is thoroughly "up to the minute," and
makes him stand out from others. Shows
he is looking for new and advanced things.
Proves he is progressive.
You cannot go too deeply into an analysis
of the underlying principles of salesmanship
and the motives that make people buy.
To show the value of the study of the mo¬
tives back of selling a product, I wish to men¬
tion this:
We were recently told by one of the high¬
est paid Sales Managers in America that he
knew an interesting thing about a man who
had made a great many million dollars out of
selling a certain product: This man had
studied the motives that made people buy
his product, and had been able to increase
the average sales of his large force of about
4,000 canvassers from $33.00 to $233.00 per
week.
He made an analysis such as we have been
writing about and found that to sell his prod¬
uct he had to deal with the weakness of hu¬
man nature—one phase of the human emo-
[23]
SALE80L0GY
tions. He then drove this fact home to his
sales force with the above mentioned result.
This illustration certainly proves the value
of studying why people buy.
In selling anything, if you can formulate
your canvass around the human emotions
you can make more sales than by any other
method. Statements of facts—arguments
on facts—meeting so-called objections—giv¬
ing plausible reasons for purchases, etc., etc.,
are all forceful and helpful, but after all the
thing that will make your customers give you
an order more than any other one thing is
the play on their emotions.
With our proposition the way you can play
on the emotions of your customer is through
your arguments in relation to the expanding
of his business. Paint for him the picture
of what he can do for himself and family or
for others, with the profits he makes with his
machine.
Every man has in his mind the thought
that he wants to go forward in this world—
he wants to do bigger and better things—he
wants to be among the leaders, either in his
own business or in the community.
By appealing to him that here is the op¬
portunity for him to do this, you strike a
responsive chord in his mentality.
Many men have a boy or girl they want to
send to school, or a little baby they want to
bring up the best way possible, and edu¬
cate. If you appeal to them with the
thought that they could use this machine for
[24]
SALESOLOGY
that purpose your statement will not fall on
barren ground.
Some men are desirous of doing their part
in the world's work in the way of charity and
helping others, and if you can point out that
the profits they can make from this machine
will enable them to do some of the things in
their church, lodge, or other civic work that
they are not doing now, it will appeal to
them.
Our files at the home office contain many
letters showing where those who have pur¬
chased our machines have done these things
with their profits. It is very reasonable,
sensible and consistent for you to suggest to
any prospect who has a boy 14 to 20 years of
age that he buy this machine with the sole
purpose of allowing it to educate that boy at
college. Show him how the boy will receive
the best kind of practical business training
if he has the boy, under his care, to operate
and manage the machine during the sum¬
mer, some of the nights during school time
and on Saturdays.
If your prospect does not have an automo¬
bile, or if he talks of wanting a new one,
suggest he buy a B-K machine and let it
earn him an auto, or pay for the new one.
The profits from a Butter-Kist machine
have paid the mortgage on many a home,
have supplied the money for refurnishing
homes, and have built many a new home.
Why not tell these things to your prospect or
his wife, when you are making your canvass.
It is a good, sound and wise business move
[25]
SALE SOLOGY
for any merchant who has the location to buy
a B-K machine with the sole purpose in mind
of making the profits from the machine ac¬
complish these special things that are his
heart's desire, or that his family wants, or
needs.
He should, with a Butter-Kist machine, do
all these things without taking money out
of his regular business.
In working out plausible, appealing state¬
ments along this line be careful to keep with¬
in the bounds of reason and common sense.
A perfectly safe, logical, reasonable state¬
ment that will appeal to the best emotions of
any man will be found farther forward, un¬
der the heading of "Expanding His Busi¬
ness."
ANALYZE EVERY CANVASS
You will succeed in selling this or anything
else if you will get in the habit of spending
a few minutes to analyze every canvass you
make.
If you do not sell a man you thought was
a possible customer, try to discover what you
said or did not say that lost you the sale. On
the other hand, where you made a sale try to
figure out what part of what you said made
the greatest impression on the customer.
This habit of thoroughly reviewing each
interview and especially each day's work, is
one of the best assets a successful salesman
can have.
You could go through our school, read all
our printed matter, take every other sales-
[26]
SALESOLOGY
manship course in the country, and you
would still not make yourself a real salesman
unless you apply such knowledge as you have
gained through the method we have just
suggested. Others can tell you how it should
be done, but you will have to do it.
The only method we know of to make your
knowledge workable is by you personally
analyzing your individual canvasses. If we
can impress on our men the importance of
this, we have done the biggest thing we can
do.
BUILDING FOR CONFIDENCE
Whenever you have secured the absolute
confidence of your prospect you have made a
sale and will get the order. Therefore it fol¬
lows that you have failed to secure the ab-
Knowledg-e is power—study your subject.
[27]
SALESOLOGY
solute confidence of every one to whom you
do not sell.
This being the basic principle of all sales¬
manship, your biggest problem is to get the
confidence of your prospects. To tell you
how to do this is to tell you how to get the
order.
It is impossible for us to give you positive
rules as to just how this can be done, but we
will endeavor to give you some thoughts in¬
dicating various ways through which you can
build for confidence.
Keep your personal appearance the very
best. Always look the gentleman. Wear
clean linen and keep your clothes pressed.
You are representing us and we want only
men we can be proud of.
Never exaggerate, never lie, never equivo¬
cate, never gossip, never say disrespectful
things about your competitors or your pros¬
pect's competitors. Be honest, act honestly,
talk honestly, show enthusiasm about your
machine and your proposition, and your very
sincerity and integrity of purpose will stand
out, and you will thus have gained his confi¬
dence.
KNOWLEDGE BUILDS FOR
CONFIDENCE
Knowledge is power—study your subject.
A complete knowledge of your own business
is one of the best ways we know of to inspire
confidence.
Know your machine and all its accessories.
This does not mean that you have to have a
[28]
SALESOLOGY
knowledge of every screw and bolt in the ma¬
chine, but you ought to have a fair knowl¬
edge of all the working parts, and you must
at least know the purpose of everything.
It is much more important for you to know
every line of argument that we and our corps
of salesmen have worked out, as shown in
this book and our other printed matter.
You must know our policies—prices—
terms—styles—how to make out a contract,
etc. You must know, by careful study,
everything we say about the best way to
make money out of the machine. Know ex¬
actly why our machine makes the best pop¬
corn product on the market. Know how to
intelligently explain that we are making
"Butter-Kist" and not just popcorn.
Knowledge of just what our wonderful
machine is doing for others from the study¬
ing of our reproduced testimonial letters, our
catalog, etc., will give you a confidence in
our machine that will enable you to talk our
proposition in such a way that you cannot
help but inspire confidence in your prospect.
Knowledge of the town—of your pros¬
pect's location as relates to our business—is
one of the best things to build for confidence.
We have covered this subject quite thor¬
oughly under the heading of investigation.
We could not advertise in the leading na¬
tional magazines if we were not making
statements of facts. Point that fact out to
the prospect; it is a splendid thing to build
for confidence.
[29]
SALESOLOGY
A general knowledge, together with such
intimate knowledge as you can pick up of
the class of business in which your prospect
is engaged, handled in the proper way, is one
of the best ways to impress him with the
fact that you know what you are talking
about. Knowing what you are talking about
builds for confidence.
Disraeli, one of England's foremost Prime
Ministers, said: "It has been my observa¬
tion that the most successful man in any un¬
dertaking is the man who has the most infor¬
mation."
STUDY THE VARIOUS LINES
As you go around visiting different classes
of merchants who are going to buy these ma¬
chines, keep your eyes and ears open and
learn all you can about each one of the indi¬
vidual lines. Pick up new ideas, and if you
are clever and use your head, you can cash in
on these ideas to the tune of hundreds of dol¬
lars per year.
For example, learn a great deal about the
candy business, and if you meet some partic¬
ularly snappy, successful young candy mer¬
chant who is really doing things, tell him you
have heard of his wonderful success—get
him to tell you about it. This will please
him very much, as any man likes to talk
about his hobby.
Then when you meet some other man in
the candy business you think would be open
to listen to what you learned at the other
[30]
gALESO LOGY
place, you can make a big hit by telling him
of these things.
In the first place, it shows that you know
something about his business. If you know
considerable about a prospect's line of busi¬
ness and talk intelligently concerning it, he
naturally would think you certainly ought to
know something about your own business.
Following this line of argument, you see it
will be of immense help to you to qualify as
an expert on how to conduct the different
classes of stores you are going to visit. You
will find you cannot get too much knowledge
of that kind.
You will make a great many more sales by
being able to talk to a candy merchant about
the candy business or to a druggist about the
drug business than you will by having your
head crammed full of who is the best pitcher,
and what is the score of the different ball
teams in the various leagues, and the other
so-called "sportsman's dope."
In a strictly competitive line there is noth¬
ing that is of more benefit to a man than a
specific knowledge of each class of trade he
calls upon. It makes him stand out far
above the ordinary salesman.
In dispensing this information you will
have to be careful not to be too assertive or
to start an argument, as you are selling But-
ter-Kist machines, and not lecturing on how
to run other businesses.
On the other hand, it is better to overdo
this than to underdo it, but, best of all, do it
just right. There is nothing that inspires a
[31]
SALESOLOGY
man's confidence in you like showing that
you know his business, or at least some
phases of it. This ties up to the machine,
because you are coming to him to sell him
something that relates to his business.
TALK OPTIMISTICALLY.
There is another very important reason for
your knowing all that you can about the line
of trade and the details of the line of the
man you are talking to. If you know the fu¬
ture of the particular class of business your
prospect is in you will no doubt be able to
give him facts and statistics that will con¬
vince him that his regular line of business is
going to continue to be successful and make
him money.
In doing any promotion work, under which
class the selling of the Butter-Kist popcorn
machine would come, there is one funda¬
mental rule to be remembered and followed
—i. e.: You must have your prospect look¬
ing hopefully toward the future, not only in
regard to what you are selling him, but as to
his health, general business conditions, and
particularly the business that he is now in.
Ask yourself if you would undertake any
large and important venture, such as buying
an automobile, a house, or starting a busi¬
ness of your own, or purchasing one of our
machines, unless you felt certain of the fu¬
ture.
If you can talk in a knowing, convincing
and sensible way to your prospect in regard
[32]
SALESOLOGY
to the general outlook of his business (not
including the Butter-Kist machine) you are
certainly helping very materially toward the
sale of a Butter-Kist machine. Now, the
best way to talk convincingly is to have facts
and statistics, supported by newspaper or
trade paper clippings. If you see something
in the paper by some of the successful retail¬
ers in his line of business, or if you see a
general statement made by some such man
as Judge Gary, Charles Schwab, Vanderlip,
and other outstanding successful men, that
points toward general business being good,
use parts of these statements in your can¬
vass.
I am going to say the same thing in an¬
other way, because we are talking about an
important subject, and I want to impress it
upon you. Don't talk about the bad weather
—poor crops—a railroad wreck—a great fire
—labor troubles, or any kindred subject.
Don't tell your troubles, and don't let him
tell his.
If you can add to your prospect's optimis¬
tic outlook as to his present and future busi¬
ness success you will strengthen his courage,
and he will naturally be more inclined to un¬
dertake the obligation of buying a Butter-
Kist machine. Again we say, talk Business
Optimism, and back up what you say with
indisputable facts, opinions and statistics.
[33]
SALESOLOGY
DEALING WITH THE PET WORRIES OF
YOUR PROSPECT.
Your prospect's desire to make money is a
known quantity, and all you have to do is to
prove that he can make it with Butter-Kist.
You don't have to point out his need of
money, nor where he is losing money, nor sell
him on the idea that he could use more
money if he had it.
But there are many times when your pros¬
pect may not be keen enough of mind to pay
proper attention to what you are telling him,
and you want to wake him up—possibly get
him to do some thinking and talking.
You can almost invariably get a prospect
to talking and agreeing with you if you begin
to tell him of his troubles. Let us warn you,
however, that in talking of troubles, yours
or his, imaginary or real, bad weather, poor
crops, a "bum" breakfast, a poor hotel, etc.,
etc., you are treading on very dangerous
ground, and both of you are liable to slip into
the quicksand of pessimism—then where is
that order?
If you have occasion to use this negative
talk, go about it something on the order of
the following:
"You know that a great many of the large
manufacturing concerns are constantly press¬
ing you harder and harder as they keep rais¬
ing the price on their advertised products.
Your sales increase but your percentage of
profit is falling.
"You cannot help this. Possibly it is just
as well you cannot change it, as properly ad-
[34]
SALESOLOGY
vertised, meritorious articles make for1 in¬
creased sales, and in the long run everyone
benefits.
"But you know, you, as the middle man,
are constantly being squeezed between the
'upper and nether millstone,' as the saying
goes.
"Here is your chance to become a manufac¬
turer, make your own goods—a nationally
advertised, universally loved food product,
and set your own price, regulate your own
profits."
In making a statement of this kind you are
doing it as a statement of fact, and not with
any intention to frighten your prospect, and
you must be sure to handle this in a way that
it will not in any way discourage your cus¬
tomer with his present business. Your ob¬
ject in making this statement is to point out
the economic fundamental difference in his
being a manufacturer and his being a re¬
tailer.
Your prospects all know these things—
they are all very vital in your prospect's
business life—are a great source of worry
to him—but you bring him a constructive
remedy in Butter-Kist.
Remember, get back to talking optimistic¬
ally as quickly as you can if you have said
anything on this subject and have made your
subtle point.
Don't, Don't, Don't let the conversation
run into a mutual trouble experience, whether
you or the prospect brings up the troubles
or worries. Laugh, joke, exhort, and argue
[35]
SALESOLOGY
them all away with your wonderful success
stories of Butter-Kist. That is what makes
the successful Butter-Kist salesman.
HOW WOULD IT SOUND IF A SALESMAN
TOLD IT TO YOU?
Common sense, in our judgment, is the
foundation of all success. Never make a
statement or an argument that is not just
plain, everyday, so-called horse sense.
A great many salesmen have an opinion
that to sell their goods it is necessary for
them to greatly exaggerate or make up a lot
of fanciful tales.
Others, by their actions, seem to feel that
they make a hit with their prospect by tell¬
ing a lot of yarns about the supposedly big
things or smart things they have done.
Instead of making a hit, they are consid¬
ered "windy."
Just because you have said something you
thought was clever in some particular case,
or because you have made up a yarn you
thought was the cause of getting you some
business, do not be sure you are on the right
track and continue that.
Sit down by yourself and think over what
you have been saying to your customer, and
then ask yourself this question—"Does what
I say sound reasonable, and does it measure
up to my definition of plain common sense?
Would I buy if someone else were talking to
me as I talk?"
Just remember that the party to whom you
are talking is about the same kind of a man
[36]
SALESO LOGY
you are, with a brain just about like yours.
Stick to the facts. Back of our proposition
is an array of startling facts, and it is not
necessary to do any inventing.
We have always been absolutely opposed
to the slightest deviation from the facts. We
are strong believers in telling the facts.
There never was a truer statement than
"Honesty is the best policy." It's good sense
—• good ethics — good business. So many
salesmen fail to gain the confidence of their
customers through a habit of mind which
makes them believe that so-called "white
lies," or cute and clever statements are the
things that make sales.
Where these "white lies" will make one
sale they will lose a dozen others, and the
worst part of it is that it gets a man in the
mental attitude where eventually he would
be in the position of many salesmen we have
known, who are only happy when they are
telling some fanciful invented circumstance.
Many a time if you tell the truth you may
reasonably feel that the telling of said truth
would lose you the sale. But if you will tell
the truth and then use our basic theory of
salesmanship, which is that you must have
an argument for every condition, you will
oftentimes find that the statement you have
had to make, which you thought would lose
you the sale, has cleared up something in
your customer's mind that was keeping you
from getting the sale, and, your brave, frank
statement was the one thing that secured
you the order.
[37]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER III
OUR ENVELOPING IDEA
THE big, fundamental rock on which this
Butter-Kist business has been built is:
We are not merely trying to sell Tom,
Dick, and Harry a machine, but we are devel¬
oping the popcorn business to its proper
standing.
When people think of popcorn we want
them involuntarily to think of Butter-Kist.
Fundamentally, we are making it possible
for the business people of this country to
merchandise popcorn—the earliest known
American confection—the confection of the
Indians—the confection that is older than the
American Government.
A completely equipped manufacturing
plant is what you are selling. The space this
machine occupies should make more profit
per square foot of floor space than anything
else in the legitimate business world. I use
the world "legitimate" because the only
things I except would be slot machines, faro
tables, and horse race "bookies' " stands.
A Salesman! The Butter-Kist machine is
a salesman in the truest sense of the word.
Its moving elements and the attraction of the
bursting grains are more of a drawing card
than the nonsensical cries of a ballyhoo. The
aroma of the crisp, crackling Butter-Kist
makes everyone hungry.
[38]
SALESO LOGY
You know, they say salesmen are born, not
made. We have killed that. We have made
a real-for-sure, automatic salesman that will
make more money than any clerk, and that
will never strike for higher wages.
[39]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER IV
THE BASIS OF YOUR CANVASS
First Capitalizing Resistance
YOU must be able to turn every objec¬
tion your prospect makes into a good
reason why he should buy. In other
words you must capitalize your resistance.
Take the excuse he gives for not buying
and turn it into a reason why he should buy.
In other words, turn the apparent disadvan¬
tages into advantages.
Here's an apt illustration—
An evangelist found one evening when the
collection plates were turned over to him that
someone had put a button in one of the collec¬
tion plates.
He took the matter as a joke—stopped the
services right there, and auctioned that but¬
ton off to his congregation for $11.00.
Capitalizing your resistance is what is
meant by the slang phrase "If you are
handed a lemon, start a lemonade stand."
One of the best illustrations for capitaliz¬
ing resistance is fully explained on page 187
under the head "Aroma". Turn to it right
now and read it.
Capitalizing your resistance is a valuable
basic principle for anyone's life work. It
will make you a sane, thinking, optimist.
How much sweeter life would be to us all
if when things go wrong we would not give
up, but ask ourselves: "What good lesson
[40]
SALESO LOGY
can I get out of my apparent misfortune?"
and better still, and more to my point "How
can I turn this misfortune to my advantage ?"
All through this book we are trying to
show you how you can do this in selling But-
ter-Kist machines. It is not half as hard to
capitalize your resistance as it sounds.
Get this principle firmly planted in your
memory. This book has justified itself if we
can get our men to understand, appreciate
and work this principle.
MEET CONDITIONS AS THEY ARE
Work this principle intelligently and you
will find it to be a wonderful money-maker
for you. You must face conditions as they
are and capitalize them. It is far better to
do this—and far more productive of orders
—than to side-step the issue.
You must have a logical argument that
will prove to your prospect not only why
the Butter-Kist proposition is a good one—
but why it is a good one in his district, in his
community, his store TODAY!
No matter what the existing conditions
are in his district—turn them to your advan¬
tage. Take the conditions as you find them
—analyze them—then capitalize them. If
the times are good or poor—if money is plen¬
tiful or scarce—if there is a shortage of help
or if people are out of employment—if there
is a strike, or no matter what—analyze the
situation—make it work to your advantage
by building your canvass to meet existing
conditions.
[41]
SALESOLOGY
AN) ARGUMENT FOR EVERY
CONDITION
An argument for every possible condition
that may come up is imperative to success.
The thing that will make the difference be¬
tween your success and failure will be your
ability to meet every situation.
Let us put this in concrete form. You
must have a positive and convincing argu-
gument why the place to run this machine is
on the street—if you are talking to a man
who is going to put it on the street.
On the other hand, you must have just as
good and strong an argument as to why the
inside of a store is the place—if you are talk¬
ing to a man who wants it for that purpose.
In both cases be sincere, but no difference
on which side of the case the lawyer finds
himself, he cannot serve his client if he fails
to put forth his best. Therefore you must
be prepared to prove unquestionably your
case to the prospect, no matter where he is
located. And you must be able to prove it
under any circumstances, in the store, on the
street, in the park, up town, down town, in
large cities, in hamlets, etc., etc.
The more you study over the above basic
principle, the more you will see the reason¬
ableness of it, and the abolute necessity for
your being prepared to meet whatever arises.
You will find it will not be hard for you to
make an absolutely sincere, honest, convinc¬
ing, common sense argument that will cover
the situation, no difference what comes up.
[42]
SALESOLOGY
It is taken for granted that you are sincere
in feeling your customer should have our ma¬
chine. It is a duty you owe to yourself and
to your customer to be prepared to present
your case according to the situation, and be
able to disabuse his mind of any erroneous
thoughts.
In every sane objection any prospect will
make to the purchase of our machine, it is
our positive opinion, that with an honest,
careful analysis of the objection, you can find
the germ of an idea that will enable you to
prove to any normal man that the thought
back of his objection is a good reason why he
should buy the machine.
We caution you against taking your pros¬
pect's objections too seriously. Most of the
objections are mere excuses and not reasons,
and a large part of them are made simply
as his defense against your arguments.
He realizes that you are getting the bet¬
ter of the argument and puts out this objec¬
tion as a defense because he feels that he is
slipping.
Many objections are made partly as a joke
and should be taken as such. Many are
made because your prospect likes to fight.
Here is one of the best ways of turning
aside objections that we have ever heard. It
has been used by one of our successful men—
"My dear sir, my experience selling the
Butter-Kist machines has shown me that
there are just a million excuses that a man
can make for not buying this machine, and
any one of these excuses can keep you from
[43]
SALESOLOGY
making the big money this machine will
make for you."
You as a salesman should realize that when
a prospect starts to making excuses as to
why he is not going to buy you at least have
him thinking about the machine, and in most
cases have him interested in it. Now go
ahead and interest him to the extent of
where he will buy, by telling your story of
profits and successes.
THE SURVEY.
Everyone knows there is Big money in pop¬
corn. Your big problem in selling this But-
ter-Kist machine is to convince the prospect
that he can make money—in his place of
business.
There is a common saying in this country
when they want to poke fun at a merchant,
which runs something like this—"He is not
even able to run a popcorn or peanut stand!"
From the fact of the general public making
that statement, it proves the public thinks
that is the easiest thing any merchant could
run, and make money out of it. No mer¬
chant will admit he does not have the ability
to run a popcorn machine.
Every man to whom you talk will believe
there is money in the Butter-Kist machine—
if not in his store, then in some other store
or some other place in town, or some other
town.
We know you will not have much trouble
proving to everyone that you have the best
machine; therefore, we repeat: To get the
[44]
SALESOLOGY
order you must prove to the prospect that he
can make money with the Butter-Kist ma¬
chine in his location.
The way to prove this is by your getting
all the! knowledge you can relating to his
store. We call this Making a Survey.
Here are some of the things you ought to
know before you call on a prospect :
THINGS ABOUT THE TOWN
Do they have gas ? Artificial or natural ?
Have they electricity? Have they day as
well as night current, or just at night?
Do the merchants depend on factories, lum¬
bering, farming, mining, railroads, etc.?
If there are a great many different indus¬
tries, what are the outstanding ones ?
If there is any one particularly large indus¬
try, such as a railroad shop in a town of 15,-
000 or 20,000, what is the monthly payroll?
Do they pay once or twice a month ?
Is the majority of the inhabitants native born
or foreign?
How are the people divided as relates to the
center of the town—for example, are the best
homes on the north side, with the medium or
working classes on the south side, the poorer
classes on the west side, etc.?
Do the merchants have displays on the side¬
walks? (Vegetables, fruits, bread boxes,
show cases, etc.)
Are there weekly band concerts or other
gatherings ?
Is it a Saturday night town?
[45]
SALESOLOGY
Be very sure to find the date of any National
or local large celebration, or Street Fair.
For example, do they have a county fair or
Chautauqua? Home-coming week? etc., etc.
Is any large state or national convention go¬
ing to meet there ?
The above is quite a formidable list of dif¬
ferent things to find out, but it will take only
a few minutes to get this information and it
will be of very great value to you.
ARGUMENTS FOR LOCATION IN
VARIOUS DISTRICTS
If you asked the executives of our busi¬
ness, "Where is the best place to operate a
Butter-Kist popcorn machine?" we are sure
you would get several different opinions. We
say there is no best place. Any district where
you can get a good location is a most excel¬
lent place.
We have said several places in this book
that you must have arguments and state¬
ments, to meet all conditions. One of the
conditions you are going to meet is the loca¬
tion problem. So you must work out for
yourself arguments and reasons why the par¬
ticular part of town in which your prospect
is situated is a fine spot for a Butter-Kist
machine.
Just to illustrate what I mean, I will give
you a few reasons why a machine should be
purchased by a prospect in certain districts.
You can elaborate on the suggestions given
here when you are talking to your prospect.
[46]
SALESOLOGY
First—let us consider the "down town"
district. This district is the center of all ac¬
tivities. People are transferring from one
car line to another. All the people go and
come through the center of town daily, or at
least frequently. All the parades go through
the street. Parades attract crowds—crowds
spend money. The majority of the tran¬
sients are in the down town district.
Second—we will consider the suburban dis¬
trict. In the suburbs people are away from
business and distracting things. The men
go to the corner to get a cigar. The women
and children go for groceries or to the drug
store for drugs or a soda. They congregate
and talk to their neighbors, and, naturally,
if there is a Butter-Kist machine handy they
will buy a carton of popcorn to eat on the
street or to take home to the kids. Most of
the people in the suburbs have automobiles,
and you know the automobile crowds are the
best line of customers for popcorn.
On the way to the street cars or trains
the suburbanites pass the places where the
machines are located. The suburban people
know each other, and like to congregate
around the stores, and they have more lei¬
sure than they have down town.
The suburb is also the gateway to the
country. On fine days hundreds and thou¬
sands of automobiles pass through on their
way to the country. Any night you will
find the streets of the suburbs thronged
with automobile loads of people, out to get
the fresh air. Look for locations near filling
[47]
SALESOLOGY
stations, garages, service stations. Many of
our best paying machines are in just such
locations, miles from the center of town.
Third—Our records show that hundreds
of our most successful machines have been
operated in residential districts. Practically
all that we say about the suburbs will apply
here, with the addition that the people who
live in the suburbs and people who live in
the country come and go through the resi¬
dential districts.
The residential district also has more cor¬
ner locations for machines than the suburbs,
and this district usually has the crowds
from the larger churches, the club houses,
community centers, some of the lodges and
other meeting places that attract men and
women. The high school is usually located
in the residential district.
Fourth—In the industrial or factory dis¬
tricts there are many splendid spots for our
machines. Factory people coming and go¬
ing to their work buy. Factory hands al¬
ways make good money, and spend it freely.
Lunch hour is the harvest time. The work¬
ers usually have a little time to kill, and
they buy Butter-Kist to eat while they chat
and walk to and fro. Factory hands, both
men and women are ready spenders. The
office help around factories spend readily
too. We know of machines that pay splen¬
did money even though the patronage is
limited to the workers in just one factory
office.
The factory district has the industrial
[48]
SALESOLOGY
Y. M. C. A.'s and the railroad Y. M. C. A.'s,
also the welfare houses and the commissary-
stores.
Such places are numbered among our very
best boosters and are some of your best
prospects. You miss a great opportunity to
add to your sales if you fail to inquire for,
and find any such locations as are in your
territory.
The class of customers just mentioned are
always on the lookout for something to
make their patrons happier and more con¬
tented. You have just that thing—plus
profits for them.
UNUSUAL PLACES TO SELL
Selling thousands of Butter-Kist ma¬
chines—putting many years of intense
though on where they should sell—where
they do the business—analyzing our terri¬
tory—our sales of machines—our sales of
bags and cartons—listening to reports of
our service men—our officials and execu¬
tives, we have found that some of the most
successful places in which to put our ma¬
chines are those that would appear at first
glance not the proper spots.
You would naturally suppose that the pop¬
corn machines would do the best in the most
congested districts of the city. This is not
always the case. In congested districts the
machine is often placed at a disadvantage
through being subordinated to other more
spectacular attractions, or on account of the
small space it is allowed it is more or less
[49]
SALESOLOGY
hidden—or on account of the way it is
placed, only a small part of the great crowd
that passes can see it—or the crowd is in a
rush and does not stop.
As we have often said, the moving of the
machine six inches or a foot oftentimes
means the difference between success and
failure.
While the congested districts have the
people, and as a rule offer the best oppor¬
tunity for the machine, and some of the
most wonderful successes are in places of
that kind, we are not going to dwell on that
subject except to say that when machines
are so placed, thought and study must be
given to the way they are placed, and if any
machine is not doing what it appears it
ought to do, a careful study and survey of
the situation should be made, taking into
consideration how the machine is placed—
how it strikes the crowd—the kind of crowd
—where the crowd is going, etc., etc.
To get back to the unusual places for ma¬
chines: In our judgment a splendid spot is
near a school building. Practically all the
larger grammar schools, and of course all the
High Schools and Manual Training Schools
have little candy shops, drug stores, soda wa¬
ter stands or lunch counters near them.
These places can make a lot of money with a
Butter-Kist machine.
The automobile trade is one of the best
sources of revenue for Butter-Kist ma¬
chines. The majority of automobiles are
made and used for pleasure—evening drives
[50]
SALESOLOGY
to cool off all during the warm months, etc.,
etc. Nothing adds more to a trip, even if
around a city or town, than a carton of pop¬
corn. The usual automobile crowd buys a
carton for each person. This is really whole¬
sale business.
A machine placed near an automobile
gasoline filling station, such as are spring¬
ing up all over the country, will always do a
nice business. Hundreds of our machines
should be sold to men operating these sta¬
tions or those in business right next to these
stands who have a place where they could
put a machine so the automobile crowd could
see it.
Where machines are not thus sold it is
well to call the attention of nearby operators
to the fact that they could have boys selling
popcorn near these filling stations.
In Detroit we know of a place on the
Seven Mile Road that goes around the city,
where they have an automobile filling sta¬
tion and one of our machines. The lady
operating this machine does a splendid busi¬
ness. We understand it is nothing un¬
usual for her to have a $15.00 day on pop¬
corn.
In all the smaller towns of this country
gasoline pumps are on the side walk in
front of many stores of different classes.
These sell gasoline to the town's people,
and the country folk and the tourists. Any¬
one operating a Butter-Kist machine out¬
side or inside the store where there is one
of these pumps and who has the man who
[51]
SALE SOLOGY
sells the gas ask each automobile load of
people to buy some cartons of Butter-Kist
always does a big business. If you cannot
sell the man who owns the pump or filling
station be sure to sell some one of the many
nearby merchants and let him capitalize on
the crowds who come to buy gas, oil, etc.
DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE
INDIVIDUAL STORE EXTERIOR
Is it located on the best side of the street?
What is near the store that will increase
the foot traffic in front of it? For instance,
is the post office on that side, or do most of
the people walk by that store going to the
railroad or trolley station?
Are there moving picture shows near the
store, or do the people walk past the store
as they come from the moving picture show
going to and from home?
