SELLING LUMBER 



299 



One of the biggest assets of success for any traveling sales- 

 man to possess is the confidence of his customers, and there is 

 no surer or better way to obtain the confidence than by being 

 absolutely honest and truthful in your dealings with your cus- 

 tomer. By being honest with him is to nqver misrepresent or 

 tell him an untruth, even though you miss the opportunity of 

 selling a bill, and to never take advantage of his ignorance or 

 inexperience. If he asks you if you can ship a car of a certain 

 kind of material at once, and you know it is impossible, the thing 

 to do is to tell him so. In other words, a traveling salesman 

 is jeopardizing his business by making any kind of misrepresenta- 

 tion or telling any kind of untruth to get business. As sure as 

 you do your customer will find it out, and you have lost his con- 

 fidence and his trade. 



In addition to being honest with your customers or trade, 

 are you honest with your firm? Are you honest in giving your 

 firm the full time for which you are paid? Are you honest in 

 your expense accounts? Are you honest or truthful in your 

 statements? If you are not honest in all these things, it will not 

 be long before there will be a lumber salesman out of a job. 



Are you honest and truthful to your trade and your firm? 

 If so, how honest? You may record your per cent according to 

 the dictates of your conscience. 



jj. Self-Control. 



"Self-control" is the brake which our Creator has attached to 

 our mental machinery and is intended for us to apply or use when 

 we find ourselves in danger of slipping down the hill or over 

 the precipice into the chasms of error. Self-control is a product 

 of civilization, savages have none. Self-control is a fire escape 

 which keeps us from being consumed by our passions. It is the 

 safety valve which keeps our feelings from bursting into anger 

 or fury. Self-control is the stern guardian of our desires and 

 warns us against our follies, and is the vigilant watchman who 

 warns us always of the approaching danger with the oft repeated 

 words Think! Stop! Look! Listen! 



Self-control is a power which not only enables us to con- 

 trol ourselves, but others ; without it we would be weak ; with 

 self-control we are strong, and being strong we will be sure to 

 win. 



Are You 

 100 Per Cent 

 Honest? 



Self-Control 

 a Factor of 

 Efficiency 



