Things are good or bad only by comparison. For those of us who sold during the Great Depression, today’s recession is light, although for those who have been selling only during the boom years of the recent past it may seem terrible.

Looking back I realize how fortunate I was to have sold through many economic recession and depression cycles as part of one of America’s great companies, NCR Corporation. Together we survived and prospered no matter what the economic climate.

The basics of selling or persuasion don’t change, they are just used with different amounts of emphasis depending on the circumstances of the times and degree of urgency of the individual or company.

Perhaps not all of the following will apply to your specific needs, but I’m sure using some will assist you tremendously in the days and months ahead.

1. Sell Yourself

Regardless of your product or service, sell yourself…..first. That means having the prospect like you, be pleased with you and gain confidence in you.

Smile. Never start a conversation or open a sales call without smiling. One of my first selling jobs was at the end of the Great Depression. I was a teenager and had been making $1 a day cleaning chicken houses and doing odd jobs for neighbors. I got the chance to sell Fuller Brush Products. I remember my first day as if it were yesterday.

The manager drove me to a neighborhood. I was very nervous. Before I went up to the first door he said: “Before you knock on the door, start smiling, and don’t stop smiling until you leave. Some people will slam the door, some will only open it a crack. Just keep smiling and say: `Hello, I’m your Fuller Brush man and I have a free sample brush for you.'”

Can you believe that the first call I made the woman bought $21 worth of brushes? In my previous job, I had been working all day for one dollar.

Give a Gift. We got into the house by giving a gift — a free brush. Years later as a new student salesman for NCR, the first thing we learned in making a new cold call was to give some gift immediately. Actually, we didn’t give it immediately, we offered it and showed it (usually a nice booklet that would give tips on making more profit), then said: “If it’s okay with you, Mr. Merchant, I’d like to bring back a brand new one for you.” This allowed a recall. A gift presented with a smile is a tremendously important first step in getting the order.

2. Be Cheerful And Optimistic.

Whenever anyone says: “How are you?” always smile and say, “Just fine,” or “Great,” or “Wonderful.” Never tell anyone you are struggling, or business is bad. People want to do business with successful people. Negative comments indicate something is wrong with the product or with you.

3. Look Sharp…..Be Sharp.

We had a mirror in our office with a sign across the top that read: “This is how you are going out to represent this great company.” Keep your selling tools, your briefcase, your van or car in perfect order. Most of all, keep yourself and your appearance in perfect order. Disorganization or visual confusion alarms a prospect, causes him to wonder if his order, check, delivery, etc. will get caught up in this terrible mess. I remember a recent experience when a salesman was talking to me. He opened his briefcase and it looked as if a bomb had exploded in it. He was trying to sell me financial planning. Just recently a salesman picked me up to take me to see a particular product. His car looked as if it had turned over. Papers and boxes all over the seats. Stacks of paper over the sun visor. And to cap it off, when he opened the door for me an empty beer can rolled out into the street.

Don’t smoke in the presence of the prospect (don’t even ask permission). Don’t chew gum, and don’t drink alcoholic beverages before you call on a prospect.

You are what you look like. Cleanliness, organization and a sparkling image convey peace of mind and confidence to the prospect.

During bad times there are a lot of phoneys and con artists who come out of the woodwork. Build confidence with the prospect by showing immediately who you are, your experience and your knowledge. Make up an attractive scrapbook with pictures of your company building, your back-up people, lists of satisfied clients, a brief biography of you, etc.

4. Keep Your Appointments. Be On Time. In Fact, Be Early.

I was taught always to be there ahead of time. They might run out of whatever is being offered or someone else might get there ahead of you and get the order.

People forget. They forget appointments, forget what day it is, forget what time they were to meet with you. One trick I learned was to have the face of a clock (without the hands) rubber stamped on the back of my name card. When I made an appointment with the prospect, I’d just draw in the hands at the agreed upon time, and write down the day and date. It helped tremendously to cut down on missed appointments and wasted time.

