Business English: A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig

strike was the cause of the delay in the shipment of the machines you ordered ----. The machines were shipped ----. Add a courteous close. =Exercise 269= Conduct a transaction of your own, using the above as a model, except in the method of payment. IV.--THE SALESMAN Salesmanship is a branch of distribution about which many volumes have been written. We cannot consider it minutely from the personal view of the salesman, but can only touch upon it from the point of view of distribution. The salesman is merely a force in distribution like correspondence, circulars, and advertising. But the salesman has the advantage over these in that he is able to bring his personality to bear in the problem of getting business. It is by means of his personality that the salesman gets the attention and confidence of the customer,--a thing which is extremely hard to do in a letter, a circular, or an advertisement. Securing a buyer's confidence is very important, because no suspicious customer has ever yet bought anything. In addition to a pleasing personality a good salesman must have a wide and thorough knowledge of his wares. If he does not know his goods, the sale drags; whereas, if he knows everything good there is to be known about them, his enthusiasm instills enthusiasm into the customer. After bringing his knowledge and his enthusiasm into play, he must next call on his perseverance and his tact; perseverance to keep at the customer until he gets the order, and tact to know in each case just how to go about getting the order and just when to stop. Many salesmen talk too much; many more do not talk enough. =Exercise 270= _Oral_ In talking on any of the following subjects be sure you know just what you are going to say before you begin, and then say it clearly and convincingly. Don't say too much and don't say too little. Just exactly how much you should say no one can tell you. You must watch your audience. If they look puzzled, give more details; if they look bored, try shorter, more concise sentences, or bring your talk to a close. After you have explained all your points, sum them up briefly at the end. Remember that your talk must, first, attract attention; second, hold the interest; and third, create enthusiasm and desire to buy. To supplement what facts you get from observation, study advertisements and catalogues to get material for (9) to (20) below: