:21:04
What made my isolation bearable
was my work for IHSMOCO...
:21:09
... the Illinois High-Speed
Motor Corporation.
:21:13
Like everyone,
I'd seen Arthur Miller's play...
:21:15
... and, as a youth, had the usual
deprecating attitude to business and sales.
:21:21
That changed when Professor Thompson's
business course convinced us...
:21:25
... that even the mundane world of business
had its romance.
:21:30
A job interview with IHSMOCO led
to employment and its training program.
:21:34
I arrived in sales just as
the flu epidemic struck and never left.
:21:41
In sales I found not just a job,
but a culture.
:21:44
Franklin, Emerson, Carnegie and Bettger
were our philosophers...
:21:47
... and thanks to Carnegie's
theory of human relations...
:21:50
... many customers also became friends.
:21:52
I don't consider high-pressure sales
sales at all. It's a form of fraud.
:21:56
In true sales, you provide a real
and constructive service...
:21:59
...help people improve their lives
or make companies more efficient...
:22:03
...and so create wonderful economies
of scale...
:22:05
...from which everyone
and the whole economy benefit.
:22:08
The classic literature of self-improvement
really was improving.
:22:12
Here's something good.
It's Bettger quoting George Adams:
:22:15
''The wisest and best salesman
bluntly tells the truth about his article.
:22:19
''That is always impressive.
:22:21
''lf he does not sell the first time,
he leaves a trail of trust behind.
:22:24
''Being bluntly honest is always safe
and best.''
:22:29
Other books, magazines, and tapes
mixed practical tips with home truths.
:22:33
Each time you handle a paper,
mark it with a red dot.
:22:36
If you encounter papers
with three or four dots...
:22:39
... you could work more efficiently.
:22:41
Try to dispose of each paper
the first time you handle it.
:22:44
The enthusiastic tone
of much of this literature...
:22:47
... did open it up to the ridicule of half-wits.
:22:50
Maybe I could use these same techniques
in my Navy career.
:22:55
''Every day, in every way, I'm becoming
a better and better lieutenant.''