SELLING LUMBER 



125 



acquainted with an absolutely perfect woman? Now, think of my 

 words : An absolutely perfect woman" ? "Well," she said, in her 

 quiet little manner, "I was never personally acquainted with her, 

 but I have heard a great deal about her. She was my husband's 

 first wife." (Laughter.) And so you see, first impressions are 

 very natural. 



Now, the subject that has been selected today is, Character 

 Reading as a Salesman's Asset; Character Reading as a Business 

 Asset; or the Psychology of Salesmanship; the specific psycho- 

 logical side of salesmanship. 



Now, my friends, as you know, salesmanship is a science 

 today; and when I used that word "science," I use it in exactly 

 the same way as I speak about the science of chemistry or the 

 science of astronomy. It is not simply the combined opinions 

 of any salesman or salesmen or merchants. That would not make 

 a science. The opinions of a chemist is not the science of chem- 

 istry. His opinions are entirely different, as a rule, from the ex- 

 periments that he makes in his laboratory, and you can't deny 

 the experiments, though you can deny his opinions. All opinion Salesmanship 

 is always shifting; but a fact that I can reproduce, that is perma- ^ ^Science 

 nent forever, for I can reproduce it forever. Now, that is the 

 thing we want to look into in our chapter of salesmanship, be- 

 cause you can't study the science of salesmanship in one hour; 

 you can't study the science of chemisty in one hour. What kind of 

 knowledge of chemistry would you have after you listened to 

 a lecture on chemistry for one hour ? How could you gain a 

 knowledge of astronomy in one hour ? So don't expect me, fellow- 

 salesman, to cover the art for you in one hour and I shall leave 

 off in the course of one hour. It is utterly impossible. I am 

 not going to attempt it, but I am only trying to give you the The (Definition 

 idea, in order to call your attention to the fact that it is a science, 

 so that you will get the professional spirit, so that you will feel, 

 if you are hired, like I am, by John Wanamaker I am hired 

 by John Wanamaker, but I am not working for John Wana- 

 maker ; I am working with John Wanamaker ; and there is a whole 

 lot of difference if you are working for a firm, or if you are work- 

 ing with a firm. "For" is a pile of sand grains. "With" is a tre- 

 mendous structure and becomes an engine of might, hammering 

 and bolstering success. 



Now, what is salesmanship? It is a science. Now, what is 

 science? There are two definitions that are current today among 



of a Science 



