ABC’s of Relationship Selling through

Service 12th Edition

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PREFACE
ABC’s of Relationship Selling through
Service, Twelfth Edition, Is Excitement!
Excitement! Never have I been as excited about a revision of
ABC’s as I am about the twelfth edition. Why? While teaching
a recent personal selling class of senior marketing majors, it
dawned on me that students could memorize the chapter materi-
als but did not know how the entire presentation should be con-
structed until after their final role-plays at the end of the course.
From the first day of class, it was weeks until we started dis-
cussing role-plays. The twelfth edition of ABC’s helps change
this so that students are introduced to the interaction of the sales
process components in Chapter 1.
There Is Much New about ABC’s twelfth Edition
One aspect that makes this edition of ABC’s new is the rear-
rangement of the discussion of the selling process, explaining
selling situations faced and how to react to them. Also impor-
tant are the changes to many of the main PowerPoints and sec-
tions of the Instructor’s Manual. Your students will need to use
this edition, not a previous one.
Examples of What’s New
■ Compare the end of Chapter 1 of this edition with the text’s
last edition. You will see changes in the selling process such
as this throughout the book. This greatly improves the learn-
ing experience. Selling scenarios have been added to show
students the interactions of the various steps of the selling
process—as in Chapter 1.
■ Discussion of the Golden Rule of Selling has been expanded
in all 14 chapters.
■ Determining personality style and adaptive selling based
upon a buyer’s style has been moved from Chapter 3 to
Chapter 4 on communication.
■ Presenting to current customers, not only to prospects, has
been emphasized throughout the book.
■ Chapter 8 has a seven-page expansion of the discussion of
the selling process with examples of sales calls that illustrate
how the elements of the sales presentation work together.
Emphasis on the difference between a distributor and a
wholesaler and the importance of correctly interpreting
nonverbal communication to read a buyer’s mind have been
added to this chapter.
■ A new 10-step model has been added with an example of
how to close more than once and what to do if the prospect/
customer does not buy.
■ Student role-plays of a job interview with the student getting
the job and then selling the organization’s product involved
in the Sell Yourself exercise or any of the cases at the end
of the book. I do this. Students love it! Videos are provided
to show students selling in an interview situation and selling
products. A few people use the Sell Yourself exercise for their
main role-play rather than have students sell a product to a
buyer.
■ Role-plays at the end of the book have been reworked to
make it easier for the instructor and the student to explain
and construct the sales presentation.
■ Materials have been created to help the instructor who is
teaching the course for the first time, the professor changing
textbooks, as well as the seasoned veteran who has taught
the course 20 or more times.
■ Significant improvements have been made to this twelfth edi-
tion of ABC’s. As possibly the textbook with the largest mar-
ket share, one reason for its success is that it trains readers
on a specific, yet generic, step-by-step selling process that is
universal in nature. The selling process can be used in selling
any type of good or service in any situation—business-to-
business, consumer, group, retail, resellers, phone, anywhere
where buyer and seller come together.
■ Students will find it easy to create their class project sales
presentation role-play because of knowing what to do first,
second, third, and so on.
■ Arguably, no other personal selling textbook presents the sales
process in such an organized, comprehensive manner—from
planning the approach to closing and follow-up for excep-
tional customer service, all within an ethical framework.
Obtaining new customers and retaining present ones are the
main challenges of salespeople. Increase in sales and profits
is up to the sales personnel—the people who represent their
employers through interacting with present or prospective cus-
tomers. Sales professionals strive to create a long-term business
relationship, which implies that personal relationships with cli-
ents are formed. Consumers want to buy from someone who
cares about their needs. People do business with the people they
trust, and they trust the people they know.
vii
viii Preface
A megatrend in today’s business world involves going to
extreme efforts to meet consumer needs. Organizations cannot
afford to lose customers. It is always easier to sell to a satisfied
customer than an unsatisfied one. The cost of acquiring a new
customer is higher than keeping a present customer.
This textbook focuses on taking care of the customer through
exceptional customer service. Service means making a contri-
bution to the welfare of others. Salespeople exist to help others.
