an face to
face. Your informants may or may not have had correct conceptions of his
characteristics. It would be unwise, even unsafe, for you to rely
implicitly on _their_ judgment of him. You need to _be certain you know
him as he really is_; so that you can present your purpose with the
confidence a skilled salesman feels when he is sure he understands the
principal traits of the prospect he is addressing. In reaching this man
you have gained your first chance. You cannot afford to risk losing it
by haste. _Do not advance farther in the selling process until you have
made certain of the ground you are to tread._ It is very bad
salesmanship to begin introducing ideas and feelings to a mind and heart
that are unknown to you except from hearsay.

"But," you say, "I'm not a mind reader. And I can't look into another
man's heart."

True. Yet you should be able to read the _signs_ of his thoughts; which
he manifests in his words, tones, and acts. And you need not see into
_his_ heart to know what it contains; since fundamentally _all_ men are
much alike at heart. Just look clearly into your own heart at its best.
You will find there the basic emotions and feelings that civilized men
have in common everywhere.

[Sidenote: Character Analysis by Types Not Reliable]

Character analysis by "types" is unreliable. I believe as little in
phrenology as in palm-reading. I have directed thousands of men in
business. Personal experience has proved to me that the _permanent_
structure of a particular human body is not an invariably true index to
the characteristics of the inner, or ego man who owns that body.

He has had no control over the color of his hair or eyes. He cannot
reshape the bones of his face, nor alter the bumps on his head. To
believe that such permanent structural details of the "natural" _outer_
man determine or denote the peculiar aptitudes of the _inner_ man is to
credit the exploded doctrine of fore-ordination.

Therefore, when you have gained the chance to present your capabilities
for sale to a chosen prospect with whom you believe you will have the
best opportunities to succeed, and when you are swiftly shaping your
presentation plans to fit his personality, don't size up merely the
factors of his make-up with which he was born. You will be apt to
mistake his true character if you have come to his office with the
delusion that the blonde type of man is fundamentally different _in
nature_ from the brunette