A Lesson from the Actor

In presenting a Sales Plan, I think that it would pay you
to take a lesson from the actor. On the stage, on television,
on the screen, and on radio, you must have been thoroughly
impressed by the correct and precise way in which actors
and performers present their lines. They seem to give every
sentence, every word, and every gesture its proper place and
time. They feel and live their parts right before your eyes,
and the strange part is that you live the parts right along
with them.

Suppose they came on the stage without knowing
their lines. Suppose they did not know what they were go-
ing to say or how they were going to say it. What do you
think their sponsors would do? They would discontinue their
services, and, of course, they would be justified. Performers
know their lines because they want to please you. By pleas-
ing you, they please their sponsors, and their sponsors are the
ones who pay them—and pay them well.
If it pays these actors and performers to know their lines,
it will certainly pay you and me as salesmen. This is the way
I felt when I composed the Sales Plan.
I felt that a Sales Plan was the means by which I could
concentrate all my power and focus all my ability to arrest
the attention of the prospect, kindle his interest, stimulate
his desire, and convince him to act. It would enable me to
get results quickly. I also felt that it would mean money to
me—and, believe me, it has! When I stubbed my toe, I woke
up to the power of creative selling. It has been worth to me
many times the inheritance in the dream. It can be worth
the same to you, provided you stub your toe—because what
am I that you are not?