New Additions, Expansions, and
Reexaminations to this Edition
Using this textbook each year in my sales classes has resulted
in a constant study of the text by students who provide feed-
back on its content. Present users of the textbook have offered
detailed critiques providing direction for revision of the book,
as have the reviewers noted in the Acknowledgments. For this
edition, I carefully reread the book to ensure that the text bet-
ter reflects my thoughts and ideas on the subject. The relation-
ships and interactions in the various steps of the selling process
have been carefully examined to form a more seamless flow
from one chapter to the next, and special emphasis is placed on
the importance of ethical behavior in working with prospects
and customers.
Scores of sales personnel in the industry today comment on
how this textbook reflects what they do on sales calls with pros-
pects and customers. The goal of ABC’s of Selling has always
been to demonstrate to students the order of steps within the
selling process; provide numerous examples of what should be
in each step; and explain how the steps within the selling pro-
cess interact with one another. If students understand the sales
system by the end of the course, the class has successfully con-
tributed to their education.
Examples of New Additions
ABC’s of Selling is a market leader in sales classes worldwide,
and its materials can be found in four international versions.
Numerous sales trainers around the globe use our selling process
to prepare their salespeople.
The Uniqueness of ABC’s of Selling
The appendix to Chapter 1, “The Golden Rule of Personal Sell-
ing as Told by a Salesperson,” reveals this textbook’s unique
central focus—serving others unselfishly. To aid in this mes-
sage, the acclaimed worldwide Golden Rule was incorporated
in order to stress treating others as you would like to be treated
in the marketplace and workplace.
The textbook’s foundation is based on service. Its corner-
stone is love (caring) of others. ABC’s of Selling’s values are
supported by the pillars of an organization’s—and individual’s—
integrity, trustworthiness, and character (see Exhibit 2.7).
The center of business and personal life revolves around per-
sonal interactions; as a result, a theme of this textbook is that
ethical service, based upon truth between people, builds strong
long-term relationships.
ABC’s of Selling seeks to prepare people for the 21st century’s
demand for moral and ethical treatment—a universal declara-
tion for human rights. It is a calling for a higher standard than
what previously exists in many organizations worldwide. The
General Assembly of the United Nations has proclaimed that
humans possess reason and conscience, and should act toward
one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Organizations should not
be engaged in war within the marketplace, but committed to
serving humankind.
Many people seem to separate their personal life from their
business life. Some individuals, when entering the business
world, tend to follow the example of others to generate sales.
The use of this textbook in your classroom may provide some
students with a final opportunity to discuss how to enter the rat
race without becoming a rat.
ABC’s Approach
ABC’s of Selling was conceived as a method of providing
ample materials that allow readers to construct their own sales
presentations after studying the text. This allows the instruc-
tor the flexibility of focusing on the “how-to-sell” approach
within the classroom. Covering the basic foundations for
understanding the concepts and practices of selling in a practi-
cal, straightforward, and readable manner, it provides students
with a guide to use in preparing sales presentations and role-
playing exercises.
The Philosophy behind This Book
The title should help you understand the philosphy of this book.
A student of sales should understand the fundamentals—the
basics—of personal selling. All of them. I do not advocate one
way of selling as the best route to success! There are many
roads to reaching one’s goals.
I do feel a salesperson should have an assortment of sell-
ing skills and should be very knowledgeable, even an expert, in
the field. Based on the situation, the salesperson determines the
appropriate actions to take for a particular prospect or customer.
No matter what the situation, however, the basic fundamentals
of selling can be applied.
There is no place in our society for high-pressure, manipula-
tive selling. The salesperson is a problem solver, a helper, and
an adviser to the customer. If the customer has no need, the
salesperson should accept that and move on to help another
person or firm. If the customer has a need, however, the sales-
person should and must go for the sale. All successful sales-
people I know feel that once they determine that the customer
is going to buy someone’s product—and that their product will

satisfy that customer’s needs—it is their job to muster all their
energy, skill, and know-how to make that sale. That is what it’s
all about!
It is my sincere hope that after the reader has studied this
book, he or she will say, “There’s a lot more to selling than I
ever imagined.” I hope many people will feel that this material
can help them earn a living and that selling is a great occupation
and career.
