In either case the point is
to enhance the impulse to buy and to suppress the opposing ideas. Yet
every one of these factors, when it starts from a man and not from a
thing or paper, changes its form. The influence becomes narrower, it
is directed toward a smaller number of persons; but, on the other
hand, it gains just by the new possibility of individualization. The
salesman in the store or the commercial traveler adjusts himself to
the wishes, reactions, and replies of the buyer. Above all, when it
becomes necessary to direct the attention to the decisive points, the
personal agent has the possibility of developing the whole process
through a series of stages so that the attention slowly becomes
focused on one definite point. The salesman observes at first only the
general limits of the interest of the customer as far as it is
indicated by his reactions, but slowly he can find out in this whole
field the region of strongest desires. As soon as he has discovered
this narrower region in which the prospects of success seem to be
greatest, he can systematically eliminate everything which distracts
and scatters the attention. He can discover whether the psyche of the
individual with whom he is dealing can be influenced more strongly by
logical arguments or by suggestion, and how far he may calculate on
the pleasure instincts, on the excitement of emotions, on the impulse
to imitate, on the natural vanity, on the desire for saving, and on
the longing for luxury.
Pages:
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252