_He knows without reasoning._ He attempts to use logic only
when he is _uncertain_ what to think. If logic is used by the salesman
to convince the other man, it will be ineffective because it is an
unnatural means that the prospect almost never employs to convince
himself, and of which he is suspicious.

[Sidenote: Why Reasoning is Futile]

A major premise is but an assumption unless it is already known. If it
is known, why should it be proved? Since the correctness of the
conclusion depends entirely upon the validity of the premise, it is
evidently absurd to attempt to prove a truth from the basis of an
admitted assumption. The reasoning process that starts from a truth
already known, and arrives at a truth that must similarly have been
known, is utterly useless and a waste of time. Hence, _if you use the
reasoning process you will either fail to convince your prospect by
starting from a premise that he does not know, or you will irritate and
unfavorably impress him by seeming to reflect on his intelligence when
you prove to him something he already knows_. That is the wrong way to
bring your man to a "Yes" decision.

If the whole process of the sale could be summed up in just one logical
statement at closing, it might occasionally be practical for the
salesman to apply reasoning with good effect to help him secure the
decision. But the four steps, first and second premise, argument, and
conclusion, must be applied to every point that is made with reasoning.
Since the force of the conclusion is largely lost unless the major
premise is an absolute truth recognized by everybody, there is danger of
confusion, and no possibility of convincing the prospect by such
methods. Besides, a multitude of reasoning processes would be necessary
to cover all the points presented by the salesman and all the objections
raised by the prospect. Moreover, as we have seen, the whole procedure
of "a logical close" falls back upon itself unless everything the
salesman hopes to prove was known and admitted to be true before he
began to reason it out.

[Sidenote: Favorable Decision Defined]

_Favorable decision is the prospect's mental conclusion that it is
better to buy than not to buy; better to accept than to refuse._ The
process of securing decision is not complex; it is very simple. As has
been said, the salesman needs only to weigh before the mind's eye of the
prospect the favorable and unfavorable ideas of the proposal. _Any
weigh