At the end of the course, I hope all the students will have
learned how to prepare and give a sales presentation by visually,
verbally, and nonverbally communicating their message. I know
of no other marketing course whose class project is so challeng-
ing and where so much learning takes place.
Finally, I hope each student realizes that these new commu-
nication skills can be applied to all aspects of life. Once learned
and internalized, selling skills will help a person be a better
communicator throughout life.
Basic Organization of the Book
The publisher and I worked hard to ensure that ABC’s of Selling
would provide students with the basic foundation for understand-
ing all major aspects of selling. The 14 chapters in the text are
divided into four parts:
■ Selling as a Profession. Emphasizes the history, career,
rewards, and duties of the professional salesperson and illus-
trates the importance of the sales function to the organiza-
tion’s success. It also examines the social, ethical, and legal
issues in selling.
■ Preparation for Relationship Selling. Presents the back-
ground information salespeople use to develop their sales
presentations.
■
The Relationship Selling Process. At the heart of this book,
this part covers the entire selling process from prospecting
to follow-up. State-of-the-art selling strategies, practices,
and techniques are presented in a “how-to” fashion.
■ Time and Territory Management: Keys to Success. The
importance of the proper use and management of one’s time
and sales territory is given thorough coverage.
Special to This Edition
Ethics Emphasized Unselfish and ethical service to the cus-
tomer underscores the Golden Rule of Personal Selling—a sales
philosophy of unselfishly treating others as you would like to
be treated without expecting reciprocity. This is how to build
long-term relationships with customers.
The Golden Rule Icon. The Golden Rule icon appears in
each chapter to help reinforce the Tree of Business Life. The
combination of the Golden Rule and the “Tree” guidelines for
business and selling forms the core theme of this textbook.
Preface ix
Unselfishly treating prospects/customers as you would like
to be treated without expecting something in return results
in ethical service that builds true long-term relationships.
If you think about it, this is how you build true personal
friendships. Why not build your business relationships on
this rock?
Video Cases. Cases 2.1, 2.2, 4.3, 5.5A, 7.3, 10.3, 12.4, 13.3
can be used independently or with eight of the videos accom-
panying this book. Each of the eight cases highlights a tough
ethical dilemma often faced by sales personnel in today’s com-
petitive marketplace. Use any or all of these cases to emphasize
ethics in your sales class.
Sales Call Role-Plays and ProSelling Videos. All four of the
role-plays in Appendix A at the back of this book have videos
created incorporating our selling process. The two people featured
in the role-plays completed my selling course. The professional
selling materials in Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 do a great
job in illustrating how to construct a sales presentation. Actually
used in my classes by hundreds of students, these role-plays are
created from information used by today’s top sales forces.
Sell Yourself on a Job Interview. This all-time favorite role-
play is in Appendix B with other experiential exercises. For
years I have used this student pleaser in both my personal selling
and sales management classes. When students see themselves
on video, they quickly realize what needs to be done for a
professional interview. You have to try this exercise one time!
Student Application Learning Exercises (SALES). Chapters
directly related to creating the role-play have SALES that aid
students in better understanding how to construct this popular
class project. These were first used in my classes in the fall of
1997. Students unanimously felt they were great in helping
them correctly construct their role-plays. SALES appear at the
end of Chapters 3, 5A, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12.
Sales Careers. Career information has been expanded
throughout so students will better understand that there are sales
jobs in all organizations—business, service, and nonprofit.
Selling Experiential Exercises. These end-of-chapter exer-
cises help students better understand themselves and/or the text
material. Many can be done in class or completed outside and
discussed in class.
Selling Globally Appendix. Many of these were written by
friends and colleagues from countries around the world. They
are at the back of the book.
Technology in Selling. A central theme within each chapter
shows the use of technology and automation in selling and ser-
vicing prospects and customers.
x Preface
Text and Chapter Pedagogy
Many reality-based features are included in the twelfth edition
to stimulate learning. One major goal of this book is to offer
better ways of using it to convey sales knowledge to the reader.
To do this, the book includes numerous special features:
Photo Essays. The book features many photographs accom-
panied by captions that describe sales events and how they
relate to chapter materials.
