There is no great mountain in the world that has a natural, smooth road with an easy grade all the way to the top. Mountain climbing requires some hard work. It involves getting around, or going over, or removing many obstacles that block the path upward.

You will encounter similar difficulties, obstacles, and resistance on your way to success. If you cannot pass them, your ambition will be defeated. You will quit the climb, discouraged; or will be driven back, a failure. In order to assure your success you must now ascertain dependable ways to conquer obstacles. This advance knowledge will make them seem less formidable. Since you will have definite plans for dealing with the difficulties that may obstruct your path, you will not feel hopelessly blocked when you face them.

No great mountain has ever been scaled by a novice ignorant of the science, and unskilled in the art of climbing to supreme heights. But an expert mountaineer learns from mastering one peak something about how to climb others. He develops ability to conquer any and all obstacles he may meet. He proves repeatedly that what would be impossible to a novice is a certainty to him. He starts the most difficult ascent with absolute confidence that he will gain the top.

You likewise can feel sure of your ability to reach the highest peaks of success. In preceding chapters you have been shown how to take advantage of the easiest way up by following the guide marks of salesmanship at every step. Now we are to study the obstacles you will encounter, in particular the objections the prospect may raise to frustrate your purpose. At this stage of the selling process you will be like a mountaineer fighting in the Alps. It will probably be necessary that you overcome or evade considerable human resistance while you are climbing toward your goal.

Let us assume that you have already gained a chance to sell your capabilities to the particular man through whom you expect to succeed. He has heeded your knock and welcomed you into his interest. You have made such a presentation of your desirability and service value that he wants you to be associated with him. But now it will be natural for him to begin a critical analysis, seeking whatever faults he can discover or imagine in you or your proposition. Your success or failure in your ultimate purpose is likely to depend on how you handle the criticisms he raises. Therefore it is of vital importance that you learn in advance sure ways to gain your goal despite normal opposition

Recognize first that it is natural for your prospect to raise objections, whether he is favorably impressed or not. His resistance to your purpose may be only a precaution. Perhaps it does not indicate opposition at all. He may want you to convince him you are all right; so that he will feel entire confidence in his own judgment when he finally does as you wish. Or he may object for no other purpose than to test you thoroughly. If this is the case, his sympathies will all be with you while you are dealing with the obstacles he puts in your way.

Evidently objections of this sort should not be handled the same as the objections of opposition. It is necessary that you distinguish between the two kinds and that when dealing with each specific objection you determine in your own mind what is its source. There should be nothing in your method of handling the obstacle that might antagonize your prospect. You should take fullest advantage of his every inclination to cooperate with you in his thoughts and feelings. He may be “pulling for” you strongly when he seems to be “bucking” the hardest.

An objection really is a favorable sign. If you call upon a prospective employer who, after hearing your presentation, begins to find fault with it and with you, or tries to evade your proposal, you may be sure that you have carried him along a considerable distance toward the accomplishment of your purpose. He objects or evades because he is on the defensive. “You have him going.” He is wary, and so takes measures for self-protection. The moment your prospect begins to raise objections in your way, he indicates that he is not entirely comfortable in his own mind about escaping from your salesmanship. He has felt the tug of desire; but he does not feel sure yet that you deserve his confidence, or else he has a pretty positive idea that in this matter of your possible employment his interests and yours are different. He is looking out for himself.

However, you have come with a true service purpose. You believe he needs you; that you can satisfy a lack in his business. You feel your interests and his are alike, not different. You know that you have no intention “to put anything over on him.” You want your prospect to be absolutely satisfied with what you propose. Therefore you should welcome every chance to convince his mind and win his confidence. An objection affords you an opportunity to overcome it, and so both to strengthen your proposition and to weaken his resistance

You should not, however, bring up objections that the prospect has not raised in his own mind. That would be putting up a straw man and knocking him down, which is profitless and unconvincing. Of course you must clear the path when there is no other way to proceed, but do not block it yourself. Sometimes it will not be advisable to clear the path. If you can get around a difficulty you see, without attracting your prospect’s attention to it, you will be wise to go some indirect way to your goal.