How about the leading retail stores as re¬
lates to his location? Do they add anything
by bringing people to, or past, his place?
Are there any factories in the neighbor¬
hood from which he draws trade during the
noon hour or as the people go home at
night ?
Is he located where the factory people
live or where the wealthier people live?
Is he near a transfer corner, or if not
near a transfer corner, is his store located
near where the people get on and off the
street car?
Is he in the line of the movement of the
[52]
SALESOLOGY
automobiles? Remember we are in a new
age.
Some men will do more business today on
a street that has automobiles than one that
has street cars on it.
Is the color of the front of his store, or
the awning, or the architecture of his build¬
ing or any other feature of the general front
appearance of his store enough out of the
ordinary to attract attention ?
We do not mean by this that you are look¬
ing for the artistic appearance of his store,
but is there anything either attractive or
otherwise that makes his store stand out, or
is he just "one of many"?
Has he sidewalk gasoline pump in front
of his place where the town's people, or es¬
pecially tourists stop for gas ?
Does he have a particularly attractive
window?
Has he a public drinking fountain in front
of his store ?
Has he available space in the entrance to
the store?
Can the machine be operated on the side¬
walk?
Is he near the City Hall or Court House ?
How near are the gasoline filling stations ?
Never forget this—Is he near a school?
Remember, some of the best locations are
little two-by-four stores near school build¬
ings.
Has he an electric sign?
Has he a silent partner?
Does he advertise?
[53]
SALESOLOGY
INTERIOR
Has he display advertising in his store ?
Observe if advertised lines seem to be fea¬
tured. This you can use to sell him through
talk on our advertising.
Is there waste space occupied by chairs,
tables, dead counters, post card racks, foun¬
tain pen case, etc. ?
Select in your mind two or three locations
for the Butter-Kist machine in prospect's
place of business.
Estimate hurriedly in your mind the
square feet of floor space in the store by es¬
timating the width and length.
1. Estimate the number of square feet
of floor space occupied by his soda fountain
equipment if he has one. The same way with
a cigar counter, and the other counters or de¬
partments concerning which you will later
make comparisons.
2. Are there many people coming into the
store to use the telephone, buy stamps,
matches, etc., spending nothing?
3. How many clerks are there? About
how many are idle part of the time ?
4. It will do no harm to take a look at the
different clerks and pick out in your mind the
smartest looking one—the one you think
could give you the most information. You
might be able to show the clerk how he could
help make more money for the house and get
him to boosting for you. The boss will be
pleased to know that his clerk is interested
in making more money for him.
[54]
SALESOLOGY
5. Has the store up-to-date equipment,
computing scales, cash register, electric
drink-mixers, etc.?
6. Observe if advertised lines, such as
phonographs, kodaks, etc., are on sale?
This may seem like an endless job and as
though we were writing you a treatise on
how to be a private detective; but if you will
read this over two or three times you will
readily realize that even if we had not writ¬
ten a word of it, your common sense, your in¬
tuition, or your judgment, would have led
you to do most of these things and to use
them in making an analysis. We are certain
some of these points we have brought out
here will give you new thoughts and a new
way to direct your efforts.
ALWAYS INVESTIGATE
There is not the slightest question or doubt
in our mind but what in this part of our in¬
structions to you in regard to making your
own investigation before you try to inter¬
view we are directing your thoughts along
lines that will enable you to sell many times
the Butter-Kist machines you would if you
did not use this method.
Let us implore you to get in the habit of
making practically all of the Survey we sug¬
gest here. Some of the men who capture our
prizes continuously and have shown by the
orders they send in here and the money we
have paid them that they are entitled to be
called "Top Notchers" in any business, do
[55]
SALESOLOGY
exactly the things we have just been talking
about.
Many of the salesmen write them down.
Some make their approach by telling the
prospect they have made a careful study of
his location as relates to the wonderful prop¬
osition they want to talk to him about—then
either at once, or during the course of their
conversation they prove to him that they
have made this survey.
Just stop for a second and put yourself in
the place of a buyer. Possibly you have been
a buyer in a store. If not, you have bought
hundreds of things during your life.
Think of a man coming into your place of
business loaded with all the information we
have told you to acquire before you go to see
a man.
The chances are in all the years you had
been buying you had never had anyone come
in and talk to you like that.
The statements you will make based on
your investigations will be so unanswerable
that you can prove to any normal mind the
truth of your arguments.
You know a doctor always investigates be¬
fore he prescribes.
A lawyer often investigates for weeks be¬
fore he presents his case. They say the aver¬
age law fee is only $40.00. Your fee is much
more.
We do not think it is necessary for us to
say more as to the inestimable value to you
personally in your sales and commissions, of
your doing this investigating,
[56]
SALES0L0G1*
We would like to see our men get so in the
habit of making a thorough survey that they
would start it the minute they stepped off the
train by looking around to see if the town
has electric current. At night you can see
the lights—and in day time you can see the
posts.
A splendid plan is to put the results of
your survey on a piece of paper. You can
use your diagram blanks for location and out¬
side conditions as relate to his store, but the
other things we have told you here are a
matter of simply keeping your eyes and ears
open.
It seems to me a hundred times more im¬
portant when you are walking down the
street to be asking yourself questions in re¬
gard to the town, the street cars, where the
automobiles go, the location of the prospects
you are going to see, etc., than it would be
for you to watch the passing crowd, or walk
along thinking about how you would run the
government, or to be wondering if the White
Sox will win the pennant, etc.
Please do not consider we have said the
last word in regard to this matter of making
a survey. You take the thoughts we have
given you here, then go ahead, and carefully,
systematically and intelligently work out for
yourself your system of investigation as by
your thouroughness in investigation you will
measure your success.
As a parting thought on the subject, just
remember this. When your prospect has
signed that little order blank it is because
[57]
SALESOLOGY
you have proven to him in a common sense
way that he can make money in his store
with a Butter-Kist machine.
You have talked to him from his side of
the fence and not from your own.
Remember, he is not interested in you or
in your company, or in your machine. He is
just interested in himself. The reason for
your making this survey or investigation is
to enable you to talk from his standpoint.
[58]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER V
OPENING A SALE
Equipment
YOUR equipment to carry should consist
of your book of photographs, testimonial
letters, contracts, two or three booklets,
necessary stationery for making out your re¬
ports on orders and prospects, two or three
of the different sizes of cartons, invoice cop¬
ies showing the carton sales to customers in
your district, etc.
The duplicate invoices, showing the num¬
ber cartons that Butter-Kist machine owners
are using, together with testimonial letters,
we believe will make the biggest impression
on your customers.
We do not believe it advisable for the sales¬
man to distribute printed matter. We think
it is much better to have it sent from the
office, or if it is utterly impossible to make
the sale, and the prospect wants a catalog,
we believe you should not give him one from
your kit, but have us mail it to him; or if you
insist on giving it to him personally, you
should go to your hotel and bring it back to
him yourself later in the day, at which time
you may find an opportunity to start all over
again and make a sale.
THE ENTRANCE
We believe it is safe to say that practically
every human being dislikes being interviewed
[59]
SALESOLOGY
by a salesman. This is strange but true
nevertheless.
Even if a merchant sends for a salesman,
when he arrives there is a certain amount of
resistance in the merchant's mind. He knows
that the salesman is there to get some of his
money and take up his time. Even if he is
doing nothing more important than reading
a newspaper there is a certain amount of re¬
sistance.
However,, this resistance fades away al¬
most the very minute the salesman begins to
talk.
Let us illustrate it this way:—If you knew
that one of your hard-up friends wanted to
borrow five dollars of you, you would go
blocks out of the way to miss him, or if you
saw him coming you would feel like trying
to hide.
The minute he gets to talking to you, es¬
pecially when he begins pleading, you know
how hard it is to keep from granting his re¬
quest, and if he persists long enough in nine¬
ty-nine cases out of a hundred you would be
mighty glad to loan him a dollar or two to
get rid of him.
Now, let us repeat that the resistance be¬
tween the buyer and the salesman disappears
almost immediately after you start the solici¬
tation.
Prove this to yourself by thinking of the
times you have bought shirts, neckties, or
gloves, or other things that you did not want,
simply because you stopped to look at them
and some polite, gentlemanly clerk or good-
[60]
SALESOLOGY
looking girl started to sell them to you and
made it next to impossible for you to refuse
to buy.
The next time you are trying to make a
sale, begging a man to give you his order,
and he is fighting you off or apparently not
giving you the proper attention, instead of
you letting your mind lead you to the
thought of when and where he is going to
kick you, try this line of reasoning: "The
prospect in front of me is trying his best to
fight me off. He is getting so interested in
my proposition that he is afraid he is going
to buy even against his will. He is, as it
were, fighting for his dollar life."
Your reasoning along the line of what we
have just said will give you confidence in
yourself, and instead of making you feel de¬
feated will give you the first real whiff of
Victory. You will jump in and hammer home
your most forceful arguments, in your most
enthusiastic manner, and win the sale.
As we analyze what is going on in the
mind of the buyer or the seller (having been
in both positions many times), the well-forti¬
fied, enthusiastic specialty salesman has
nine-tenths the best of the battle. But our
experience leads us to the conclusion that
ten times as many specialty sales are lost as
are made, by men picking up their kits and
walking away just at the time when they
should begin their real, earnest battle. It is
something like a man leading in a foot race
and letting up within ten feet of the tape,
[61]
SALESOLOGY
then quitting and walking back to take a seat
in the grand stand.
In going into a store, make it an invariable
rule if you speak to a man to say, "I presume
you are the proprietor" (or Mr. , if
you know his name). If he is the proprietor
you have not made a mistake. If he is not,
you have tickled the vanity of a clerk.
Remember, tickling the vanity, if you get
right down to the sub-cellar foundation, is
the basis of the sales of most things. I know
of instances where I have lost sales by not
following the above rule.
(If there is any way you can do so, without
wasting too much time, you should know the
name of the man you want to see in any
store, before you go into the store.)
Many times you will go into a store and
the least likely looking individual in there,
the one according to your idea the most un¬
likely to be the proprietor, will be the man
you are approaching. Much to your surprise
you will find he is the proprietor.
If you tell him you want to see the proprie¬
tor and he tells you he is the boy, it is like
throwing a wet blanket over him and cold
water on yourself, as you are immediately
conscious of having made error No. 1.
THE APPROACH
An easy, graceful, gentlemanly approach
is a very splendid thing, and every salesman
should give a great deal of thought and ana¬
lytical study to this part of his canvass, so he
[62]
SALESOLOGY
can register practically 100 per cent, atten¬
tion from his prospect.
But we don't believe the approach is the
essential thing, for the simple reason that a
great many public speakers stall and fuss
around for a few minutes before they get
started, and later completely captivate their
audience. So we don't want anyone to feel
discouraged if the approaches they make do
not seem to suit them. We do think, how¬
ever, that anyone who feels he is not adept
at this should put a lot of thought to it.
There is no special iron-clad rule that fits
every salesman. The only principle that we
know of is this: Your approach must get
respectful attention. There is the bold ap¬
proach, the awkward approach, the startling
approach, the mysterious approach, the quiet
unassuming approach, and the frightened,
apologetic approach. Use any of them, ex¬
cept the last—and after experiment use the
one that gets the best results. The matter
of approach is a thing that you must work
out for yourself.
Of course to present your arguments, you
must get attention from your prospect, or
you cannot make the sale, but my judgment
is that the effect on the sale of the different
kind of approaches is more the effect it has
on the salesman than the effect it has on the
prospect.
If you fumble around trying to get started
you are liable never to get started. In the
matter of the approach, we are not going to
lay down the law as to the definite language
[63]
SALESOLOGY
to use, but we do want to make the follow¬
ing observation and hope it will sink home.
With the number of machines we have
sold, the advertising we have done, and what
we have been told by our sales force, we are
absolutely certain that it is the salesman's
individual personal fault and no fault of the
proposition, if he is not able by his approach
to get a chance to present his proposition to
every prospect upon whom he calls.
As soon as you are sure you are talking to
the right party, this makes a good approach
—'"Mr. Smith, I want to talk to you a few
minutes about something which I firmly be¬
lieve will pay the rent of your store." That
at the start will make any man sit up and
take notice.
This will work in any store outside of the
most prominent business houses in cities of
250,000 and over, and will work in 95 per
cent, of the stores in those towns.
In department and other large stores,
change this phrase to "something that will
make five times as much per square foot of
floor space as anything else you have in your
store, or can buy."
One of our men uses this in his approach:
"Mr. Blank, I have something that I want
to talk to you about that won't get you down
here any earlier in the morning or oblige you
to stay any later at night. It's something
that means more business and more money
for you."
Some use this: "I have made a survey of
your neighborhood (or town) as relates to
[64]
salesology
the advantages of your store for a proposi¬
tion I know will make you a lot of money, and
I want a few minutes of your undivided at¬
tention to show you the results of my inves¬
tigation and to explain my proposition."
One of our most successful men uses this
method of approach.
He lets the prospect ask him what he has.
He then replies:
"I have the greatest proposition in the
world. It is a proposition that can do $
(in each instance he states amount of money
the prospect would take in if machine was
operated at maximum capacity ten hours per
day) in ten hours—$ in one hour—$
in half an hour—$ in fifteen minutes.
"I am just going to figure on one hour's
business. On one hour's business it will cost
you $ to do business, leaving you $
profit.
Then he goes ahead and states the weekly
profits, on an hour's business each day and
finally the yearly profits on that small volume
of business.
He tells the prospect: "It is something as
old as the hills, for which there is a demand
already created, and in which you get all the
profits—no jobber, wholesaler, or middleman
getting any of it. Now I am going to tell you
what it is. It is the wonderful Butter-Kist
proposition."
If after you tell him what you have, he
says he has been all over that and does not
want one, tell him you are glad of the first
remark, but sorry for the second, and that
[65]
SALESOLOGY
the only reason you are there is because you
are certain he did not get the proper under¬
standing of what the Butter-Kist machine is
or there would be one in his store.
Or you might say something like this: "I
know I can prove to you that you are just
hundreds of dollars out by not having pur¬
chased before."
Or, "Yes, a man told me that some time
ago, but he bought a machine and he is now
the happiest man in town, because he is mak¬
ing more money than he ever thought of
making from such a small investment."
Or, "Well, well, I am surprised. Do you
know, I cannot conceive how a man with an
up-to-date, fine store like you have here could
go into this proposition and not buy the ma¬
chine. I know you never got the right slant
on it. You do not appreciate what a wonder¬
ful money-maker this is, what I am here for
is to tell you about it. If I don't miss my
guess the few minutes you spend with me
will be some of the most valuable time you
ever spent in your life."
Or, "I have the thing you have been look¬
ing for for twenty years. You have racked
every corner of your brain, studied every pa¬
per, and thought and thought until you had
a headache, to find some way you could ex¬
pand your business. This little Butter-Kist
machine is made to fulfill that dream. It will
do the trick."
Or, "I like a conservative business man,
they are the only people I try to do business
with, and I don't blame you for having hesi-
[66]
SALESOLOGY
tated, but the fact is you have lost a lot of
money by hesitating, and as I am here and
have a multitude of new and absolutely con¬
vincing facts to show you, I know you are go¬
ing to give me the time and listen to me."
Or, "I understand that there was a time
when the Butter-Kist machine was looked
upon as a novelty, and a conservative man
like yourself took the attitude of being 'from
Missouri' and wanted to be shown. I now
have the proofs and I am here to show them
to you."
After you have complete command of the
business, and have a perfect self-assurance,
and feel your customer would appreciate the
following line of argument, we suggest that
after you make your approach you tell him
that from all you have said he can see that
you have something extremely important for
him—a serious business proposition that will
mean big money for him—and that the only
way you can properly present your subject
so that he will be fully able to grasp the won¬
derful opportunity you bring him would be
for you to have at least a half hour of his un¬
divided attention. The subject is of such a
nature that you do not want him to be dis¬
tracted by someone coming in to talk with
him, and therefore ask him if there is some
corner where you and he can go and sit down
and talk over the matter, or ask him to step
outside with you.
If he goes outside try to get him where
you are sure you have his undivided atten¬
tion. If he sits down in the store tactfully
[67]
SALESOLOGY
endeavor to have him sit so nothing will get
his mind off the proposition. In many cases
this can be done by you placing your chair
so that when he looks at you he will be look¬
ing toward the back of the store. Remem¬
ber nothing will distract him more than cus¬
tomers coming and going, so try and have
him seated so he does not see them.
Never forget that your object in your ap¬
proach is to get his respectful, undivided at¬
tention.
[68]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER VI
SOLICITATION
IT IS just as preposterous for an actor to
know the theme of a play but not his
words, and go on the stage depending on
inspiration, as for you to go to a store and
not know in advance what you are going to
say.
You have all heard enough about prepared¬
ness, efficiency, etc., so there is no use for us
to write a book on it. All we are trying to
teach you here is preparedness in relation to
what you are doing.
A man should have each part of his can¬
vass worked out in a thorough way. There is
one best way to say anything. Write out
your canvass and try it. If it does not prop¬
erly appeal to you and does not get you or¬
ders, change it. Keep on changing it until
you get it where you can see it makes the
best impression and gets orders for you. As
stated before, continually ask yourself how
what you are saying appeals to you.
Of course, at one store you may talk about
different things from what you do at an¬
other, but when you are talking in regard to
a certain point, the language you have
worked out as best in regard to that point is
in our judgment the best to use.
After your approach we will leave it to
your individuality as to how and when you
bring out the various points you must drive
[69]
SALESOLOGY
home, but at this time we want to impress
on you one thing we hope you will grasp, the
thing that makes the strongest appeal to the
man you are talking to is more money, more
profits.
We do not approve of parrot-like talk, or
do not necessarily advise a canvass prepared
according to the logical sequence of the im¬
portance of the arguments, but we do insist
that the language and illustrations explain¬
ing your points as you present them should
be carefully thought out.
YOUR PROBLEM
We know it is safe to say that every man
or woman in this country believes there is
money to be made out of the sale of popcorn,
without your telling them.
We also believe that since we have spent
so much for advertising, and have practically
no competition—have done so much mission¬
ary work—have sold so many machines—
have had salesmen of such a high class—99
per cent, of the people are reasonably well
convinced that there is only one popcorn ma1
chine, and that is Butter-Kist.
This analysis leads to the conclusion that
you should spend little time proving there is
money in popcorn, and very little in proving
we have the best machine.
Your whole problem centers around the
fact of bringing to your prospect's mind the
conviction that he can make money out of
our machine in his place of business.
Remember, few of your prospects will
[70]
SALESOLOGY
doubt the sincerity or truth of our state¬
ments about other people making money out
of the machines and about our having the
only machine, and most of them will believe
if they were located down in the center of
town, or if they had a department store, or
if they had a moving picture show next to
them, or if they were in the moving picture
business, or in some other business from
what they are, the Butter-Kist machine
would be the thing they need.
However, you are not going to get the or¬
der you are after until you have proven to
the prospect that he personally can make
this money right in his place. Your funda¬
mental problem is making him see that his
store is the place to make money with a ma¬
chine.
MORE MONEY FOR HIM
Tie everything you say up to the fact of
money-making for him. Make all your argu¬
ments and everything you say strictly from
his side of the question.
Don't say you want him to buy, or we want
him to buy, or we want this or we want that.
He does not care anything about what you
want or what we want. It is what he wants
that interests him.
In telling him about it, make it relate to
the dollars and cents that will go into his
pockets.
You do not have to beg or whine for busi¬
ness. That will never get you the orders.
[71]
SALESOLOGi'
You are bringing to the man the most won¬
derful opportunity for him to expand his
business in a new field, and all without his
going to more than a trifle of extra expense.
From this book and what you can add to it
you can make up enough honest, consistent
talk to make a speech for a whole day, and
not deviate from the facts.
Right at this point I want to bring out an¬
other thing: It does no harm to repeat. It
is all right to say the same thing four or five
times, provided it relates to profits.
Don't think you always have to say some¬
thing new, as a lot of men in trying to be in¬
genious and think up new things get to wan¬
dering around in a maze of argument that is
not understood by the prospect, and that
loses them the order.
EXPLANATION OF THE MACHINE
You realize that the explanation of any
piece of machinery with only photographs to
assist you is an extremely difficult matter
and liable to be tedious. We will try to show
you how to make your explanation in an in¬
teresting way.
Do not dwell at great length on the me¬
chanical workings of the machine, as no man
is going to buy it on account of the ingenious
way it does the work.
When you have sold him it is because he
has made up his mind that he is going to
make money out of it. Most men care very
little how it works, just so it does work. They
[72]
SALESOLOGY
are willing to leave it to us that the machine
is made right.
The detailed knowledge of the machine
that we have told you to get is not of much
use in trying to sell the machine to the or¬
dinary prospect. You must have the knowl¬
edge, so when necessary you can explain any
detail about which the prospect might ask
you.
More particularly is this useful so you can
use this knowledge in regard to some vital
point to explain technically the wonderful
difference between our machine and others
that are on the market.
In this particular, however, we want to
caution you to keep away from technical talk,
as many a man has won a technical argument
and lost a sale.
If you should explain any technicalities of
the different machines your language must
be such that the difference in the two ma¬
chines will show a difference in money re¬
turn to the man—always strongly in favor of
our machine.
In your explanation of the machine do not
fail to call attention to the fact that one of
the strongest features of the Butter-Kist ma¬
chine is the feed regulation.
The machine is made so you can keep a
little corn popping all the time. It is the pop¬
ping of the corn that sells it; consequently
that is a very important feature of the ma¬
chine.
After you have explained the machine to a
few men you will begin to realize what meth-
[73]
SALESOLOGY
od of explaining it appears to enable your
prospect to grasp it the quickest.
In all your explanations of the machine
talk dollars and cents in relation to each part
you explain. That is what interests him.
For example, the variable feed at the top
is to enable a man to keep popping a small
quantity of corn every hour—and you should
translate that quantity into dollars and cents.
Then of course he can increase the quanti¬
ty to the maximum. Explain to the prospect
just how much money he will take in with
the machine running at minimum speed, and
how much he will take in when the machine
is running at maximum. Another illustra¬
tion of our point: When you are explaining
the peanut roaster say that in a certain
length of time the machine will roast so
many pounds of peanuts, which sell for so
much, making such and such a profit.
Don't forget the money part, as that is
what sounds good to his ear.
The hot plate discharges the popped corn
once in about three minutes. It would be
easy enough to make it faster or slower, but
our plan is exactly right.
Corn pops in about two minutes. There¬
fore, it has one minute to be thoroughly dried
out, which is absolutely essential to good pop¬
corn. Remember, good popcorn cannot be
made unless the surplus moisture is dried out
before it is buttered.
Do not fail to emphasize the fact that the
superheating of the corn after it is popped
[74]
SALESOLOGY
is what gives it that Toasty Flavor. That
is what makes Butter-Kist popcorn different.
The stirring blades in the popping cage
are necessary to keep the corn agitated. The
popping cage is made completely visible, so
you can see the raw corn automatically fed,
see it swell, begin to pop, see it all popped,
and see it discharged.
The conveyor chain and separating device
is a very special feature of this machine, as
it serves the corn with practically no "bache¬
lors" (so called because they have not
popped) or "old maids" (because they have
not been popped). This separation must take
place to make good popcorn. This is a dis¬
tinctive feature of the Butter-Kist machine.
BUTTER-KIST BUTTERING
The buttering device, working with me¬
chanical precision, is the only way ever in¬
vented (fully covered by patents) to gauge
the butter accurately, and to see that a cer¬
tain amount gets on each grain.
As the cost of the butter is more than the
cost of anything else that goes into this pro¬
duct, this is a very essential feature, for by
the old system of sprinkling the butter on
the corn one clerk will use more than an¬
other, some people will get more butter on
the corn than they like, and some will not get
enough. That system is very wasteful.
Our buttering device alone is worth the
price of the machine to any man selling pop¬
corn, as it gives him the most economical
way of buttering popcorn. Furthermore, it
[75]
Sale sology
butters the corn to the customer's entire sat¬
isfaction.
The warming pan in the bottom keeps the
Butter-Kist fresh and crisp.
Connect every possible part of your expla¬
nation of the machine with the selling argu¬
ments of the machine making the best corn,
and making the proprietor "new-found"
money.
Bear in mind that you are not selling a
man a machine. You are selling him an idea
that will make him profits.
Don't go into too many details about the
machine, or you may not get the order.
By the time you have made your explana¬
tion and have shown them the "reason why"
for the various movements, you should have
convinced your prospects that this is the only
way to pop corn and pop it right.
THE AGE OF MACHINES
"This is an age of machines. Look at the
machines in your store—the cash register,
the adding machine, the typewriter, calculat¬
ing scales, meat grinders, drink mixers, etc.
You buy them to save time.
"Our machine makes real money for you.
"Up to this time all the machinery in
stores has been installed to save time. We
are the first to put on the market a machine
to give the storekeeper a little factory and a
salesman in which he can be the producer of
the goods he is selling, therefore get all the
profits.
[76]
SALESOLOGY
"The reason there is the tremendous profit
in Butter-Kist is because it is sold direct
from your factory to the consumer without
jobbers, wholesalers, or middlemen.
"The old-fashioned way of making popcorn
over a blaze in a wire popper or in a pan,
mixed with grease, was good in its day, but
to say the least it was not a cleanly, whole¬
some way of doing it.
"By the old method the butter was put on
the raw corn, with any refuse that might be
in or on the raw corn. The Butter-Kist way
puts on the butter after the grains have ex¬
ploded and after all unpopped grains and all
refuse have been taken out.
"The Butter-Kist way the corn is popped
on an evenly heated surface, where it never
comes in contact with any gases or fumes
from the flame, and where it is thoroughly
stirred.
"The Butter-Kist way completely and
quickly dries out all the surplus moisture re¬
maining in all corn after the popping. Thus
Butter-Kist is crisp and crackling and has
that toasty flavor. The unpopped grains are
shaken out, then every white fluffy toasted
grain is "kist" with pure melted creamery
butter. Hence the name Butter-Kist.
"The proper making of popcorn requires
the same thought and care as to make good
pastry, good bread, good cake, or a good din¬
ner.
"All of this, you see, is done for you with¬
out a minute's thought or attention on your
part, by this mechanical salesman."
T77]
SALESOLOGY
In any comparisons you make, or homely
phrases you use, connect them with some¬
thing that is good to eat, because you are
talking about something that is good to eat.
Mention such things as red apples, rich
cream, juicy beefsteak, hot biscuits, honey,
crisp bacon, etc.
REPEAT SALES OF RIGHT GOODS
"Remember the right goods (understand, I
emphasize the word right), especially any¬
thing to eat, always bring back to your store
the kind of people you want to see there.
They are the ones who have the money to
spend, and spend it.
"When you understand the kind of 'appe¬
tite-whetting' corn .this machine turns out,
and that this is the only machine that does it,
can't you see why the stand on the street
never can supply the demand?
"Your product and what they turn out are
entirely different. Yours is hygienically
popped, crisp as a freshly toasted cracker,
each grain uniformly butter-kist, deliciously
palatable, nutritious and completely digest¬
ible.
"The chances are the street corn is cooked
in all lard or half lard and half grease, leav¬
ing no chance for the corn to dry out. Corn
popped in grease or over a fire and then
sprinkled with grease, leaves that dark
brown taste in your mouth, the same sort of
a taste you have when you eat real greasy
meat.
[78]
SALESOLOGY
"These are some of the proofs as to why
our machines will build and hold for you a
permanent, constantly increasing business,
and from the best people."
Get firmly intrenched in your mind that
we are making Butter-Kist and not just pop¬
corn. Keep it well before you so that you
will talk in reference to the finished product
—Butter-Kist.
We think it reasonable to say that the per¬
petuity of our business rests on the high
quality of the product we are turning out.
If our machine did not turn out the best
corn in existence, it would not fill the place
in the business world which it does fill.
Each salesman must be thoroughly ac¬
quainted with the common sense reason—
why Butter-Kist is the best popcorn product
—and you must explain to your prospect in
plain language, in a way that he can grasp,
that we are not making what is ordinarily
called popcorn; we are making a special pro¬
duct called Butter-Kist.
The big difference in our machine is that
we not only pop the corn, but we toast it—
superheat it—re-cook it; we take out the sur¬
plus moisture, then put on the butter, and it
is all done at the right time and by mechani¬
cal means.
BIG PROFITS IN BUTTER-KIST
Merchants and people generally every¬
where have known for a long time that there
is big profit in popcorn. The evidences of it
are everywhere. Street vendors make
[79]
SALESOLOGY
enough in five or six months to keep a fam¬
ily all year.
Humphrey, in Cleveland, is said to be a
millionaire, and in that city they talk of his
having made his money out of popcorn. A
millionaire manufacturer of candy in Chi¬
cago uses 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of popcorn
every day. We know of another man, who,
about twelve years ago had only $60.00, and
is now worth over $40,000—made from pop¬
corn. Another man in the West has bougcvs
and paid for a $33,000 apartment building
with popcorn profits. But these men did not
have the equipment to make such delicious,
melt-in-the-mouth popcorn as Butter-Kist.
Theirs often contained hard, unpopped ker¬
nels—often flavored with grease. And the
street vendors who make big money out of
popcorn, do not as a rule know how to attract
or handle trade. The filth of the street is
thrown around their carts with every gust
of wind. Yet these men succeed, in spite of
themselves.
So, until we conceived the Butter-Kist idea,
the entire popcorn trade of America went to
the street vendors. Until we entered this
field, it was almost impossible for stores,
theaters, news and cigar stands to share irt
this big paying business of popping corn.
For there was no high-class machine, made
especially for men already established in bus¬
iness. None that would, like this one, run it¬
self.
Then came the Butter-Kist idea. It sur¬
mounted every obstacle. The Butter-Kist
[80]
SALESOLOGY
machine has made the popcorn industry a
dignified retail business. In a few short
years thousands of merchants—large and
small—in every part of the country—in
large cities and small towns, have found the
Butter-Kist machine to be one of their great¬
est paying investments.
One of the largest department stores in
Philadelphia has been averaging $40.00 a day
with the Butter-Kist machine.
A news and cigar stand in an Indiana town
clears over $1,500.00 a year with the Butter-
Kist machine. The operator there, by keep¬
ing a special record for his machine, found
that it brought over 49,000 people a year into
his store to buy Butter-Kist. And by put¬
ting his magazines near his Butter-Kist ma¬
chine, he increased their sales from 50 to
800 per cent.
The manager of one of the largest depart¬
ment stores in this country, after having
operated two of our machines for three
years, says: "We believe that two of your
machines properly installed in any large
store can easily clear $5,000.00 a year profit."
But the big profits are not in the big stores
and big cities alone.
A chauffeur put one of our machines near
a gasoline station, starting in with nothing.
He has had the machine only about a year.
