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by George N. Kohn, UorfOrnn "r***nrorr" N. Kaht

Words Are Power

A sale can hang on a single word. The right word may tip the scales for your benefit. The wrong word may send you out of the buyer's office without an order, and little future chance of getting one.

Perhaps you doubt the imporiance of "mere" words. If so. think for a moment of the impact words have had on history. Such memorable phrases as "I regret that I have but one life to give my country," 'oDamn the torpedoes, full steam ahead," "I will return," and o'never before in the field of human conflict was so much been owed by so many to so few," have caught the imagination of millions of people.

What has this to do with salesmanship? Just about everything. Wards are pouer. The salesman who uses the right word at the right time has a clear field to success. He can manipulate the buyer. If he's adroit enough with words, the salesman can trigger a desired response almost anytime he wants to.

Clyde Underman, a bond salesman, has a closing technique that is phenomenal. He can predict almost to the moment when a prospect will say o'yes."

o'ff he's going to buy, one sentdnce will bring him over," Clyde said. oolt's not always the same sentence since each pros. pect has different problems."

"I try to tell from the prospect's responses and arguments what will motivate him. If he's a college man and wants his children to go to college, I inform him that tuition costs will probably be up 50 per cent by the time they are ready for college."

Word Building

The salesman needs an extensive vocabulary. He must have a ready supply of words to serve him in any selling situation. By this I do not mean that he should concentrate on learning only long "two-dollar words." The use of elongated words is sometimes mere pretentiousness on the part of an individual, Often a short word will do just as well or better. It's the meaning that is important. It is the right

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A salesman with a poor vocabulary lacks a basic tool. Unless he has the right words at his command he will be halting and ineffective before a buyer. He will take too long to say what he wants to say and it won't come out right.

Overcome The Word Problem

Here are some rules on the use of words for both speaking and writing: l. Learn as many works as you can.

2. Use each word correctlv.

3. Rely on direct, "orr"r"t" words, rather than vague, general ones. It's better to say 'oour garden hose is guaranteed for l0 years" rather than "we carry a pretty strong hose."

4. When you've made your point, stop. Talking for its own sake will do little or nothing to impress a buyer.

5. Avoid words that are known only to a few people. Employ words that are part of your every day language.

Hot Words

Some words are hotter than others. Hot words are'those that elicit a favorable reaction from a buyer. They touch some nerve that brings instant response. Know. ing the prospect or customer helps the salesman in this regard, but if you plan ahead you can bring forth these words, even with strange buyers.

Supposing you are selling a tough pair of work clothes. Your prospect's store is in a mining area. You say to him: 'oThese work clothes are especially suited for mining."

The prospect perks up immediately. Many of his customers are miners and they want durable work clothing.

Some salesmen make a practice of flattering the buyer, catering to his whims, caprices, etc. This is all right i{ you don't lay it on too thick.

ACTION WORDS

The interest of a buyer must be kept at a high pitch or he will soon lose interest. You can avoid this by filling your vocabu- lary with vigorous action words. Use words like "nowrt' "buyr" and t'order." Fire ofi such phrases as "this is the best deal you'll ever make," or "our line is practically made for your business."

Nothing will kill a sale faster than to hesitate, stall or dawdle over your presentation. And don't let doubt creep into your conversation. Exude confidence in both speech and manner. There's something catching about hesitancy or lack of drive.

, THE RIGHT PITCH

In addition to using the right words at the right time, the smart salesman also pitches his tone to that of tle buyer. For example, if the prospect is a soft spoken, quiet individual, you will not help your cause by bellowing in his face. He will resent what he believes is an attempt to intimidate him.

By the same token, a buyer who is all hustle and bustle, speaks rapidly and has a forceful manner, will require another approach. He will be impatient at a slow, drawling sales talk. He not only wants you to get to the point, but he'll probably dismiss you if you don't. The idea here is to match him in tone and tempo.

To sum up: With any kind of buyer a broad vocabulary and the ability to use it is of great importance. The power of words has produced millions of dollars in business for salesmen. It's a little like knowing the right combination to a safe. If you do, it opens immediately. In selling, if you can use words intelligently you will open the buyer's purse strings.

How well do you use words? Well enough to add substantially to your volume ? Here's a little exercise to see how you do in this department. If you can answer ttyes" to at least six questions, you have found the key to word power.

l. Do you bel,ieve the "right word" can make a sale? Yes I No fj

2. Do you spend time building your vocabulary? Yesn Notr

3. Are you using words correctly? Yesn Non

4. Do you use direct, concrete words in your sales talk? Yes E No tr

5. Do you try to find the "hot" words with prospects? Yes fl No n

6. Does your sales talk move with action words and phrases? Yes n No n

7. Do you match your tone to that of the buyer? Yes[] Non

8. Do you use words that are part of everyday speech? Yes n No tr

A T FIRST, it appears that commodity n trading is quite mysterious and quite complex.

Actually, it is similar to chess or bridge in the respect that it's easy to learn the fundamentals, but the mastery of the subject depends upon the study and devotion that an individual is willing to put into it.

Kiln-dried white fir random-lengh 2x4s produced in the northwestern states is the specie deliverable under the lumber futures contract on which trading opened Oct. I on our exchange.

The specie must meet the requirements of the Department of Agriculture's SPR 16-53, American Lumber Standards for Softwood. It must be produced in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana and Nevada.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is a marketplace where members acting independently or as brokers for otlers, buy and sell commodity futures contracts calling for delivery at a later date. The exchange not only provides the physical facilities for trading but also has the added functions of formulating and enforcing rules and regulations to provide for uniformity of trading. Supply and demand create the price, not the exchange.

While the exchange takes no position in the market, it guarantees the commitment to the contract by every buyer to every seller and every seller to every buyer through its clearing house function.

The {uture market does not exist to dispose of or t4ke ,the place of normal cash marketing channels. In'fact, many of the rules and specifications of our contract were drawn up in accord with existing industry procedure. Normally, less than 5/o. of all commodity futures transactions result in actual deliverv.

When the ca.h urrd futures months mesh together, cash and future prices will be at approximately the same level. The usual course of action will be to sell your lumber in the normal marketing channels and liquidate your position in the futures market. A seller in the futures market should deliver only after he estimates his cost of production, transportation, handling and inspection charges and then cal. culates his net cost based on the futures price for which he has contracted. A futures market exists to provide the industry with price protection and not an alternate marketing system. The company manager now has a choice rather than 6hangsnot concerning where he is going to market his lumber but what price or value he can place upon his product.

Hedging

The primary reason any company should use the futures market is to protect the value of its product by locking in 4 price either to protect a profit or minimize a loss. In simple terms, a pure hedger