Page 64 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

from a small grocery store or market to a big public utility corporation. These
companies were located in every state in the Union.

“I was broke when I started out with this system, but it wasn’t long before I
was making real money. My first call was on a small factory where the owner
knew me from the old days when I sold him merchandise. I said: ‘I’ve got
something here which I’m sure you’ll agree is a mighty wonderful collection
stunt. There are a number of concerns which owe you money you think you
will never get. Well—look at this.” I opened up this mammoth portfolio of
reference letters and picked out the names of several leaders in his line of
business. He read the letters—every word of them. There isn’t a business
man in the country who doesn’t perk up with real interest when he sees what
his competitors are doing. ‘What’s the system you are selling?’ he asked. I
explained it to him, pointing to my samples and letting him examine the
entire method. ‘If you collect only one old account with this method,’ I said,
‘the system will have paid for itself.’ He agreed with me on this, and gave me
his order. The commission on this sale was the easiest money I had ever
made.

“My next six days were devoted principally to thinking up answers to
objections. Then I saw that it wasn’t an answer that was needed. These
objections became selling points when properly analyzed. I hadn’t been
inquiring about the total amount of the prospect’s bills receivable, but I
changed my canvass a little, and early in the interview brought up that point.
Most business men do not know how large an amount of money they have
coming until they look at a balance sheet. Then they are a little surprised and
often worried about it. When I’d ask a prospect what the total of his bills
receivable amounted to, he generally called the bookkeeper and requested a
statement. Intently he would consider that statement. ‘I guess we should use
some kind of system. How much did you say that one cost?’ he would usually
remark, and the order followed.”

Sullivan pointed out that he doesn’t make many calls in a day, since it often
requires as much as an hour for his selling interview. He averages ten calls
daily, however, and of these sells six, giving him a high percentage of
closures. His commissions run better than $8.00 a sale.