Chapter Topics and Objectives. Each chapter begins with a
clear statement of learning objectives and an outline of major
chapter topics. These devices provide an overview of what is
to come and can also be used by students to see whether they
understand and have retained important points.
Sales Challenge/Solution. The text portion of each chapter
begins with a real-life challenge sales professionals face. The
challenge pertains to the topic of the chapter and will heighten
students’ interest in chapter concepts. The challenge is resolved
at the end of the chapter, where chapter concepts guiding the
salespersons’ actions are highlighted.
Making the Sale. These boxed items explore how salespeople,
when faced with challenges, use innovative ideas to sell.
Selling Tips. These boxes offer the reader additional selling
tips for use in developing their role-plays.
Artwork. Many aspects of selling tend to be confusing at
first. “What should I do?” and “How should I do it?” are two
questions frequently asked by students in developing their
role-plays. To enhance students’ awareness and understanding,
many exhibits have been included throughout the book. These
exhibits consolidate key points, indicate relationships, and
visually illustrate selling techniques.
Chapter Summary and Application Questions. Each chapter
closes with a summary of key points to be retained. The
application questions are a complementary learning tool that
enables students to check their understanding of key issues, to
think beyond basic concepts, and to determine areas that require
further study. The summary and application questions help
students discriminate between main and supporting points and
provide mechanisms for self-teaching.
Key Terms for Selling/Glossary. Learning the selling voca-
bulary is essential to understanding today’s sales world. This is
facilitated in three ways. First, key concepts are boldfaced and
completely defined where they first appear in the text. Second,
each key term, followed by the page number where it was first
introduced and defined, is listed at the end of each chapter.
Third, a glossary summarizing all key terms and definitions
appears at the end of the book for handy reference.
Ethical Dilemma. These challenging exercises provide
students an opportunity to experience ethical dilemmas faced
in the selling job. Students should review the definition and
explanation of ethical behavior in Chapter 2 before discussing
the ethical dilemmas.
Further Exploring the Sales World. These projects ask
students to go beyond the textbook and classroom to explore
what’s happening in the real world. Projects can be altered
or adapted to the instructor’s school location and learning
objectives for the class.
Cases for Analysis. Each chapter ends with brief but sub-
stantive cases for student analysis and class discussion. These
cases provide an opportunity for students to apply concepts
to real events and to sharpen their diagnostic skills for sales
problem solving.
As you see, the publisher and I have thoroughly considered
how best to present the material to readers for maximizing their
interest and learning. Teacher, reviewer, and student response to
this revision has been fantastic. They are pleased with the read-
ability, reasonable length, depth, and breadth of the material.
You will like this edition better than the previous one.
Teaching and Learning Supplements
McGraw-Hill/Irwin has spared no expense to make ABC’s of
Selling the premier text in the market today. Many instructors
face classes with limited resources, and supplementary materi-
als provide a way to expand and improve the students’ learning
experience. Our learning package was specifically designed to
meet the needs of instructors facing a variety of teaching con-
ditions and for both the first-time and veteran instructor.
Professor Futrell—Your Number One Resource. Contact me
anytime with questions, comments, or just to say “hello.” Numerous
instructors, students, and industry sales trainers worldwide contact
me each year. If you are teaching the course, especially for the first
time, and want me to look over your syllabus, I am here to serve.
ProSelling Videos. Several hours of student role-plays, exe-
rcises, examples of selling techniques, and industry sales training
programs show students how to prepare their own role-plays,
and how textbook content relates to the sales world. Several of
the student’s video role-plays were produced especially for this
book. They take people through the 10-step selling process.
Instructor’s Manual. Loaded with ideas on teaching the
course, chapter outlines, commentaries on cases, answers to
everything—plus much more—the Instructor’s Manual is a
large, comprehensive time-saver for teachers.
Test Bank. The most important part of the teaching package is
the Test Bank. We gave the Test Bank special attention during the
preparation of the twelfth edition because instructors desire test

questions that accurately and fairly assess student competence in
subject material. The Test Bank provides hundreds of multiple-
choice and true/false questions. Each question has been rated for
level of difficulty and designated with the page number in the
text to locate the correct answer so that instructors can provide a
balanced set of questions for student exams.
Course Web Site. At www.mhhe.com/futrellABC11e, you
can access downloadable versions of instructor support materials,
as well as a student tutorial and student self-assessment quizzes.
Preface xi
■ A PowerPoint Presentation. A state-of-the-art program
offering hundreds of lecture slides. These slides can be cus-
tomized for any course. They are great!
■ Computerized Test Bank. The Computerized Test Bank
allows instructors to select and edit test items from the
printed Test Bank and to add their own questions. Various
versions of each test can be custom printed.
■ Electronic Version of the Instructor’s Manual.
This page intentionally left blank
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Working with the dedicated team of profes-
sionals at McGraw-Hill/Irwin, who were deter-
mined to produce the best personal selling book
ever, was a gratifying experience.
In overseeing this revision, Executive Editor
Sankha Basu and development editor Wendy
Langerud oversaw and managed the project.
David Tietz oversaw the selection of new pho-
tographs for this edition. Project managers Jane
Mohr and Kala Ramachandran ably guided
the manuscript and page proofs through the
production process.
Another group of people who made a major
contribution to this text were the sales experts
who provided advice, reviews, answers to
questions, and suggestions for changes, inser-
tions, and clarifications. I want to thank these
colleagues for their valuable feedback and
suggestions:
■ Nicola Thomas Arena, UNC Pembroke
■ Douglas E. Hughes, Michigan State University
■ Deborah Kane, Butler County Community
College
■ Jay P. Mulki, Northeastern University
■ James Richard (Rick) Shannon, Western Ken-
tucky University
I also want to again thank those people
who contributed to earlier editions, because
their input is still felt in this twelfth edition.
They were Michael Ahearne, University of
Houston; Ramon A. Avila, Ball State Univer-
sity; Duane Bachmann, Central Missouri State
University; Ames Barber, Adirondack Commu-
nity College; Paul Barchitta, Queensborough
Community College; John R. Beem, College of
DuPage; Mike Behan, Western Technical Col-
lege and Viterbo University; Dawn Bendall-
Lyon, University of Montevallo; Milton J.
Bergstein, Pennsylvania State University;
Marilyn Besich, MSU Great Falls College of
Technology; Chris Brandmeir, Highline Com-
munity College; Rochelle R. Brunson, Alvin
Community College; Karen Bilda, Cardinal
Stritch University; Marjorie Caballero, Baylor
University; Michael Cicero, Highline Commu-
nity College; William J. Cobian, University of
Wisconsin–Stout; Norman Cohn, Milwaukee
Tech; Gerald Crawford, University of North
Alabama; William H. Crookston, California
State University–Northridge; Christine H.
Dennison, Youngstown State University;
Frances DePaul, Westmoreland Community
College; Michael Discello, Pittsburgh Tech-
nical Institute; Gary Donnelly, Casper Col-
lege; Sid Dudley, Eastern Illinois University;
Trudy Dunson, Gwinnett Technical College;
Michael Eguchi, University of Washington
Foster School of Business; Dennis Elbert, Uni-
versity of North Dakota; Earl Emery, Baker
Junior College of Business; Joyce Ezrow, Anne
Arundel Community College; Kevin Feldt,
xiii
xiv Acknowledgments
University of Akron; O. C. Ferrell, University
of New Mexico; Michael Fox, Eastern Arizona
College; Greg Gardner, Jefferson Community
College; Myrna Glenny, Fashion Institute of
Design and Merchandising; Joe M. Garza,
University of Texas–Pan American; Jeff Gauer,
Mohawk Valley Community College; Ric
Gorno, Cypress College; Kevin Hammond,
Community College of Allegheny County; Jon
Hawes, Northen Illinois University; Deborah
Jansky, Milwaukee Area Technical College;
Albert Jerus, Northwestern College; Donna
Kantack, Elrick & Lavidge; Craig Kelley,
California State University–Sacramento;
Dennis Kovach, Community College of Allegh-
eny County; Deborah Lawe, San Francisco
State University; Cindy Leverenz, Blackhawk
Technical College; Tracie Linderman, Horry-
Georgetown Technical College; James E.
Littlefield, Virginia Polytechnic Institute &
State University; Lynn J. Loudenback, New
Mexico State University; Alicia Lupinacci,
Tarrant County College–Northwest Campus;
Navneet Luthar, Madison Area Technical Col-
lege; Thomas O. Marpe, Saint Mary’s Univer-
sity of Minnesota; Alicia Lupinacci, Tarrant
County College; Craig A Martin, Western Ken-
tucky University; Leslie E. Martin, Jr., Univer-
sity of Wisconsin–Whitewater; Don McCartney,
University of Wisonson–Green Bay; Kathy
Messick, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community
College; Brian Meyer, Mankato State Univer-
sity; Ken Miller, Kilgore College; Herb Miller,
University of Texas–Austin; Harry Moak,
Macomb Community College; Jim Muncy, Val-
dosta State University; Balan Nagraj, Suffolk
County Community College; Eric Newman,
California State University–San Bernardino;
Dick Nordstrom, California State University–
Fresno; Hieu Nguyen, University of Texas at
Arlington; James Ogden, Kutztown University;
Becky Oliphant, Stetson University; Barbara
Ollhoff, Waukesha County Technical Col-
lege; Roy Payne, Purdue University; Robert
Piacenza, Madison Area Technical College;
Alan Rick, New England Institute of Technol-
ogy; John Ronchetto, University of San Diego;
Joan Rossi, Pittsburgh Technical Institute;
Jeff Sager, University of North Texas; Donald
Sandlin, East Los Angeles College; Allen
Schaefer, Missouri State University; Camille P.
Schuster, Xavier University; Richard Shannon,
Western Kentucky University; Dee Smith,
Lansing Community College; Karen J.
Smith, Columbia Southern University; Robert
Smith, Illinois State University; Ed Snider,
Mesa Community College; Eric Soares,
California State University–Hayward; Keith
Steege, International Academy of Design and
Technology–Orlando; William A. Stull, Utah
State University; Dennis Tademy, Cedar Valley
College; Robert Tangsrud, Jr., University of
North Dakota; Albert J. Taylor, Austin Peay
State University; James L. Taylor, University
of Alabama; Ruth Taylor, Southwest Texas
State University; Robert Thompson, Indiana
State University; Brian Tietje, California Poly-
technic State University; Suzanne Tilleman,
Montana State University; Rollie Tilman,
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill;
John Todd, University of Tampa; Glenna
Urbshadt, British Columbia Institute of Tech-
nology; Bruce Warsleys, Trend Colleges;
Robert Weaver, Fairmont State University; Dan
Weilbaker, Northern Illinois University; David
Wiley, Anne Arundel Community College; and
Timothy W. Wright, Lakeland Community
College.
I would also like to thank the many Texas
A&M students who have used the book in their

classes and provided feedback. Thanks also to
the many instructors who call me each year
to discuss the book and what they do in their
classes. While we have never met face-to-face,
I feel I know you. Your positive comments,
encouragement, and ideas have been inspira-
tional to me.
In addition, salespeople and sales managers
have provided photographs, selling techniques,
answers to end-of-chapter exercises and cases,
and other industry materials that enrich the
reader’s learning experience. They include the
following:
Kim Allen, McNeil Consumer Products
Company; Alan Baker, Noxell Corpora-
tion; Michael Bevan, Parbron International
of Canada; Richard Ciotti, JC Penney Com-
pany; John Croley, The Gates Rubber Com-
pany; Terry and Paul Fingerhut, Steamboat
Party Sales, Inc., Tupperware; Bill Frost,
AT&T Communications; Steve Gibson, Smith
Barney; Gary Grant, NCR; Jerry Griffin,
Sewell Village Cadillac–Sterling, Dallas;
Martha Hill, Hanes Corporation; Debra
Hutchins, Sunwest Bank of Albuquerque;
Mike Impink, Aluminum Company of America
(ALCOA); Bob James, American Hospital Sup-
ply Corporation; Morgan Jennings, Richard
D. Irwin, Inc.; Patrick Kamlowsky, Hughes
Tool Company; Cindy Kerns, Xerox Corpora-
tion; Alan Killingsworth, FMC Corporation;
Santo Laquatra, SmithKline Beecham; Stanley
Marcus; Gerald Mentor, Richard D. Irwin,
Inc.; Jim Mobley, General Mills, Inc.; George
Morris, The Prudential Insurance Company
of America; Vikki Morrison, First Team
Walk-In Realty, California; Greg Munoz,
The Dow Chemical Company; Jeffrey Parker,
Jacksonville State University; Kathleen
Paynter, Campbell Sales Company; Bruce
Acknowledgments xv
Powell, Richard D. Irwin, Inc.; Jack Pruett,
Bailey Banks and Biddle; Joseph Puglisi, La
Roche College; Emmett Reagan, Xerox Cor-
poration; Jeri Rubin, University of Alaska–
Anchorage; Bruce Scagel, Scott Paper
Company; Linda Slaby-Baker, The Quaker
Oats Company; Sandra Snow, The Upjohn
Company; Matt Suffoletto, International
Business Machines (IBM); Ed Tucker, Can-
non Financial Group, Georgia. For the use of
their selling exercises and sales management
cases, I am especially grateful to these people:
■ Bill Stewart, Gerald Crawford, Keith Absher,
University of North Alabama
■ Dick Nordstrom, California State University–
Fresno
■ Jeffrey K. Sager, University of North Texas
■ George Wynn, James Madison University
Special thanks to my assistants at TAMU—
Arpita Somani for the fantastic PowerPoints,
along with Catherine Bozeman for help with
various parts of the textbook and learning
package.
Finally, I wish to thank the sales trainers,
salespeople, and sales managers who helped
teach me the art of selling when I carried the
sales bag full time. I hope I have done justice to
their great profession of selling.
I hope you learn from and enjoy the book. I
enjoyed preparing it for you. Readers are urged
to forward their comments on this text to me. I
wish you great success in your selling efforts.
Remember, it’s the salesperson who gets the cus-
tomer’s orders that keeps the wheels of industry
turning. America cannot do without you.
Charles M. Futrell
c-futrell@tamu.edu
http://futrell-www.tamu.edu
GUIDED TOUR
A goal of ABC’s of Selling
is to teach students the
order of steps within the
selling process; provide
numerous examples of
what should be in each
step; and how the steps
within the selling process
interact with one another
in a logical, seamless
flow. Arguably, no other
personal selling textbook
presents a sales process
in such a manner from
planning the approach,
to closing and follow-up
for exceptional customer
service. Futrell’s Selling
Process trains readers in a
specific, yet generic, step-
by-step selling process
that is universal in nature.
Once learned, a student
has the basic background
to sell any product.
xvi
The Facing a Sales Challenge feature at the
beginning of each chapter presents students
with real-life challenges sales professionals face.
The challenge pertains to the topic of the chapter
and will heighten students’ interest in chapter
concepts. The challenge is then resolved at the
end of the chapter where chapter concepts
guiding the salesperson’s actions are highlighted.
p , y, g y
FACING A SALES
“How can I manage my time to take better care of my customers?” thought Alice Jenson. “It
seems each day I work I get further and further behind.”
CHALLENGE
Alice had recently taken over the sales territory of Mike Batemen, who retired and moved
across the country after 35 years of calling on customers. He kept all records in his head.
Alice had to contact the 200 customers in the sales territory with no information other than
their past sales. After several weeks, Alice had seen 95 percent of the customers once and
25 percent of them a second time. Two weeks ago, complaints started coming in that Alice
had not followed up on her last calls or that she had not been back to see them.
Alice started telephoning people. That helped some, but customers wanted to see her.
She almost stopped prospecting for new customers because she felt it was easier to keep a
customer than get a new one. However, as sales started to decline, Alice realized customers
were beginning to buy from her competitors.
Alice is in trouble, and it is getting worse. What can you suggest Alice do to keep
customers, have time to prospect, and increase sales?
