und to see Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter is glad
to see him, but he has had a bad year. The crops have not been good, the
banks have not been generous, his wife has been sick, and one of his
children has broken a leg. The salesman listens sympathetically to this
tale of woe, leads the conversation away from the bad year behind to the
good year ahead, and in a little while they are eagerly discussing plans
for business in the next month or so. The salesman shows how he can
help, and convinces Mr. Carter that the best time to begin is right now
and gets an order for supplies from him. It has taken the better part of
the morning, and Mr. Carter asks him to go home with him to lunch. The
salesman would prefer going back to the hotel, but he knows that it will
give Mr. Carter great pleasure to have him--his invitation is
unmistakably hearty--so he accepts.

Before he came the salesman had discovered, through consulting the
directories and by talking with friends of his who knew the town, who
were worth going to see and who were not. Mr. Carter he had learned was
immensely worth while and that is why he was willing to spend so much
time with him. No salesman can afford to stop and talk with everybody
who can give him the inside story of why business is no good. This
salesman always finds out as much as possible about a man before he goes
to see him. He never leaps blindly ahead when there is any way to get a
gleam of light first.

Once in South Carolina he was anxious to get a large order from a
wealthy old man who, he felt sure, would be a regular customer if he
could once be persuaded to buy. The old man paid no attention to what he
was saying until he mentioned the picture of a hunting dog that hung
above the desk. The old man's eyes kindled. This was his hobby and he
forgot all about business while he talked about hunting, and ended by
asking the salesman to go home with him and spend the night. The
salesman accepted gladly, and the next morning they went rabbit hunting
instead of going back to the office. The salesman was out of practice in
handling a gun but it was great fun, and the upshot of it all was that
he "landed" the order he wanted.

This method is pleasant but wasteful. The salesman never uses it except
as a last resource.

Much of the success of this salesman (and of the others who are
successful) lies in the fact that he can put himself so completely into
the place of the man he is trying to sell. He talks in t