Suppose, for example, that you know the salary you want is higher than your prospect has been accustomed to pay. It will be good salesmanship for you not to refer to the amount you have in mind, until after you have carried him along with you to consider the profits he will make from engaging your services. Since you plan to show him that these profits will pay your salary, you will be wise to avoid the matter of your compensation until you have approached nearer to the successful conclusion of your selling process.

Almost every difficulty and opposition you are likely to encounter can be anticipated. Don’t wait until you come face to face with an obstruction in the way of success. Let forethought carry you imaginatively into just such a situation. Think yourself out of a possible difficulty before you actually get into it. Then you can win the respect of your prospect by proving on the spot that you are not a man who can be dodged or blocked, or cornered. Every time you pass an obstacle, you will be a long step nearer to success in selling your services.

Suppose an employer says to you, “You are too young. You have had no experience in this line of work.” You cannot deny your youth and you should not defend it as if it were a fault. Nor can you claim experience you have not had. But it is unnecessary for you to indicate any feeling that inexperience is a demerit. An ordinary applicant might be discomfited by such resistance to his purpose. If you are a skillful salesman, you will be prepared to deal with this very obstacle and will turn it to good account. You can say at once:

“Because I am young, I am adaptable to your methods, instead of being set in ways that might differ from yours. True, I am not experienced. Therefore, I haven’t any wrong ideas to unlearn. Think of me as raw material that won’t have to be re-made, and that can be easily shaped as you want to form it. I realize it will take some work on your part, but the product will be satisfactory to you when it is done. It seems to me that the only question involved is whether or not I would make it worth your while to do the work on me. The fact that I have come to you of my own choice proves I really want to be employed here. I assure you now that I will make my services worth any pains you take to teach me your methods, and I will be just as eager to remain as I am to start.”

Analyze this method of dealing with any particular obstacle. Plan to get rid of the obstruction completely, leaving the way ahead smoothed. When the objection of the prospect is so skillfully disposed of, his desire for your services is stimulated. He wants you more, because he likes you better now that you have cleared away the obstacle. Thus you have utilized the objection as a help in selling yourself successfully. Just so a mountain climber uses the rocks he encounters as holding places to help him climb higher.

Your prospect may say that he has no need for such services as you offer. He may state reasons why you are not needed in his Business. But if you have prepared yourself thoroughly, each disclaimer of his lack, every suggestion of an objection, will give you an opportunity to prove in some specific way your service value to him

The president of a manufacturing company had an ironclad rule that all positions in his business were to be filled by promotion. He never hired a new employee except to start at the bottom. A competent young office man applied for a situation. He was turned down flatly. The company’s policy was quoted as the reason. He met this obstacle in a new way.

“One of the principal reasons I came to you, Mr. Blank, is that I hope to benefit from your rule myself. I want to get into a company where I will know that the way to advancement is sure without going outside for my chance. But by my experience in other employment I have developed certain capabilities that would warrant you in making an exception to your rule, in my case.

“You do not audit your own books. Yet you have been self-auditing your methods of office operation. Another thought I want to suggest. You know that in the royal families of Europe the stock runs down because they don’t get in fresh blood. I would not advocate a change in your general policy. But you have already made an exception to your rule in having your books checked by a public accountant whom you engage by the year for that purpose.

“I propose to bring in the outside viewpoint for the study of your office system, with the expectation of suggesting possible improvements. I want to introduce fresh blood, and yet to become part of your organization family. It is sound business for you to engage me because I am from the outside. You need an auditor of your operations as much as an auditor of your accounts.”

This view of the matter had never been presented before to the employer. It won him over to the proposal. The new man broke in where every preceding applicant had failed.

Thus far we have considered actual obstructions, real blocks in the salesman’s way. Now let us turn our attention briefly to obstacles that are only apparent, to resistance that is but a feint.

Your prospect may try to put you off. Or perhaps he will attempt to evade uttering a downright refusal, and instead will make some sort of an excuse for not doing what you wish. If you dignify these artificial or merely apparent obstacles by treating them as real obstructions, you will hinder your own progress toward success.

You have secured your chance to present your services for purchase. You have made real progress toward the successful accomplishment of your ultimate purpose. Nearly always if you let yourself be put off for any reason, without making a definite advance toward your final goal, you will lose some of the ground already gained. When your prospect attempts to evade the issue by making an excuse or by postponing further consideration of the subject, he tacitly admits that your position is strong. But if you have to start the selling process all over again at another time, if you let him put you off when your position is strong, you will be weaker when you attempt to resume your sale.

Should you be put off, do one of two things. Either disregard the evasion entirely and go straight ahead with your selling process; or, if you consent to the postponement or evasion, take advantage of your strategical position of strength to make a definite advance toward the accomplishment of your purpose. For examples of the two methods let us consider suppositious cases.

Your prospective employer might say, “I’ll think over your application. Come in next week and I’ll let you know my decision.” You can handle this evasion effectively by going directly ahead and proposing, “I am perfectly willing that you should think over my usefulness to you, but during the week you are considering me for future employment, let me actually work on the job. If you decide that you don’t want to keep me, tell me so at the end of the week and there will be no charge for my time.” You will be driving straight toward your goal, not even pausing when he attempts to put you off

This effort at evasion or postponement might be handled in a different way. You could say to the prospective employer, “Very well. I will return in a week for your decision. Meanwhile I will submit some additional references as to my character and energy. I ask also that you permit me to save a week instead of wasting it. I should like your permission to spend this next week in your office, studying the job. Then if you decide to employ me, as I believe you will, I will be already broken in.” Such a proposal is hard to refuse. While you would consent to the postponement or evasion of decision, you would be strengthening your own position.

In one way or the other you can make progress. Either you can brush the evasion aside and carry your prospect through to the closing stage of the sale of your services, or you can close an intermediate sale on the spot, as in the second illustration.

Do not, therefore, treat evasions and postponements as real obstacles. Even in case you cannot induce your prospect to go ahead with you, or close an intermediate sale, you can avoid being blocked by his attempt to put you off. When he sees that he cannot get rid of you by his subterfuge, he will be forced to make a real objection. He will not give you another weak excuse after you have disposed of his first attempt to evade. When he tries to block you by making a real objection, after the failure of his excuse or postponement, he will fall right into your plan of the sale. You will be all ready for the objection he states. You will know exactly how to handle it and turn it to good account so that his opposition will be weakened and you will add to your strength.

Let us suppose your prospect comes out with the flat statement, after you prevent him from putting you off, “No, I have made up my mind not to add any new employees for the present.” He thinks that settles the question. In reality it affords you a sales opening. You retort, “Your attitude is perfectly right. You do not want to add to expense. I should feel the same way myself, were I in your position. However, I am not going to be an expense. I shall be a money-maker. I know you have no objections to increasing your profits.” His opposition would have given you your lead.

A man applied for a position in a bank. Business in general was dull; so the president tried to put him off. The position sought offered any one filling it opportunities to develop increased business for the bank along certain lines. Thus the objection of dull times was plainly unsound. The applicant felt, however, that it would be a mistake to urge very strongly his ideas about increasing the business. He believed the president would not accept them if fully stated. So the young man met the attempted evasion by drawing the banker on to a step that committed him only to the beginning of the program outlined.

“I appreciate that business is not rushing at present,” he said. “Therefore you will have time to study how I propose to develop some new business. If you were very busy, you would not be able to investigate my plan thoroughly. You may not care to put it into effect just now, but while you have comparative leisure let me give you an illustration of ways in which my idea can be worked out.

“It is unnecessary to discuss salary or a definite engagement at present, if you prefer to wait awhile. But with your permission I should like to come in here for a month and demonstrate a few of my ideas in actual practice. At the end of that time I will show you a chart of the results.”

The evasion was turned into a selling aid. The banker, naturally desirous of making additional profits, could not very well turn down such a proposal. He would have felt a little ashamed to accept services without paying for them. Therefore he gave the applicant a chance and agreed to pay him a moderate salary from the beginning. The new man went to work immediately, and very soon demonstrated such value that his compensation was increased to an entirely satisfactory amount.

