interviews will last. Sometimes when the salesman counts on staying an
hour he is through in five minutes and sometimes when he thinks he can
arrange things in fifteen minutes he finds himself strung up for half a
day.

The new prospects--there are three on this particular morning--he
handles in different ways. To one he has a note of introduction from a
mutual friend. To another he has written a letter stating why he wishes
to call and asking when it will be convenient for him to do so. The
third, whom he knows by reputation as a "hard customer" (in the slang
sense of the word) who will have nothing to do with salesmen of any
sort, he decides to approach directly, trusting to his own presence to
get past the girl at the front door and whomsoever else stands between
him and the man he wants to see. He does not write, because he knows
that the man would tear up the letter and he does not telephone, because
he knows that the man would not promise to see him and that if he were
to call after such a telephone conversation his chances for success
would be lessened.

Our salesman is careful with his appearance. He bathes and shaves every
morning and takes special care that his linen is clean and that his
shoes are polished. He does not ornament himself with a lot of jewelry,
and the material of which his suit is made is plain. He presents, if you
should see him on the street, the appearance of a clean, solid, healthy,
progressive American citizen. He is poised but he is not aggressive. He
is persistent but he is not obstinate.

The best public speakers, it is said, never get over a sinking feeling
of fear during the few minutes just before time for them to speak. It
vanishes as soon as they get to their feet or a very few minutes
afterward, and, strange as it may seem, it is this very fear that gives
them their power on the platform. The fact that they have the dreadful
feeling nerves them to strenuous effort, and it is this effort that
makes the orator. In the same way the best salesmen are those who never
get over the fear that perhaps they have not thought out the best way
to handle the situation ahead of them. They forget the fear as they
begin to talk to the prospect, but the fact that it is subconsciously
present makes the difference between the real salesman and the "dub."

Did you ever get to the door of a house you were about to enter and then
turn and walk around the block before you rang the bell? Did you ever