opportunity you most desire. _The object of this
book is to fit you for any and every condition you are likely to meet_
in your efforts to gain opportunities for your ambition. It is
improbable that in order to get your desired chance and to make the
most of it you will have to _use_ all you learn of the secret of certain
success. You cannot afford, however, to run an _avoidable risk_ of being
at a loss regarding what to do at any stage of the process of selling to
a selected prospect true ideas of your best capability. You need to know
the most effective ways to deal with situations that may never happen,
but which, on the contrary, _might_ be encountered. You cannot start
_confidently_ on your quest for success unless you are _fully_ equipped.

[Sidenote: Reducing the Odds Against You]

If you believed it would be necessary for you to do everything contained
in this book in order to gain the opportunities you desire, you likely
would feel very skeptical about succeeding. You might think, "A single
little slip and I'd lose out. It's a thousand to one against me." The
fact is that the odds on the side of failure are very heavy in the case
of an _ordinary_ man. If you can _reduce_ them only a little _in your
own case_, you will get a start towards success because of the slight
lessening of your handicap.

[Sidenote: Value of Knowing a Single Step]

I recall a man who mastered but three principles of _prospecting needs_.
With this limited knowledge of salesmanship he was able to induce a
great financier to open the door of opportunity and take him into a
field of rich chances to earn a fortune. Another friend of mine got his
start solely from knowledge of a manufacturer's principal hobby. What
he knew about the "single tax" enabled him to plan a sure approach to
the mind of the factory owner. A young lawyer in Chicago seized upon a
chance for fame and wealth in his first meeting with a poor, seemingly
unsuccessful inventor. In each of these instances a single step of the
selling process, taken correctly, carried the salesman through the door
of opportunity and brought him within reach of the beginnings of
success.

[Sidenote: Get Ready for Imaginable Happenings]

_You_ may not need to knock at that door, nor wait for an invitation to
come in. In _your_ case, perhaps, the door stands open, with a "Welcome"
mat just outside. Yet if you _do need_ to knock with your ideas for
admittance to another man's mind, and if it