He has paid for the machine and now has
$2,200 in the bank.
A man in a Michigan town who originally
did only a small business by not understand¬
ing how to run the machine, for a year past
[81]
SALESOLOGY
has been averaging about $17.00 per day.
The Comique Theatre is doing a business
of $30.00 per day on an average, and many
days full capacity.
A drug store in California is clearing now
over $95.00 a month net profit. A picture
theatre in Indiana clears over $300.00 a
month net. A drug store in a little town in
Virginia averages very close to $100.00 a
month net profit.
We have only given one or two instances
of big profits—there are hundreds of them.
But again we want to caution you against
talking of too large profits.
One of the first machines shipped to Eng¬
land was placed in Liverpool, and according
to its owner, it is taking in one thousand
pounds ($5,000) a year. (When this ma¬
chine was first installed the people swarmed
in front of the store in which the machine
was operating and blockaded traffic. The
police made the proprietors remove the ma¬
chine from their window on this account.)
One machine, in a medium size town in
Illinois, doing over $300.00 business per
month was purchased by a man to keep his
boy interested in the business and keep him
at home. It is located a block and a half off
the main street, and everyone said it would
not pay, but it is making $300.00 per month.
One significant thing about it is that he
keeps the machine looking like new. He even
keeps the top nicely polished.
In a small town in Indiana the other day a
druggist told us that he sold over $40.00
[82]
SALESOLOGY
worth of corn on the Fourth of July, $15.00
to $20.00 on Saturday and Sunday, and about
$5.00 other days.
His machine, although a year and a half
old, looked as though it had just come out of
the factory.
A friend of one of our salesmen bought
one of our Butter-Kist machines, and after
making over $3,000 net profit in one year's
time, sold the machine and joined our sales
force, and is now one of our very successful
men.
In this book we are not giving specific in¬
stances of towns, names, etc., where men are
making money with our machines. You will
find this information in our testimonial let¬
ters, our catalogs, our printed matter, etc.
We mention these instances to show you how
we would talk about the machine's success
in a canvass. Of course in your canvass you
supply the names of the people. Remember
to do as we have done and include some in¬
stances of profits. And be sure to call par¬
ticular attention to machines that you know
of that have been making good profits for a
period of a year or more. That's the best
and strongest of evidence to give to your
prospects.
You'll find many such letters among our
testimonials and you undoubtedly know of a
number of such instances yourself.
DON'T "OVERSELL"
But right here I want to make one point
clear. Be honest with the man you are try-
[83]
SALESOLOGY
ing to sell. For it is only exceptional loca¬
tions that make tremendous profits out of
their Butter-Kist machines.
Any merchant ought to be satisfied to
make two or three dollars a day net profit
with his Butter-Kist machine. And any live
merchant can make this much and more. At
this rate, he gets many times more, in pro¬
portion to space occupied, than he gets out
of anything else in his store.
But if you go through a territory promis¬
ing everybody from ten to tw_enty dollars a
day net profits you are going to have a bunch
of knockers left behind in your trail, even if
they are doing what you and I know is a good
business. Satisfaction is only comparative.
If you sell a man on the idea that he ought to
make $2.00 or $3.00 a day net profit out of
his machine, he will be satisfied if the ma¬
chine does what you told him it would do,
and a booster if he does more.
There was a high pressure salesman on the
road for us a few years ago who went
through the territory and sold a good quota
of machines for us. We thought he was go¬
ing to be a hundred per center, but it wasn't
more than a month or two until we received
a basket full of letters from his customers,
all of them complaining and wanting to send
their machines back. Every one of these ma¬
chine owners was making from $3.00 to $5.00
a day.
They made splendid returns on their in¬
vestment, but this man had gone through the
country telling them that they could make
[84]
SALESOLOGY
from $10.00 to $20.00 to $30.00 a day. That
man is no longer on our selling force.
The Butter-Kist machine will sell on truth
or even less than the truth. We insist that
it be sold that way. Telling the truth is the
easiest way to sell a Butter-Kist machine, for
it is easier to convince a man that he can
make $2.00 to $4.00 a day than it is to con¬
vince him that he can make $10.00 to $20.00,
and by being honest with your customers
you make clean sales. Payments come in
regularly and your commissions accrue with¬
out delay.
Remember what we said about building
for confidence. I am thoroughly convinced
that many of our salesmen continuously lose
sales through talking to a prospect about the
machine making extraordinaidly large profits.
When you talk to a man (who is now mak¬
ing only $3.00 or $4.00 per day out of his
whole store), about making $5.00 or $6.00 or
$7.00 per day or possibly $10.00 through buy¬
ing one of these Butter-Kist machines, he
instinctively holds back in his own mind the
thought that you are not telling him the
truth. You are talking too big for him—
you scare him—you make him think of the
time he was talked into buying stock in an
oil well or a gold mine, and he does not buy.
If you had talked to him in his kind of
money, making a plausible, sensible story,
you would have had his order. This is as
true a thing as we ever said.
Never make a positive statement of the
exact amount of business a prospect will do
[85]
SALESOLOGY
or the profit he will make on the Butter-Kist
machine, for the reason that you or no one
else can truthfully do this. You are not a
prophet. Do not pretend to be one. It is not
necessary for you to attempt to prophesy to
make a sale.
Of course you will have to convince him
that he can make money before he will buy
the machine, but the best way to do this is
for you to not make definite statements, but
for you to show him what others have done,
and then get him to say the minimum amount
he feels certain he can do.
If he will not state an amount he thinks he
can do, you will have to help him, but when
you do, ask him if the amount you name does
not seem a very reasonable minimum to fig¬
ure on.
HOW TO USE OUR REPRODUCED TES¬
TIMONIAL LETTERS
Here's the way one of our successful sales¬
men introduces the testimonial letters in his
canvass. "Mr Prospect, if you buy a ham
sandwich made with two slices of bread and
you bite into one corner and find ham, and
another corner and find ham, and in fact find
ham when you bite into all four corners isn't
it reasonable to assume that there's ham in
the center!
"Now it's the same way with this proposi¬
tion. (Produces testimonial book.) Look
what this man is doing—and this one—and
this one. These men all around you are all
making money. There's "meat" in this
[86]
SALESOLOGY
proposition for them—and there's "meat"
for you!"
Study carefully our reproduced testimonial
letters, and memorize the principal points in
at least twenty of them, or all of them, if
possible. Some of the letters have wonder¬
fully strong points.
You cannot read all these letters to your
prospects, but you should be able instantly
to pick out of each letter the principal points.
Be particular to read letters of men who
are in the same class of business as your
prospects, for the reason that your man in
the drug business is interested in what other
men in the drug business are doing* more
than in any candy merchant's success.
You see, you are safe in stating to any
merchant, no matter what kind of business
he is in, that he can make a larger percentage
of profit out of Butter-Kist than out of any¬
thing else in his store.
There is an advantage and a disadvantage
in reading reproduced or original letters from
customers in nearby towns. If you dwell too
much on the fact that there are a lot of ma¬
chines in towns right close to him, it is liable
to start a train of thought in his mind that
he will go to these towns and see the ma¬
chines, or he may think he is going to one of
them in a few days, and this gives him a
chance to try to put you off.
Letters from similar-sized towns often
make a very good impression, but we think
the main impression will be made by reading
[87]
SALESOLOGY
the strong points out of letters from men in
similar business.
If we were going to set down a general
rule we would say that in calling attention
to towns from which these letters were writ¬
ten we would not call attention to towns
within 25, 30, or 40 miles of the prospect, nor
would we speak of customers in nearby large
cities, because in doing that you are very
liable to start your customer to thinking that
he will soon be going to that town, or you
start him on the thought of making a special
trip.
You know, men living near a large city like
the opportunity of driving to it if they own
an auto, or even taking the train.
You naturally want to sell him while you
are there. You don't want to start him on a
course of investigation. You are the investi¬
gator in this case, and not he. You have
done the investigating—and have the facts—
and you are to present them and make the
sale.
What we are trying to do is to show you
how to shape your canvass so that you do
not give your prospect the opening for mak¬
ing a reasonable excuse for putting you off
till a later time. One of the easiest excuses
for him to give, and one that most salesmen
think is the hardest to overcome is when he
says "I want to see the machine" or "I want
to see some of the merchants who own these
machines."
A salesman may think such excuses are
[88]
SALESObOGt
lard to overcome, but it's all in the sales-
nan's mind.
Practically all merchants have seen a But-
;er-Kist machine, or know where there is one.
ifour prospect may know of one fifteen or
;wenty miles away, but he does not know of
the fifteen or twenty others that are within
i radius of fifteen or thirty miles of him. Of
course, you know about these machines, as
that is your business—you may even have
sold all of them.
It is only natural for you to think you want
to tell him all about these machines—you are
proud of your sales in his vicinity—you are
proud of the Butter-Kist machine.
We suggest, however, that you sell him
with other lines of argument, because by tell¬
ing him about these other machines, just as
we have said before, you are almost sure to
start the train of thought in his mind that
he wants to go and see these other machines.
While reading this, please turn to the part
of our book where we have tried to give you
the line of argument to use when a man tells
you he wants to see a machine. Read this
right after having read what we say here.
Then you will see the reasonableness of what
we are saying here, and will follow this line
of procedure.
Remember you are there to get his order.
The chances are you will never again be able
to talk to him as convincingly as on that visit.
Now, you ought not to do anything or say
anything that will have a tendency to keep
him from giving you the order right at that
[89]
SALESOLOGY
time, therefore we suggest your following
the above suggestions carefully.
SOME APT PHRASES FOR YOUR
CANVAS
This book is to give you thoughts and
ideas, and not necessarily words, phrases or
language. But there are a few words and
phrases that we believe should enter into
every canvass, because our experience proves
that they tell our story quickly and emphati¬
cally. Here are some of these phrases:
Popcorn is older than the U. S. Govern¬
ment.
Move a chair and you have the space (for
the machine).
Occupies only square feet of floor space.
(State space occupied by particular machine
you are selling.)
Makes 5 times more per square foot of floor
space than anything else.
Brings new-found profits.
Expands your business.
It's a manufacturing plant.
No investment in raw material.
Rapid turn-over.
I don't blame you in the least.
There is no reason for not buying; it's an
excuse.
Delicious aroma.
Coaxing fragrance.
Pays four ways: Motion attracts the eye.
Coaxing fragrance makes them buy. Toasty
flavor brings them back. Machine increases
sales of other goods.
[90]
SALESOLOGY
Butter-Kist proposition.
Toasted, not roasted, peanuts.
Brings new found money.
Attracts trade.
Holds trade while they are waiting to be
served.
Stops the people in their tracks.
MOST MONEY PER SQUARE FOOT OF
FLOOR SPACE
We have not heard of any other line of
merchandise or any other machine that is
being sold on the strength of the statement
of the profit it makes in proportion to the
small space it occupies.
This is a new line of argument. It is start¬
ling. It is forceful. It is convincing. It is
one of your trumps.
Whatever you do, don't try to sell our ma¬
chines until you thoroughly understand just
what we mean by this, and can easily make
the correct figures to prove your statement.
Tell your customer that this will pay him
several times more per square foot of floor
space than anything else he has in his store.
You must know how to figure this in an
instant, and you ought to do it by the old-
time mental arithmetic process you studied
when you were a boy.
It is very simple. Study the following
paragraphs and then make several calcula¬
tions so you will thoroughly understand how
to do this.
[91]
SALESOLOGY
FIGURES TALK LOUDER THAN WORDS
We know there is a tendency among sales¬
men to dislike figures, and our experience
shows us that it is extremely hard for us to
get our men to understand what we mean by
the statement "most money per square foot
of floor space." But we insist that you thor¬
oughly understand this before you try to sell.
If you have to read this part of the book
twenty times or even fifty, read it that many
times. If you have to make a hundred calcu¬
lations, go ahead and make them.
Again we say, do not let anything stop you
from getting this firmly intrenched in your
mind.
Let us take a concrete example. The ma¬
chine occupies less than six square feet of
floor space. If the machine makes only $3.00
per day, that is over $1,000.00 per year. If
it occupies six square feet of floor space, you
see it would make one-sixth of $1,000.00, or
$166.00 per year for each square foot of oc¬
cupied floor space.
If the prospect's store is 20 feet wide and
50 feet long, he therefore has 1,000 square
feet in his store. You can thus see that if
each square foot of his store made him the
same money that he was making from the
Butter-Kist machine at $3.00 per day, his
store would have to make him 1,000 times
$166.00, or $166,000.00 in a year.
After making that calculation, say you
would cut these figures in two to allow for
aisles. This still gives him $83,000.00.
[92]
SALESOLOGY
Let us take another illustration. Suppose
his store is 20 feet wide and 30 feet long.
Now, if you wanted to measure the square
feet he has in that store you of course multi¬
ply 20 by 30, which gives you 600 square
feet.
At $3.00 per day, our machine would make
$166.00 per square foot occupied, per year.
This is made clear in the above illustration.
Now, don't you see that if every one of his
600 square feet of space were being used as
well as each square foot the machine occu¬
pies, his whole store would make him 600
times $166.00, or $99,600.00 per year.
If his store is 25 feet wide and 100 feet
long, which is the size of a great many coun¬
try stores, he would have 2,500 square feet.
Now, since we have figured that each
square foot occupied by the machine, on a
basis of $3.00 per day, would make $166.00
per year, therefore if his whole store would
make him money at the same rate, it would
have to make him 2,500 times $166.00, or
$415,000.00 per year.
As shown in the first illustration, we of
course say you ought to always cut this in
two to allow for aisles, but in a great many
stores you can cut it in two for aisles and
then cut it in two again for good measure,
and for that matter make another slice at it,
and you have still so much more proportion¬
ate profit than the man is now making out of
his business that you get your point home.
Now, remember, the point in this is, you
are trying to prove to him with figures com-
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SALESOLOGY
pared with the rest of his store that this
little machine will make more money accord¬
ing to the space it occupies than anything
else in his store.
While talking about the square feet of floor
space, always make one calculation based on
the assumption that his machine will make
him only $1.00 per day. (To do this use one-
third of $166.00 or $55 per square foot per
year.) It does not matter if you think the
machine can make $4.00 or $5.00 per day for
him, or if it is the biggest department store,
never leave him without making this square
feet of floor space illustration about $1.00 per
day, as at $1.00 per day you can make some
startling figures.
If his store is 20 feet long and 50 feet wide
or 1,000 square feet in all, the store would
have to make him $55,000.00, or if cut in two,
$27,500.00.
You may think it will take longer to sell a
man when you talk small figures than if you
talk big. From the sales of the greatest pro¬
ducers on our sales force, and from our per¬
sonal- knowledge, we know you will come
nearer selling this machine to your prospect
by talking small, reasonable amounts than
you will by talking exorbitant figures.
It is many times better for you and for us,
to understate the case than overstate it.
As when figuring on the $55 per square
foot basis this is so much more than stores
are making their owners, you can readily see
how these figures make your man stop and
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SALESOLOGY
think. They also prove to him that he has
a great deal of unprofitable floor space.
Use this to show the relative earning ca¬
pacity of our machine as compared with a
soda fountain. For example, a soda fountain
usually takes up a space of 6x12 feet, or 72
square feet.
On a basis of our machine making $3.00
per day, the soda fountain would have to
make 72 times $166, or $11,952.00, to equal
it. Make the same comparison with the cigar
counter or anything else in the store.
The above line of argument has proved
very effective.
You have a basis here for making state¬
ments we know are unanswerable. There is
no store or corner in the United States where
you can not show the owner or manager that
the Butter-Kist machine would make a won¬
derful showing per square foot at the mini¬
mum of $1.00 per day.
In extra good places you can use even
larger figures than $3.00 per day, but we are
strongly of the opinion that it is much better
to talk $1.00 per day profits, or $2.00 or
$3.00, than it is to talk larger profits.
If a man buys this machine, expecting to
make only a moderate amount, and does more
than you talked about, you have made an
everlasting friend and booster for yourself
and for us.
HELPING PROSPECT TO SET FIGURES
Do not tell the prospect exactly how much
business he can expect to do with the ma-
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SALE SOLOGY
chine. Tell him what others have done, and
then get him to estimate the volume of busi¬
ness he thinks he can do, or if you cannot
get him to do that, say something like this:
"You see what others are doing. Do you
think it would be reasonable for us to figure
on you doing a business of $3 a day, or $5
a day?" (or whatever you want to figure).
Do not say to him "You can certainly do
$5 a day." That is an implied promise, and
he will expect the machine to do that much,
and if it does not do it, he is disappointed,
notwithstanding the fact that he would be
making good money on his investment, even
at a much lower gross income.
After you and the prospect have arrived
at the estimated minimum amount of busi¬
ness you are going to use in your figures,
then go ahead and figure his monthly and
yearly profits, less the depreciation of the
machine over a period of five or ten years.
MOTION ATTRACTS THE EYE
Five hundred million dollars are spent
every year by the American public in the
moving picture industry. It is America's
fifth largest industry.
We had the pictures—stereopticon views—
for over fifty years, and the amount of money
spent in connection with the industry was
negligible.
Thomas Edison took the photographs we
had all the time, made them move, and we
had moving pictures.
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SALESOLOGY
Here was where motion and nothing but
motion made one of the world's greatest in¬
dustries—one of the most spectacular as well
as beneficial things that has been given to the
world in the last half century.
The above statement is by far the best
comparison or illustration you can give to
anyone to prove to them beyond the shadow
of a doubt that there is a lot of money to be
made out of motion.
Nothing attracts the eye like motion. Wit¬
ness the success of baseball, automobile and
horse races, etc., etc. The eye is always in¬
stinctively attracted to anything moving.
We understand it costs from $75.00 to
$100.00 per week for a window display in al¬
most any store inside the Loop in Chicago,
and if you will look at these displays in most
cases you will find they have something mov¬
ing—either a man or a woman making a
demonstration, some mechanical toy, or some
moving mechanical device.
[97]
SALE SOLOGY
At the auto shows—state, county or street
fairs—the crowds are always seen around an
exhibit with machinery in motion. Think of
the great expense of displays of that kind.
Here is your prospect's chance to make
money out of the same principle.
Look at the fortunes that are spent in
making moving electrical signs. It costs five
or six times more money to put motion into
them than it does to make ordinary signs.
But it is worth the expense. For it is motion
that gets people to read the signs.
I understand that over $60,000.00 was
spent on the Chariot Race sign in New York
City.
Think of the times you have seen a man
digging a ditch, and have stopped to watch
him work; usually on looking around you will
find from ten to thirty other people doing
just as you are.
Haven't you nearly broken your neck look¬
ing at a man riding on a steel beam moving
up towards the top of some high building?
Don't you remember the crowd that was do¬
ing the same thing?
I once knew a man who was selling Alliga¬
tor Brand rain coats in Chicago, where he
had three alligators as an ad in a window,
and it took three policemen to keep the
street clear.
I often use this illustration: I point to
some people walking across the street and
say, "You see those people across the street?
What is it your eye is first attracted to? It
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SALESOLOGY
is their arms or their legs, because they are
moving."
I know you have all seen the old display of
a window with some white mice spinning
around on a circular board fastened on a
pivot. This causes you to stop, and a crowd
of other people are just like you. Just as
soon as the mice tire of the sport—the crowd
disperses.
Put any kind of animals, cats, dogs, etc., in
a window, if they are moving, people will
stand around looking at them. If they are
asleep, the people will pass by. The animals
moving are more of an attraction than a win¬
dow display of a million dollars' worth of dia¬
monds.
If during your walk around town you have
seen a crowd watching something moving,
that is one of the best illustrations you can
use, because if you can add local color to your
illustrations it makes a more intimate im¬
pression on the mind of your prospect.
The illustrations we have given above are
all of human interest and of general knowl¬
edge, and we would advise you to use these
illustrations unless you have something local.
Never talk to a prospect about our machine
without using our illustration about the mov¬
ing picture industry.
Following are some good phrases to use
when talking about the motion of the ma¬
chine :
"You do not have a thing in your store
that is moving except human beings, and
your electric fan. The fan moves so fast no
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SALESOLOGY
one can see it, therefore it does not seem to
be moving at all. Imagine the interest a
beautiful piece of moving machinery like the
Butter-Kist machine will create."
"I have watched this machine by the hour
and never tired. The interesting mechanical
motions, all of them having a useful function,
are all intensely interesting."
"You see the corn dropping into the hop¬
per, then onto the hot plate, see it being
stirred, watch it burst and jump, then see
the white mass of corn fall into the receiving
pan, from which the conveyor chain carries
or trollies it along to the butter wheel.
"There is something new and fascinating
happening every moment, as no two grains
pop alike."
Make as interesting a picture as possible
of this motion, as the motion in the machine
is one of the principal arguments for it, and
one of its best selling features.
You can sell the machine on your talk
about its motion, and the man who buys it
will sell the corn on account of the motion.
ADVERTISING VALUE
The advertising value of this machine to
any merchant is worth its price. It is a busi¬
ness-getter. It is like a leader. It has the
same advertising value the soda fountain
had twenty-five years ago.
We have had hundreds of men tell us it
brought new people to the store. That is all
advertising in the papers is for.
[100]
SALESOLOG 1"
Here is the way some of our most success¬
ful men bring out the advertising value of
the machine.
"When placed on the sidewalk it attracts
passersby a great deal more than a fine win¬
dow display. When they stop and look at the
machine, or even if they do not stop, but sim¬
ply notice the machine, their attention is
called to your place of business. That is all
advertising does for you.
"In a store it draws attention to the part
of the store in which the machine is placed.
"Do not think this just benefits the sale of
the popcorn. It benefits the sale of every¬
thing that is displayed properly in that part
of the store."
ONE OWNER'S EXPERIENCE
A man told us the other day that his But-
ter-Kist machine in one year had brought
49,015 people up to his news and cigar stand
to buy Butter-Kist. He said in the second
year of his business he had sold 50 per cent,
more magazines than he had the year before,
just because he displayed the magazines near
the Butter-Kist machine.
The significant part of what he said was
that a great deal of the increase had been in
the sale of women's magazines such as
Vogue, Delineator, Ladies' Home' Journal,
etc.
MACHINE SELF-ADVERTISING
A preacher in California writes us that on
a hot summer day while sitting on a park
[101]
SALESOLOGY
bench, he noticed that nearly everyone who
passed was eating popcorn.
He wondered where it was all coming from,
and why so many people were eating popcorn
on a hot summer day. It made him hungry,
and he started out to find where it came
from.
He found a Butter-Kist machine, bought
some Butter-Kist, stopped to watch the ma¬
chine operate, and was so interested he wrote
us a letter, complimenting us on making a
machine with self-advertising power.
PUBLICITY VALUE OF MACHINE
Many merchants can get free write-ups in
the local papers because the installation of an
interesting machine like the Butter-Kist has
news value.
People come into the store just to see it
work, and when they come in they not only
buy Butter-Kist corn but other merchandise.
The merchant who installs Butter-Kist also
gets the reputation throughout the town of
being thoroughly up-to-date. The man who
grasps the ideas and possibilities of the new
things and puts them in is the one who reaps
the biggest benefit.
People like to trade with successful and up-
to-date merchants; they naturally assume
the one who has the latest equipment and
best machinery has the best goods, therefore
they flock to his place.
Be sure and call attention to the great ad¬
vertising value of the cartons.
[102]
SALESOLOGY
Merchants everywhere believe in the value
of advertising. Most of them are spending
money for newspaper advertising, and those
who are not advertising in the papers are be¬
ing constantly interviewed by salesmen who
are talking the advantages of advertising,
and as you are selling a machine with great
self-advertising power, you should explain
the great advertising value of the machine
itself. There is great truth and great force
in these statements.
Do not advise the customer to place the
machine in a window, unless he cuts the win¬
dow so he can sell the corn to the passersby,
for the window is not the best place to sell
the popcorn ordinarily.
Call atention to the fact that at different
times during the year he can put the machine
in the window and use it as a window display.
It will cause people to stop and look in the
window, and we know from dozens of similar
cases that it will bring new people into the
store. They will come in to buy corn and
will then buy other things.
Don't fail to dwell on the fact, and prove
the statement, that the popcorn machine will
bring back to his store old and young, as But-
ter-Kist popcorn is a great drawing card.
Naturally, you will thoroughly explain the
advertising value to him of hooking up with
our great national advertising campaign.
We have spent a vast sum in advertising
Butter-Kist popcorn, and the millions upon
millions of our trade-marked bags and car¬
tons that have been distributed throughout
[103]
SALESOLOGY
the country have greatly advertised Butter-
Kist.
AN ELECTRIC SIGN—PLUS!
Electric signs are the fashion. They are
beautiful to look at. They are attractive,
but in a great many instances a large part
of the good they do is to have the advertiser
pay for the illumination of the street.
Men will spend fortunes for electric signs
advertising a product but the customer may
have to wait until the next day, or walk sev¬
eral blocks to buy.
For example, if you saw a sign of a Gillette
razor and made up your mind when you saw
it that you wanted a Gillette, you would have
to go and hunt a drug store that had the Gil-
lettes.
If you saw an electric sign in New York ad¬
vertising Corticelli Spool Silk and found you
wanted silk, you would have to wait until the
stores opened next day before you could
buy it.
Here is the difference of the attraction of
the sign and the lights on the Butter-Kist
machine. When people see the machine the
product is right there for them to buy.
Call attention to the fact that merchants
all over the country are spending huge sums
for electric signs, which cost them a great
deal to install, and are a constant source of
expense to operate.
Electric signs are all right, but they do not
produce new profit as does our machine.
[104]
SALESOLOGY
Electric signs are an expense that goes under
the heading of advertising.
The merchant can use this beautiful But-
ter-Kist machine for the same purpose as an
electric sign. It is a better attention-compel -
ler, and instead of being an expense it is a
profit-maker that should pay all or the
greater part of his rent, light, heat and taxes.
ALL-THE-YEAR BUSINESS
You will remember when a boy you used
to eat popcorn in the winter evenings. We
believe that ten times more popcorn is eaten
This is an all-the-year business
[105]
SALESOLOGY
at home in the winter than during any other
time of the year. The natural time to eat
popcorn is during the cold weather.
Before the Butter-Kist machine was placed
on the market, practically all the popcorn
was sold during the spring, summer, and fall,
for the simple reason that the only way pop¬
corn was sold was through the street vend¬
ing machines.
The Butter-Kist machine has turned the
popcorn business from a seasonable to an all-
year business. Many stores have proved con¬
clusively that with a Butter-Kist machine
they sell more popcorn and peanuts in the
colder season than any other time.
With our cartons we have made it possible
foil people to buy popcorn at the p-ocery
store or confectionery store and take it home
to eat during the long winter evenings.
They use it for parties, club meetings, etc.
From the first of March to the first of
October it will not be necessary for you to
say much about the winter business, as the
man you are talking to during these months
will not be thinking about the winter, and we
leave it to your sense of judgment as to
whether or not you ought to say anything
at all about its being a winter business.
During the other months of the year, with
the arguments we have given above, the ar¬
guments you can make, and the statistics you
can show, we are sure any of our men can
prove to any merchant that he ought to do a
splendid winter business.
[106]
SALESOLOGY
NO INVESTMENT IN RAW MATERIAL
One very important talking point about
this manufacturing plant—the Butter-Kist
machine—is that the raw material does not
depreciate. A 100-lb. sack of corn, a few
pounds of butter, a sack of salt, and you are
equipped for several days—$20 or $30 in¬
vested will run the factory.
Starting in almost any other manufactur¬
ing, paying for the supplies is enough to
break up half the business ventures before
they begin.
A CASH BUSINESS
This is a cash business. No one would
think of buying popcorn and asking to have
it charged, no difference if they have an ac¬
count or if most of your business is on credit.
It is a cash business in which a man can
turn over his money quickly. That is the
last word in higher business efficiency. Every
man is looking for or dreaming about cash
sales. Don't forget to dwell strongly on this.
RAPID TURN-OVER
The secret of all big success is rapid turn¬
ing of the money a man has invested in his
stock.
The reason a large proportion of busi¬
nesses go to the wall is that they get loaded
up with material that they can't get rid of.
The average merchant thinks he is mighty
lucky if he turns over his complete stock of
goods two or three times a year.
[107]
SALESOLOGY
In a Butter-Kist machine you are bringing
him a manufacturing plant that turns over
his stock investment twenty or forty times a
year.
We have never found anything in the
world of legitimate business that can ap¬
proach this.
A certain firm went into the hands of a
receiver some years ago, and the main cause
for the failure was a great supply of stock
that they couldn't turn over. The receiver
found $9.00 worth of caps that had been in
the store for forty years. You can figure this
out at an average rate of twice a year turn¬
over: The income should have been over
$200,000.00.
One small merchant in Chicago started his
store on practically no capital, and became a
rich merchant simply by turning his stock
over fast. Every morning he bought suffi¬
cient stock to last him for the next day. This'
way he made his dollar turn itself over 365
times a year, whereas the average merchant
makes his dollar turn over twice or three
times a year.
Suppose the profit on a certain line is 25
per cent. The average merchant invests a
dollar and keeps it in his business six months
to make him 25 cents. If he could turn his
stock over every day. (counting out Sundays
and holidays), he could turn his dollar over
300 times, making $75.00 on his dollar.
The Burroughs Adding Machine Company
is preaching this story to merchants all over
the country—to hundreds of salesmen, and
[108]
SALESOLOGY
in all the leading national and trade publica¬
tions.
So drive this story home—show how, with
this machine he can turn his capital over 20
to 25 times a year and make, for example, a
$10.00 investment in raw material for his
Butter-Kist machine net him $583.25 clear
net profit.
FUTURE OF THE POPCORN BUSINESS
If the man you are talking to is from 30 to
40 years old, say to him that during his life¬
time he has seen the development of the ice
cream soda business, as well as ice cream.
Twenty-five years ago there was no ice
cream soda, and since then the ice cream busi¬
ness has increased fifty times or more.
A man 45 or 50 years old has lived to see
the development of the candy business. When
he was a boy, about all that was sold was red
stick candy, horehound, gum drops, pepper¬
mint, and chocolate drops. I think it is safe
to say that the candy business is now a hun¬
dredfold greater than it was fifty years ago.
Better candy, better packages, and better dis¬
plays did this.
His children, if he has any, have seen the
grape juice business built up. There are
now several very large concerns doing a
mammoth business with grape juice. It was
not sold before, because no one ever put it
up to sell or put it where people could get it.
The breakfast foods have also developed
into a mammoth business inside of the last
fifteen or twenty years.
[109]
SALE SOLOGY
The late C. W. Post, the originator of the
breakfast food business, was "broke" twenty-
five years ago, and with his wife was ped¬
dling from house to house a patent suspender
button of his own invention.
Becoming ill, he went to Battle Creek sani¬
tarium, and got a job in the factory where
the health foods were made. Seeing the
possibilities in the health foods when prop¬
erly put up and presented to the public, he
started a small factory which later grew to
mammoth proportions, and from which he
made millions of dollars.
He saw his opportunity and nailed it down.
That's what you want to do with this.
Our records of the average yearly business
of those who buy bags and cartons from us
compared with the average yearly business
of those who bought bags and cartons from
us in 1913 show an increase of 33y$ per
cent. This is tangible proof in figures of the
increase in the consumption of popcorn
through our machine—it proves the adver¬
tising value of the machine—the quality of
the corn—the advantages of a large distribu¬
tion of our machines to the owner of each
machine. It proves the future of the Butter-
Kist business.
The records in our office prove conclusively
that we now have at least five times as many
possible prospects as we thought we had
when we started in to market Butter-Kist.
We know Butter-Kist pays well in the
so-called neighborhood stores, out on the
outskirts of the city, at commissaries, at com-
[110]
SALESOLOGY
pany stores, in little towns of even 100 popu¬
lation, etc.
Our collection records and our letters of
commendation prove this.
Ask yourself, what else is there on the
market that these small shop owners can
buy that will give them a new business and
added profits?
Paint in your mind a picture of the legion
of stores such as just described, and visualize
a Butter-Kist in each one, then you will be¬
gin to glimpse the true, prophetic vision of
the future of Butter-Kist.
Another way to see the future, and one we
can better understand, is by looking back¬
ward.
Try to call to mind the first cash register.
Then think of the millions now in use. Once
they were a money drawer, a new fangled
toy, or a nice store ornament—today a real
business and economic necessity.
The progressive merchants, such as we
now sell, and the movie men of the future
are inevitably going to give thought to where
can they place their Butter-Kist machine?
The same as they do now in regard to their
cash register.
We see the vision; we have the commer¬
cial courage to back our judgment, and now
we are asking you to share with us in doing
what you can to bring this to pass, and to
make the money that we know is waiting for
you, both in this present day (right now),
as well as in the future.
[Ill]
SALESOLOGY
THE BUTTER-KIST MACHINE IN A
STORE
The reason popcorn has not been sold in
stores before is because there has never been
a machine that was suitable and that would
put corn up in such a shape that people can
depend on it—where they knew it was whole¬
some.
Our machine is as far ahead of the old
street machine as the present department
stores are ahead of the merchant's booths of
old Damascus.
Stores are the places where people are in
the habit of buying things. People get in
the habit of doing a certain thing and most
of them want to keep on doing it and in the
same way.
You get in the habit of buying at a certain
place, going to a certain hotel in a town,
smoking some special brand of cigars, and
without thinking about it, you keep it up.
Most people are in the habit of doing all
their purchasing inside of a building, and not
on the street. Many buy popcorn on the
street because they cannot resist it, still it is
not putting the sale of the corn where it
should be.
Be sure to make your prospect grasp the
importance of this fact. Talk with him along
this line:
"When people are in your store, they are
not there to pay a social call, but to spend
some money. They have come for one special
thing, perhaps, but the whole principle un¬
derlying present, up-to-date merchandising
[112]
SALESOLOGY
is to fix your store so that when people come
in to buy one certain thing- their eyes, their
ears, or their sense of smell will direct them
to something else you have for sale, and thus
you get not only the money for the thing
they came in to buy, but extra money for
other things."
"Now, we have tied this up in a bowknot
and have given you something to put in your
store that will have greater attraction and
more profit to you than anything else."
"Another thing; 99 per cent of the people
like to spend their money. Most people get
great joy out of buying something. Here
you offer them something they want; they
can easily purchase, satisfy their desire to
buy something, and all for a very small sum."
BUTTER-KIST MACHINES ON THE
SIDEWALK
Where a man can move the machine out in
front of his store, or can put it there per¬
manently, he will naturally do more business,
for the reason that all the way from ten to a
hundred times more people will be passing
than would come into his store.
We are sure more corn will be sold inside
of a store than outside in proportion to those
who pass the machine; therefore our argu¬
ments in regard to the store being the proper
place for people to buy are well founded and
measure up to our rule of common sense.
People have been in the habit of buying
popcorn on the sidewalk, and with such a
beautiful machine as ours, the corn being
[113]
SA.LESOLOGY
served in such a wholesome and cleanly man¬
ner, the objections to the old-style street ma¬
chines are swept away.
On the sidewalks the machines will attract
the attention of a great many people who
would not otherwise be attracted to the
merchant's store. Thus, he gets a great deal
of advertising value out of it.
One of the big ideas of advertising is to
attract people's attention. In fact an adver¬
tisement, or an advertising device must do
that first or it fails completely. Our machine
certainly attracts their attention, then sells
them something.
We know of instances where men have put
our machine out in front and then dressed
up their windows with specially priced mer¬
chandise, and greatly increased their sales.
A druggist had his machine out in front
in an entrance-way which was shared by a
clothing store. The clothier had never kept
his window very nice, but being a shrewd
merchant, he immediately got busy and fixed
up his window, with the result that he greatly
increased his business.
The druggist saw the clothier do this, so
he put in a special window of perfumes, and
sold more perfume in one day than he had
been selling in a month.
THE IDEAL WAY—INSIDE AND
OUTSIDE
The most profitable way to run the Butter-
Kist machine is to put it out on the sidewalk
during suitable weather, and have it operated
[114]
SALESOLOGY
by some bright, intelligent man or woman,
and then move it in the store on rainy days
and in the winter time.
As people who can should operate it in
this way, we do not feel it is necessary for
you to say much about operating it on the
sidewalk.
Your principal job will be to convince peo¬
ple by your arguments and your statistics
that it will pay to operate it in the store.
Thousands of prospects who can make a
lot of money with this machine are located in
cities which would not allow it on the side¬
walk. Even in some of the cities where it
would be allowed on the sidewalk there are
many merchants who could not be talked into
putting it out in front; therefore, it is neces¬
sary for you to put all your thought into
making arguments for operating inside the
store.
Where a man would like to put it on the
sidewalk, but city ordinances will not allow it,
or where there is not room for it in front, or
where other conditions are against putting
it there, in spite of the desire to do some¬
thing of that kind, you can then suggest that
a window be cut so that the corn can be
served both from the inside and the outside.
However, it is not advisable to talk about
cutting a man's window or making perma¬
nent or expensive changes until after he has
purchased the machine.
There is no good, logical prospect in this
country who cannot make a reasonable
amount out of the machine, and a splendid
[115]
SALE SOLOGY
interest on his investment, without doing
these special things.
If you talk as though he would have to go
to considerable expense before he has pur¬
chased the machine you are liable to frighten
him away from buying.
FOR THE CHILDREN
Point out to your prospect that parents
take Butter-Kist home to the kids. The
handy cartons cinch this business. Say to
him:
"Every father and mother likes to buy
something to take home for the children, and
about all there is for them now is candy. Too
much candy is more or less harmful to the
children, but, the mother and father instinct
paints a mind-picture of the smiling, up¬
turned faces as they bring home a sack of
candy, and it makes them spend their money
for it, for want of something better.
"Now, you know as well as I do that when
they see the Butter-Kist machine in your
store they will instinctively think that they
can now take the youngsters something that
will do them good, and make them happy."
A carton of Butter-Kist taken home will
go farther and do ten times more to please
little ones than a half dollar's worth of
sweets.
But be careful not to knock or belittle the
candy business in any way, as your prospect
may be doing a profitable business in sweets.
Remember that the Butter-Kist business,
is by no means confined to the children. Do
[116]
SALESOLOGY
not give your prospect the slightest reason
to think that this is a "Children's Business"
exclusively.
When talking about the youngsters buying
Butter-Kist tell your prospect that he knows
what is meant by the words "force of habit".
He wants to start that force of habit working
for him. A Butter-Kist machine brings the
kids. It gets them in the habit of patroniz¬
ing his store. That habit will direct them to
his place when Mother sends them out to buy.
This habit of buying at his store is his
best insurance of future business. Habits
formed early in life stick with us.
EXPANDING HIS BUSINESS
It is human nature for your prospect to be
ambitious to expand or extend his business.
Every newspaper, every magazine, is full
of success stories of men making millions.
The conversation of a crowd at the lodge,
club-room or in the Pullman smoker, before
it gets through, usually includes some talk
about some friend or acquaintance making
millions putting through some new deal.
All of us know some one in our old home
town or some one who went to school with
us, who has become immensely wealthy or is
at the head of some big bank or railroad.
These things make us all, including your
prospect, ambitious to make more money, to
do bigger things. Rest assured a great deal
of your prospect's thought is centered around
how he can expand his business or his busi¬
ness interests.
[117]
SALE SOLOGY
Around this theme you can build a human
interest talk that will strike a responsive
chord in the mind of any man.
So many men think and then fail to act.
They want all the good things of life and
want to see their business get bigger, but
they do not know how to do it.
You bring to your prospect in the Butter-
Kist machine the opportunity he has been
dreaming about for twenty years. Of course,
he did not expect it to come to him in the
shape you bring it, but nevertheless you have
it for him.
You can prove to him that it will make
more money for him right in his own store
than the same amount of floor space occu¬
pied by something else.
You can show him where he has the room
for it, or by moving a chair, a postcard rack,
or making some other slight change, he can
easily make room for it. And you can prove
to him that it will earn the right to occupy
the best space in his store.
It is something the product of which has a
constant and increasing demand; something
that does not cost anything extra to run, and
something that will enter into his business
without any turmoil or change.
Don't you, as a salesman, see the human
interest appeal you make to your prospect's
mind by these statements, backed by indis¬
putable facts?
Take your friend in the candy business.
He is greatly limited as to the way in which
he can expand that business.
[118]
SALESOLOGY
If he sits down and asks himself how he
can expand it, he would make some such
analysis as this:
He might start a factory making candy,
but there immediately comes up several jd-
iections: It takes large capital. He would
have the competition of big organizations,
and have a terrific selling expense, and all of
this is highly speculative.
He might think of opening up a chain of
stores, but there he would run up against
the large initial investment for fixtures, and
supplies, and the risk of several long leases.
Another great disadvantage is that it divides
his time, and he would have to depend on the
honesty and business ability of an outsider
to run one or each of the stores.
He could put in a lunch, but that means
adding a lot of dishes, cooking utensils, etc.;
to this you add the cost of edibles, troubles
with help, and the ever-present competition
of the dairy lunch. Add to this the fact that
a restaurant in most towns brings a class of
trade that is not desirable.
He cannot expand his business by putting
in outside things. He cannot put in boots
and shoes, hats, clothing, harness, hardware,
etc. He naturally wants to stick to a busi¬
ness he understands.
Now you come to him with the solution as
to how he can expand his business. You have
for him a little manufacturing plant that acts
as an advertisement and salesman for him
and requires but a very small investment,
[119]
SALESOLOGY
which will soon come back to him in the ex¬
tra dimes, quarters and half dollars.
In talking to a druggist you have a world
of information, facts, illustration and statis¬
tics in regard to the development of his busi¬
ness. Twenty-five years ago the old ethical
druggist featured his prescription counter
and patent medicines.
Today the modern drug store, such as
Riker-Hegerman and the other syndicates,
as well as the modern drug store in every
fair-sized town, is a young department store.
The prescription counter, which is some¬
thing that requires no display, or salesman¬
ship, is pushed to the back. The soda foun¬
tain, toilet articles, combs and brushes,
cigars, and in some cases light lunches, have
been pushed to the front, and the druggist*
is now one of the most prosperous, up-to-date
business men in his community.
Every druggist knows this is true. The
papers are full of it, and druggists are con¬
stantly looking for new things to put into
their business that will add to their profits.
It is perfectly right and proper that the
druggists should expect their business to
advance with the times. They are just cash¬
ing in on their location and the large number
of people that come into their store.
Any druggist who does not recognize the
new order of things in his business—any
druggist who fails to join the majority of
progressive, money-making druggists who
are continually seeking new ways and means
of doing more business, and making more
[120]
SALESOLOGY
money—will inevitably be forced out of busi¬
ness.
Talk to the druggist about his decreasing
percentage of profits on the various things he
sells. Talk to him about the development and
the departmentizing of the drug store. Point
out to him that you are bringing him a new
department and a new way to profits. This
line of argument makes a mighty strong ap¬
peal to druggists.
A similar line of argument and the same
concrete illustrations in regard to any specific
business should be worked out by each sales¬
man for each class of trade he calls on.
In our opinion when you talk to the pros¬
pect about expanding his business you are
taking the shortest route to getting the or¬
der signed.
Expansion means growth, increase, prog¬
ress—and more profits. The thing that is in
the mind of every big business executive,
every merchant, and every business man that
has a vision. Don't you as a salesman real¬
ize that business expansion is the very thing
that is in the mind of your prospect?
The human interest appeal you can make
to a prospect by talking to him as we have
outlined in regard to expanding his business,
we believe, has the most force of anything
you can say to him.
Never miss an opportunity to dwell long
and thoroughly on this part of your canvass,
because through this you are appealing to
his best business judgment.
[121]
SALE SOLOGY
And moreover, you are making an appeal
that will get you what you are there to see
him about—the order!
We repeat—you really have the opportun¬
ity the merchant has been dreaming about
for twenty years. Sell him a machine and
make his dreams come true.
PRICE—HOW TO HANDLE
You are going to be asked the price or you
are going to tell it some time before you close
the canvass. Therefore, the study of the
time to state the price and how to state it is
worthy of very serious thought.
/ Our machine is worth all it costs, and
could not be sold cheaper. We have had many
a purchaser tell us that it is worth several
times what we charge for it, and that he
would not sell his Butter-Kist machine for
two or three times what it cost him, if he
knew he could not get another.
You know a common trait of human nature
is that: No difference what price is asked,
most people will say it is too high. And those
who do not say it are thinking it. Therefore,
you must prepare the prospect's mind in ad¬
vance for the price you are going to tell him.
We are sure you have a very effective way to
do this.
Here is the plan: Two or three times dur¬
ing your conversation with him, and before
you tell him the price, be sure to mention in
a casual way something about the street cor¬
ner machines which cost all the way from
$1,500 to $5,000.
[122]
SALESOLOGY
Be sure to tell him about the men who
have bought automobile popcorn machines
that cost as high as $3,500 to $7,000.
What we have just said about the price is
of extreme importance to you in the sale of
this machine, and we hope you will read it
over two or three times and fully grasp our
meaning, and our method, and will follow it.
It is the psychology of comparison. The
price of anything is never high except by
comparison. Transversely, the price is only
low by comparison.
Newsboys will talk about relative values of
automobiles, and speak of $1,000.00 as
though it were 10 cents.
In the modern automobile shop a salesman
whose salary is only a moderate amount will
talk about $100.00 or $500.00 difference in
the price of an automobile the same as if he
were talking to you about 50c or $1.00 differ¬
ence in the price of a pair of shoes.
Here is another trait of human nature: If
you go into a dairy lunch and they have
raised the price of an egg sandwich from 5c
to 10c, your money sense causes you audibly,
or at least mentally, to protest.
If you go into an exclusive hotel and they
have raised the price of ham and eggs from
50c to 90c a portion, you accept it as a matter
of course.
There never ought to be any trouble what¬
ever on the price of our machines. If you
have trouble over the price it is because you
have failed to tell the other party your story
in the way you should and could.
[123]
SALESOLOGY
The price is fixed. It is a guaranteed price.
Every one pays the same. There is nothing
for you to talk about the price, because it is
settled.
People do not object to paying the estab¬
lished, regular price for things that their
mind says they want, or in other words, that
the salesman has really sold them.
What people do kick on is paying the pub¬
lished price and finding out later that some
one else bought the same thing for less
money.
That is one reason why we, under no con¬
sideration or circumstances, cut our price.
We treat every one alike.
Don't be afraid to tell the price. Don't get
into the attitude of mind that you are afraid
to tell it. Make yourself proud of the price
of your machine, and tell it as though you
were proud of it.
Tell the price in a way that leaves no ques¬
tion about its being the price, and certainly
do not let your method of saying it (or any¬
thing you do) leave the slightest impression
that there is any question but what the pros¬
pect will accept the price as reasonable.
Let us repeat: If you have prepared his
mind by a proper explanation of the machine,
painted the glowing picture of what he can
make out of it, and have told him during
your canvass about these $1,500 and $5,000
street machines, you will have no trouble
over the price in your solicitation.
[124]
SALESOLOGY
ASKING THE PRICE TOO SOON
A lot of buyers will confuse you by asking
the price long before you want to tell it.
Some will ask it almost as soon as you have
introduced yourself.
While there is nothing to be ashamed of
about the price, we all know no man is buying
a popcorn machine on account of the price.
This is not a bargain counter proposition,
nor are we running a mail order house.
We think it is a serious mistake to tell the
price of our machine before you have had a
chance to explain what the machine will do
for your prospect.
If I am not ready to give them the price, I
either ignore the question or say, "We will
take that up with other points' in a little
while."
MAKING HIM ASK THE PRICE
There are men who will not ask the price.
I feel that it is very essential in the sale of
anything like the Butter-Kist machine to
compel your customer to ask the price.
If after you have had time to make your
explanation of the machine, the prospect asks
the price, it is an evidence of great interest.
Telling him the machine is not an expen¬
sive proposition, or is much cheaper than the
street machine, or there is no way in the
world that he can invest the same amount of
money and get the same returns, or the best
part of our proposition is the small invest¬
ment—is our idea of the way to go about get-
[125]
SALESOLOGY
ting him to show his real interest by asking,
"What does it cost?"
Our men have different methods of telling
the price. Some give the figures on our high¬
est-priced machine first, even if they are not
figuring on selling the prospect the highest-
priced machine. Then they tell him about
the other machines.
Some mention the amount of the down
payment. Whatever you do, when you are
giving the price you must be sure to put in
your best licks to prove to the prospect that
there is no way he can invest the same
amount of money in anything else and hope
to make the same profit, and you must prove
to him that he is not paying for the machine
—it is the dimes, quarters and half dollars
of others that pay for it.
A good way to overcome price objection is
to figure the income from a piece of real es¬
tate paying 10 per cent. For example: If
you are selling a man on the basis that the
machine should make him $3 per day, or
$1,000 per year, you could ask him if he
would pay $10,000 for a piece of real estate
that would pay him $1,000.00 per year, or 10
per cent?
Then you could ask him if he would pay
$5,000.00 for that piece of property? Then
you could show him how ridciulousl3r cheap
our machine is in proportion to its earning
capacity.
I know of one sale that was made on this
plan. The salesman had the customer to the
point where he admitted that he believed ne
[126]
SALESO LOGY
could make $40.00 per month (which repre¬
sented his rent) out of the Butter-Kist ma¬
chine, but he would not buy it.
The salesman then broke in on him and
said, "How much is this building worth?"
The prospect said $5,000.00.
"Would you pay $4,000.00 for it?" The
prospect said "Sure." "Would you pay
$4,500.00?" "You bet I would."
Then the salesman used this clincher: "If
you would pay $4,500.00 for a building to
save you $40.00 per month rent, won't you
pay me the small price of this machine to
make you $40.00 per month, which you have
admitted it would do?"
The prospect said he had not looked at it
that way, and bought the machine.
[127]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER VII
APPROACH TO CLOSING
NATURALLY you want to close the sale.
There is a lot of talk about the psycho¬
logical moment to close and the talk is
mostly confusing "bunk."
If you are weak on closing, you are weak
on selling.
You may think you have a good way of
putting your proposition. But if you do not
close sales there is only one answer: You are
very weak in putting up your arguments.
What is more important, you are not selling,
because it takes closing to sell.
We do not pretend to tell you the exact
minute to close, and we think if you studied
over it for a hundred years you would not be
able to set any positive rules on it.
In a good play everything works toward a
climax. A good speech, or a good canvass, is
the same. Your whole talk is working toward
the close.
If you follow the A B C of making a speech
or of making a canvas, all your talk is going
to lead toward a close.
Of course, you are going to endeavor to
keep your customer saying "yes" as much
as you can, but it is ten times better to try
to close and have him even say "no" than it
is to stall around all afternoon and be con¬
tinually marching your troops up hill and
down again, and talking yourself into and out
of an order, as many salesmen do.
[128]
SALESO LOGY
When you have fired your ammunition and
think you have the way prepared, jump in
with both feet and capture the trench.
There is one thing in regard to closing that
you must remember: If you are going to
close sales you must get out of your mind
any fear that you have, about trying to close.
If you think you have your man at the point
where it is time to close—try to close the
sale. If you have presented your story in a
logical manner, it can do no harm to try to
get a final decision out of him, because even
if he says "No" you can launch right into
another phase of your canvass, and bring
new arguments to bear to get him to say
"Yes".
If I were asked what was the greatest re¬
sistance a salesman had to overcome in him¬
self, I would say, his lack of nerve to ask for
a final "Yes" or "No".
About the only suggestion that I can think
of that will really help you in closing is to
say: School yourself to a point where you
really enjoy making your closing argument
and definitely and positively asking for the
order.
READY TO CLOSE
Here is one good way to lead up to closing:
"We have gone over this proposition very
carefully. You have seen the figures. You
understand the proposition. Let us talk a
minute about where you would put the ma¬
chine. It will do no harm to talk about it.
[129]
SALESOLOGY
"Where do you think would be a good
place to put the machine?"
If he hesitates, answer the question for
him by suggesting a place. If he mentions
a spot and you see one you think is better,
there is no harm in starting a little argu¬
ment. But give in gracefully, if he does not
agree with you, in a reasonable time. For
you are selling a machine, and are not there
to arrange his store fixtures.
Naturally, and as a first thought, you want
to be sure to guide him right on the location,
but a place he might strenuously object to
giving up for the machine before he ordered
would be decided on as just the place for it
five minutes after he signed. I hope you get
my point.
Locate the machine before you ask him to
sign, with him picking out the location, if
possible; then get the order signed. After
getting the order signed, if you think the
machine will do much better in another place
than the one suggested, try to get the ma¬
chine located where you think it will work
best for him.
Always have a good, plausible, common-
sense reason for any location. For example:
"If the machine is here it will be seen from
the street"—"It will be the first thing that
will attract the eye as the customer comes
into the store"—"It will be situated where
some certain clerk will always be near to wait
on the customers"—"It will be near where
people come and go in and out of the eleva¬
tors"—"It will hide a certain view of part of
[130]
SALESOLOGY
the store that now does not look as good as
the rest."
The point is, show your unqualified com¬
mand of every detail of the needs of his
business as relates to the machine. Prove it
to him—that you are a man who knows
things and conditions, and that you are look¬
ing solely to his interests.
In talking of the location, and to get your
customer to pick out the location himself, it
is a most excellent thing for you to figure out
two or three places, in his store where the
machine could be placed.
Mention the poorest place first, then argue
against that location in favor of the better
place.
This does three very good things.
It shows the prospect you are interested
in his placing the machine to the best ad¬
vantage.
It proves you are scientific, tying up to
what you have said about investigation.
It may get him to arguing with you about
a certain location, which is the same as be¬
ginning to sell the machine to himself.
You could honestly say: "I like location
No. 1 better than No. 2, because if you put it
at No. 2 you would have to go to the expense
of moving a counter." "The machine would
more evenly balance the store, giving it a
more symmetrical appearance," etc., etc.
Undoubtedly, before you are approaching
the close you have laid on the floor at some
place in his store your piece of paper that
shows the size of the machine.
[131]
SALESOLOGY
We believe when you are getting to the
point where you are settling on the place
where the machine is going to be placed, and
if you are talking about two or three differ¬
ent locations, you should pick up this piece
of paper and move it around to the different
places, stand off and look at the space in re¬
lation to the rest of the store. Have the pros¬
pect with you, if he will, then pick up the
paper and move it to another part, and re¬
peat.
What we are driving at in this is to tell
you to use your hands and your feet in mak¬
ing the demonstration. We do not advise
sitting down in a chair. We believe in mov¬
ing around, if you can do so without attract¬
ing too much attention.
This breaks the monotony and adds inter¬
est. This is why we insist on you using a
big red or blue pencil and using up a lot of
scratch paper to figure on.
Remember, you are selling motion and ac¬
tion.
[132]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER VIII
CLOSING THE ORDER
ALL your investigations, all your conver¬
sation, all your actions, and all the
energy you have expended on your
prospect are for one purpose^-to get his
check and to get his name on the dotted line.
It seems almost foolish to even mention
this, but judging from what we know about
the difference in the way salesmen work,
based on our experience of over 25 years, we
are firmly of the opinion that a great many
salesmen apparently forgot what they went
in to see their prospect about. For the re¬
sults of their work show they have given
very little thought to getting this all-im¬
portant signature.
We do not blame any man for being a trifle
timid over asking the man to sign the order.
We all dislike to hear a man say "No."
Many a man would rather walk out of the
store and go away feeling he had a good
prospect and was going to get the money
next week, than to have the man say "No."
That, however, is only a case of our kidding
ourselves.
It is making us feel good at a terrible ex¬
pense in commission checks we should get.
Just stiffen up your backbone and realize
that after you have talked to your prospect
from thirty minutes to a couple of hours he
is more interested in your proposition and
nearer closing than he ever will be again.
[133]
SALESOLOGY
There is no such thing as a positive rule as
to when is the time to close. The thing you
want to worry over is not when is the time to
close, but ask yourself this question: "Have
I the necessary nerve to try to close?"
Several times in this book we have talked
about what we think is the big weakness of
salesmen—their apparent unwillingness to
bring the order to a close.
You have given your arguments, you have
approached the closing, now you must go
ahead and try to get the order signed.
Work out your own method of starting to
close, but follow this rule: Even if your
closing remarks are stereotyped and used in
all cases, make what you say follow as a na¬
tural sequence of the canvass you have given.
When you start to talk about closing you
should have your prospect in a position where
the only thing he can do is to say "Yes."
By this we mean you have covered the
situation so thoroughly—have made him an¬
swer so many questions in the affirmative—
have smoothed out the rough places and have
him in such a situation that there is nothing
else he can do but say "Yes" and sign the
order.
Let us repeat, the strongest card you now
have to play, and the ace of trumps, is your
assuming in a natural way that of course he
is going to sign the order.
One good way to test out whether the
prospect is ready to sign the order is for you
to ask your man some questions as to where
[134]
SALESOLOGY
he would set the machine, or some other lead¬
ing questions of that nature.
If he answers in a way that would indicate
that the chances are he is going to buy, right
then is the time to pull out your contract
blanks and say, "I am going to write up a
contract just to show you how we make it
out," and then go ahead and write it, even if
he kicks.
After you have made it up, ask him to read
it, then hand him a lead pencil or pen and
say, "Now place your name right here and
you will make more than double the money
you ever made on any similar investment."
Do not be afraid to use up contract blanks
making up orders that way, but do not under
any circumstances leave the blank if you fail
to get his order.
Do not read the contract to the prospect.
If possible, do not let him read it until he has
signed. It diverts his attention. And since
it is the contract, and cannot be changed, it
does no good to talk about the wording of it.
All the other thousands of Butter-Kist ma¬
chine purchasers have signed similar con¬
tracts.
Any one you talk to for an hour is certain¬
ly vitally interested in what you are talking
about, and all the time you are explaining the
proposition he is wavering as to whether or
not to buy. What he needs is some one to
make up his mind for him and close the mat¬
ter by literally taking the order from him!
You have all had lots of experience with
men telling you they would not consider
[135]
HlesologY
what you were trying- to sell them—do not
need it or do not want it—but after they had
once signed the order they would tell you to
hurry it along, and a few days later would
be telegraphing or writing your house to
rush the goods.
INDECISION AND PROCRASTINATION
Indecision and procrastination are two
traits of human nature that are big stumb¬
ling blocks in the way to success.
The two great stumbling blocks to every sale
You are there to make up the prospect's
mind for him, and dozens of men will give
you orders because of the methods we have
suggested, who never would buy if it were
left to them to say the word.
Now, we caution you again not to worry
much about the proper time to try to close.
[136]
SALESOLOGY
Do it when your judgment says it is time,
but the point is—do it. Remember, the thing
you are striving for is the man's signature
on the order blank. If you do not get it on
the first visit you have lost a good many
points in the game you are playing.
Of course, you can always figure you may
get it later, but there again is that three-
headed monster—Procrastination.
I often say to a man that: "In legal phrase¬
ology, a contract is made when two minds
have met.
"If there ever was a case where two minds
were of the same opinion, it is now. I know
positively just as well as my name is
that you want this machine. I know you
ought to have it, and will ultimately buy it.
Now, what is the use of delaying? Just put
your name here and you will do the best
stroke of business you have done in many a
day."
PSYCHOLOGICAL MOMENT FOR
CLOSING
We have all heard the all-wise salesman,
or the writer who never sold anything, talk
with apparent great wisdom about the psy¬
chological moment for closing the order.
That makes a good subject to expatiate
upon because we all believe in it and cannot
dispute what they say. But when they are
through talking we know no more than we
did before they began.
Not understanding the phrase "the psycho¬
logical moment for closing" has nipped in the
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SALESOLOGY
bud the salesmanship career of many a prom¬
ising, ambitious, aspiring young salesman.
He hears these sayings, doesn't under¬
stand them, doesn't know how to do these
magical things, and gives up just as he is be¬
ginning to get a fair start.
These sayings have a place in the post
graduate course and in lectures and speeches,
but you and I want to sell goods.
Personally, I think we will all gain greater
headway if we study our line, our various
classes of customers as a whole, and analyze
our sales, and leave the higher course to the
teachers.
Many a man hears the saying "psychologi¬
cal moment of closing" ringing in his ears
until he begins worriyng during each can¬
vass: When is that moment? How will I
know it? etc., etc. This gets him confused
and he loses his points and then not knowing
when is the time, he thinks he will wait until
tomorrow.
Don't worry yourself over the time to
close. Your worry, if you are an average
salesman, is to school yourself up to the point
where you have the salesmanship or business
courage to ask for a verdict in the case .
I know you will agree with me that our
weakness is not having the courage to lead
up to the final definite "Yes" or "No."
THIS MAN FORGOT TO CLOSE
Let me tell you a story of a silo salesman.
He made a $5.00 bet with a friend that he
would sell a certain farmer out in Nebraska.
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SALESO LOGY
He never made a better canvass, but didn't
"bring home the bacon."
After getting home and thinking about his
effort he couldn't figure out why he did not
sell, so he made up his mind to make another
trial at it.
Early next morning he hitched up and
drove out to see this same prospect. As he
was approaching, the farmer said, "What,
you here again!" He replied, "Yes, I came
out to ask you just one question. Why didn't
you give me your order last night?" The
farmer replied, "Because you never asked
me to."
This never happened again to our friend,
the silo agent. This is a good story with a
real moral for most all of us salesmen.
It is also a story that can be worked into
your closing arguments. You can tell your
prospect this story and say you are not going
to let him have that answer for you.
