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4. Life insurance salesmen who are ambitious and industrious
have the opportunity to study the C.L.U. course while they
are pursuing their regular work. It raises their prestige and
confidence.
5. Suggestions on how to proceed— Discuss your plans with
your manager and top salesman; investigate what is avail-
able; adopt a reasonable schedule; make definite plans for
time to study; make a game of your work; take pride in
getting high grades in your studies.
6. Make a reasonable division of your leisure time into the
portion you will invest in self-improvement and the part
you will use for relaxation and fun. Both are important.
7. Carry material with you that you can read and think about
when you have the opportunity.
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Newton's Laws Applied to Selling
The laws of gravity were oper-ating before Sir Isaac Newton "discovered" them, and the laws of cause and effect have been controlling the affairs of men since the beginning of time. We reap as we sow, the Bible says, and as salesmen we will profit according to what we invest in time, effort, and ability.
INERTIA
Newton's first law had to do with inertia. This is the property all bodies have to remain at rest or to continue in motion unless some outside force changes them. With a salesman this is the same as his "habits." If he is lazy and doesn't work much, his tendency is to stay that way. If he forms the habit of energetic industry, it isn't hard to maintain.
We all know men who are lagging far behind less able men for the simple reason that their inertia holds them back.
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138 NEWTON'S LAWS APPLIED TO SELLING
MOMENTUM
Momentum is the quantity of motion a body has. This depends on two things—its "mass" or weight and its "velocity" or speed. Thus a very heavy body moving slowly will generate the same momentum as a correspondingly lighter body moving swiftly. For example a glacier moving so slowly as to be barely perceptible will have enormous momentum due to its huge weight. A tiny bullet with a speed so fast it can't be seen likewise has tremendous momentum.
So it is with a salesman. A very able salesman can generate as much business in half the time as the less gifted man in twice the time. However a sincere, ambitious, energetic young salesman often shows his heels to the veterans who know far more than he does. He makes up in speed what he lacks in knowledge, maturity, and experience.
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