Page 37 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

dollars, and he has sold as high as eighty machines in one week. His average
week, however, is about thirty-seven slicers.

How to Sell “Tailored-to-Measure” Suits

I

N THREE months, John Gleason “cleaned up” well over a thousand dollars
from the sale of men’s tailored-to-measure suits. But Gleason had been
making little or no profit from his selling activity in the previous months.
Indeed, as he himself put it, he was just another doorbell pusher. He had
difficulty overcoming the objections raised by prospects. He had trouble
finding men who were in a position to buy suits. And he experienced
disappointment when getting in to see prospects. As a salesman, Gleason
admits he wasn’t so “hot.”

To believe that he suddenly turned over a new leaf would be too much. He
didn’t. He did change some of his selling methods, however, and taught
himself to be at ease with people. It was due to his willingness to let an older
hand show the way, though, which enabled Gleason to climb into the big
money-making class.

“Living in the apartment above was a salesman I greatly admired,” explained
Gleason. “This fellow was a polished, suave chap, who had been selling for
years. When I got pretty well acquainted with him, I asked him for pointers
on selling. It was difficult for me to understand all the points he made. At
first I thought they were only theories so I did not take them seriously. I grew
more and more discouraged. I mentioned this to him. ‘I’m awfully sorry,’ he
said, ‘I’d like to do something to help you.’ ‘You can if you wish,’ I
answered quickly. ‘There’s a lot that you could teach me, if you would make
a call or two with me.’ He agreed to do so.

“It was arranged to call on some prospects together. I made the first interview
but didn’t get very far. It was a call upon a doctor who got rid of me in a
hurry. Outside the office, on the way to the next call, my friend was very
thoughtful and made no comment. When I lost the second sale, he said softly: