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It works in home life as well. When the old-time lover Proposed to
his sweetheart, did he just use words of love? No! He went down on
his knees. That really showed he meant what he said. We don't
propose on our knees any more, but many suitors still set up a
romantic atmosphere before they pop the question.
Dramatizing what you want works with children as well. Joe B. Fant,
Jr., of Birmingham, Alabama, was having difficulty getting his fiveyear-old boy and three-year-old daughter to pick up their toys, so he
invented a "train." Joey was the engineer (Captain Casey Jones) on
his tricycle. Janet's wagon was attached, and in the evening she
loaded all the "coal" on the caboose (her wagon) and then jumped in
while her brother drove her around the room. In this way the room
was cleaned up - without lectures, arguments or threats.
Mary Catherine Wolf of Mishawaka, Indiana, was having some
problems at work and decided that she had to discuss them with the
boss. On Monday morning she requested an appointment with him
but was told he was very busy and she should arrange with his
secretary for an appointment later in the week. The secretary
indicated that his schedule was very tight, but she would try to fit
her in.
Ms. Wolf described what happened:
"I did not get a reply from her all week long. Whenever I questioned
her, she would give me a reason why the boss could not see me.
Friday morning came and I had heard nothing definite. I really
wanted to see him and discuss my problems before the weekend, so
I asked myself how I could get him to see me.
"What I finally did was this. I wrote him a formal letter. I indicated in
the letter that I fully understood how extremely busy he was all
week, but it was important that I speak with him. I enclosed a form
letter and a self-addressed envelope and asked him to please fill it
out or ask his secretary to do it and return it to me. The form letter
read as follows:
Ms. Wolf - I will be able to see you on __________ a t
__________A.M/P.M. I will give you _____minutes of my time.
"I put this letter in his in-basket at ffice:smarttags" />11 A.M. At 2 P.M. I checked my
mailbox. There was my self-addressed envelope. He had answered
my form letter himself and indicated he could see me that afternoon
and could give me ten minutes of his time. I met with him, and we
talked for over an hour and resolved my problems.
"If I had not dramatized to him the fact that I really wanted to see
him, I would probably be still waiting for an appointment."
James B. Boynton had to present a lengthy market report. His firm
had just finished an exhaustive study for a leading brand of cold
cream. Data were needed immediately about the competition in this
market; the prospective customer was one of the biggest - and most
formidable - men in the advertising business.
And his first approach failed almost before he began.
"The first time I went in," Mr. Boynton explains, "I found myself
sidetracked into a futile discussion of the methods used in the
investigation. He argued and I argued. He told me I was wrong, and
I tried to prove that I was right.
"I finally won my point, to my own satisfaction - but my time was up,
the interview was over, and I still hadn't produced results.
"The second time, I didn't bother with tabulations of figures and
data, I went to see this man, I dramatized my facts I.
"As I entered his office, he was busy on the phone. While he finished
his conversation, I opened a suitcase and dumped thirty-two jars of
cold cream on top of his desk - all products he knew - all competitors
of his cream.
"On each jar, I had a tag itemizing the results of the trade
investigation, And each tag told its story briefly, dramatically.
"What happened?
"There was no longer an argument. Here was something new,
something different. He picked up first one and then another of the
jars of cold cream and read the information on the tag. A friendly
conversation developed. He asked additional questions. He was
intensely interested. He had originally given me only ten minutes to
present my facts, but ten minutes passed, twenty minutes, forty
minutes, and at the end of an hour we were still talking.
"I was presenting the same facts this time that I had presented
previously. But this time I was using dramatization, showmanship -
and what a difference it made."
• Principle 11 - Dramatize your ideas.
~~~~~~~
12 - When Nothing Else Works, Try This
Charles Schwab had a mill manager whose people weren't producing
their quota of work.
"How is it," Schwab asked him, "that a manager as capable as you
can't make this mill turn out what it should?"
"I don't know," the manager replied. "I've coaxed the men, I've
pushed them, I've sworn and cussed, I've threatened them with
damnation and being fired. But nothing works. They just won't
produce."
This conversation took place at the end of the day, just before the
night shift came on. Schwab asked the manager for a piece of chalk,
then, turning to the nearest man, asked: "How many heats did your shift make today?" |