528 THE PRINCIPLES OF PERSONAL POWER
The ad rep was a master salesperson. He listened carefully to everything the
client had to say. Then he interrupted with a simple statement: "You feel we hurt your
business. " Showing that he understood the customer's frustration immediately
gave him the offensive.
He continued with, "I know you had big expectations from this ad and that you
feel your money has been wasted. I'd like to make it up to you. With your permission,
we will correct the ad and run it again, but this time twice as large, at no charge."
The rep's words continued to reinforce the value of his magazine's service,
while presenting the customer with a proposition that was difficult to refuse.
More significantly, however, the rep had gotten the customer to agree to a
much larger ad. Of course, the first time it ran, the customer paid nothing for it. But
the rep knew that once the customer experienced the business that the larger ad
would create, he would never go back to a small one.
By exercising self-control in his dealings with an irate customer, the ad rep
turned a potential disaster into a positive opportunity.The art of successful negotiation grows out of patient and painstaking
Self-Control. Notice how easily the successful salesperson exercises Self-
Control when handling a customer who is impatient. The salesperson may
be boiling inside, but you will see no evidence of it in manner or words.
That person has acquired the art of tactful negotiation!
A single frown of disapproval or a single word denoting impatience
will often spoil a sale. Successful salespeople exercise Self-Control, and
as a reward they set their own salary and choose their own position.
To watch those who have acquired the art of successful negotiation
is an education in itsel£ Watch the public speakers who have acquired
this art; notice the firmness of step as they mount the platform; observe
the firmness of voice as they begin to speak; study their facial expressions
as they sweep the audience with the mastery of their arguments. These
are people who have learned how to negotiate without friction.
Study those physicians who have acquired this art, as they walk into
the sick room and greet their patients with a smile. The bearing, the tone