BEGINNING of our thinking together on this most
timely subject, The Power of Creative Selling, I only
regret that it is impossible for me to be in your home or
office, to discuss with you, face to face, what I have writ-
ten. However, in preparing this book, I have taken you
into my complete confidence. My purpose has been to vis-
ualize myself in your shoes.
I realize that many books on selling are dull and uninter-
esting. In fact, you grow tired and weary trying to read
them. I have therefore asked myself many times: Is what
I am writing interesting? Is it instructive? Is it inspiring? Is
it getting over the right idea? Every idea advanced in this
book has one objective in view: your interest. Will it stim-
ulate you? Will it instruct you? Will it inspire you? Will it
increase your understanding? Will it contribute to your
growth? Will it help you to be a bigger man and a better
salesman?
Creative selling is both a science and an art. The science
teaches you what to do, and the art teaches you how to do
it. Creative selling is the ability and art of increasing the
satisfaction of the prospect by convincing him that the thing
you want him to buy will best fulfill his needs and desires.
In fact, it is creating a want that did not exist before.
Creative selling is an individual accomplishment. It em-
braces you and the power within you to think and to create.
These qualities and attributes are individual, and no one but
Vll

viii INTRODUCTION
you can develop them. Therefore, my purpose is to help you
to develop them by drawing on the latent forces within you.
During the past 42 years it has been my good fortune to
talk to thousands of people in all kinds of business, in all
walks of life, in all kinds of places, and under all conditions.
In that time, I have sold both tangibles and intangibles by
every conceivable selling method. I have been able to com-
bine first-hand knowledge with experience and to make a
first-hand study of the actions and reactions of people. I
have studied their behavior, and this has given me an in-
sight into their temperaments, dispositions, ambitions, as-
pirations, attitudes, likes, dislikes, wants, and desires.
Combining all this information, I have incorporated the best
parts of it in this book.
The Power of Creative Selling is more than a book. It is
an entirely new plan of selling, setting forth proven meth-
ods for creating more sales, earning a larger income, and
enjoying more peace of mind. It is not the work of a theorist
in an Ivory Tower, but of a stern realist who has encountered
all the problems and heartaches that you are encountering,
and who has solved many of the situations that are perplex-
ing you at this very moment. In my years of experience,
combined with reading, analyzing, and researching, I have
learned what is necessary to influence people to buyplus
what it takes to keep them as friends.
It is impossible to put in the Introduction the many things
this book can do for you. To do so would be to incorporate
the context itself, because every page has a message. If you
will read what follows and apply to your own life the
powerful principles set forth, you will have a workable plan
of creative selling that will really get results and enable
you to sell anything.