Analyzing Character: The New Science of Judging Men; Misfits in Business, the Home and Social LifeBlackford, Katherine M. H. (Katherine Melvina Huntsinger)
Science
Analyzing Character: The New Science of Judging Men; Misfits in Business, the Home and Social Life
Blackford, Katherine M. H. (Katherine Melvina Huntsinger)
Characters and characteristics; Success
According to the law of sale, desire is interest intensified. Interest may
be purely intellectual. Desire is a feeling. Interest may not even suggest
speech or action to the interested person. Desire infallibly suggests
speech or action. The woman who stands before a magnificent window display
of the latest fashions in evening gowns may be deeply interested in them,
but if, perchance, she be a modest, retiring, home-keeping woman with no
social ambitions, she doesn't even think of purchasing one. In fact, the
chances are that she would not accept it as a gift. She would have no use
for it. As a result, her interest in the display begins to wane and soon
she passes on. How different is the case of the woman who loves
excitement, attends many evening functions, and is ambitious to outshine
her friends! She stops before the window. She also is interested. The
longer she stands before the window and the more interested she becomes,
the more certain is she to begin to think about purchasing one or more of
the gowns, or of having one or more made upon these models. If she stands
there long enough and her interest continues to increase, she will soon be
making definite plans for gaining possession. In other words, her desire
for an evening gown has been aroused.
MAKE THEM SEE THEMSELVES ENJOYING POSSESSION
Ask any successful clothing salesman or saleslady what is the best way to
arouse desire for a suit, a cloak or a gown. Almost without exception they
will answer: "Place the garment on the prospective customer and let him
see himself in a good mirror and in a good light." In this way the
individual actually sees himself enjoying possession. There is no stronger
stimulus to desire than this.
A young man of our acquaintance had a great contempt for spring and fall
overcoats, and had never purchased one. One day, after he had ordered a
suit from his tailor, the salesman said: "Mr. Jenkins, you ought to have a
spring overcoat to wear with that suit."
"A spring overcoat!" scoffed Jenkins. "I never wore a spring overcoat in
my life. When it is cold, I wear my winter overcoat. When it is too warm
for that, I am perfectly comfortable without an overcoat. Why should I
waste my money in a thing which is only ornamental? If I am going to
spend any more money on overcoats, I should rather put it into an extra
fine winter overcoat."
"Now, here is one of our very latest styles, Mr. Jenkins," went on the
salesman, ignoring the protest. "Just slip it on and see how it fits you."
The salesman held the garment invitingly, and, with a grudging warning to
the salesman that he was wasting his time, Jenkins slipped it on. The
salesman settled it upon his broad shoulders, smoothly folded back the
rich, heavy silk facing, and deftly swung a mirror into position.
"Fits as if it were made for you, Mr. Jenkins," he praised. "I tell you,
when you walk down the street in that overcoat in the bright, clear
sunlight of a spring morning, you look prosperous."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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