Already in this chapter you have been warned against handling an objection in such a way that the natural antagonism of the man who makes it will be increased by your method of dealing with his opposition. When he resists you, or puts obstructions in your way, you of course must take the measures that are necessary to enable you to proceed with your purpose, notwithstanding the obstacles he raises. But if he acts antagonistic, be careful not to appear to fight back. Avoid making the impression that you regard him as an opponent. Your difficulty in closing the sale will be lessened if you keep him from feeling at any time that he needs to adopt measures of self-protection against you.

When your progress is obstructed, it is necessary that you use a very high degree of diplomacy and tact. This will carry you much farther toward your purpose than any manifestation of naked force. Of course you must meet many objections squarely. You will encounter obstructions that cannot be avoided, opposition that will not step aside. There will be occasions when it will be necessary for you to employ force. But you can always conceal “the iron hand in the velvet glove” if you exert your force in tones and with gestures or movements, rather than by making word statements. The art of suggestion can be employed as effectively at the objection stage as at any other step of the selling process

Let us assume that you are a greenhorn. But you believe yourself capable of filling a certain position. You apply for it. Your prospective employer questions your capability because you lack experience. He refuses your application, and declares he is unwilling to run the risk of having you make mistakes that might be expensive to him.

You know that you are very careful, and that you would not take any important action on your own responsibility if you were in doubt whether or not you were right. You feel that his objection is unsound; that he is exaggerating caution. But it would certainly be a mistake for you to say, “Nonsense!” That would make him bristle.

Of course you want to show him that you do not take his objections seriously. You can make the right impression by smiling at his statement. You can reinforce the effect of your smile by making a horizontal gesture with your hand. If you shake your head slightly, force will be added to your denial of incapacity or rashness. It may not be necessary for you to say anything. Possibly your suggestion will be stronger if you simply ignore the point he has raised against you. Usually, however, in such a case it is best to employ a few quiet words in disposing of the objection; though chief reliance should be placed on the suggested meaning behind the statement.

I recall the case of a man who handled an objection of that sort by first smiling while shaking his head and making a gesture of negation, and then said, “I could not lose much for you, but if I were reckless or irresponsible I certainly would lose for myself this opportunity that you see I want very much. I have a great deal more at stake than you. You may be sure I shall not risk losing my chance to succeed, by causing you any losses.” The tone used was the heart pitch of sincerity, with the final assurance in the deeper tones of power. The tone and the manner of the applicant for the position indicated such strength that the prospect felt the weakness of his objection and did not persist in it.

When you make a direct admission of the point the prospect raises against you, have a strong answer ready and give it to him at once. Otherwise you will not rid his mind entirely of the objection. In most cases it is preferable to make only an indirect or qualified admission of the point raised. Then the objection, not having been strengthened by your full confirmation, can be overcome without the use of much force or power.

If your prospective employer says to you, “We are not making any money. I do not intend to put on a new man,” diplomacy requires you to admit unequivocally the truth of his assertion that his business is not profitable. He may be exaggerating a temporary condition, but he would take offense if you should question his blunt statement. Therefore agree with him, and having prepared the opening with your tact, introduce to his mind agreeable ideas of satisfying his want for profits. You might say, “I realize business is poor. That is one of the reasons I come to you just now. If you were making plenty of money, you would not appreciate the value of my ideas for increasing your profits. The results of the work I propose to do might not be sufficiently conspicuous among other large earnings to attract your especial notice. This period of depression gives me the very opportunity I need to prove to you that I would be a money-maker, and not an expense to you. Surely you would like to have me demonstrate that. All I ask is a chance to convince you. Judge me by the results.”

Analyze this unequivocal admission of the validity of the objection. Such cases can often be handled most effectively by granting the point raised, directly and without any reservations, and then answering the objection in such a way that it is completely removed as an obstruction. This is good salesmanship.

