The Educator (Volume 45) - IAMPETH

16
Potent Points for Registrars
and Salesmen
William James, the great American
Psychologist, says that most people
do' not learn after they are 30 years
of age. The chief reason for this,
he says, is that after that age they
have "explored the mysteries of life,
and have gotten their food, shelter,
and clothing without speeding up, or
having to do anything unusual to
obtain it. Poor as they are in their
vocation they can still live. So it is
new ideas we all need. That is progress.
It is growth. If we do not
grow then we are not making full
use of our abilities and availing ourselves
of our opportunities. There
are always new ways of doing things,
new methods, new ideas. The purpose
of this little discussion is to
outline some methods I have tried
and found to be helpful in selling
business training courses to high
school graduates.
I believe that truth and sincerity
are the most vital factors in selling
anything. But especially intangible
things such as a business training
course. You have no samples to
show, you have nothing tangible to
display to your prospective customer.
I will "try, therefore, to outline a few
of the methods I use in contacting
potential prospects.
Let me begin at the beginning.
These days we all know there are
hundreds of salesmen selling all kinds
of products, some worth while, some
worth nothing, and the average home
of today is disturbed every few hours
of the day by some salesman. It
isn't any wonder that many times
women are reluctant to answer the
door bell.
To save time and to cut out the
dead wood, I make my first contacts
by telephone. In that way I have
caused the lady of the house less
trouble, and I have always been able
to get the information I wanted.
Having culled the possible prospects
from those who are definitely not
interested, I then proceed to make a
personal call at the home of those
who I feel may be interested. As I
said before, I very definitely believe
that truth and sincerity are the most
vital points in salesmanship. I proceed
to outline the various courses
we have, the advantage of one course
over another, and the length of time
it will take for a student to complete
any given course. Any kind of hig'h
pressure salesmanship on my part is
definitely out. I tell my story in a
truthful straight-forward way; I
show actual photographs of various
classroom activities about which I
will explain later. I show my listener
By H. E. Moore, The Taylor School, Philadelphia
the results of a survey which we conduct
with our former graduates two
or three times a year which show
what other students have done and
are doing, whom they are working
foi-, and the nature of their duties.
I am definitely opposed to a school
salesman telling a prospect anything
which he knows full well cannot be
fulfilled or will not be backed up by
the school. Be fully informed about
your school and insj^ire confidence by
your enthusiasm in telling what you
have to offer, instead 'of what your
competitor cannot offer. The less
said about competition the better.
If you must say anything, say something
nice; if you cannot do that, I
believe in saying nothing. It's just
a matter of following the age-old
policy of honesty. I believe that if
you are truthful and honest in what
you say, your statements will ring
true.
One plan that I have found to be
very helpful is the method I use in
getting the prospect to visit the
school. We all know that if we say
to a friend, "Come and see us sometime,"
the chances are he never
comes; but if you put it another way
and say to the friend, "We should
like to have you come to our house
next Friday night," he will come. I
set a time for a visit to the school
that will be convenient for all concerned.
I try to arrange for about
five persons to make the visit at the
same time. At the appointed time I
call at the five homes in my car and
take the prospects to the school.
While public school is still in session
these visits are made on Saturday
mornings. After graduation they can
be made at any time during the week.
While in school we show our visitors
the various departments explaining
how each functions, demonstrate
some of the office machines, and very
often when there is time, allow the
visitors to operate the machines
themselves just for the novelty.
Sometimes during the visit we project
pictures on the screen of our
extra curricular activities, social and
athletic. Fraternity and sorority
affairs are also included. The effect
is almost equivalent to a movie show
and makes a very lasting impression.
I usually write each visitor's name in
ornamental script on a little card and
give it to him-