question on seeing several different pieces of merchandise or sales packages, “What’s the difference?” A book salesman came into my office the other day. I told him I was too busy at the moment to ta lk with him, and he said, “I know you are busy – I call only on busy people!” He received my full attention. The old- fashioned statement, “Miss, is your mother home?” has worked successfully on many a doorstep, and you may be surprised to learn that it is still being used, and rather successfully too, on the newer generation. Often one word makes or breaks a sale, so weigh your words carefully before , not after, you use them. The Hollywood Casting Office It is the little things you say and do that put you across. Realizing this, the main casting office in Hollywood has abandoned the old statement to people calling up for assignments, “Nothing today,” and have substituted the words, “Call tomorrow.” I am told that this simple change in language is giving hope to many people who must call up, day after day, for assignments, and that the number of suicides was lessened by these two encouraging words, “Call tomorrow,” instead of the pessimistic “Nothing today.” It is not a pleasant thing to talk about “feet,” but it is quite proper to talk about your “foot.” Back in the days when Niagara Falls was the favorite place for newlyweds, there were leather wall pieces with pictures of Indians, dogs, beautiful girls, and other things being sold to the tourists. You perhaps have seen one of these leather pieces hanging in your grandparents’ home. One of them showed the picture of a dog with the inscription, “He won’t bite you.” This particular picture was a poor seller until one day the inscription was changed t o, “All I do is growl a little.” Sales tripled. The word “bite” in the poor seller evidently brought up a negative thought. Besides, the first caption was not as personal as the second, which was the dog’s own words, theoretically. Henry Ford changed a b illboard headline from “Buy a Ford and Bank the difference” to “Buy a Ford and Spend the difference,” and gained added good will from the merchants.
Watch your words. Look out for the wag behind what you say. Watch your bark.
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