As a final word on this most vital subject
in selling: Have the courage and good sense
to make a close, and ask for a verdict during
each canvass.
[139]
SALE SOLOGY
CHAPTER IX
INTERESTING METHODS OF DEMON¬
STRATION
IN the course of the years that we have
been marketing our Butter-Kist machine
we have learned of many ways in which
our various salesmen have made their can¬
vasses interesting. We will give a few of
these, not as instructions from us for you to
adopt, but to show you what others have
done, and to direct your thought along the
line of how you can add interest to your dem¬
onstration.
There are two or three rules, however, that
you should observe in every canvass. First,
you should carry a lead pencil that has a
heavy, soft lead, so you can make big, easily
read figures. Many men carry both a red
and black pencil.
You should have plenty of paper on which
to make your figures. Carry your own, or
better still, use wrapping paper, old en-
envelopes, or anything you can find around
the prospect's place of business. We advise
against leaving these papers.
You should place on the floor some time
during your canvass the piece of paper which
shows the size of the machine, to show the
space the machine occupies.
HOW SOME OF OUR MEN WORK
Some men when entering a merchant's
place of business drop their kit at the door
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SALESOLOGY
or some place where the merchant will not
notice it, which they feel gives them an ad¬
vantage in their approach.
We have had men who made a practice,
if they knew they were talking to the pro¬
prietor, to get him to wait on them, first
making a small purchase—a cigar, a soda, a
package of gum—and later in their solicita¬
tion they would tell him how small a profit
he made on this sale, the time it took, the
war tax he had to pay, if any, etc. This sale
would then be contrasted with the sale of a
ten-cent carton of Butter-Kist, giving the
dealer six cents profit.
If you use this plan the purchase must be
made in a natural manner, and you should
buy something you can use. Some men make
this purchase during the canvass and then
make the comparison.
The man who has sold more Butter-Kist
machines than any other one salesmen makes
it an invariable rule to carry with him several
lead pencils and in each canvass he always
breaks the point of the pencil he is writing
with. He then starts to sharpen the pencil
and asks the prospect to add up the column of
interesting figures he has just made, which
of course relates to the profits.
Many of our men have told us they always
purposely make a wrong addition, or a wrong
multiplication, or make some ridiculous mis¬
take about the price of butter or corn. They
do this to find out if the prospect is paying
attention to the figures or to what is being
said. If the prospect corrects the salesman
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SALE SOLOGY
he shows that he is interested, and that he is
following the line of argument.
As I have said in this book, in my solicit¬
ing I would say, "May I have a drink of
water?" or ask the prospect if he noticed
something out in the street, with the thought
in mind of testing his interest in what I was
saying.
I always mention two or three locations so
as to get the prospect interested.
Another one of our very successful men
carries a roll of bills with him as well as
some gold. He will pull out five $20.00 gold
certificates and lay them down, then pull out
three $20.00 gold pieces, lay them in another
pile, and say to the customer—"This $100.00
represents the volume of business. The
three gold pieces, or $60.00, represent your
profit out of this $100.00." This can be done
with any amount of money from six cents
up. You can use six cents and ten cents up
to any multiple of these amounts.
Another man took one of our ten-cent car¬
tons and pasted six cents on the outside of
it to visualize the actual profit the customer
would make on a carton of popcorn.
One of our men, when he gets to the point
of asking a prospect to "sign up," drops his
fountain pen, so it will roll toward the pros¬
pect. Then when the prospect picks up the
pen, before he has time to hand it back, the
salesman pushes the order blank to the cus¬
tomer with the suggestion to "sign here."
One of our salesmen carries two fountain
pens of a popular make—when he gets ready
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SALESOLOGY
to close he hands one of the pens to the pros¬
pect and says, "Sign right here and keep this
pen as a souvenir of the best business deal
you ever made."
Here is a plan devised by one of our men
which gets the prospect to write out the
check before the order is signed: When he
gets the prospect ready to close, the sales¬
man writes out a receipt for the amount of
the down payment, and detaches the receipt
from the order blank. He hands the receipt
to the customer, points to the company name
on the receipt and says, "Now, Mr. Blank,
just make out your check to the firm, if you
please."
[143]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER X
HOW ADVERTISING HELPS YOU SELL
REMEMBER that back of this Butter-
Kist proposition there is years of the
most intensive sort of advertising. For
years the dealers and the public have been
reading and hearing about Butter-Kist.
Butter-Kist has been advertised in the mag¬
azines, trade papers, through the mails, by
the machines themselves, by the people who
eat Butter-Kist, by window posters, by
dodgers, by newspapers,—and last—and
probably the most important of all—by the
millions and millions of trade-marked pack¬
ages that have been sold to the public by
the owners of Butter-Kist machines.
The dealer, of course, is interested pri¬
marily in the advertising we have done to
promote the sale of popcorn. You, as a sales¬
man, are interested in all our advertising, be¬
cause it helps you to sell the dealer.
One of our salesmen made the statement
that in his opinion advertising helped him
sell 95 per cent of his sales. There is no
question in our mind as to the helpfulness of
advertising. It undoubtedly plays a part in
a large majority of sales. Just what per¬
centage of sales this force helps to land can¬
not be stated accurately.
Advertising, you know, is a great deal like
electricity: It is an unseen power. You can't
see the "juice" flowing through the trolley
wire. Yet you know it's there, and it makes
[144]
SALESOLOGY
the cars go. It doesn't make itself manifest
in the cords in your home, yet when you
punch the button the light flashes on, and
when your wife turns the switch, the elec¬
tric iron gets hot.
Electricity is an intangible force, but its
results are certainly tangible.
So it is with advertising. You can't see it
taking effect on the prospect's brain. You
can't see it urging him to buy—yet it does it.
You don't know what particular phase of our
advertising helped you to make the sale—yet
it helped. Advertising is a power for good;
a means of assisting you to make additional
commissions. Advertising in many cases has
done "missionary" work for you. It has
spread the "gospel of Butter-Kist profits"
and made it easier for you to get "converts."
An advertising campaign cannot be judged
by the inquiries it creates. A man may be
"sold" by advertising, yet never inquire. It
takes a salesman to close the sale. This is
especially true of our proposition.
Our advertising makes itself manifest in
many ways to the dealer. One, or all of these
many ways, may have helped to sell the
dealer.
For years we have been advertising in
the magazines. We have established a pres¬
tige—a reputation with the dealers. Any
one of these ads may have helped to swing
the balance in favor of our machine. As an
illustration let me state the fact that men
have answered an ad that appeared years be-
[145]
SALESOLOGY
fore in some certain magazine, and have been
sold a machine as the result of the inquiry.
The trade papers, going to live, progressive
business men, get in their good work in be¬
half of Butter-Kist.
Uncle Sam has carried, and is carrying
thousands and thousands of messages about
Butter-Kist profits into the very stores of re¬
tailers.
Every Butter-Kist machine is an adver¬
tisement in itself. Thousands of them are
working away every day making money for
their owners. Other merchants see them
and become interested in the business, and
as a result many more machines are sold.
People who eat Butter-Kist like it. If
their favorite dealer doesn't have a machine
they talk to him about it. If this Butter-
Kist consumer goes on trips he looks for
Butter-Kist machines, and talks about But¬
ter-Kist to dealers he sees. He is literally a
walking advertisement—he helps you sell.
Unquestionably we have thousands of such
advertisements who boost Butter-Kist be¬
cause they eat it and like it.
In the windows of Butter-Kist merchants
there have appeared from time to time, post¬
ers, advertising Butter-Kist, and Butter-Kist
displays of all sorts. This advertising not
only helps sell popcorn but it helps to sell
other dealers on the idea that there is money
in Butter-Kist.
Countless dealers at our suggestion have
circularized their town or their neighborhood
with dodgers, setting forth the qualities of
[146]
SALESOLOGY
Butter-Kist. Another sort of publicity that
helps to sell other dealers.
In towns large and small Butter-Kist own¬
ers have used newspapers to advertise the
machine's product, and to increase sales. One
particular ad written and laid out in our of¬
fice, paid for by the dealer himself, helped
the salesman in the territory to sell three
machines!
And as we have said before, one of the
strongest features of our advertising is the
trade-marked Butter-Kist carton. For when
a dealer sees a carton being carried home, or
an empty carton on the street, that is cer¬
tainly tangible evidence that Butter-Kist is
being bought by the public. We know of in¬
stances where movie men have seen empty
cartons swept out of their theater morning
after morning, and finally decided that
money was slipping through their fingers,
and installed a Butter-Kist machine, to get
some of the money that had been getting
away from them.
This subject has been covered all too
briefly. You realize the many, many ways in
which advertising is made useful to you in
selling machines. Capitalize on all of the
ways. Drive home to your prospect the
many different ways in which Butter-Kist is
advertised. Hundreds of thousands of dol¬
lars have been invested in advertising But¬
ter-Kist. Make him realize the value of this
investment to him in his place of business.
[147]
SALE SOLOGY
CHAPTER XI
TURNING INQUIRIES INTO SALES
THE direct results to you from our ad¬
vertising will be the inquiries that
emanate from your territory. Some
merchants in your district will see our adver¬
tising in some form and write to us for the
proposition. We will outline the proposition
to them and mail the inquiries back to you.
The indirect results from our advertising
are hard to estimate. Some of our best and
most successful salesmen have claimed that
advertising plays a direct or indirect part in
80 to 95 per cent of their sales.
We look upon this subject of inquiries a
little differently than most firms. We feel
that each inquiry that we receive is a cer¬
tain indication that there is a field for a
Butter-Kist machine in the vicinity from
which the inquiry emanates. We look upon
the inquiry in that manner, no matter if it
is sent into us by a man who is not in busi¬
ness, a brick layer, plumber, school teacher,
or a party with no vocation or business what¬
soever.
Here is the way we analyze an inquiry:
The party who mailed us the inquiry has un¬
doubtedly lived in the town or community for
some time past, and for that reason knows
more about the town and community, its
habits, likes and dislikes, than we do. The
reason that he has inquired in regard to the
Butter-Kist machine is because he has de-
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SALESO LOGY
cided in his own mind that there is a field for
a machine in his particular town, or com¬
munity.
Now, whether or not you sell the party
who inquires, does not make any particular
difference. The big idea is this:
Make every inquiry that you receive sell a
machine for you in that community.
You will find that this plan works. It has
been used by many of our most successful
salesmen. Our big producers work every in¬
quiry overtime.
If the salesman fails to sell the man who
inquires, he then shows the inquiry to the
other merchants in the town. He explains
to these merchants just what this inquiry
means—just as we have explained it to you.
He points out to the merchant that he has it
over the signature of one of their fellow
townsmen that there is an opportunity for a
Butter-Kist machine in that town. You
should work according to the same policy. It
is fundamentally right and will make you
money.
Many salesmen have taken 10 or 12 in¬
quiries from this office in one batch and made
5 or 6 sales as a direct result. Then they sold
more machines to business neighbors of the
men who inquired. This we term "indirect
results." Many instances of 100 per cent
sales from 10 or 12 inquiries have come to
our attention.
Get this plan of working your inquiries
thoroughly fixed in your mind. It means
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SALESOLOGY
many sales for you, and big commission
checks.
INQUIRY APPROACH
In approaching a man who has sent in an
inquiry you have the knowledge of interest
on his part. Assume this interest is genuine
and sincere. Don't give the impression that
you came direct from Indianapolis because he
wrote for information and pi'ices. Tell him
that you are the representative in his part of
the state, and that you came direct instead
of writing, because, first, you knew he was
interested, second the Butter-Kist proposi¬
tion was an important transaction, third the
company wanted a personal investigation of
every Butter-Kist location, and operator, as
our interests were mutual, and we did not
want a machine sold, except where it would
make money; fourth, that you wanted to ex¬
plain all about the business, as only a man
from the factory could do; fifth, that you
could and would show him exactly how to get
the biggest money from the machine; and
sixth, you wanted to look over his part of the
town, as you felt certain a machine was
needed there.
[150]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XII
HOW TO SELL OUR ADVERTISING
YOU are not selling just the machine.
You are selling the Butter-Kist proposi¬
tion. A part of that proposition, and a
big part of it, is our advertising.
Very few articles in the history of food
products have equalled the success Butter-
Kist has made in the past few years.
In a few short years we have built up a
demand that will enable Butter-Kist mer¬
chants to sell millions and millions of pack¬
ages. When you are canvassing a merchant
remember the demand for Butter-Kist that
exists right now—today!
Inspect the stock in the merchant's store
to ascertain the trade-marked goods that he
is now selling.
What do you find on the merchant's
shelves ?
In the drug store, grocery and cigar store
you will find such things as Pepsodent, Wil¬
liams' Shaving Soap, Quaker Oats, Kellogg's
Toasted Corn Flakes, Campbell's Soup, Van
Camp Beans, Robert Burns Cigars, Mail
Pouch Tobacco, etc., etc.
Why does the merchant handle these ? Ask
him that question.
He handles them because the trade de¬
mands them.
But—It took fourteen years, for example,
to build up the demand for Campbell's Soup.
There was great resistance to overcome.
[151]
SALESOLOGY
People would not buy it because of the fear
of ptomaine poisoning.
There is no resistance to overcome in But-
ter-Kist. Butter-Kist is something that
everyone likes, and the wise merchant—the
man who is going to keep the business he
has and build up new business—is the man
who is going to stock what everyone likes.
If the merchant is at all consistent, how
can he afford to not have a Butter-Kist ma¬
chine? He will stock his shelves with other
things people want—things for which there
is no such demand as there is for Butter-
Kist, and the figures show without the
shadow of a doubt that the demand not only
exists right now for Butter-Kist, but it is
growing every day.
Here is the wonderful difference between
Butter-Kist and other advertised products.
The merchant with the Butter-Kist ma¬
chine is the manufacturer and makes the
product he sells.
The more trade-marked goods that he
buys are advertised, and the greater the de¬
mand, the more the manufacturers are liable
to squeeze the merchants by raising prices,
etc.
When a merchant owns our machine, the
more Butter-Kist is advertised the more
profit he makes. And he always goes on mak¬
ing the same profit—because he is the man¬
ufacturer and only he sets the price.
It is a great point to show the prospect
that with the Butter-Kist machine there i§
[152]
SALESOLOGY
no chance of anyone ever interfering- with
his percentage of profit.
If a man says he does not believe in adver¬
tising, and you have his inquiry, flash that
on him, saying, "If you answered an ad for
a big, fine machine like this, how about peo¬
ple being influenced to buy a 10-cent carton '
of popcorn ?"
PEOPLE LOOK FOR MACHINE
Here is something you must never forget,
and you ought to tell every mechant about
it.
No one is going to walk into his store and
ask him for a sack of Butter-Kist, no differ¬
ence if we would spend a million dollars a
year. You ask why.
The answer is perfectly plain. No one but
a man deaf, dumb and blind and bereft of
the sense of smell would do that.
If he has a Butter-Kist machine, people
will see it, because it is self-advertising.
If they cannot see it, they can at least
sense the delightful aroma.
If people walk to his store and are looking
for Butter-Kist, they do not have to ask any
questions, they simply glance around to see
if they can find the machine.
If they do not find it they will go on up
the street to where they can find one, and
when they go up the street for Butter-Kist
they will buy other things, such as cigars,
candy, etc.
Do not wait for a merchant to say he has
never had anyone ask him for Butter-Kist.
[153]
SALESOLOGY
Tell him, and explain why, that no one will
ever in a thousand years ask for Butter-Kist
if he does not have a machine in his store.
Tell him this even before he thinks about it.
Our advertising drives home to the public
that there is only one Butter-Kist Popcorn
and that the only place to get it is at the
Butter-Kist machine. We educate the peo¬
ple to look for the machine, and not to buy
unless they see it.
Your sale is based on getting the confi¬
dence of your prospect. And magazine ad¬
vertising in the publications such as we use
must measure up to a strict standard. Truth
in advertising is the cardinal principle of the
Associated Advertising Clubs of the World,
and of the magazines such as we advertise in.
The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, Les¬
lie's, Literary Digest, the American, etc.,
carry millions of dollars' worth of advertis¬
ing every year. Manufacturers pay tremen¬
dous prices for their space, and the space has
to pay or the magazines could not exist.
It pays these magazines big returns to be
able to tell their subscribers that the adver¬
tising appearing in their magazines is truth¬
ful advertising.
In another part of this book we have told
you about the advertising value of this ma¬
chine.
All of this links together, but do not for¬
get to dwell on the value of our advertising,
as well as on the advertising value of the ma¬
chine and the standard Butter-Kist, trade-
marked packages, because you are not selling
[154]
SALESOLOGY
just a machine. You are selling the Butter-
Kist proposition, of which advertising is a
vital and important part.
[155]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XIII
WHY YOU SHOULD SELL CARTONS
THE Butter-Kist machine owner who
does not sell Butter-Kist in cartons is
losing at least one-third of the Butter-
Kist proposition he purchased.
One of the biggest things we have done
was to make an attractive, standard carton,
which we copyrighted and trade-marked.
The machines being uniform and having
been sold in every part of the United States
and Canada, and in many foreign countries,
makes Butter-Kist an international as well
as a national proposition. But it took the
uniform, copyrighted and trade-marked car¬
ton to make the proposition national and in¬
ternational as relates to the product.
Where there are thousands of machines
that are constantly being seen by the public,
there have been millions on millions of car¬
tons put in the hands of customers, read by
them, carried home, or scattered along the
streets and roadsides.
One of our men who has done the best pei'-
sonal work of anyone who has ever worked
with us, in the sale of the cartons, told us
that in the large western state in which he
works you could not drive ten miles in any
direction without seeing a Butter-Kist car¬
ton, and in one town of just a little over
100,000 population he had sold 225,000 car¬
tons in less than four months—two to every
inhabitant in a few months' time.
[156]
SALESOLOGY
The carton is the thread that knits the
Butter-Kist proposition into a homogenous
whole. Where one person sees the machine
there are hundreds and thousands who see
the carton, and the franchise or right to sell
Butter-Kist in the trade-marked packages in¬
creases or grows in value each day and each
year as we sell more machines and cartons.
When a man buys a Butter-Kist machine
one of the most valuable things he buys is
the franchise to sell this national or interna¬
tional product—Butter-Kist. And it is your
duty as a salesman to sell him on the value
of our trade-marked and copyrighted cartons
as much as it is to sell him the machine, be¬
cause the two go hand in hand.
Laying aside the great advertising value
of these cartons in a national way, our sta¬
tistics prove that there is great local value to
selling Butter-Kist in cartons.
Billions of dollars in the last thirty years
have been spent in advertising and promo¬
tion work to convince the American public
that the only way to buy a food product is in
a sanitary, standard package.
The public has benefited many times over
in getting the right kind of merchandise,
which is standard and selected.
People do not buy oatmeal from a barrel
or soda crackers in bulk. They want Quaker
Oats, Uneeda Biscuits, etc.
The merchant who is selling Butter-Kist
in the cartons is following the line of least
resistance, and our records unquestionably
prove that such operators make a great deal
[157]
SALESOLOGY
more money than they would make without
the cartons.
Our standard copyrighted and trade-
marked carton has done more to increase the
sale of popcorn and put it on its proper plane,
and to make it a ten-cent proposition, than
any other one thing.
If it will do that throughout the country
for the wide-awake merchants who have had
the vision or business sense and foresight to
follow our plan, there is no argument that
can be brought up but what you can prove it
will do the same thing for any machine
owner.
Here are some analogous comparisons that
ought to bring this home to any machine
owners.
Ask any purchaser if he were running a
five and ten cent store, wouldn't he give a
considerable amount of money to have the
firm name of F. W. Woolworth Company put
over his door, and to be allowed to paint his
store front red, and use Woolworth wrapping
paper, bags and packages? Any merchant
could see how this would more than double
his business if he were running a five and ten
cent store.
Call attention of the Butter-Kist user to
the amount of money men pay for the privi¬
lege of naming their store "Piggly Wiggly,"
and better still, the amount of business the
"Piggly Wiggly" stores are doing.
Now, when we come to him and offer him
something that costs him practically noth¬
ing, offer him cartons sold at a very reason-
[158]
SALESOLOGY
able price, all we can say is, it is the sales¬
man's fault if he fails to convince the user
that the cartons are one of the most valuable
parts of the merchant's franchise.
Another thing- that drives your argument
home is to ask him how he would like to take
out of his store every trade-marked and
copyrighted article, and, if he did this, ask
him how long he thinks he would keep his
business.
What would any confectioner think of sell¬
ing Hershey's Chocolates, Wrigley's Gum,
Smith Brothers' Cough Drops, Arrow Mints,
etc., in a plain package ? It is the same thing
exactly.
There is not a dealer in the United States
who does not realize the advantage of nation¬
ally advertised goods sold in trade-marked,
copyrighted packages.
Scarcely a day goes by but what his jobber
or some specialty salesman interviews him in
reference to some brand where they are put¬
ting on an advertising campaign, and in most
cases he stocks up. If he would do that why
should he continue to run his own factory,
the Butter-Kist machine, and not take advan¬
tage of the nationally advertised, universally
distributed and trade-marked carton?
If any of our customers could sit in our
office and see the letters from hundreds of
owners of old style popcorn machines (not
made by us) who have tried to buy our But¬
ter-Kist cartons, or if they knew of the men
who have gotten hold of some of the cartons
[159]
SALESOLOGY
and tried to use them, and we had to stop
them, they would be convinced in a minute.
Not long ago in one of the largest cities
where we have several hundred machines,
and where we sell over a million cartons a
year, we had the owner of an old style ma¬
chine offer $20.00 a thousand for our car¬
tons, and who later offered one of our serv¬
ice men $10.00 per thousand over the cost
price if he would get him some cartons.
You know we have dozens of letters from
men who have been using our machines for
several years who have indisputable proof
and have so stated to us, that they have
made hundreds of dollars extra through us¬
ing our copyrighted and trade-marked car¬
tons.
We have dwelt at considerable length on
this subject because we want everyone of
our representatives to thoroughly grasp the
importance to us, to himself, and to our
users, of our trade-marked cartons.
Always sell your customers on the use of
cartons and do everything within your power
to sell the cartons to every user in your ter¬
ritory, as we consider this one of the most
important parts of the Butter-Kist proposi¬
tion.
[160]
SALESO LOGY
CHAPTER XIV
CO-OPERATION WITH MACHINE
OWNERS
YOUR main business is the selling of the
Butter-Kist machines to new prospects,
but there is another phase of your work
which has a big direct influence on your com¬
mission checks. We refer to your co-opera¬
tion with machine owners.
You realize that the fundamental thing
back of the business of Holcomb & Hoke is
the retail sales of Butter-Kist Popcorn and
Peanuts. Every carton of Butter-Kist Pop¬
corn and Peanuts sold from our machines has
an influence on the future of the business.
This holds true with you, and therefore
you should do everything in your power to
give advice and counsel to the owners of ma¬
chines in your territory. There are some
men who go to the trouble of making minor
repairs and of cleaning machines even where
they have nothing to do with the original
sales.
They see the vision in the business and
understand the necessity of doing what they
can to help in the sale of Butter-Kist prod¬
ucts.
Cultivate the acquaintance and good feel¬
ing of those who are operating machines in
your territory. Do all within your power to
make them boosters. One of the best ways
we know of to make them boosters is to sell
them cartons and particularly to sell them
[161]
SALESOLOGY
on the advantage to the operator of selling
popcorn in cartons and of pushing the carton
business.
Hundreds of machines have been sold
through names given to our salesmen by
Butter-Kist operators. Most successful op¬
erators have friends or acquaintances who
are prospects, and if you show interest in
the operator and then ask him for these
names he will give them to you.
You never should pay anything for these
names, for we as a company are opposed to
that. We feel that you can get these names
much better and stand a better chance of
selling if you get them without any promise
of remuneration to the party giving them
to you.
[162]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XV
COMPARISON WITH OTHER MACHINES
DO not worry about your competition.
Remember that within a year after we
started we were by far the largest con¬
cern in this country making popcorn machin¬
ery. Today we are many times the largest
in the world in the popcorn and peanut ma¬
chinery business. That is your best argu¬
ment.
The other machines on the market are in
an entirely different class from Butter-Kist.
Our machine was built and designed primary
ily for the highest class stores and mer¬
chants.
It places popcorn on a higher level, and the
machine lends tone, distinction and dignity
to any store. The Butter-Kist machine is
made to be handled by merchants.
Don't decry the workmanship of other ma¬
chines, but show the man how all the other
popcorn people have approached the whole
proposition from an entirely different angle.
Their machines are designed to manufac¬
ture popcorn—ours not only makes the best
popcorn, but it sells it! Not only that, but
ours is the only machine that sells a nation¬
alized brand of popcorn and peanuts. There's
only one Butter-Kist!
In many of the expensive sidewalk or
wagon machines that cost $1,500.00 to $2,-
000.00, and even $5,000.00, the only real at¬
tractive, moving thing that amounts to much
[163]
SALESOLOGY
of anything about the whole proposition is
the man operating it, and he is not often an
attraction.
Remember there is not a piece of steel or
a stick of wood connected with our machine
that is unnecessary, or that does not serve a
purpose.
Our machine is built with the idea forever
uppermost of fitness to purpose, and, by the
way, that phrase is one that a man ought to
keep in his mind.
When you buy anything for yourself or
your home, or you are advising a friend, or
advising a merchant (who will ask your ad¬
vice many times if you show you know your
business), remember that one of the first
rules of having things artistic and perma¬
nently pleasing is to have them conform to
the idea, fitness to purpose.
Viewed from this angle, our machine close¬
ly approaches perfection. Its very simplicity
is marvelous, as every mechanical expert
agrees. Without this simplicity and effi¬
ciency its automatic features would not be
possible.
Again remember that saying of "fitness to
purpose" in relation to our machine in com¬
parison with others.
BUTTER-KIST—THE MACHINE OF
TODAY
In a comparison with other machines, re¬
member you have the edge. In any compari¬
son the cheaper thing always suffers.
[164]
SALESO LOGY
You have the only real popcorn machine,
hence in any comparison you always have
the best of it.
Be careful with the language that you use
in talking about competitive machines. Do
not talk in an insulting or disrespectful way
about the other machines, as you are liable
to give the wrong impression.
It is much better to say, "They are nice
machines, and of course they will make pop¬
corn," but you are positive that he will see
that our machine is as far ahead of the oth¬
ers as a new twelve-cylinder Packard is
above the old one-cylinder Oldsmobile.
Both the obsolete one-lung automobiles
and the "gas-jet and skillet" popper were
good in their day. But of course their day
is long past.
When the Butter-Kist machine was first
invented that was the dawn of better days
in the popcorn business. We gave the mer¬
chants "America's New Industry."
BUTTER-KIST MACHINE SELLS
POPCORN
The other machines are made to manufac¬
ture popcorn, but not to sell it. They manu¬
facture popcorn in large quantities, and in a
way that does not make corn like Butter-
Kist. Then they depend on the flashy ap¬
pearance of the machine to attract attention,
instead of doing as we do—make the ma¬
chine beautiful, symmetrical and completely
visible, using the popping of the corn to sell
the product.
[165]
SALESOLOGY
There is a tremendous difference here—I
hope you grasp the point. We took a year's
time, and spent a large amount of money de¬
signing our machine so it could pop continu¬
ously a small amount of corn fresh and crisp,
as it is the popping of the corn that sells it.
It cost a fortune to design our machine in
this way. It is the basis of our whole busi¬
ness.
Detailed instructions in our other printed
matter will show you just how this is done.
This is something you must know, because
here is the one big thing that makes Butter-
Kist so many times more valuable than any
other.
We know you can prove beyond the shadow
of a doubt that everything being equal, a
man can sell a great deal more corn with the
Butter-Kist machine than with any other
machine ever invented.*
Here's what we mean—we say that other
machines manufacture popcorn, but the But¬
ter-Kist machine is the only one invented,
made and sold with one thought in view, i. e.:
The Butter-Kist machine must not only man¬
ufacture the best corn but it must advertise
it and sell it.
The other machines simply make popcorn.
Popcorn to be put up and sold in a common
sack. Popcorn to be sold to people who are
not discriminating. But our machine makes,
•If for any reason you do not fully understand the vitally
important point we are trying to explain here, do not waste
a minute, butask us about it at once, as here is the thing
that makes the big difference.
[166]
SALESO LOGY
advertised and sells Butter-Kist. And the
product is sold in a nationally known, trade-
marked container.
A good comparison to illustrate why our
machine really sells popcorn and one he will
understand, is to ask him if he would pay
two-thirds the rent he does if some one else
had the use of his show window. This should
prove to him the value of the visibility of the
machine in selling Butter-Kist.
We cannot dwell too strongly on this point.
Other machines may manufacture good pop¬
corn. But the Butter-Kist machine is more
than a machine.
We know there is no real competition on
the market in our class, nor will there be.
We are acquainted with all the other ma¬
chines and know their vulnerable points, and
are in a position to give you plenty of de¬
tailed talking points against any and all
other machines on the market, if you feel
that you need them.
We will be glad to give them to any man
who wants them, but as a general proposi¬
tion we think that with what we have given
here, and the advice that you talk our ma¬
chine and not our competitor's; that each
man will be equipped with sufficient state¬
ments to enable him to either sell our ma¬
chine to his prospect or leave the prospect in
such a frame of mind that he will not con¬
sider any other make of machine.
[167]
SALE SOLOGY
NO REAL COMPETITION
One of our most successful men uses this
line of argument in talking about competi¬
tion:
"No one is in business for the pleasure of
it. Other machine makers are getting as
much for their machines as the market will
pay. The fact that we are selling more ma¬
chines in a month than other companies are
selling in a year proves that ours is a better
investment, dollar for dollar, than any of our
competitors offer. This must be true, or the
majority of the sales would not be coming
to us."
Another thought along this line. You can
frankly tell the merchant this:
"Mr. Druggist, you are not buying me¬
chanical efficiency, as you do in an automo¬
bile, to get the most miles per dollar. You
are buying a machine to make money. You
are buying a machine that will make you the
most money, dollar for dollar, whether you
spend $300.00 or $3,000.00—and when you
buy a Butter-Kist machine you are not buy¬
ing a machine to merely pop corn—you are
buying a machine that will also sell what it
makes. You are tying yourself up to a na¬
tionally advertised package, that is known
all over the country.
"You could probably buy some other tooth
paste cheaper than 'Colgate's,' but you buy
'Colgate's' because you can sell four times as
much of it as you could of any other brand—
and the same applies to Butter-Kist corn.
Sales and turnover is what you are after."
[168]
SALESOLOGY
He says he also handles it this way:
If a prospect speaks of being able to buy
some other machine on lower terms per
month or a lower down payment, he asks the
prospect if he has stopped to think why he
could get these lower terms or lower down
payments. He then answers it for him, tell¬
ing him the reason for it is that things like
ours are sold on what a man can pay for them
and what they can earn.
