A summary of Harry Browne’s The Secret Of Selling Anything.
Part one: The Secret Of Success
In this world, there are physical laws at work such as gravity and force. No one can break or change these laws. There are also laws of human nature. The salesman, above all else, seeks to understand these laws; so he can understand humans.
Everything we do in life is for happiness. According to Harry Browne, “Happiness is the mental feeling of well-being.” We are seeking happiness or are trying to avoid the feeling of unhappiness. Not every man finds happiness in the same thing, which means happiness is relative. In addition, we all have limited resources to find happiness; for our time on this earth is not long. Because of this, man must determine the value of every product he uses and the action he takes. He must do what is most profitable for him.
In addition, profit is an increase in happiness by replacing one situation with another. In a free market exchange, both parties seek to profit. Each individual is doing what he wants. This completely dismantles the old saying that “One man’s gain must be another man’s loss.” This universal fallacy is the belief that an individual would willingly accept something unprofitable to himself. Consumers will never do this.
However, the supplier seeks one thing: profit. While that is true, profit is not a symbol of capitalist greed, but a reward for satisfying the desires of someone else. If profit is a reward for satisfying the desires of others, then the more you satisfy those desires, the more you will profit. Thus, to gain at another man’s loss would not be to gain at all. In summary, the chief aim of the salesman is to satisfy the desires of others.
As we look mentally at this huge gathering of individuals in the marketplace-buying, selling, producing, etc. – it appears to all be chaos. As we wonder if there is any purpose to it, it is actually a lot simpler than it appears. First, everyone in the marketplace seeks happiness, and every individual is a consumer and supplier.
It is the consumers that determine the price of any goods or service, not the supplier. Though they may negotiate, ultimately it is the consumer. The individual expresses desire for an object in the price he will pay. If you wish to trade, you are going to offer the person something he wants more than what he already has. In most cases, this will be in the form of the most marketable commodity: money.
When you purchase something, you are not paying the product; you are paying for the human service that went into making the product. Take the price of steel, for example: that price is determined based on its current availability and the sum of the total prices of the human services that are required in producing steel. Your success depends on the value others place on your services.
People only pay for what they want, so you will succeed only if you are providing people with what they want. It is surprising how few people understand this. Some people try to conjure up pictures of “bloated capitalists” manipulating the stock market, products and human beings to suit their own purposes. These are fantasies because other individuals would not continue to participate if they possessed no value.
You will succeed if you are providing people with what they want.
Discover what people want, and help them get it!
Asher Sisneros 