My first problem was not to teach Patrick J. O’Haire to talk. My immediate task was to train him to refrain from talking and to avoid verbal fights.
Mr. O’Haire became one of the star salesmen for the White Motor Company in New York.
How did he do it？ Here is his story in his own words： “If I walk into a buyer’s office now and he says， ‘What？ A White truck？ They’re no good！ I wouldn’t take one if you gave it to me. I’m going to buy the Whose-It truck.’ I say， ‘The Whose-It is a good truck. If you buy the Whose-It， you’ll never make a mistake. The Whose-Its are made by a fine company and sold by good people.’
“He is speechless then. There is no room for an argument. If he says the Whose-It is best and I say sure it is， he has to stop. He can’t keep on all afternoon saying， ‘It’s the best’ when I’m agreeing with him. We then get off the subject of Whose-It and I begin to talk about the good points of the White truck.
“There was a time when a remark like his first one would have made me see scarlet and red and orange. I would start arguing against the Whose-It； and the more I argued against it， the more my prospect argued in favor of it； and the more he argued， the more he sold himself on my competitor’s product.
“As I look back now I wonder how I was ever able to sell anything. I lost years of my life in scrapping and arguing. I keep my mouth shut now. It pays.”
As wise old Ben Franklin used to say， “If you argue and rankle and contradict， you may achieve a victory sometimes； but it will be an empty victory because you will never get your opponent’s good will.”
So figure it out for yourself. Which would you rather have， an academic， theatrical victory or a person’s good will？ You can seldom have both.
Frederick S. Parsons， an income tax consultant， had been disputing and wrangling for an hour with a goverment tax inspector. An item of nine thousand dollars was at stake. Mr. Parsons claimed that this nine thousand dollars was in reality a bad debt， that it would never be collected， that it ought not to be taxed. “Bad debt， my eye！” retorted the inspector. “It must be taxed. ”