He says "If you can buy a machine on
$10.00 per month, which would you rather
have—a machine that would make you $10
per month, or one that would make you $60
per month ?
"What you are interested in is not what
the machine costs you, or what you are go¬
ing to pay per month, but what you are going
to make out of it."
SELL THE IDEA.
Let us again impress on your mind this
very vital point: You are selling the Butter-
Kist proposition, not just a popcorn machine.
If you talk our proposition, even if you do
not sell the prospect, you will have left him
so thoroughly impressed with our machine
that no one will be able to sell him any other
make.
Our observation shows us that in the past
we have had men who, on account of their
talking the popcorn business, and not the
Butter-Kist proposition, have gone out and
left the prospects with such a thorough be-
[169]
SALESOLOGY
lief in the popcorn business that they have
purchased some other machine.
This happened because the salesman did
not understand what he was selling, and was
not able to put the proposition in the proper
light before the prospect.
As you are working for us, selling the But-
ter-Kist machines, you must be sure, even if
you do not sell, to leave your prospect in a
frame of mind where he is thoroughly con¬
vinced that there is only one machine he
would ever consider, and that is the Butter-
Kist.
We are not worrying about competition.
Here is a good illustration to show why: One
of the largest pork and bean packers once
told the writer that out of all the beans that
are grown in the United States, only 6 per
cent are used by the 200 bean manufactur¬
ers, and he uses only 1 per cent of all the
beans used, or one-sixth of all the bean man¬
ufacturers used, and the other 199 manufac¬
turers use 5 per cent.
He does not care to take any of the busi¬
ness away from his competitors. He wants
his competitors to have all they have now
and get more.
What he wants is another 1 per cent of all
the beans consumed, as that would double
his business.
He directs all his advertising toward con¬
vincing the housewife that the thing for her
to do is to buy baked beans instead of cook¬
ing them herself.
[170]
SALESOLOGY
Of course, he tells her to ask for his beans
and not buy his competitor's, but he is will¬
ing to take his chances on that part of it.
It is the same with the Butter-Kist propo¬
sition. We want the people who now ma"ke
popcorn on Saturday night or Sunday night
to do the same with their corn popers as they
have done with their ice cream freezers—let
them rust in the cellar—and go to the corner
grocery or the drug store for Butter-Kist.
We also know that when people can once
buy popcorn like our machine will furnish,
under the proper conditions, there is room in
this country for fifty times the present con¬
sumption of popcorn. That leaves plenty of
room for us and anyone in the popcorn ma¬
chinery or popcorn business.
"Do not knock your competitor"—you only
hurt yourself, and many times you advertise
him.
On account of the tremendously larger
business we are doing than any of our com¬
petitors, and the fact that we have no real
competition, you can certainly afford to take
a friendly attitude toward any competition
that comes up.
We are not after the scalp of any of our
competitors. We have larger and higher
aims.
[171]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XVI
PROSPECT WANTS TO BE A MANUFAC¬
TURER
NINETY-NINE retailers out of a hun¬
dred have at some time, ventured into
the manufacturing business, or at
least have wished they owned a factory. This
is a general condition that you can work on
and build up a good human interest talk that
will hold the prospect's attention and enthuse
him over the idea of buying the Butter-Kist
factory.
Here is the way I suggest you handle the
subject; it makes a good closing argument:
"I know you are exactly like I am. You
have thought many times how you wish you
had started in the manufacturing business.
You read of Rockefeller, Carnegie, Chas.
Schwab, you see the big factories in your
town, you pick up the papers and read of the
big factories in Chicago, the people from
whom you buy, from very small businesses
to the mammoth institutions, and you have
done just as I have done—wished you had
gone into the manufacturing business.
"Now, if you have the right to think that
way, and wish you had done that, why don't
you, right this minute, say to yourself—
'Here is a chance for me to try it out here
in my store—the one thing I have wanted to
do all my life, and didn't do. Here is the
business. I am going to prove that I know
how to run a factory.'
[172]
SALESO LOGY
"Of course it is only a small factory but
at the same time it is a factory that will net
enormous profits. You have as much sense
and know how to be an executive as well as
a lot of these men who are running these fac¬
tories, you know in your heart you can run
this little factory, now get one and run it.
"Now, about how you pay for this ma¬
chine: That of course is very interesting to
you. Here is the way we ask you to pay for
it. We are only asking you to deposit a small
sum of earnest money. This you pay right
now, as soon as you sign the order.
"This sum as I say, is earnest money. You
pay it as evidence of good faith. It shows
your interest. It shows you are giving the
factory a chance, and will have your heart in
the business. It is certainly no substantial"
payment, as you cannot buy real estate on
any such basis, and surely no money-making
factory, or you might say, money-making
business.
"Of course you can buy things you use in
your business on installments, but you can¬
not buy money-making institutions.
"You know with real estate the banks will
only loan 50 per cent. I make these state¬
ments to show you the faith the company
has in their machine and you. In fact, if you
look at it in the right way, the faith is prac¬
tically all on their side.
"The balance of this money the company
asks you to pay in easy installments.
"Never in all your merchandising career
have you had an opportunity to establish
[173]
SALESOLOGY
yourself in a manufacturing business on such
a basis. And while we are bringing you a
manufacturing business it is a thing that fits
right into your present plans and actually
helps you sell other merchandise that you
are now carrying.
"You have wanted to be a manufacturer.
Now is your opportunity. Let me get this
factory here for you—start the wheels turn¬
ing, and get some profits for you that you
have been passing up all these years."
[174]
SALESO LOGY
CHAPTER XVII
"DON'T WANT TO GO IN THE POPCORN
BUSINESS."
THE Butter-Kist popcorn machine is a
complete little factory. The man who
buys it is in the manufacturing busi¬
ness. Nothing is more dignified—nothing is
more economic than making the thing you
sell.
The Butter-Kist machine has the dignity
that is demanded by the best stores in the
country. It is a rich looking, artistically de¬
signed piece of mechanisni—a device that
will be proudly displayed in the most exclu¬
sive stores.
We have had salesmen tell us that pros¬
pects have told them they did not want to go
in the popcorn business. We look upon this
as the poorest sort of an excuse anyone can
offer, and about the easiest to overcome.
When the highest class concerns, such as
the leading department stores, the metro¬
politan centers, leading druggists, most ex¬
clusive confectionery stores, and scores of
the best motion picture houses all over the
country, all think it is the proper thing to
put in Butter-Kist machines, we do not see
how a man can seriously state that he does
not want to go into the popcorn business.
If he does, tell him you are not putting him
in the popcorn business, you are putting him
in the Butter-Kist business.
[175]
SALESOLOGY
Then mention a few instances about the
people to whom we have sold and go ahead
and talk the profits without further refer¬
ence to his remark.
Remember this, you are not going to miss
any sales because people do not want to go
in the popcorn business, notwithstanding the
fact that you may now and then have people
tell you that.
[176]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XVIII
THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF
PEANUTS
THE peanut—which was one of the earli¬
est crops to be grown in America—is
growing in importance every day. For
the past few years, according to an eminent
authority, Mr. R. R. Crawford, the average
acreage of peanuts has run up to more than
a million and a half per year. This is a very
conservative estimate.
Current reports show that over $80,000,-
000 worth of peanuts were sold from farms
of this country.
This is a mighty big jump, when you con¬
sider that as late as 1899 only $7,000,00Q
worth of peanuts were raised, and 10 years
later, in 1909, only> $18,000,000 worth were
grown and sold.
The figures show that more than three
times as many acres were devoted to pea¬
nuts in this country, as there were 20 years
ago.
The United States Department of Agricul¬
ture has made a number of investigations.
And according to tests made by H. S. Bailey
and J. A. LeClerc, they have found that a
pound of peanuts furnishes 2,700 calories.
This is three times as many calories as is con¬
tained in a pound of beefsteak, and five times
as many calories as is contained in a pound
of eggs.
[177]
SALESOLOGY
They brought out that a pound of whole
peanuts contained a half pound of fat and
a quarter pound of protein. The two scien¬
tists whose names we give became very en¬
thusiastic over the possibilities of peanuts,
and have referred to it as "one of the most
nutritious foods known to man."
Now, all we have said in regard to our ma¬
chine merchandising popcorn applies to pea¬
nuts, too.
As you know, we have exclusive patents
on the visible peanut toaster.
Butter-Kist toasters are the only ones that
capitalize motion and action to the fullest ex¬
tent. You can build up a splendid canvass
on our machines as merchandisers of pea¬
nuts. Even if a man is selling peanuts he
can sell more by putting life into his busi¬
ness, with a Butter-Kist Toaster.
The profit on peanuts is splendid. A man
can double his money with ease and still give
the customer a great big value for the
money.
PART OF THE BUTTER-KIST
PROPOSITION.
Remember, we are selling Butter-Kist pop¬
corn and peanuts.
Peanuts are just as much a part of the
business as popcorn. In this book we have
talked how to sell popcorn machines and how
the machine sells popcorn, but it should be
read as though we said Butter-Kist popcorn
and peanuts.
[178]
SALESOLOQY
The same principles that made the Butter-
Kist popcorn machine a success are behind
the Butter-Kist peanut toaster attachment,
as well as our peanut toasting machines.
Don't forget, we talk of "toasted" and not
"roasted" peanuts.
We have added "visibility" and "motion"
to the peanut business. Butter-Kist Toast¬
ers are the only ones that prepare the pea¬
nuts in sight—in a "plate-glass oven."
Then, too, our peanut toasting machines
and attachments toast the peanuts in just
the right time. We bring out the flavor.
We could easily make our machines toast
the peanuts much more quickly than we do,
but we are sure the length of time we take
for doing this is just right. Anyone who
knows anything about cooking knows you
can toast, roast or fry food products too
hurriedly. There is one point in the process
at which it is just right. It is neither too
soon nor too long. Our working this out is
what makes Butter-Kist toasted peanuts so
delicious. We preserve and intensify the
natural flavor of the nut.
[179]
SALE SOLOGY
CHAPTER XIX
LIVE AND LEARN
PROGRESS is only made by men who
keep an open mind. Tolerance is one of
the greatest qualities in the world. You
always admire a broad-minded man. Don't
be broad and shallow—be broad and deep.
Keep yourself in the frame of mind where
you are willing to learn from any source.
We are not asking you to be poll parrots,
but we do insist on not having bigoted, know-
it-all men on our selling force.
We want our men to learn to take advice
and suggestions, and we are especially anx¬
ious to get suggestions from the men. You
men on the firing line are constantly discov¬
ering new ideas.
The selling of this machine is a very seri¬
ous matter with us.
Read this book three or four times. Keep
it in your grip and go over it often—parts
of it at least once a week. You will get some¬
thing new out of it each time you read it.
You will not use everything in the book in
each canvass, but we do not think there is a
thing in it but what you should be well ac¬
quainted with—you must know the underly¬
ing principles and how to make
Everyone connected with the selling of
this machine has had a hand in building this
book. We have done our utmost to cover
everything that has come up in the sale of
[180]
SALESO LOGY
the machine that we have heard of since we
started in the business.
You have undoubtedly noticed that in sev¬
eral places we have repeated. Many people
believe it is not good form to repeat.
That is a mistaken idea in the sale of
goods, either in talking or advertising them.
Say the same thing a dozen times, if you
want to, if it is a good point, and it will not
hurt any. Of course, you can change your
language, but that is not wholly necessary—
sometimes not advisable. Remember it takes
iteration and reiteration to drive home your
points.
[181]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XX
YOUR TERRITORY
THE age-old delusion that the other pas¬
ture is the greenest is being worked as
hard today as ever, with just as much
disappointment.
When you take a twenty-mile fishing trip
to your favorite spot, and on your arrival find
a fellow who tells you "there is nothing do¬
ing, it is not what it used to be, but just
down around the bend about three-quarters
of a mile is the ideal place to get them this
year," you trudge along through the briars
and brambles, reach the spot, and are imme¬
diately confronted by another oracle of wis¬
dom, who tells you that your first informant
was all wrong—"the real place to fish is
about three-quarters of a mile farther down
the stream, just below the big riffle."
You think you want fish, and away you go
to the big riffle. After fooling around this
way all day, until it is time to start home,
you find you have hooked a few lazy bull¬
heads about the size of your finger.
You return to the place where you first
stopped and find the fellow who has been
working on the job in that spot all day has
finished up with a string of fine black bass—
just what you wanted, but failed to get.
He got them because he worked hard at
the fishing business at the hole where he
was. You failed to get them because you let
[182]
SALESOLOGY
some one cause you to believe the other place
was the best.
In this business, the other town or the
other fellow's territory always seems the
best. It is strange how men's minds work in
relation to things of this kind, but it is the
commonest trait of human nature. Every
fellow thinks his job is the hardest, and his
territory the worst.
Nothing is further from the truth. The
fellow who gets the big pay and makes the
big money is the one who can find fish, food
or orders right where he is.
We have been working with salesmen for
[183]
SALESOLOGY
about twenty-five years, and about 90 per
cent of them appear to work on the cream-
skimming theory. We can point to dozens of
examples where a man left his territory be¬
cause he had "finished" it, and the next man
did twice as much as the original man.
We recently had a salesman in the south¬
western territory who thought he wanted to
make a change. He went up north and did a
splendid business, but the man we put in his
old southwestern territory did about three
times as well as his predecessor had done.
We have rarely ever made a change in ter¬
ritories but what it produced more business.
We know of one man who had a certain large
territory that he thought was not enough for
him. In rearranging territories it was neces¬
sary for us to cut down his district about
one-twentieth. He resigned.
Before we got through we had six men in
that territory, each one doing more business'
than the cream-skimmer did in the whole
territory, and of course they were all mak¬
ing lots more net cash because they did not
have to travel around so much.
Our territories are laid off scientifically ac¬
cording to the merchant population in the
towns. We do not count the population out¬
side of the towns. Every territory, there¬
fore, holds practically the same possibilities.
We have also laid off our territories accord¬
ing to accessibility, so you should be able to
get around and see your inquiries without ex¬
cessive expense.
[184]
SALESO LOGY
We have had the advantage of consulting
the territorial arrangements of some of
America's biggest concerns, and have used
that information in making our territorial
lines.
DEVELOP YOUR TERRITORY
There are hundreds of advantages to you
in working closely and thoroughly. It does
not cost you much to travel, and you get the
cumulative effect that comes from the ma¬
chines that are in your territory. By prop¬
erly selling to your customers the Butter-
Kist idea, every machine you sell should
mean more sales.
It is only natural for everyone to whom
you sell to argue that there should be no
more machines sold in that town. You will
find fifty men who will talk that way where
you will find one who will talk the other way,
and there will be instances where it will look
to you as though the town is completely
loaded.
But if you will absorb what we have to say
about selling other machines in the same
town, and work on that theory, and then
make a study of the way the moving picture
business has developed, you will readily see
that we are doing the best thing for you
when we insist upon your working closely.
Look back and see what the first man who
went out to sell typewriters wrote in to his
boss; after he had sold one or two in each
town and had been over his territory a couple
[185]
SALESOLOGY
of times, he undoubtedly wrote in that he
had the "territory worked."
The same thing happened with adding ma¬
chines, cash registers and automobiles.
This has been going on since the time of
Moses, and will go on as long as we have
salesmen.
Think how ridiculous it sounds! There
would be no future for any factory making
machinery if there was any truth in this
statement.
Many men seem to figure that just because
they have traveled over their territory they
have worked it. Now, be a real man, and do
not write any excuses of that kind to us.
Simply work, and then work some more, and
you will get the business.
[186]
salesology'
CHAPTER XXI
AROMA OF BUTTER-KIST
CAPITALIZE the aroma or fragrance
of the corn. Never call it "smell,"
and as you love your job, never call it
"stink." Remember it is Aroma, that "de¬
licious Aroma," or the "coaxing Fragrance."
By capitalize, we mean if a man says he
objects to the smell, say this: "My dear sir,
I am glad you mentioned that, as it is one of
the best reasons for buying the machine. It
is the delicious Aroma from the Butter-Kist
machine that will sell the corn and make you
the money."
There is nothing that will whet the appe¬
tite quicker than the delicious aroma from
crisp, crackling Butter-Kist popcorn.
All you sense is the fresh, piping hot corn,
as sweet as the perfume from new-mown
hay, rich, steaming hot coffee, or mother's
hot biscuits. It strikes home. It is irre¬
sistible. Everyone has the dime and the sale
is made.
Wise merchants spend fabulous sums mak¬
ing their stores, hotels and restaurants at¬
tractive.
They buy expensive visible ice boxes, ar¬
range elaborate window displays of fruits,
etc., all to attract the eye.
Hotels and restaurants spend fortunes for
orchestras and pay out vast sums of money
to hire expensive talent for cabaret shows, all
to please the ear.
[187]
SALESOLOGY
The only object in the world for all of this
is to make the people eat more. You and I
and everyone else knows that you can see and
hear all these things and still do not feel the
least pang of hunger that you once did, when
as a boy you went fishing and came home and
got a whiff of the biscuits mother was bak¬
ing or caught the fragrance of hickory-
smoked ham as it was frying.
The delicious Aroma of Butter-Kist makes
you hungry, not only for popcorn, but for
candy, fruit and other delicious edibles that
merchants sell, and therefore the aroma of
corn will help other departments.
There are things we can't explain, but they
are there just the same. One of them is why
you always want a carton of popcorn when
you sense the aroma or fragrance of it.
[188]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XXII
"MUST SEE THE MACHINE"
1WILL not' give you an order until I see
a machine," is a statement that has
been made by prospects to our salesmen
hundreds of times.
But hundreds of sales have been made to
merchants who have never seen the machine,
notwithstanding this apparently unanswer¬
able statement.
You cannot blame any man for making
this statement. It is what you yourself
would say, but the more we analyze the mat¬
ter the more firmly we are of the opinion
that you can sell the machine more easily
without showing the man a machine than
you could if you had a machine right with
you to show.
Where you have a machine the prospect's
mind is attracted by the interesting mechan¬
ism, and he is therefore not listening in an
attentive way to your statements covering
the matters which will make him buy.
When a prospect makes up his mind to or¬
der, it is not because he wants the machine,
but because you have proved to him that this
Butter-Kist proposition will make him profits
—new-found money—advertise and expand
his business.
As it is only natural for him to feel that
he wants to see what he is buying, and as
there is no machine in town, and as you do
not have one in your kit to show him, you
[189]
SALE SOLOGY
are now placed in a position where the high¬
est qualities of salesmanship are required.
But the facts of our sales records show that
you have plenty of reasonable, common sense
arguments, facts and statements to prove to
any prospect that he should give you the or¬
der then and there.
When a prospect makes a statement of this
kind you must realize that you almost have
his order.
We have given a great deal of thought to
this, and during the entire time we have been
placing this machine on the market we have
constantly talked to our most successful
salesmen in regard to this.
I think the best thing is for me to give you
the way I have personally answered this,
which is substantially as follows:
"I don't blame you in the least for wanting
to see a machine, but the real place for you
to see it is right here in your own store .
"I know you believe what I have told you
about the wonderful benefits to you of this
machine. I know you do not question what
we say in our ads, in national magazines,
and that you believe what other men say
about our machine in our testimonial letters.
"Now, you realize that you are not just
buying a machine. You are buying the great
Butter-Kist proposition—the privilege of in¬
creasing your bank account.
"You understand how the machine works,
don't you? Let me go over again the me¬
chanical workings of the machine."
[190]
SALESOLOGY
Do this briefly, but be sure and talk profits
during your explanation. Then follow up
with this:
"While I know that you feel that you would
like to see this machine before you buy it,
still when you analyze it there is no more
reason why you should see it, than there
would be why you should make the man who
is trying to sell you an automobile tear it all
to pieces and show you every gear, nut and
bolt before you purchase.
"Of course, you see an automobile before
you buy it, but all you see is the outside.
You may possibly look under the hood, and
glance at the engine, but you are not buying
so much iron, wood, and leather, when you
buy an automobile. You are buying the
pleasure you expect to get out of it, or the
good you will get from the use of it. The
real facts in the case are, you are buying the
automobile a great deal on the reputation of
the maker, and what the company says about
it in its advertising and printed matter."
Another illustration covering this point:
"When a man starts to build a house he
doesn't expect to see it first. It isn't in the
cards. He doesn't expect it, any more than
he should expect to see a Butter-Kist ma¬
chine. In building a house, he buys from the
architect's plans. Our photographs are more
exact than any architect's plans could be.
"You have an exact photograph of the fin¬
ished product, which is more reasonable to
suppose a man would buy from than a rough
plan laid out by an architect.
[191]
SALE SOLOGY
"By the way, if I had a machine right in
front of me while I am talking to you, you
would not see much more than you see in the
pictures. It is all right here in front of you
in these photos.
"You know that there is no other machine
like this on the market—nothing to compare
with it. You know it will do what we say.
You know that we are a thoroughly respon¬
sible concern, with over 25 years of enviable
business reputation behind us—one of the
largest manufacturing companies in Indiana.
"You know that we are spending huge
sums of money advertising the product. We
have sold thousands of machines and they
are making big money for the satisfied
owners.
"Now, we are not asking you to pay for it.
We are simply requesting you to make a
small down payment as an evidence of good
faith. You are not paying for the machine
—it is the dimes, quarters and half dollars
from the people of the community surround¬
ing your store, or those who come into your
place of business."
Do not take too seriously your prospect's
statement that he must see the machine, be¬
cause when you take the cover off and really
look at the facts, you yourself must person¬
ally realize that you have almost sold him the
machine. Now go ahead and get his name on
the order.
He really does not care anything about the
machine. He is just simply giving you what
you and I usually call a "stall".
[192]
SALESO LOGY
Up to this point you have not completely
sold him on the proposition, because, not¬
withstanding the fact that it may appear to
you he is sincere in saying he must see a ma¬
chine, we as a firm know that seeing a ma¬
chine does not sell it.
The main point we want you as a salesman
to realize is this: This objection when made
to you by a prospect should be evidence to
you that you have failed to properly convey
to your prospect's mind the full worth to him
of your proposition.
Therefore, the thing to do is to answer this
objection in some manner as we have sug¬
gested, and then start in to resell him.
If he again says he will not buy until he
sees a machine, I would not pay much atten¬
tion tq the statement, but would keep on
talking about profits, etc.
If he has told you at least three times that
he will not buy without seeing a machine,
and has promised to go some place in that
town or city to see a machine, or will go to
some other town, we want you as a salesman
to look at the situation from this standpoint:
You have come to this prospect's place of
business after thoroughly preparing yourself
with an investigation about his store. You
have talked an hour or possibly two. You
have him partially sold on the machine. But
he has told you, not in just this language,
but substantially, that he is now going out to
make an investigation.
You are the man who has made that in¬
vestigation, and are there to prove to him
[193]
SALE SOLOGY
that the investigation you made should be
sufficient to satisfy his mind.
He is now indirectly telling you that your
investigation has not proved sufficient.
To handle this situation, we believe in tell¬
ing him the real facts, as our experience and
observation show they exist.
Say to him: "You have thoroughly con¬
vinced me that you are sincere in your state¬
ment that you want to see a machine. You
have told me that three times, and again I
repeat that I do not blame you, but let us take
a moment and see what usually happens
where a man makes a decision such as you
have made.
"It is only human nature for a man to keep
putting off a thing of this kind, and the more
you put it off, the less liable you are to go.
"I do not advise anyone to take snap judg¬
ment on anything, but you certainly wouldi
not be taking snap judgment if you buy this
machine this minute. You have had every
proof that it is possible for you to secure.
You have our statements, our advertising
proof, and the written records of hundreds
of users, and I know you want one of these
machines.
"The dominating outstanding principle of
the success of the biggest men—bankers,
railroad men, large manufacturers, etc.—
Schwab, Marshall Field, Morgan, etc.—is
that when they make up their minds they
act. You have virtually made up your mind.
"You know there is no risk. You only pay
a small sum down. Now act.
[194]
SALESOLOGY
"For years I have done just the same thing
you are about to do this minute—I have put
off—and put off, and usually when I put off,
I don't go.
"Here is what happens so many times in a
case of this kind. You say you will go and
see a machine, and you mean it, but I will no
more than get to the corner than you will
think, 'Well, I will wait until tomorrow to go
to see that machine.'
"Tomorrow comes, and you have some
things come up in your business that will
further delay you. Then the next day some¬
thing else happens, etc., etc.
"Understand, Mr. , I have been sell¬
ing goods of this kind for a great many
years. I have also bought a great volume of
goods, and you realize what I am saying now
'is just what happens.
"Just think of this: Here I am doing my
utmost to help you make a lot of money,
when it does not mean one-tenth as much to
me as it does to you. While I am making
money selling this machine, you are getting
money month in and month out operating it.
"Let me tell you a story: Our Mr. Hoke
interviewed a man in an Indiana town a year
and a half ago, and the man put him off. The
other day he met the same man again, who
chided him for not having made him buy the
machine, as he said he knew he had lost at
least $1,500.00 by not taking Mr. Hoke's ad¬
vice." No doubt you have some illustrations
of this kind of your own.
[195]
SALE SOLOGY
By dwelling on the amount of money he
will be losing by delay in giving you the or¬
der—by proving that now is the time he
ought to have the machine—that he is losing
a lot of money by not having it—that his
store is the place to sell Butter-Kist—that
his own store is where he should see the ma¬
chine—that quick and positive decision when
a man has made up his mind is a fundamen¬
tal principle used by all successful men—by
taking out your order blank and writing up
the order, and insisting on his signing it
then and there—you will get the coveted or¬
der even in the face of this objection.
Note—Reread and thoroughly study what
we have said about "Must see the machine,"
as the way you master this part of your can¬
vass will have a very great bearing on your
personal bank account.
[196]
SALESO LOGY
CHAPTER XXIII
WANTS TO ASK HIS WIFE
THIS is an excuse, not a reason.
The excuses men make for not buying
nearly always have a great influence on
the salesman.
Do not take these excuses or objections too
seriously. Remember he can have no reason
for not buying—what he says is an excuse.
As we have told you before, one of thS
fundamental principles of our selling cam¬
paign is to turn every excuse, objection, or
statement (whatever you want to call it)
that a prospect gives you as to why he will
not buy, into a good reason why he should
buy.
Tell him it is a fine sentiment for him to
want to consult his wife, as the greatest
thing a man can have is a helpmate who will
take an interest in his affairs, but after all
is said and done, the man must be the head
of the house.
It is up to him to shape the affairs of the
family. If the family is a success, the man
can share the credit with his wife, or gra¬
ciously give her all the credit, but if the fam¬
ily is a failure in nearly every case the
discredit is placed on the man.
While the writer would not pay much at¬
tention to an excuse of this kind, and would
go ahead and talk about the profits, and try
to sell the prospect just the same as if this
excuse had not been given, still if you feel
[197]
SALESOLOGY
you must say something about it, the only
plan we see whereby you can break down this
resistance is to use statements similar to the
above.
Have the one object in view of making
your prospect realize that he is the head of
the family and the manly thing for him to
do is to go ahead and make his wife happy
by buying a Butter-Kist machine and making
the money this machine is bound to bring in
to him.
You as a salesman realize that your pros¬
pect cannot explain this proposition to his
wife or any other party. You also know
every chance is in favor of his wife telling
him not to buy it, because the women as a
rule are not business people and are naturally
conservative.
If you personally are not able to overcome
this objection (which ought to be considered
a trivial one), there is only one thing for you
to do, and that is, you must see the wife or
this other party.
SELLING THROUGH THE WIFE
The wife of many of our best prospects is
his active helper in the store and there are
cases where she is the real power behind the
throne.
One of our successful salesmen told us not
long ago that whenever he went into a store
and found the prospect's wife worked there,
if he could possibly do so he Talked to her in
his most gracious and courtly manner, and
during the conversation asked her if they
[198]
SALESO LOGY
owned an automobile, and if so, what kind—
how many children she had—whether they
were sending them to college or wanted to—
whether they owned their own home, etc.
He would talk this way with her, getting
all the information he could, finding out if
possible if she had any particular hobby, if
she wanted an automobile, or wanted to build
a new home, or to send the children to col¬
lege, or if she had a summer cottage, or if
they took a summer or winter vacation, etc.
If the results of his investigation showed
he was not going to have her to sell, or that
she would be busy waiting on customers
while her husband would be talking with
him, he would talk to the wife about the
wonderful profits the Butter-Kist machine
was making for other people in the same line
of business in various stores in that city, and
in other parts of the country.
He naturally made no effort to sell her,
just simply told these things as part of his
conversation, then later on in his canvass of
the husband, if the husband would do the
usual thing, ask his wife what she thought
about it, the wife would invariably give her
approval.
Then if his canvass was made in the pres¬
ence of the wife he would so shape his argu¬
ments as to paint a picture in the mind of
the wife and his prospect of the home or au¬
tomobile, etc., that could be bought out of the
profits of the Butter-Kist machine without
taking the money out of the regular business.
He told us his experience has shown him
[199]
SALESOLOGY
that many confectioners, druggists, and
other prospects he interviewed wanted these
things, but did not feel they could take the
money out of the business for them, and he
showed them where they could make this
new found money without interfering with
their regular business, and therefore could
have these things they so much desired.
[200]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XXIV
SELLING THE BANKER
A LARGE part of all business is done on
credit. It is perfectly legitimate and
right, and good business, for any of
your prospects to go to the bank and borrow
all the money, or the down payment on our
machines. Hundreds of our machines have
been sold on that basis, and the payments
met.
Merchants large and small do business on
credit. In fact, you always look with sus¬
picion on the management of any concern
that doesn't use their credit to some extent,
as you assume they either lack credit, or are
not progressive.
There will be many cases where it will be
necessary for you to go to the bank with your
prospect, and there are a few fundamental
characteristics of bankers which we want to
impress upon you, and we want you in turn
to impress them upon your prospects. The
first is that the banker is naturally suspi¬
cious and very conservative. Second, where
the money is left in the banker's possession
he has the use of it to loan out at high rates,
and as there is where he makes his profits,
naturally he is interested in keeping the
money at home.
Another thing: many bankers take a patri¬
archal or paternalistic attitude toward their
smaller customers, acting and talking as
though they owned them, body and soul.
[201]
SALESOLOGY
Bear these things in mind before you ap¬
proach the banker, and as you are walking
over to the bank, remember to tell your pros¬
pect the general characteristics of bankers
as we have outlined them, so as to prepare
your customer for the banker throwing cold
water on the deal. Since you have sold the
customer you most assuredly do not want the
banker to unsell him. Therefore, prepare
your customer for what he may expect.
When you get to a banker with your cus¬
tomer you must keep control of the inter¬
view until you have had enough of your say
to have intelligently presented your full profit
story in the best way that you know how to
put it briefly. Don't be the least afraid of
the banker—he may have a wonderful office
and a fine bank, and he may growl at you, but
remember that he doesn't know one-tenth as
much about the Butter-Kist popcorn machine
or Butter-Kist profits as you do. Also re¬
member that his business is helping his cli¬
ents to make money; that he is considered
to have good business judgment, and will un¬
derstand what you are talking about, there¬
fore, put your case before him in an intelli¬
gent, enthusiastic and unembarrassed fash¬
ion.
In other words you must assume that of
course he will loan your prospect the money
because it's a good proposition, and because
your prospect has asked him to.
The average banker, if properly ap¬
proached and our proposition explained to
him, will gladly loan the money because it's
a good business deal for his prospect.
[202]
SALESO LOGY
CHAPTER XXV
HAS A SILENT PARTNER
PART of what we said about seeing his
wife applies to this situation.
Partners have confidence in each
other, or they would not be partners. A man
is insulting his own judgment and casting
aspersions on his own ability if he admits he
is a partner in a business and cannot pur¬
chase a thing like our machine when, sup¬
ported by the facts you have given him, his
judgment tells him it is the thing for him
to buy.
Appeal to his pride as a partner, having
certain legal and moral rights, and you can
get the order.
Show him how, if his partner is worthy the
name of partner, he would be only too glad to
have the prospect to whom you are talking
go ahead and use his best judgment and com¬
plete the transaction right then and there.
Tell him you know a man of his ability,
foresight, vision and understanding certainly
would not have a partner who would object
to his using his own judgment, and that as
long as they are only paying a trivial amount
down, and as it is a great money-making
proposition and not an expense, you are ab-»
solutely sure his partner will be only too glad
to have him go ahead and give you the order.
[203]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XXVI
SELLING THE FOREIGNER
THE thrifty foreigner, coming to our
shores, who wants to go in business for
himself, looks for an enterprise that
takes the least amount of capital and is easi¬
est to operate and manage. The Butter-Kist
machine, therefore, makes an especial appeal
to them and hundreds of them now own and
operate Butter-Kist outfits. Hundreds of
others are splendid prospects.
It is necessary that you give your best
thought to methods of approach and sale to
the foreigners you will meet in your terri¬
tory. First bear in mind that all foreigners
owning candy stores are not Greeks and that
you must talk to an Italian as an Italian and
an Assyrian as an Assyrian, etc. You must
be sure of the nationality of your prospect
before you approach him, as failure to have
this information will often prove fatal to the
sale.
Study something special and appropriate
to say to each prospect of different nation¬
ality—something you think will interest him
or please him. Remember, just because he
was born thousands of miles away from
where you are and speaks a different lan¬
guage than we do, that he isn't must different
from the people you have associated with all
your life.
He enjoys life about as much as you or I.
He thinks fondly of his mother land. He
[204]
SALESOLOGY
thinks he is a real American. He wants to
be looked upon as one of us. And he is out
for the dollar—in fact he came to this coun¬
try for that very purpose, and if you can
show and convince him that you have some¬
thing that will make him more of those dol¬
lars, you will find that neither pride nor be¬
ing afraid of work will keep him from buying.
He is out to make money and he is always
looking for an honest and legitimate way of
making additional money.
You will also find that nine times out of
ten, the foreigner has the money to make the
down payment. Or if he hasn't it, person¬
ally, he can usually get it in short order, after
you convince him that a Butter-Kist machine
will be a money maker for him. Of course,
your job is to see that he is convinced.
You can always find some point of contact
with every foreigner. Most of them are in¬
terested in sports, baseball, boxing matches,
foot-ball, etc.
Many of them own an automobile, which is
the pride of their heart. They love music
and art. Many of those you least suspect are
accomplished in one or both of them.
FINDING THE OWNER
It is difficult sometimes to locate the
owner of a Greek candy store. So if the
party you approach says he is not the boss,
"Boss just stepped out," or says, "Boss not
here, what you want?"—then talk to him
earnestly and carefully around the thought
[205]
SALESOLOGY
that the thing for him to do is to buy a But-
ter-Kist machine, go into business for him¬
self. Buy the Butter-Kist machine and start
his own candy store—be his own boss and in
a short time he would own a big confectionery
business all his own.
If he says he is not ready to go into busi¬
ness for himself—or hasn't enough money,
then tell him to tell his boss to buy one of
these machines as they will give him an op¬
portunity to see the big profit to be made out
of the operation of the machine and acquaint
himself with how to operate one.
This selling the clerk on the idea will help,
and if by chance, the man you are talking to
is the proprietor, you will have accomplished
at least part of what you went into the store
to do, i. e., canvass the proprietor. One of
our men who has had spectacular success sell¬
ing the foreigner, says that if you will call
at any Greek candy store after ten o'clock
at night you will be almost certain to find the
boss in.
In talking to these foreigners you will be
justified in complimenting them most highly
upon their supremacy in the confectionery
business. They are industrious, thrifty, and
everlastingly on the job. They put their
money back into the business. Nothing is
too fine nor too expensive for them. They
love showy, attractive things. They have
keen minds and readily see the advertising
value of our machine. With your remark¬
able array of proven facts and figures on the
B-K business, you should always be able to
[206]
SALESOLOGY
sell the Butter-Kist machine idea to every
foreign prospect and to get an.order from a
large percentage.
[207]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XXVII
has seen the machine—but!
Occasionally you talk to a prospect
who has seen the machine but he does1
not believe it was making no such
money, or the operator was knocking it.
Remember that many men fear to boost
because they desire to monopolize the But-
ter-Kist trade.
Ask your customer if he tells everyone his
business. If he had a Butter-Kist machine
doing a lot of business, would he boost it?
It is the right of every man to keep his
business to himself.
We have known of instances where men
were making big money with the Butter-Kist
machine, and any one to hear them talk
would think otherwise.
Big concerns, such as Woolworth's, the
Union News Company, etc., absolutely refuse
to divulge what they are doing.
Forty-eight hundred confectioners failed
last year. Four banks in three counties in
this state failed. Men are constantly failing
in the restaurant business; in fact, in all
kinds of business.
If a man wanted to wait and go into busi¬
ness that nobody failed in, he would never
get into any business.
One of the strongest things to say to him
is: "Look back over the last five years and
think of the different changes there have
been in this town. Look at the men who are
[208]
SALESOLOGY
not making money in the very business you
are in.
"There is one thing certain—if I thought
for one moment you would not make money
with this Butter-Kist machine here I would
not waste any time talking to you about it."
We now have such a large number of re¬
markably successful machines scattered from
coast to coast that at first it appears useless
to say anything in this book on this subject,
but since no kind of business ever registered
100 per cent we will always hear the remark
"I have seen the machine—but—"
I suppose the one best way to answer this
is to ask your prospect "Do you believe the
party who had this machine could make a
success out of your business?" Invariably
he will say "No." Your case is won. Don't
talk any more about it.
Here is another way of saying the same
thing, used by one of our most successful
men. "If a man can't make money in the
popcorn business, there is not much hope for
him, Mr. Jones. I am sure this man who
failed would not have made a success with
your business. Do you think he would ?"
As we say in our book, Confidential Infor¬
mation for the Owners and Customers, "Any
fool can make money out of the popcorn busi¬
ness,' is an old saying."
If you do not feel absolutely positive that
your prospect can make money, you should
not be talking to him, as the company urges
all the salesmen never to sell a machine
where it will not make money.
[209]
SALESOLOGY
You can get into a lengthy argument as to
why the machine the man saw did not make
a favorable impression, but you are on dan¬
gerous ground, and are liable to be making a
number of negative statements that would be
harmful.
We think you are bound to make a strong
point with a few well-chosen words about the
thousands of different concerns that con¬
stantly go broke.
Even be frank enough to tell him that you
could tell him of other places where our ma¬
chines did not make good, but you figured
that! you would insult his intelligence and
business ability if you made any reference to
the possibility of his not making a success
with the machine, as it was a foregone con¬
clusion that he would make a big success.
Any man who could run a store like he was
running could make a success of a Butter-
Kist machine having 150 per cent profit on
the product it sells. Switch the conversation
back to the successful machine.
If you talk as though there was no possi¬
bility of his doing anything else but make
money, and that the machine he saw had
nothing to do with his business, you will get
along a great deal better than by getting
frightened over what he tells you, and start¬
ing a long harangue over why the machine
did not make good, etc.
We beg you to keep away from talking too
much about negative things, even when it ap¬
pears to be absolutely necessary.
[210]
SALESO LOGY
CHAPTER XXVIII
JUST STARTING IN BUSINESS
ONE of our men said he had a moving
picture operator, just starting his
place, who told him he could not buy
the machine then, but would wait until he
got started.
We know that some very convincing argu¬
ments could be put up in a case of this kind.
For example, the success of many an enter¬
prise depends upon the way it is started.
There is nothing like starting right.
It is many times better to have the ma¬
chine right in the beginning than to wait a
month or two. If he had the machine to be¬
gin with it would be one of his greatest at¬
tractions—one of the outstanding things that
would mark his place from other shows.
The advertising value which the moving
mechanism would give to his show would be
well worth its price in the beginning, and
would be much more important in the begin¬
ning than at any other time.
Besides these arguments, a man would
naturally explain that there is a very excel¬
lent chance of the popcorn machine being one
of the largest factors in his profits.
It is all new-found money—money he can
get no other way. He has gone to the large
expense of opening such a beautiful theatre,
he ought to go a step farther and capitalize
to the fullest the advantage he has gained
[211]
SALE SOLOGY
through having brought this large, pleasure-
seeking crowd to his playhouse.
It takes a lot of money to get them there,
as is evidenced by his fine building, his fur¬
nishings, and the class of pictures he is giv¬
ing them.
While the shows he gives and the door re¬
ceipts are the main things he is interested in,
still in the final analysis it is net profits he
wants. There is nothing in the world that
will make him such profits as our machine in
proportion to its small cost.
In your judgment, here is the only thing
he could put in that would not interfere with
his regular business. In fact, it will increase
his regular business. It seems to you it is
opportune or even providential that you came
around just as you did, because there never
was a time and never will be a time again,
when it is so important to him that he should
have this machine.
What we have just said could naturally be
used in any canvass to a moving picture show
owner.
[212]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XXIX
THE HUMAN SENSES IN RELATION TO
OUR MACHINE
EVERY purchase must emanate from a
decision in the brain of the purchaser.
Impressions to the brain are made
through the five senses—seeing, smelling,
hearing, tasting, and feeling.
There is no other selling device or display
that will appeal to the human mind through
as many of the senses as the Butter-Kist
corn popping machine.
It is beautiful to look at. The moving ma¬
chinery—electric lights—beautiful moving
sign—the rich combination of plate glass,
mahogany and nickel—-the popping and dis¬
charging of the fluffy, crisp, white popcorn
—instinctively attract the attention of every
person who is within the range of vision.
The nostrils scent the delicious aroma of
the popping corn. And there certainly is not
a more pleasing fragrance.
The ear senses the slight purr of the motor
and popping grains.
Where is there anything in this world
more pleasing to the taste than a bag of
freshly popped Butter-Kist ?
With this all-powerful salesman properly
placed so the four senses above mentioned
can be appealed to, is there anything that
can stop the passing multitude from exercis¬
ing the fifth sense (that of touch) by feeling
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SALESOLOGY
in their pockets for the dimes or quarters to
buy cartons of Butter-Kist?
The above explanation as to the broad ap¬
peal to the senses is convincing. You should
explain this to your prospect, as this will ap¬
peal to the common-sense judgment of every
individual, and in our opinion it is very essen¬
tial to have your prospect realize that he
must place the machine and handle it so he
can get the full advantage of the functions
for which it was built.
In other parts of the book we dwell on the
attractive value of the motion, the beautiful
machine, etc. We also speak of the aroma—
how everyone likes popcorn, etc.
By taking the arguments just referred to,
you can make quite an extended and elabo¬
rate talk on how this machine appeals to the
senses. You have plenty of illustrations.
For example, suppose you wanted to talk
about how it appeals to the sight. You could
refer to the fact that the wisest business
men in this country spend millions of dollars
for electric signs, beautiful display windows,
magnificent store fronts, the most expensive
fixtures money can buy, insisting that their
clerks wear good clothes, etc.
All of this money is spent to attract the
eye.
You have plenty of other illustrations in
regard to the rest of the senses. Then you
sum up by showing that our machine in itself
appeals to all these senses.
[214]
SALESOLOGT
CHAPTER XXX
AID TO SODA FOUNTAINS
DURING at least six months in the year
the soda fountain is a big study to al¬
most every man who has one. Every
man who owns one, and every man making
anything that comes in contact with a soda
fountain has been studying for years, trying
to keep the business going the year around.
In trying to do this they are bucking the im¬
possible.
People are not going to buy very many ice
cream sodas in the winter time, and nothing
that human beings can do will materially
change that. It is impossible to change the
climate.
You offer them in the Butter-Kist machine
the thing they have all been needing for
years. It is the one thing that will put their
soda fountain department on a paying basis
in the winter time.
A soda fountain takes up a lot of space.
A man cannot take it up and move it in the
winter. He has to have it around, and must
keep it clean. He must make a bluff at keep¬
ing it busy. To make this bluff he has to
have a man there.
Some people drop in for a hot chocolate,
and when the theaters and movies are out
people drop in for ice cream sundaes, but
usually hour after hour there is nothing
doing.
The same man who is trying to kill time
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SALESOLOGY
running the soda fountain can look after the
Butter-Kist machine, and the profits will be
practically all velvet.
These profits combined with what he takes
in on the soda fountain will turn it from a
losing into a money-making proposition; be¬
sides it will enable him to hire a better class
clerk in the winter time to run the soda
fountain.
ADVANTAGE OVER SODA WATER
Butter-Kist has a lot of advantages over
soda water, not only in net profits, but in the
fact that it is a thing that people will buy
and carry home. They do not have to eat it
in the store, as they do a soda.
A person can take a carton of Butter -Kist
and jump on the street car, interurban, or
train, and eat it at his leisure.
There are a lot of other advantages for a
man who sells soda water, which are shown
in this book in other places.
One good argument for the man having a
soda fountain is that the aroma from the
popcorn will make the people hungry, and
many of them will buy soda water who would
not otherwise do so.
If they buy a carton of Butter-Kist and
eat some of it, it will make them thirsty, and
they will buy a drink at the fountain. When¬
ever you are talking to a prospect who has
a soda fountain, or who sells soft drinks be
sure that you get home your point that But¬
ter-Kist will increase the sales of sodas or
other soft drinks.
[216]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XXXI
POPCORN AND CREAM
THERE is nothing in the whole realm of
edibles that is more agreeable to the
taste or more satisfying than popcorn
with cream and sugar.
Try it yourself at the first opportunity,
and we know you will not talk to a single man
about this machine without making a big
point of this.
I think without doubt there is no breakfast
food or much of anything else that one eats
that will taste better.
The thing about eating popcorn is that you
never feel that you are liable to eat too much
of it, or that there is anything about it to do
you the least injury, no difference how care¬
ful you may have to be about your diet.
Popcorn and cream is an ideal thing for a
business man's quick lunch. Any stores that
you sell that have a lunch department should
be told to be sure to see that popcorn is put
on their menu card.
[217]
SALE SOLOGY
CHAPTER XXXII
HOW TO TALK PROFITS
]N talking profits be sure and do not talk
to the merchant as though he were going
to pay for this machine out of the profits
he makes during the time in which he pays
for the machine.
We do not think it is right to talk this way
because no business we know of could be run
on that basis. Most businesses take years
for a man to get back his original invest¬
ment, and we do not believe it is fair or good
policy for you to sell our machines on the
argument that a man can make enough net
profits out of his business during the time
in which he pays for the machine to cover
the cost of it.
No man buys a drug store, paying for h
in a year and a half, and expects to make in
that year and a half all the money he pays
for it. He might possibly do this, but he
would not figure on that basis because at the
end of the year and a half he would still have
his store building, his fixtures, and a goodly
stock.
Even where you can show a man how he
could easily make as much profit in a year
and a half as this machine will cost him, the
point we are trying to make is that the ma¬
chine should not be sold on that basis. Here
is the way it should be sold.
You figure for him the profit he should
make out of the sales from the machine—for
[218]
SALESOLOGY
example, $5.00 a day, 60% of which is profit,
or $3.00 a day, or a little over $1,000.00 a
year. Go into whatever details you desire to
make these figures, but talk to him along the
idea that the $1,000.00 is his profit, and do
not confuse it with the payments he is to
make on his machine.
Now, of course, to be perfectly fair to your
prospect you should talk about some depre¬
ciation on the machine, because in the actual
course of events there is bound to be some
depreciation. The government in income
taxes allows a depreciation on machinery of
10% per year.
We do not know what to tell you would be
the proper amount for depreciation on the
machine. For example, we know of many of
the first machines sold by this company sev¬
eral years ago which are still in good shape
and doing a splendid business.
A merchant in Hammond, Indiana, owns
the thirtieth machine put out by this com¬
pany. It is doing a nice business today and
looks almost as good as a new machine.
Another man told me he knew of a number
of machines four and five years old that are
doing a splendid business and are practically
as good as new.
You personally will know of a lot of illus¬
trations like this, and can decide in your own
mind what percentage of depreciation you
want to use.
As a suggestion, use some such remark as
this: "The government in figuring income
[219]
SALESOLOGY
tax allows 10% for depreciation on ma¬
chinery.
"Now, let us use 20% depreciation to make
it good and strong. Figure the machine
makes $1,000.00 profit." Deduct 20% of the
sale price of the machine for depreciation for
one year and you will then have the amount
to talk about as profit.
For example, suppose the price of the ma¬
chine is $1,000.00 You are figuring on $3.00
a day profit which is $1,095.00 a year, count¬
ing on 365 days. Twenty per cent deprecia¬
tion on a $1,000.00 machine would be $200.00.
Subtract this from $1,095.00; it leaves
$895.00 profit to talk to him about.
If you then want to talk about profit over
a period of five or ten years work it out on
the same basis.
Another good phrase in talking about de¬
preciation is to say if the machine only lasted
five years, $200.00 is what it actually costs
him for the use of the machine per year.
(But with the right kind of care of this ma¬
chine it should operate anyway ten years.)
The point we are making, and which it is
important for you to fully understand, is
that you must not give the impression to
your prospect that he could buy this machine
with the idea of paying for it out of his
profits from the machine during the time in
which he has to pay for it.
You realize these machines are not sold
until they are paid for. You are interested
in getting the order and the down payment,
as it is necessary to have that to start the
[220]
SALESOLOGY
transaction, but you are as vitally interested
in the prospect paying out as we are, and
therefore he should be sold this machine on
a business-like basis, the same way every¬
thing else in the world that has a tangible
value is sold.
It will not be hard, if you will figure prop¬
erly and talk properly, to sell this machine
so that the customer will figure his profits as
profits, and his payments made to us just the
same as if he were paying on a building, on
some industrial or municipal stock he had
purchased, on an adding machine or cash
register, an automobile, or any other thing
that had tangible value and in which he was
acquiring a permanent equity.
The main point I am sure everyone will
understand is this: When you have the or¬
der and leave your customer, leave him with
the thought in his mind that he has bought
a permanent fixture that is good for at least
five, ten or an indefinite number of years, and
that will continually make him profit, and
that his paying us for the machine during
the time in which he has to pay for it should
not be confused with his profits.
Even if he only makes a dollar a day he
has still a splendid investment.
COMPARE BUTTER-KIST PROFITS WITH
PROSPECT'S PRESENT PROFIT
During your canvass and when you have
mentioned how much profit he would make
during one year, for example, $1,000.00, say
to him something like this:
[221]
SALESOLOGY
"Now, just for a minute, think what a
thousand dollars profit per year would mean
added to what you made last year. If you
made $10,000 that is 10% increase, if you
made $6,000, it is over 16%; or $3,000,
33^%."
In making this comparison you should set
the profit a little higher than what you im¬
agine he made, because that will compliment
him. All you are doing is directing his mind
as to how to make the comparison with his
total last year's profits, and it is a great deal
better for you to figure as though he made
more money last year than he himself knows
he made.
TALK 150% PROFIT ON POPCORN
We have mentioned several times that 60
cents out of each dollar taken in is profit the
machine makes on the sale of popcorn. This
is 60% on the sale.
Most mei'chants do not talk profit on the
sale, they talk profit on the cost. Therefore
do not use the words sixty per cent profit.
If you talk about this 60 cents mention it
this way—this is sixty cents profit out of
each dollar's worth sold.
If you want to talk profit on the cost,
which is the way this term is almost uni¬
versally expressed, say the man makes 150%
profit, because that is what he does make.
Here is the way this is figured: If he
makes 60 cents out of the dollar sale his
product costs him 40 cents. If he sold it for
80 cents he would double his money and
[222]
SALESOLOGY
therefore would make 100%. If he makes
60 cents on the product which costs him 40
cents, don't you see he makes 1 V& times what
his product costs him, or 150%. Therefore
in talking profits, particularly when you are
making comparisons with the profit on other
things he has in his store, use the words
150% profit.
Let us repeat. Use these phrases—sixty
cents profit out of every dollar sale—one hun¬
dred and fifty per cent profit on the cost.
Do not use the words net or gross profit—
just say profit. We say that because if you
say net profit you are in danger of getting
into an argument on the subject of overhead,
and it is not fair to our proposition to talk
net profit because in all your comparisons
with cigars, candy, soda, perfumery, etc., you
are always talking about what is called profit,
and not net profit.
DWELL ON YEARLY PROFITS
In talking profits, after the prospect has
said how much business he thought he could
do per day, and you figure out the profit per
day, then in your following talk in regards
to profits, always mention the profit per
year, and it is also advisable to mention what
it would be over five years.
[223]
SALE80L0GY
CHAPTER XXXIII
TALK PROFITS—NOT VOLUME
STRANGE, but true, a very large per cent
of the owners and managers of all
classes of business (large or small) fig¬
ure practically everything on the volume of
their sales, and not on their profits.
The reason for this is obvious. It is easy
to figure the volume every day, while you can
not figure the profits.
Practically all merchants figure that the
larger the volume the larger the profits. It
makes no difference why people figure this
way—they all do it. We do it, and you un¬
doubtedly have been doing the same way all
your life.
The chances are, whatever line you have
been selling, you always talked about the
volume of sales.
Therefore, you must look this squarely in
the face, and as our machine is not a volume-
getter, but is a profit-getter, you must im¬
press on your prospect, large or small, that
this machine is not a volume-maker but a
profit-maker.
Business men, when they stop to think of
it, are many times more interested in the
real net profits (the money they make) than
they are in the volume.
You must explain to customers that you
are talking actual profits, and not volume
of sales. Five dollars a day profits added to
anyone's business means $1,500 extra profit
[224]
SALESO LOGY
a year, and would be all the way from 20 per
cent to 100 per cent of the total profits made
by most men you talk to.
To make $5 a day the merchant will have
to sell only about $8 worth of Butter-Kist.
You as a salesman must realize that even to
a small merchant $8 worth of gross business
does not sound like much of anything. Un¬
der ordinary conditions $8 worth of business
does not make him over $1 net profit; bub
even $2 extra profits per day, or $700 per
year, means a very large thing to him.
It would seem that it would not be neces¬
sary for you to explain these things, but to
some of the largest merchants in this coun¬
try it will be absolutely necessary for you to
drive home these points, or you will lose the
force of your best arguments.
A good phrase to cover this in short,
snappy language is that you are talking
"about profits, not volume of sales."
Grocers do not make over about 6 per cent
on sugar, and they even lose that in scooping
it out, and in waste, but suppose you count it
6 per cent.
They would have to sell more than $75
[225]
SALESOLOGY
worth of sugar in a day to make the same
profit they would make off of the sale of $8
worth of popcorn.
As they make only about 30 per cent on
the sale of candies, they would have to sell
upwards of $20 worth of candy to equal
the same profit.
It takes more clerk hire to sell the candy,
more string and paper, and much more space.
Butter-Kist profits beat candy profits and the
best part of it is the Butter-Kist machine in¬
creases the sale of candy.
Now and then you will meet a merchant
who will say it will cut down his candy sales.
On the contrary, it will increase them im¬
mensely.
I always use the statement that if the ad¬
dition of a Butter-Kist machine would cut
down the sale of anything else, it would de¬
stroy the whole underlying principle of every
department store or other stores that handle
more than one thing.
It is just the reverse—the more things a
man handles, the more he sells of everything.
This thing of comparing the different
profits and volume of various things your
prospect handles is a very important subject,
and you should work up a lot of different com¬
parisons as you go along. •
You should have several different com¬
parisons for each line of merchants you visit,
so you can always make several comparisons
of the goods the man to whom you are talk¬
ing is handling.
[226]
SALESOLOGY
The profit in Butter-Kist is such that you
can always show it up favorably.
Your most clinching argument to prove
that there is money in popcorn is one I al¬
ways use. Popcorn is the only thing with
which the man on the street corner can make
enough in six months to keep himself and
family the rest of the year.
The peddler rarely has business ethics or
scruples. He will sell anything on earth—
legitimate or illegitimate—out of which he
can make a nickel.
He is not worrying about repeat business,
or whether what he sells is good. Still pop¬
corn is the one thing that more of them sell
than anything else.
Isn't it a shame that the merchants should
pay the taxes, build the monumental build¬
ings, and be the leading men in the commu¬
nity in civic affairs, and still not make money
out of popcorn, the most delicious of food
products.
As we said before, we feel certain every
merchant believes without question that
there is profit in popcorn, and there is money
in selling Butter-Kist. But just because we
have said considerable about proving there
is profit in popcorn, as a general proposition,
we do not want to give the impression here
that we think you should dwell at any great
length on this subject.
However, we do advise laying stress in
every canvass on the fact that you are talk¬
ing about profits and not volume.
[227]
SALESOLOGY
TALK SMALL
We caution you against using exaggerated
figures as to the possible profits your pros¬
pect can expect. It is many times better for
you to sell a man on the basis that he will
make $2.00 or $3.00 per day than $10.00 per
day.
If it turns out to be $10.00 instead of $2.00
or $3.00 as you have talked, it is much more
to your advantage.
The fundamental basis under which we
started to market this machine was this:
"Wherever it will make the merchant $1.00
per day clear profit, it is a wonderful invest¬
ment for him."
As referred to previously in this book, we
give you one positive rule: Never leave any
merchant, no matter how large his shop,
without having talked to him about this ma¬
chine being a good investment for him at
$1.00 per day profit—how $1.00 per day
profit on the space required will show re¬
markable figures as compared with the rest
of the store.
Let us repeat—many a sale is lost by over¬
stating the case. To build for confidence you
must make reasonable statements.
STATEMENTS TO AVOID
In your canvass avoid positive and exact
statements of this kind:
"I know you will make enough to take care
of subsequent payments."
[228]
SALESOLOGY
"You will certainly do a $5 or $10 a day
business."
"Your location is good for at least $6 to
$10 a day."
"I know positively you will do $3 to $10 a
day."
"I know you will do as much as Jones or
Smith has done, who made $1,200 last year."
"If I did not think you would do at least
$7 or $8 a day, I would not talk any longer
with you."
If a man buys and you have made any such
statements as above he is liable to become
dissatisfied with his machine even though he
is getting a splendid return on his invest¬
ment. The point is: Do not make positive
statements as to the exact amount of money
that your prospect will take in or the exact
amount of profit that he will make,
[229]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XXXIY
WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO SEE "HIM"
WHILE brilliancy of mind and quick¬
ness of wit are important factors in
selling a high-class specialty proposi¬
tion, such as ours, the best thing after all is
a matter of hard, consistent work.
Thomas Edison says: "Success is 1 per
, cent Inspiration and 99 per cent Perspira¬
tion."
We would hesitate to set a definite time as
the ideal moment to interview a man. If we
tried to do it we would very likely say: When
you can get the undivided attention of the
prospect. But that would lead most men to
think that the only time to see the prospect
was when there was no one in the store.
When, on the other hand, the real fact is,
the merchant feels the best when there is a
big crowd in his store.
Don't you see, the more you talk about
this, the more you think about it, the harder
it is to come to any decision; so the only
thing for you to do is just keep working.
If there are a lot of people in the store,
you can figure that he ought to be in the
mood to buy. You can work up more en¬
thusiasm in a busy store than you can in one
that is like a graveyard.
In this instance you should do your best to
get the prospect to go outside and talk with
you, or go into the back of the store or into
his office. Still, because there is a big crowd
[230]
SALESOLOGY
in the store do not figure that he cannot talk
to you.
Remember, you are bringing him a won¬
derful proposition, worthy of any man's con¬
sideration and attention.
SATURDAY A GOOD DAY TO SELL
Don't argue yourself into believing that
you cannot sell your prospect on Saturday
afternoon. Grocery salesmen, of whom there,
is a big army, have a very good reason for'
not interviewing their customers on Satur¬
day.
Unfortunately, most traveling men seem to
feel that Saturday afternoon is no time for
them to go to see prospects. It seems to me
that the smart man selling specialties would
therefore figure that Saturday afternoon is
a splendid time for him, as he does not have
to compete with a lot of drummers selling
crackers, yeast, cigars, etc. Let us repeat,
do not stop work on Saturday.
NIGHT WORK PAYS
Work at night! If there is any one time in
the day when your prospect's mind is free, it
is right after supper, when he has just come
back to the store from a good meal at home.
If during your interview you do not close
and have to come back to see your prospect,
our advice is to return right after supper.
Don't let your desire to go to a moving pic¬
ture show or talk with the boys in the hotel
keep you from doing this, as, if there is such
a thing, as a proper, psychological time of
[231]
SALE SOLOGY
day to close an order, our judgment would
say it is between 7:00 and 10:00 o'clock in the
evening.
We do not ask our men to work twenty-
four hours per day, but our experience has
shown that we have paid a lot of big com¬
mission checks for night work. Dozens of
orders have been closed late at night.
We know of several instances where the
signature has been secured about 1:00 or
2:00 o'clock in the morning. Personally, I
think if there is any part of the day a man
selling Butter-Kist machines would ordina¬
rily sacrifice to other things, it would not be
the evening.
HANDLING INTERRUPTIONS.
Retail merchants in many ways are soul-
trying people to call on, not that they will
not treat you right (because they will if you
look respectable, and carry yourself in a dig¬
nified manner, and approach them with con¬
fidence in yourself), but the very nature of
their business is such that it makes it hard
for a man to give them a good, concentrated
canvass.
During an interview, right in the middle
of what to you appears your best and most
eloquent argument, someone will come in for
a nickel's worth of chewing gum, and up
jumps your audience. It is extremely aggra¬
vating, but is a condition that cannot be
changed.
When he comes back, and just before he
gets to you, you should invariably say some-
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SALESO LOGY
thing about the machine or the conversation
where it broke off, because while he has been
waiting on his customer he is very likely to
have framed up a remark that he is going to
spring on you, something like this: "That
sounds good to me, but you come in next
trip."
