Page 40 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

bank. He was building a new home and wanted a few trees and shrubs. But he
cooled off when I said that our stock was small and that it took some years
for the trees to grow big. ‘What will they look like then?’ he asked. I tried to
explain and he said he would think it over. When I called back, he was still in
doubt whether to buy from me or from a local greenhouse. ‘The greenhouse
man has such a beautiful story about how nice and shady a fir tree would be
in one year that he has almost sold my wife. But if you want to tell your story
to her, it’s all right with me.’

“When I called at the teller’s home, I asked his wife to step into the yard and
look at the old brick wall of the apartment house they were living in. Then I
tried to picture to her how much more attractive that bare wall would be with
English ivy clinging to it, and the foot of the wall gay with flowers. This
seemed to make an impression on her. We talked a lot about the different
kinds of bushes and shrubs. She preferred lilacs, it developed, and said she
always liked the scent of the lilacs in the air. I kept telling her about the way
the place would look when it was finished and the shrubs and bushes planted
and fully grown.

“I got an order for $207 before I left, but it took me from two that Sunday
afternoon until six-thirty to get it. My commission was $29. Elated, I wrote
the firm about the way I made this sale, and got back a letter containing some
very good advice. This letter complimented me highly, and said: ‘Always
remember that when people buy nursery stock, they expect definite results.
It’s results they want, not a tree a foot high. Sell them results.’ I’ve thought
about that many times since. The other day, when I was talking to a farmer
about buying 100 apple trees of a new variety, I knew he wanted to know
how many apples the trees would bear. I pictured a whole orchard for him,
with fruit hanging on the trees. Of course, he realized as well as I did that the
trees would be tiny when he planted them, but he knew they would grow big
with the passing of time, and that eventually they would bear fruit. He wanted
to see a vision of results, and I helped him see the vision.

“Merely to quote prices on berry bushes, fruit trees, shrubs and other nursery
stock would never get an order for me. Most people, I’ve discovered, are
totally lacking in imagination. They are able to picture a thing only when it is