Suppose, however, you feel the objection of poor business is unsound. Let us assume that this prospective employer you are interviewing has a dull season every year. Therefore the condition of which he complains is simply normal, and his objection is put forward as an excuse for rejecting your application. In such a case you do not want to make the obstruction more formidable by fully admitting its validity. Yet tact forbids you to deny its soundness. It will be better salesmanship to recognize indirectly the point raised than it would be to give your full agreement with the objection, as in the above example of an unequivocal admission. You might use such an answer as this:

“I notice, Mr. Blank, that you are making some extensive repairs on your factory. Though this involves additional expense in your dullest season, you are having the work done now because this is your slackest time. True, your profit showing at present will not be so good as it would be if you did not make the repairs. But the earnings of your business will be improved during your busiest season and you will avoid the extra expense of interrupting your production when it is at the maximum. This, of course, is the time to have your repair work done. It would not be good business to put it off.

“My proposal that you engage me now is directly along the line of your own policies. What I would do in your office might be called repair work. Your dull season is the time to have it done. I can introduce my efficiency ideas now without disorganizing your operations. Then, when you are busiest, the new system will be in perfect working order, for your service.”

When you study illustrations of the application of basic principles, do not give them merely superficial consideration. Examples are of slight value unless they suggest to you how you should use your imagination to make illustrations of your own in actual practice of the principles. Whatever your need for help in selling your services, and whatever difficulties you may have to overcome or get around, you will find in the pages of these books cues to the methods of certain success. Evidently, however, the scope of the series of chapters must be somewhat limited. None of the answers to the major problems of salesmanship are omitted from the contents, but you must apply and fit the given solutions to your individual necessities.

Turn your thought now to the different bases of objections. It is of the utmost importance that you know whether the obstruction is raised by the mind or by the heart of your prospect. Mental resistance can be met and overcome by ideas, by points introduced by your mind into the mind of the other man. His heart may not be involved. But if there is “feeling” in his opposition, it is necessary that you displace it with a different feeling toward you and your proposal. The heart of your prospect must be turned from antagonism to friendliness, if it is involved in an objection. Therefore when a point is made against you, decide from the evidence whether the obstacle raised has an emotional or a mental basis. Treat it accordingly. Use your own mind principally in dealing with the purely mental objection of the prospect. But depend on drawing out his heart with yours if his emotions are involved in his opposition.

Suppose you have a plan about engaging in a certain business. You have worked it out carefully and are confident that it is “a winner.” But you need financial backing. So you go to a man who has money, and apply to him for a loan. He listens to your plan. When you finish explaining, he refuses your request. He uses the mental tone of cold business when he states his reason. “You offer me no security. I am not in the habit of lending money without it.” His words and manner indicate that he has listened to your plan without the slightest feeling of sympathy for your purpose. His emotions have not been stirred. He is turning you down simply because his mind is opposed to the form of investment you propose for his money. It would be futile for you to make an emotional appeal to this man, in the hope of getting rid of his mental objection. He would be disagreeably impressed were you to attempt to stir his heart. You cannot offer him the security he has in mind, but you need not be balked for that reason. It is possible for you to make an appeal to his mind only, and to suggest to him ideas of security that he has not considered.

“Mr. J.P. Morgan,” you might remind him, “when asked the basis upon which he loaned money, replied, ‘Character, principally.’ I offer you the security that Mr. Morgan considered most important. You know my reputation is good. You perceive that my plan is sound, and that I have thought it out thoroughly. You do not expect me to lose money. I have proposed to protect you as fully as possible by agreeing in advance that I will take no step until after your approval has been given. Therefore, in addition to my character, I am offering you the security of your own mature, sound judgment on all operations.

“Don’t you believe that my squareness, guided by your advice, would secure you? I have applied for a loan of only ten thousand dollars. You will absolutely control the expenditure of the money. You know, therefore, that at the worst I could not have a large loss. I have offered you life insurance to protect you against the possibility of my death within the next five years. It is altogether improbable that I should have a loss of as much as a thousand dollars in the new business. Certainly you have sufficient confidence in my ability and integrity to believe that I could and would repay you a thousand dollars with interest before the expiration of five years. I expect, and you expect, that my venture will prove successful. I have planned a sound business enterprise, free from the dangers of speculation. With the cooperation of your judgment, your loan would be a secure investment. I believe you are now convinced of that.”