Just as he comes back, and before he has a
chance to say anything I usually say some¬
thing like this: "While sitting over here, I
have been noticing that space over there.
That seems to be an ideal place for the ma¬
chine." Or, "While I have been sitting here
waiting I have been admiring * * *"
[something you know it is reasonable to ad¬
mire or that he probably takes pride in].
Never give him a chance, before you have
driven in your arguments, to start to put you
off. If you feel he is going to do this, or
even after he has said the first word or so,
and you know what is going to follow, if you
can do it without being rude, say, "Excuse
me, but I forgot so-and-so," and break right
in on him, or say, "Excuse me, but may I
have a drink of water?"
In other words, don't let him tell you to
come back again, or that he does not want
the machine, or any of those things, if you
can possibly avoid it, until you have had your
full swing at him.
If your conversation seems to be lagging,
and the man doesn't seem to be paying atten¬
tion to you, or you have apparently lost your
snap, or he has taken the interview away
from you by talking about something else, it
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SALESOLOGY
oftentimes is well to break in, even in the
middle of a sentence, and say, "I wonder if I
could have a drink of water?" Or, "How do
you like that little electric drink mixer?" Or
if you are looking out of a window, stop and
say, "What kind of a machine was that that
just went past?"
In other words, throw the conversation off,
clear away from the proposition; but don't
delay long in getting back to talk on Butter-
Kist.
Of course, you have to let the man talk,
and it will do good to let him talk, if you can
help shape what he is going to say. That
can oftentimes be done by asking questions;
but again we repeat, use your wits to pre¬
vent a turndown before you have had your
say.
COMMAND THE INTERVIEW
Keep command of the interview. More
sales are lost by you losing control of the
interview than any single thing.
If the prospect, or you, get off the subject,
bring the conversation in a graceful and
sensible way back to Butter-Kist and B-K
Profits. Don't start a debate. Don't lecture
on general conditions, whether they are good
or bad, don't tell irrelevant stories. If dur¬
ing each canvass you will ask yourself "Am
I in command of this interview?" you will be
able to shape the conversation so you will
make many sales that you would otherwise
lose.
[234]
SALESOLOGY
I am trying my best in this book to show
you how to sell the B-K proposition. This
keeping command of the interview is a very
important thing. Do it, and see an increase
in your commission checks.
[235]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XXXV
TALK FROM THE CUSTOMER'S VIEW¬
POINT
REMEMBER your prospect is not much
interested in you, your family, your
hobbies, or what you have to sell, or
your company. He is interested in himself,
his family, his friends and his business. So
when you are making your canvass, talk to
him from his viewpoints.
Talk to him as though what you are saying
is what he is thinking. Thus: "Of course,
you realize everyone, including the so-called
better class of people, those who have money
to spend, love popcorn." "You have undoubt¬
edly noticed how moving things attract peo¬
ple." "You know everyone loves popcorn
and can eat it, but everyone cannot eat
candy." "You realize the advertising value
of this machine," etc.
"I'll venture you were one of the first men
in this town to see the advantage of selling
advertised package goods." (Give a few illus¬
trations.)
If you see any other evidences of up-to-
dateness, mention them, if you can without
apparent flattery.
Then say, "I know you can paint the future
of this machine as well as I. I am sure you
can grasp the marvelous possibilities of it
right here in your store. With many things
it is hard to see ahead, but the future of a
toothsome, wholesome, universally loved
T2361
SALESO LOGY
dainty like Butter-Kist, made right, dis¬
played like nothing was ever shown before,
is like an open book to anyone who knows
human nature."
In this way, in a certain sense, you tickle
his vanity. You have often heard a speaker
refer to something or somebody you never
heard of before, and have heard him say, "Of
course, you know about so-and-so," and then
proceed to tell all about it.
If you would stop to think, you would
know that he was "kidding" most, if not all,
of the audience, but you don't look at it that
way. You just think what an ignoramus you
have been not to have known all about Greek
mythology, or astronomy, or whatever he is
talking about, and you sit up and look wise
and believe all that he is saying to you. This
is a common practice of all speakers. You
can cash in on the same tactics.
If you can get your man to agreeing with
you on a few points, you can direct him to
agreeing on some of the more essential, and
the first thing you know he will be selling the
machine to himself.
"I DON'T BLAME YOU IN THE LEAST"
Our idea of salesmanship is for you to try
to turn every objection your customer makes
as to why he should not buy the machine into
a good reason why he should buy it.
We do not know of a better method of
meeting these objections than to say to the
prospect that you do not blame him in the
least for looking at it the way he does, as
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SALESOLOGY
the objection he has given is only natural,
but here is the reason his objection is not
valid.
Read again what we have said about the
aroma of corn on page in this book, as
there is an illustration of this.
We want you to get in the habit of using
as one of your stock phrases, "I don't blame
you in the least." Or, "Mr. , it's nat¬
ural for you to say that."
By agreeing with your man you take the
wind out of his sails, then you are in a posi¬
tion to prove to him how foolish is the objec¬
tion that he gave you, and after you make a
remark such as we suggested you are able to
do this in a more or less indirect way with¬
out giving offense.
If you will tell a man you agree with him,
then positively disagree with him, you are
not within a hundred times as liable to start
an argument as you would be if you jumped
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SALESO LOGY
on him with both feet and showed him what
a ridiculous statement he has made.
In reading the book this far, you will see
we have tried to convey the idea that what¬
ever objections a man makes to buying this
machine, if you are a real Butter-Kist sales¬
man you will be able to turn that objection
or excuse into a good reason or argument as
to why he should buy the machine.
PLAY TO HIS VANITY
We don't advise you to go around promis¬
cuously "handing out con," as nothing will
disgust a business man more than to have a
man carry flattery to the ridiculous or non¬
sensical degree.
Nevertheless every merchant, or for that
matter, everybody is more or less vain, and
is susceptible to sincere praise and honest
compliments.
As you are doing everything in your power
to make your prospect appreciate the mes¬
sage you are bringing him, it is perfectly
right and proper for you to use every phrase
or statement you can think of to put his
mind in the proper attitude.
It is perfectly right and proper and advis¬
able for you to show an appreciation of
things in his store that are worthy of praise.
In every place of business there is some
one thing that will stand out above others.
Single out this one thing and make some com¬
plimentary remark that your prospect will
appreciate.
He may have an attractive window, an at-
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SALE SOLOGY
tractively arranged store, special scales, or
cash register. You can speak about his light¬
ing fixtures or soda fountain.
In doing this you must show absolute sin¬
cerity, and be extremely careful not to put
yourself in the attitude of a flatterer, as that
is offensive to the normal man, and instead
of making his mind receptive it has just the
opposite effect.
GETTING HIM TO SAY YES
As you are bringing him a wonderful thing
to make him money, as you are thoroughly
sincere in knowing he can make money, and
as you know the best thing you can do for
him is to sell him a Butter-Kist machine, you
should take advantage of every psychological
thing that will help you to do what you went
into his store to accomplish.
One of the best things is to get him to
saying "yes." Get him to say "yes" by put¬
ting questions to him so worded that there
can be no answer but "yes."
For example—"You have heard of the
enormous profits in popcorn"—"You know
that billions of packages of it are sold every
year"—"You would like to expand your busi¬
ness?" etc., etc.
[240]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XXXYI
DOES NOT HAVE THE MONEY
IF all the excuses given as to why men do
not buy from a salesman were tabulated,
I suppose the excuse, "Does not have
any money," would show on the record about
a hundred times as often as any other.
Of course this is the commonest and easi¬
est excuse. It also seems to be the most
final. If a man does not have the money,
how can he buy?
If a specialty salesman paid very much at¬
tention to this excuse he would never re¬
ceive any commission checks.
I have often said the salesman insults his
own intelligence when he pays attention to
prospects who tell him they do not have the
money.
Before you go in to see a customer your
intelligence ought to tell you in the majority
of cases whether or not the prospect is so
situated as to have enough money to add this
machine to his business.
I think the best way to answer this excuse
is to pay very little attention to it. Go right
ahead talking about profits and business to
the prospect just as though he had not said
anything, or possibly sort of smile at him and
say: "That is what everyone says, but the
factory is over-sold," or say: "Possibly you
do not have $200 or $300 in your pocket, but
have it in the bank, or can get it."
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SALE SOLOGY
I contend that cases are very rare where
the people to whom our men try to sell the
Butter-Kist machine do not have sufficient to
make our small down-payment, or cannot get
it, so when this excuse is given to you, just
remember there is some good part of your
story you have failed to impress on the mind
of the prospect.
Please bear in mind that a man does not
consider himself lying, and he is not lying,
when he tells you he does not have the
money. You have said that dozens of times
when people have tried to sell you goods.
Everybody says the same thing. What they
mean is, they think they do not have the
money to spare.
I don't believe I ever met a man, rich or
poor, who had what he might call money to
spare. Some of the men who are the hardest
up for cash are really rich men.
One of our most successful salesmen told
me about a year ago he could not understand
how so many of his customers had taken ad¬
vantage of our discount for all cash, because
as he recollected it, practically everyone of
those who had taken the discount had told
him that they did not even have enough
money to make the down-payment, still after
getting the machine, they paid the entire
balance and took advantage of the discount.
As I recollect the circumstances, he told,
me of fifteen to thirty different sales he had
made where they afterward took the cash
discount who had told him they did not have
the money to make even the down payment.
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SALESO LOGY
If this book has done no more good than
simply impress on our salesmen the fact that
the people do have money, notwithstanding
what they tell you, all the trouble we have
gone to in writing it and publishing it has
been justified.
Here is a line of argument that is very
effective when you meet the objection of "I
haven't got the money."
Say to the1 prospect, "How many years
have you been in business here?" Suppose
he says ten years. The salesman inquires as
to the prospect's volume of business, or vol¬
unteers what a similar business would do.
For example, if a man should say he is do¬
ing $20,000.00 worth of business, you would
then say "That is $200,000.00 for ten years;
6 per cent, on the volume is very low, but if
you have made only that much you have
made $12,000.00."
"Now! doesn't it seem reasonable if you
have worked for ten years and have done
$200,000.00 worth of business, and do not
have the money to put into a thing like this,
you should be on the lookout for something
else?
"In other words, if you are doing all that
business and cannot figure out how you can
spare enough to buy this machine, isn't it
the sensible thing for you to make up your
mind that it is certainly time for you to add
something to your business so you can have
some money to take out of it?
"Here we bring you a machine that will
make you money," etc., etc.
[243]
SALE SOLOGY
OTHER LINES OF ARGUMENT
Not that we advise you to always use
them, but so you will have a ready answer to
this excuse, "Do not have the money," we
will give you our idea of some other lines of
argument.
"It is only natural that you should not
have enough in your pocket to pay cash for
this machine, or possibly not in the bank, nor
is it unreasonable that you would not even
have enough for the down payment, but you
can get it.
"A manufacturer who does not borrow
some money is not supposed to have much of
a business. Every large jobber, wholesaler,
manufacturer, and even the railroads, all
have times when they borrow money."
"How in the world would the banks make
any money if it were not for the people who
borrow from them? Business is run on
credit.
"It is not a question of your getting the
money that is going to cause you to buy this
machine. It is, 'Are you willing to let it
make you money?'
"I believe you are, and I want to show you
some more statistics to further prove it."
Then go ahead and read him some of our
testimonial letters, and talk profits.
By the class of goods the merchant is sell¬
ing, the kind of store he has, and his general
appearance you ought to be judge enough of
conditions to tell whether or not he can raise
the small sum required. Always give him
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SALESO LOGY
the benefit of the doubt and assume he can
raise it.
Right here would be a good chance to men¬
tion some large sum that has just been bor¬
rowed by Armour, Ford, U. S. Steel or any
of the large corporations, as shown in the
papers 365 days a year. If possible cite some
bond or preferred stock issue offered for sale,
in the advertising columns, by a local con¬
cern. This gives you an opportunity to men¬
tion some very large sums of money which
by comparison makes the amount you are
asking him to borrow seem like a paltry sum.
HARD TIMES
Hard times is a relative matter. Some
merchants always plead hard times, no differ¬
ence what the state of their business affairs.
The country was never so prosperous but
what there would be sections where you
would hear the cry of "hard times"—"poor
business," etc.
All through this book you are given argu¬
ments, and even the language, to combat
these excuses. As each salesman that works
for us, or anyone else, will, at different times
hear the cry of "hard times"—"business too
poor for me to buy," therefore let us look
the excuse "hard times" squarely in the face.
When men are out of work they loaf. Men
will not stay at home continually. They
must go down town where they can meet
their buddies and their friends. While loaf¬
ing they eat peanuts, popcorn, smoke cigars
—they spend money that they would not
[245]
SALE SOLOGY
spend if they were employed in their usual
vocations.
Several years ago a party in Wilkes Barre,
Pa., who owned a hotel, told me that the sa¬
loon did the largest business when the miners
were on a strike.
During 1907, a year of depression, a well-
known brand of smoking tobacco with which
you "roll your own," did the largest business
that year in its history.
That is just another illustration that
proves that when men are idle/ or when
money is "tight" practically every business
dealing in nickels, dimes and quarters is
benefited.
This is not idle speculation. It is business
history. Every time a business depression
has hit a community the business based on
the smaller coins has boomed. During a
year of depression two large Five and Ten
Cent Store Corporations did more business
and made more money than they did in
"boom times."
When people feel that they must econo¬
mize they go to the movie instead of going
down town to the more expensive shows. In¬
stead of paying a dollar a pound for candy,
they buy five, ten and twenty-five-cent con¬
fections. Naturally, the Butter-Kist business
comes in for its share.
FACE CONDITIONS
Naturally, you would never enter a store
to talk "hard times," but if there is great
unemployment in the city where your pros-
[246]
SALESOLOGY
pects live, or the crops are poor, or the prices
are low, or the men are on a stike, and you
know these things, it is not policy to over¬
look them. It is good sense and good sales¬
manship to admit the conditions as they are
and make such conditions the reason why
the Butter-Kist machine is just the thing
your prospect should buy.
A lot of men plead hard times in their own
business, claiming that something has hap¬
pened that will cost them a lot of money.
They are going to put in a lot of fixtures,
etc., etc.
Whenever you hear the words "hard
times" don't fail to make a big point of that
condition being just the reason why he
should buy this machine. The money he will
make from it will be all velvet, and without
investment other than the cost of the ma¬
chine, which is going to be paid for by the
dimes, quarters and half-dollars from the
other people.
This book is full of illustrations of how
you can take an excuse made by a prospect
or an existing condition and turn it to your
advantage. This is capitalizing your resist¬
ance.
If you are in a community where times are
really hard and your customer is in the habit
of thinking "hard times," he certainly is not
averse to listening to someone sing the song
of profits, more money, increased business,
etc.
It isn't necessary to tell you not to talk
"hard times." But if the merchant starts it,
[247]
SALESOLOGY
don't lose your courage—in fact, talk it hard¬
er than he is talking it, admit it, prove it to
him, and then use your wits and your world
of convincing arguments, illustrations and
logic to prove to him that you have in the
Butter-Kist machine the thing that will posi¬
tively and unquestionably turn his business
from hard times into good times.
[248]
SALESO LOGY
CHAPTER XXXVII
PROSPECT WANTS A GUARANTEE
YOU have proven to your customer that
he can make two, three or four dollars
per day and he says, "All right, I will
take the machine if you will guarantee me
$3.00 per day."
Answer this by saying, "That's fine. I'll
do that if you will give me $10,000.00 for the
machine. Will you do that? Three dollars
per day is a thousand dollars per year, which
is 10 per cent, of $10,000.00. You cannot
ask anything any fairer than that.
"I am not asking you to pay $10,000.00 for
the machine nor even half or quarter of that
amount. I am simply asking you to make a
small deposit as a guarantee of good faith,"
etc., etc.
[249]
SALE SOLOGY
CHAPTER XXXVIII
DON'T MISREPRESENT
TRUTH is stranger than fiction. One of
the brightest men in this country once
said to me that he did not think it ad¬
visable for us to publish our strongest state¬
ments.
He said he knew of no business that could
publish such strong statements as we can if
we want to, and he felt if we published the
real facts of the big profits a lot of people
make with our machines, we would hurt our
business.
His point was fundamental. If you go out
and tell your average prospect all about the
huge business that has been done on these
popcorn machines in innumerable instances,
you are liable to give him the impression that
he will do a volume of business that is all out
of reason, and that your own sense and good
judgment should show you he could not do.
In selling specialties and handling high
tension, high-class specialty salesmen, the
hardest thing a salesmanager has to contend
with is the unbridled enthusiasm of his men.
While you are a keen, wide-awake, highly
trained salesman, with wonderful persuasive
powers, and it is your duty to sell your goods,
you still owe it to your prospect and to your
future as an H. & H. salesman not to over¬
sell him. The trouble with an enthusiast is
that he is very liable to be unbalanced, going
too far in one direction.
[250]
SALESO LOGY
With the remarkable human interest argu¬
ments and appeal that you Tiave with our
machines, there is no reason in the world
why any salesman should ever misrepresent
or why he should overstate.
Bear in mind that your sale does not con¬
sist in just getting the order. It consists in
so thoroughly selling the customer the busi¬
ness and the whole Butter-Kist idea that you
will impart to him your enthusiasm for the
business, so he will make the success he
should and so he will do the all-important
thing—pay for his machine and be a satisfied
customer.
I long for words and illustrations to burn
into the brain of every one of our salesmen
the great importance of not misrepresenting.
We have put in bold letters on the first
page of this book—don't misrepresent—and
we mean every word of it.
To me it is not an evidence of brains or
cleverness for a man to misrepresent this
machine. It is exactly the opposite. Every
time a salesman misrepresents he does great
damage to himself and to his future. He is
unfair to his prospect, and is not living up to
our slogan, build for confidence—and above
all he is doing an irreparable damage to the
reputation of the house of Holcomb & Hoke.
Men, the line of the least resistance is the
course always taken by the weakling.
When we allow a man to sell our goods, we
take him into our family—place confidence
in him—and feel that he owes it to himself,
to us, to his family, and his future to respect
[251]
SALESOLOGY
that confidence by representing us according
to the lines we have laid down, the funda¬
mental basis of which is to be honest and
square with the prospect or customer.
[252]
SALESO LOGY
CHAPTER XXXIX
NO EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS
MANY of your prospects will want the
exclusive right in their town or their
block. Unless you head them off in
such a way as to thoroughly convince them
that there is no possibility of their getting a
concession of this kind, you may land in an
argument that will lose you all the ground
that you have gained up to that time, and
possibly lose your sale.
There is no way you can grant such a
thing as this, and under no circumstances
will we allow any salesman to give any ex¬
clusive rights. This is one point in our pol¬
icy on which we stand firmly; no salesman
is allowed to make the slightest promise of
exclusive rights, directly or indirectly, per¬
sonally or otherwise, because it is wrong, un-
salesmanlike and illegal.
Not long ago I was before the board of
directors of one of the largest corporations
in this country, arranging for the sale of a
considerable number of machines, and this
question was brought up by one of the im¬
portant officials of the company. Here is the
way I answered it:
"There is positively no way in the world
that we could grant such a request as you
ask even if we wanted to. We sell the ma¬
chine outright, and the man who buys it and
pays for it can do with it as he pleases, and
as we deal absolutely on the square with
[253]
SALE SOLOGY
everybody, we will not, even to get this big
order, fool you by making a promise that
would be impossible for us to live up to.
"It is not within our power according to
the laws of the United States and the way
we are selling our machines, for us to agree
to this."
This closed the argument, and the sale was
made.
Realize that when a merchant talks this
way you have sold to him your ideas and
your machine, but you have not reached the
point of getting his name on the dotted line.
You must be prepared for this with unan¬
swerable arguments.
We will not try to put words into your
mouth, but we strongly advise every man to
give a great deal of thought to this very par¬
ticular part of his canvass.
The less you can say on this subject the
better off you will be. We say a great deal
about this so as to give you different illus¬
trations. But again we repeat, make your
answer to this short, sweet and to the point.
The house will not allow any man to make
any exclusive proposition under any circum¬
stances. This rule must be obeyed. The
slightest deviation from this rule is cause for
instant dismissal.
Here is the common-sense thing of this
proposition. There is no law in the United
States that would cover the situation, or that
would make our contract binding if we gave
exclusive rights. So long as there is no
law covering the matter we cannot do it. If
[254]
SALESOLOGY
we did we would lay ourselves liable to no
end of lawsuits and legal complications.
For several years we have been selling
these machines outright. The men who own
them can do what they please with them.
They can pick them up and move them next
door to any of your customers or any of your
prospects.
With this statement of facts we trust we
have clearly shown the importance of this
matter, and the impossibility of our giving
any exclusive rights.
It is absolutely dishonest, unnecessary and
extremely hazardous for any salesman to
promise a customer that he, the salesman,
will not sell to any other prospect in that
town or that block.
You may change your territory, and even
if you do not change your territory you are
giving the impression that the company will
not do it, which we have shown you the com¬
pany has no legal right to promise.
Remember, the prospect looks on you as
the Company.
In making a promise of this kind you
would also be disobeying one of the funda¬
mental rules of our business, and showing
poor salesmanship, because if you will study
what we have said here about no exclusive
rights, and will follow the same line of argu¬
ment I followed in talking to the directors of
the large corporation mentioned herein, you
will never lose a sale by your failure to grant
these so-called exclusive rights.
It is just another case of taking the line of
[255]
SALE SOLOGY
least resistance, and doing one of those
things that cause the house trouble, and is
the worst kind of misrepresentation.
It is extremely bad business to give any
kind of an exclusive proposition, as our ex¬
perience shows that whenever you make a
deal like this it usually happens that you kill
the opportunity of making another sale. .
It means many dollars in your pocket to
stand firmly and solidly on our decision and
use every ounce of your gray matter to whip
into line any prospect who brings up this
question.
We have plenty of statistics to prove that
the more popcorn machines there are in a
town the better it is for everyone.
We know of a little town of 5,000 popula¬
tion which now has four machines in it, each
of which is doing more business than the
first original machine did while it had a
monopoly.
[256]
SALESOLOGY
CHAPTER XL
PROHIBITION BOOSTS BUTTER-KIST
BUSINESS
ON January 16, 1919, a thing happened
that I believe in five hundred years
from today will be looked back upon
as one of the greatest events in the world's
history.
America on that day sealed and delivered
a verdict of capital punishment for John Bar¬
leycorn. In doing this it freed this country
and started a movement to free the world of
man's worst enemy—a thing that never
had any excuse for existence—that always
dragged men down.
Man's best thought and effort have always
been centered on building up the minds of
men spiritually and intellectually.
Rum nullified this effort—even destroyed
it in untold cases. Now rum is gone, thanks
be to God and the good sense of the Ameri¬
can people.
This opens for us a great field. Men must
spend money. Now they will buy confec¬
tions, and (what interests us more) Butter-
Kist popcorn.
Our statistics show our best and most per¬
manent business has been in dry territory.
Those who have been drinking will now buy
Butter-Kist. It will satisfy them the best of
anything eatable.
It has been proved beyond question that
candy sales were greatly increased when
[257]
SALESOLOGY
temperance came in. Men who had been
drinking turned to confections, sodas, butter¬
milk, and particularly to Butter-Kist pop¬
corn.
They think of the folks at home and buy
for them.
Tell your prospects how this reform will
greatly help their candy sales, add a large
volume of profit to their soda fountain, and
help them sell many more cigars, as well as
how it will make big money for them when
they install the Butter-Kist popcorn machine
you are going to ship them.
The more optimistically you can talk about
a man's own business, supported with all the
facts at your command, the more you will
put him in an optimistic frame of mind, and
the more you will make him appreciate his
ability to undertake the purchase of the But¬
ter-Kist machine.
Eminent authorities show that from two
to three billions of dollars have been spent
annually in this country for liquor. I think
it conservative to say another two billion will
be saved or gained in this country through
the increased capacity of labor, the lessening
of crime, insanity, other social evils, etc.
This makes a yearly difference to America
of four to five billions in money alone.
Taking it at four billions, it means $40.00
per inhabitant. If you are in a towm of 1,000
people this means $40,000; in a town of 10,-
000, $400,000; a town of 25,000, $1,000,-
000 per year.
Statistics prove that a large amount of
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this money will be spent for confections,
sodas, and a goodly share for Butter-Kist
popcorn.
HOW PROHIBITION BOOSTS GENERAL
BUSINESS
United States Senator Capper, of Kansas,
says:
"As a strictly business matter, Prohibition
has paid big dividends in Kansas. Kansas is
one of the very few states in the Union with¬
out bonded indebtedness.
"On the basis of property assessed for tax¬
ation, Kansas has the greatest per capita
wealth in the Union—$1,773.00 for every
man, woman and child in the state.
"Business men found the men who were
dead beats under the saloon influence became
men of good standing. Bad accounts were a
rarity.
"Thirty-two Kansas counties have aban¬
doned their county poor farms."
The general manager of the Santa Fe Rail¬
road Company, of Topeka, Kas., says the
books of the company show their shop men
turn out more work consistently and prompt¬
ly the year around than the men of any other
railroad shop; 72 per cent, of the married
men in these shops own their own homes—a
showing not made by any other railroad
town in America.
Governor Bicket, of North Carolina, says
the enrollment and attendance of their pub¬
lic schools have increased more than 21 per
cent., the school fund of the state has in-
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creased more than 85 per cent., deposits in
banks have increased over 100 per cent.,
building and loan associations have increased
in value more than 250 per cent.
Prohibition is a great victory for the moral
forces of this country. It means big things
for the Butter-Kist business.
We are desirous of having all our men for¬
tify themselves with every possible argu¬
ment to convince their prospects that the
closing of the saloons gives them an added
opportunity for business. Especially the
business of selling Butter-Kist popcorn.
Use these facts in your canvass. They will
help you sell B-K machines.
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CHAPTER XLI
HOW BIG WILL THE BUTTER-KIST
BUSINESS GROW?
BEFORE our machines were nut on the
market, less than one package of pop¬
corn per inhabitant of the United
States States was consumed per year. Our
machines alone now supply more than one
package per inhabitant.
As we have said elsewhere in the book,
one of our men recently sold 225,000 cartons
in a town of 100,000 people in less than four
months. We have records showing that in
some communities there is a consumption of
over 30 cartons per inhabitant per year.
Our records of carton sales show that
there are hundreds and hundreds of towns
where the consumption of Butter-Kist in a
year's time averages all the way from 5 to
25 cartons per inhabitant.
This, as you compare it with the progress
of consumption of other products, shows how
amazingly easy it is to increase the per cap¬
ita consumption of popcorn, once you supply
the people with a handy, attractive means of
buying it, such as the Butter-Kist machine.
One thing we have proven beyond ques¬
tion of a doubt, is that all the popcorn busi¬
ness needs is a wider distribution of Butter-
Kist machines. Basing your judgment on
the proven facts and figures you can readily
see that there is room, on an ultra-conserva¬
tive basis, for at least ten times as many But-
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SALE SOLOGY
ter-Kist machines as there now are in this
country.
Only 60 per cent, of the male population
use tobacco, still look at the millions of
cigars, cigarettes, etc., that are sold, and look
at the amount of people in the tobacco busi¬
ness, and look at the great industries built
up around it.
What is the reason back of this great to¬
bacco business? The industry has not
reached such immense proportions in France,
or in most of the foreign countries. Why is
this? Because in America we have general
distribution. Tobacco is easy to get. You
can't walk a block in any retail section of
any hamlet or large city without finding
from one to a dozen places where you can get
tobacco in many forms.
Everyone likes popcorn—men, women and
children. There are at least four to six times
as many people who would eat popcorn as
would use tobacco.
Yet popcorn is comparatively hard to get.
Again we say that what the popcorn business
needs is more Butter-Kist machines. Make
it easy for prospects to buy Butter-Kist—
records prove they'll buy it. And the more
machines there are, the more they will buy.
In time ten will buy where one buys now.
If there had been only one man, who had a
good basic patent making automobiles, there
would not have been one-hundredth part of
the automobiles there are now in use. It
would have taken fifty years for the automo¬
bile industry to advance to where it is today.
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SALESOLOGY
It is the competition to sell the machines
that has created interest in them.
At first people were afraid to buy autos,
for fear it would hurt their credit. Now
thousands of people who never owned even a
horse and buggy own autos, and their credit
is not hurt. It has become the proper, popu¬
lar and business-like thing to own a machine.
Each automobile sold has helped to create
the demand for more automobiles. Jones
buys one and brings it home. Smith and
Brown see Jones go riding in it—and they
want one and buy it. It's an endless chain
proposition.
The same psychology applies in the sale of
Butter-Kist popcorn.
An executive who makes over $50,000 per
year writing copy and formulating merchan¬
dising plans for a large advertising agency,
started the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company.
He had great resistance because the mer¬
chants did not think the women would buy
a thing like that on account of the fact that
they thought it would not sweep and clean
under chairs, tables, etc.
He formed three companies to sell carpet
sweepers. One was called the Bissell, one
the Grand Rapids, and one the Goshen.
If a merchant would not buy the Bissell, in
a week or so a man would come around from
the Grand Rapids. Then if the merchant did
not buy he would receive a visit from a man
selling the Goshen.
The Goshen man would of course tell him
he should buy the Goshen and not the Bis-
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SALE SOLOGY
sell or Grand Rapids—the Goshen was the
best, etc., etc.
By the time that about three men from
three different concerns had called on a
dealer he began to think that there certainly
must be something in the carpet sweeper
business, so he would decide to put in a few.
He immediately had respect for the busi¬
ness and started in to sell sweepers. When
one woman bought one she told another, and
since that time millions have been made out
of the carpet sweeper business.
Many a business has died from lack of
competition. It is our honest opinion that in
any town, no matter how small, if there were
two or three Butter-Kist machines, each man
would make more money than if there were
only one machine in town.
Everyone likes popcorn, but there is a feel¬
ing among some people that it is plebeian to
eat it. But when people once see it made in
a machine like the Butter-Kist, and see
others eating it, they will buy it and eat it,
not only in stores, on the streets and in au¬
tomobiles, but take it home.
A VISION OF THE FUTURE
As soon as Butter-Kist machines are
placed where people are in the habit of going,
such as parks, drug stores, groceries, etc.,
every time a person goes into these places he
will be attracted by the delicious aroma of
the popping corn, and see the attractive ma¬
chine, will instinctively think of Butter-Kist
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SALESO LOGY
—the fluffy, white tidbits with the toasty
flavor—and buy.
What the Butter-Kist business needs is
not a limited number of machines, but an un¬
limited number. Machines must be placed
all over the country—several of them in
every small town—hundreds of them in the
metropolitan centers. People cannot get
Butter-Kist without machines, therefore we
must have an unlimited distribution.
[265]
381. 1
H 7 2,3s