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 ever becomes necessary for you to win a welcome, this chapter will prove valuable reading.  You will be helped to gain your desired chance, and the danger of your failure will be minimized, if you know how to knock and exactly what to do to assure your welcome.

Even the master salesman can never be absolutely certain of the reception he will have from any prospect.  Therefore he “goes loaded” for all imaginable contingencies.  You, the salesman of yourself, should be likewise prepared with knowledge of how each and every step in the selling process may be taken most effectively.  Whatever emergency arises, you must be ready to take the fullest advantage of a favorable turn, and equally ready to reduce as much as possible any disadvantage you encounter.

[Sidenote:  Knocking and Getting In]

Of course it will avail you nothing if you succeed only in reaching the particular man through whom you have planned to gain success.  And after you meet him it will do you no material good to size him up correctly; if you are then unable to hold his attention to your presentation of ideas.  Your preliminary skillful salesmanship would all be wasted.  Evidently, in order that you may continue the process of gaining your chance, it is necessary that you should know how to knock on the door of his mind in such an agreeable but compelling way that he will be forced to let his attention come out pleasantly to you and your purpose.  Hence right knocking at the door of opportunity immediately follows the size-up as an essential part of the process of making success certain.

It is necessary next for you to know how to prevent a turn-down on the front porch of your prospect’s mind, and how to insure the admission of your ideas to his thoughts.  You can compel your prospect to open the door of his attention, but in order to get inside his mind and secure his interest in your purpose, you must win his willing invitation for your ideas to enter his thoughts and make themselves at home there.