Notice that the objection is dealt with powerfully; yet there is no appeal that is aimed away from the prospect’s mind. For this very reason his sympathy with the proposal is likely to be stimulated. Such salesmanship often has the effect of enlisting the heart of the other man after removing the objection of his mind

Let us assume now that the prospect refuses to make the loan to you because he has been imposed upon before by some one he has backed. He may really want to lend you the money, but his heart has been so embittered by his previous experience that he turns a deaf ear to your proposition. His opposition is based chiefly on feeling. His heart, not his mind, is at the bottom of his refusal of your request for a loan. He would not be reached by the appeal that would be effective with the man in the first example. This second prospect should be addressed something like this:

“The experiences you have had hurt you, principally because they have made you lose faith in men. This, not the money involved, was your greatest loss. So long as you have only those experiences to think about, you will be unable to get back your former belief in human nature. You would like to recover it. You would be happy to feel that the men who abused your confidence were exceptions, and not the rule.

“If you will lend me ten thousand dollars, and I make good my promises to you, your new experience with me will go a long way toward restoring your lost faith in men. It is natural that you should feel embittered, but the taste in your mouth is unpleasant. Back me up. I will help you get rid of your bitterness, and will replace it with a glow of satisfaction. You cannot doubt that I will make good. You should not let your old prejudice stand in the way of the gratified feeling you will have when I prove to you that all men are not unworthy of trust. After I justify your confidence you will be happier for the rest of your life.”

In the illustration the objection is dealt with emotionally; because its basis is feeling. No mental appeal is made. The salesmanship in this example is the direct converse of that in the previous illustration.

Usually, however, it is best to counteract objections by making appeals to both the heart and the mind of the objector. In most cases it is safe to assume that his mental opposition involves his feelings to some degree, and it rarely happens that an objection is so purely emotional that the mind of the prospect does not take part in it at all. So the rule of masterly salesmanship is to use neither the appeal to mentality nor the appeal to feeling exclusively, but rather to stress one or the other, while using both. If the objection appears to be based principally on opposition of mind, it is more important to reach into the prospect’s mind with the answer than it is to draw out his heart; and vice versa.

If the thought behind the objection arises principally from feeling, it will nearly always be expressed in an emotive tone. By this pitch of the prospect’s voice you can determine whether he is speaking chiefly from his heart or from his mind. Conversely, of course, the mental objection will be pitched in the high “head” tone. One of the most difficult features of dealing with opposition from the other man is uncertainty as to how much he means of what he says and does. It would be a mistake to take his resistance too seriously or too lightly. Therefore it will aid your salesmanship a great deal if you are able to discriminate between the mental and the emotional tones in which opposition is expressed. You can reply accordingly.

It is almost as important that you recognize the pitch of power when it reenforces the words of objection, and that on the other hand you note when the power tone is lacking. In the first case you will need to reply with considerable force, whether you appeal to the mind or the heart of the prospect. But when his objection is stated in a powerless tone, even though it may be accompanied by curtness or bluster, you need not waste much force on your answering appeal to his mentality or his emotions.

The mental tone, as we recall from previous study, is pitched higher than either the tone of feeling or the tone of power. The medium, heart tone is vibrant. It rings with sincerity. The power tone is deep, and most sonorous of the three. Keep your ears alert for these indications your prospect will give you unconsciously when he opposes your purpose. The discriminative reading of the tones of objections will greatly reduce the danger of “getting your wires crossed” when you reply.

If you have to deal with opposition expressed in the tone of power or with gestures of force, you will be safe in concluding that considerable feeling is behind the objection. Therefore it will be necessary for you to put both feeling and power into your answer. You should be careful, however, when you meet such resistance, not to make the impression that you are engaged in a contest of power with your prospect. Throughout the selling process avoid any suggestion that you are fighting back. Use the tone of force, not to indicate that your strength of purpose is greater than the strength of the resistance, but just to emphasize the basic soundness of your proposition. Thus you can suggest that you are sure of your ground, while you do not dispute the force and sincerity of the other man in making his objection.