5. Keep Going Back.

How often should you recall or go back to a good prospect? Until you get the order. Most salespeople today do not recall because they are too lazy, or they don’t know how to make a recall. You can always have a reason for making a recall. “Here is some additional information I wanted you to have.” Or, “After I left you yesterday I thought of an additional idea that I know will help you.” (And have an idea to share.)

6. Keep Thanking The Prospect.

Carry several thank-you cards with postage stamps on the envelopes. When you leave the prospect, immediately write a short note of thanks for the time he or she gave you. Mail it immediately. When they sign the order be sure to send a thank-you card. They can cancel, you know.

7. Dramatize Your Success and the Popularity Of Your Company and Product or Service.

I carried up to 700 photos of clients and users. The photos were mounted on large sheets so all 700 could be displayed very quickly. Put 700 pictures in a book and no one will ever see them.

People want to do what others do. They buy what others are buying. The photos take the time out of getting an order. I had many prospects look at the photos and sign an order for a high-priced machine without ever having seen it or having it demonstrated to them.

8. Memorize the Demonstration of Your Product or Service.

Before NCR would allow a new student salesman to go to their sales training school he had to learn the demonstration of the product verbatim. Every word, every line. Today, I often hear sales trainers on the speaking circuit “poo-pooing” canned demonstrations. When it was vital to get the order you didn’t want to possibly miss the feature or the benefit that might be the one that closes the sale. No one ever lost an order because they enthusiastically demonstrated the entire feature, function and value of the product or service.

9. Stay With The Prospect.

The objective is to make the sale. How long will it take? Until they sign the order! Don’t let the prospect say: “See me tomorrow and I’ll sign the order.” or “Call me back in a day or two.” They may be telling you the truth. But, tomorrow the prospect might be dead — or get divorced, or buy from your competitor.

10. Work Hard.

The more calls you make the more orders you get. I was trained in door-to-door. Not two or three calls a day, but dozens until the day ended. Sometimes even into the night. Work is a four-letter word that will triumph every time over education, degrees, price cutting, luck, promotion or booming economies.

11. Make Up A Prospect List And Keep In Touch With Personal Calls And Direct Mail.

During the many years I was on the street selling cash registers, I mailed out up to 1,000 pieces of direct mail every month. My wonderful wife helped me and we learned not to try to do it all at one time. We spent just 15 minutes each day on the mail. It took us 21 days to get it done and ready to go. Keep mailing, keep making calls, keep pumping yourself up, keep taking photos of customers.

12. The One Year Later Letter

Look back in your files for the date of installation of your product, or the date a customer first purchased your services. Write a brief letter saying: “It was just one year ago today, Ms. Smith, that…..” Make it a happy letter. How you’ve thought about them this year. Hope all is well with them, etc. After you mail the letter, call on the phone and make sure they have received it. It works like magic. Many years I would get up to half of my next year’s quota because of this letter.

13. Idea Of The Week Book.

Bad things happen to you in selling. You wonder how could I have prevented that from happening. And every day you see good ideas that you could use. Plan for the future every day. Write them down. I’ve written down one constructive, creative idea every week of my adult life for the past 40 years. It’s not hard to do. Just take four tablet-sized pieces of lined paper. Across the top write the year. Down the left side of the four pieces of paper write 52 numbers. As each year passes you have 52 new, exciting things to push you toward success. Today, my book has more than 2,000 entries. Many I’ve done. I can still go back and review for old ones that might just work now. Producing ideas is habit forming once you get the ball rolling.

As I look back over what I’ve written, I’m sure there are many readers who would get a chuckle out of the simplicity of the ideas.

Although today we’re a computerized, highly sophisticated, well-educated nation of forecasters, statisticians, prognosticators, and experts in every field, it would be a thousand-to-one shot that you would get an enthusiastic, intelligent useful demonstration of anything.

This time, like all times, is a great time, if you but know what to do. There is no competition out there that wasn’t always there. The basics have never changed. The technology changes rapidly. Technology swirls around the basics. When the basics are gone the technology falls into the void. You see great stores folding up, automobile lots overflowing with unsold cars, homes sitting unsold, the experts bewailing what terrible things have fallen on this the greatest nation in the world. Perhaps I was lucky to have stumbled into the basics. They helped me and I hope they help you.