Suppose, for example, you apply for a situation in a wealthy firm, and one of the partners turns you down most emphatically by saying that they can’t afford to engage any new men at present. You realize the firm may be losing money temporarily, but you believe that your services in the capacity you have outlined will be valuable to the partners. You can come back firmly and not retreat an inch from your position. You need not antagonize by manifesting your determination to have the merits of your proposal given due consideration. You know your prospect feels pretty strongly on the matter of increasing his payroll while business is unprofitable, but you should make him recognize that you believe so thoroughly in your earning capacity that you feel you would justify him in disregarding the temporary depression, while he considers your service worth.

As we have noted previously, it is important to know, at the time an objection is put in your way, whether or not it is really meant. When deciding in your mind on the right answer to this problem, you will be helped very much if you size up not only the tone pitch of the objection, but also the units of tone employed by the prospect in his expression of opposition. If he refuses your application, but uses just one tone, you may be sure his negative is not strong. If you do not strengthen it to stubbornness by antagonizing him, but use tact to get rid of his resistance, you will not find it difficult to melt away the obstruction.

However, should the “No” be spoken in two or more tones, with increased stress at the end, your prospect certainly means his rejection to be final. His mind is fully made up for the time being. It would be poor salesmanship to butt your head against his fixed idea, just as it would be foolish to tackle a strong opponent when he stands most formidably braced to resist attack. But the two or three toned negative does not mean that the idea behind it is fixed in the prospect’s mind forever. Any one is prone to change his mind, unless he is kept so busy supporting a position taken that he has no chance to alter his opinion.

Therefore leave alone at first the rock you encounter. Get behind the boulder by taking a roundabout path. Then quietly dig the support from under the negative idea. If you make no fuss while you are undermining the obstacle, it will be likely to topple over and roll from your path without your prospect’s noticing that it has disappeared. If his interest is diverted from it, there is no reason why he should turn his mind back to a stubborn insistence on his objection. Should he be conscious that the rock of his earlier opposition has rolled away, he will probably think it lost its balance. He will not realize that you subtly undermined it and got rid of it by your skillful salesmanship.

A salesman of an encyclopedia met a prospect who refused to give favorable attention to him and his proposition.

“No sir-e-e!” declared this objector, shaking his head emphatically. “No more book agents can work me. The last slick one that tried to swindle me is in ja-a-il now, and I put him the-ere!”

He gloated in two or three tones.

“Good for you!” praised the undaunted salesman, who had come prepared for adamantine obstacles in his path. “If more book buyers would see that such rascals get what’s coming to them, the rest of us salesmen, who represent square publishers squarely, would not have to prove so often that we are not crooks like some fellows who have happened to precede us in a territory. Please tell me the name of the man who swindled you. He might hit my publishers for a job after he gets out of jail, and I want to warn the boss against him. Sometimes those slick rascals pull the wool over our eyes, too. We are always on the lookout to avoid getting tangled up with them.”

The salesman pulled out his note book and pencil. When the name was given, he wrote it down painstakingly. He asked the prospect to spell it for him; so that he would be sure to get it right. Then he thanked the man who had said he would have nothing more to do with book agents. Having “got around” the objector, the salesman proceeded with his selling talk on the encyclopedia, as if he had not been turned down flatly to begin with. In less than half an hour he had secured the signature of the prospect to a contract for the finest edition.

If this salesman had not been thoroughly prepared to meet the strongest kind of mental and emotional opposition, he could not have come back so quickly with the appropriate answer that undermined the obstacle. You should be likewise ready for the “tough customers” one hears about. Practice in anticipation various ways of handling every imaginable objection. Then, when you face an actual difficulty, you will either have on the tip of your tongue a solution of the problem, or your forethought will assist you to devise on the spur of the moment the way to work out the right answer. Again we observe the importance of full preparation, in assuring successful salesmanship.

No quality is more important to the salesman than resourcefulness. Its first requisite is knowledge, particularly advance knowledge of the points that are likely to come up in the course of the selling process. The second is a mind trained to act quickly and effectively in using its knowledge. If you have these two essentials of resourcefulness, no objection will ever catch you napping. It will do you no good to look up the right answer after you leave the prospect. Nothing can be more exasperatingly worthless than an idea of something you “might have said” but could not think of until too late. Have all your facts on tap. And be practiced in making use of them in every imaginable way. Rare indeed will be cases that you are not prepared to handle successfully.

I know a salesman who trained himself in resourcefulness by typing on about fifty cards all the objections to his goods or proposition that he could imagine. For ten or fifteen minutes every evening he played solitaire with these cards. He would shuffle them, held face down, and then deal off, face up, objection after objection. He never could tell which was coming next. In a few weeks he had trained himself to give an answer instantly to each objection, and to utilize it as a help instead of a hindrance in his selling. Thereafter opposition and criticism from prospects had no terrors for this salesman. He was able to get rid of objections so swiftly, surely, and completely that they never had time to grow formidable in the mind of the other man.

Only a little less important than resourcefulness in meeting objections, is adaptive originality in answering them. The “pat, new” reply is always very effective. But do not unduly stress the value of the factor of originality alone. It must be coupled with adaptation to the particular viewpoint of the other man. You must speak his language, if you would be sure of making him understand you perfectly.

For example, suppose you apply to a watch manufacturer for a position in his office. He seems inclined to question your dependability. You will make a hit with him if you quote a detail from one of his own ads and say, “I have a seventeen jewel movement,” and then particularize that number of good points about yourself. Such a reference preceding a specification of your qualities would be adaptive originality. It would be an expression exactly fitted to the way this prospect thinks. So it would be more effective than an ordinary answer to the objection. Adaptive originality in disposing of objections is a manifestation of tact and diplomacy the fine art of letting the other man down with a shock absorber instead of jolting him to your way of thinking.

When your prospect starts objecting, it is up to you to prevent him from wandering far afield. At the objections stage, as at every other step in the selling process, you should dominate the other man. Tactfully keep him concentrated on the subject and on your application. If he starts to grumble that some man he has engaged previously was “no good,” you can smile and reply, “You would not give me credit for anybody else’s fine work, and of course you do not blame me for what that fellow did.”

You know what points are relevant to the subject you have come to discuss, and what are not. Discriminate, and make the prospect follow you. Restrict your treatment of his objections to points, means, and methods that will keep his ideas from switching onto side-tracks of thought. When he wanders away from the subject, do not ramble with him. Promptly and diplomatically run his mind back on the main line of your purpose. You are operating a through train to success. You must not be diverted into picking either daisies or thistles by the right of way while your salesmanship engine stands idle

Tact and diplomacy include the qualities of patience and calmness. You cannot deal successfully with opposition if you are impatient or flustered. Patience understands the other man and avoids giving him offense; because it comprehends his way of thinking and is considerate of his right to his opinions. Calmness denotes a consciousness of strength. Hence it inspires admiration. Keep your patience open-eyed. See ahead. Do not chafe restlessly because the present moment is not propitious. A better chance for you is coming. Because of your vision have faith in your power to make it come. Whatever may happen, be self-possessed when you meet it. You can give no more impressive proof of your bigness. Your calmness will win the confidence of the other man. It will help in making the impression of courageous truth. Only an honest purpose can meet attack with quiet fearlessness.

The chief danger to the salesman at the objections stage is that he may lose control of the selling process. Be on your guard to prevent the other man from dominating you by his opposition. You have the advantage at the start. He cannot be so well prepared to make objections as you should be to dispose of them effectively. Keep the upper hand. If you have not antagonized his feelings, your prospect will admire you when he sees that he cannot dominate you and realizes that you will not let him have his own way. You will build up in him a favorable opinion of your manhood, intelligence, and power. He cannot help appreciating your art in handling him

Dispose of each objection in such a way that you will get yourself wanted more and more as you remove or get around the obstacles encountered. The prospect’s desire for your services should grow in proportion as you overcome his opposition. It is possible to use objections, or rather their answers, to strengthen your salesmanship so greatly that it will be easy to gain your object the job or the promotion you seek.

Therefore do not quail from the obstacles you meet. Recognize in each an opportunity to succeed in demonstrating your capability; a chance to increase the respect, confidence, and liking of your prospective employer. Remember, if there were no difficult, steep mountains to scale, the supreme heights of success could not be gained. So, with shining face, climb on and up undaunted!