Managing time and territory is one of the most important factors in selling. “Facing
a Sales Challenge” illustrates that Alice is certainly having a challenging time doing
all she needs to do in a day. Because of such things as the rapidly increasing cost of
direct selling, decreasing time for face-to-face customer contact, continued emphasis
on profitable sales, and the fact that time is always limited, it is no wonder that many
companies are concentrating on improving how salespeople manage time and terri-
tory. Time is money. That is what this chapter is about—how to effectively use time.
Pretend you are given a bank account that receives a fresh deposit of $86,400
every day. You are free to spend the money any way you want, but the unspent bal-
ance is not carried forward to the next day. Regardless of what you have spent by the
end of the day, the balance is reset daily at $86,400. What would you do with such a
bank account?
Now consider the fact that each dollar represents the number of seconds in one
day: 24 3 60 3 60 5 86,400 seconds. Once they are “spent,” they disappear; and the
balance is reset at 12:00:01 a.m. every day. How do you spend your time?1
THE GOLDEN Time is money because time is limited. There is only so much time in a day, week,
RULE: TIME month, year. People spend time doing what is most important in their lives. That
is why living with “purpose” is the only way to really live. Everything else is just
existing. You need purpose to get out of bed in the morning. You need purpose to get
in your car and drive to see a stranger or someone you hardly know to try and help
them. You need purpose in your life for guidance in your job.
Who am I? Do I matter? What is my purpose in life? What job is best for me?
Why am I in this job? Serious questions we ask ourselves as we decide our purpose
and how to spend the time in our lives and career in order to fulfill our purpose.
Today the average life span is 25,550 days. That’s how long you will live if you
are typical. Chances are you will work over 10,000 of those days as an adult in a
full-time job. Don’t you think it would be best to spend your time wisely? How you
spend your time determines your life. It greatly influences the level of your success
in sales—and school. Time encompasses the time spent with customers and your life
activities. Using your life’s time in a career to help others, and get paid for it, results
in a wonderful life. Using ethical service as a guide for actions allows one to spend
time doing what one loves. It allows you to find your purpose.
fut28930_ch14_414-438.indd 417 8/31/12 8:33 PM
 ETHICAL DILEMMA
A Breakdown in Productivity
Y ou are a hard worker, often putting in 60 hours a week.
On your first sales job and with the company only five
the trust of your co-workers. Tomorrow you have a meeting
with your boss about your territory’s productivity and you
months, you realize the importance of getting off to a good
start. You have sold an average of 30 percent over your sales
are sure he is expecting input about the other territories.
quota for the past three months. One reason is your hard work.
Another reason is that the salesperson that preceded you in this
territory either neglected accounts or just renewed old orders,
never striving to upgrade current accounts. Most customers
complained that they hadn’t seen a salesperson from your
company for months before you began to call on them.
Last month one of the older salespeople jokingly sug-
gested that you slow down—you are making everyone look
bad. You have noticed a breakdown in productivity among
your fellow salespeople, who seem to be goofing off to
extremes. Although it doesn’t affect you directly, it will ulti-
mately have an adverse impact on the department’s produc-
tivity. Your boss likes good news and frequently asks you for
ideas on how to increase sales in other territories. Because
you are new and have not yet established yourself as a loyal
employee, you have kept quiet in the past, hoping to win
Ethics in personal selling is a
primary focus of this text. The
Ethical Dilemma boxes in each
What would be the most ethical action to take?
chapter are meant to be challenging
1. Tell your boss nothing. State that your territory must
be particularly active right now and that you think the
exercises that provide students with
other territories must just be slow right now. It does not
affect you, so why should you get involved?
an opportunity to experience ethical
2. Tell your boss that your numbers have been so high
because you have been working very hard and putting dilemmas faced in the sales field.
in long hours. Let him know that you have noticed that
the other salespeople have been slacking and, in fact,
have told you to “slow down.” After all, it isn’t right
that they are abusing their positions and hurting the
company’s profits.
3. Suggest to your boss that he have some type of new
sales incentive plan. This way, maybe the other sales-
people will stop “goofing off” and you don’t have to
say anything.

MAKING THE SALE

Creativity and innovation are char-
A Precall Approach Worked!
acteristics that any successful
salesperson has. Making the Sale A t a Toastmasters meeting, Phil Proctor of Associated
Printing in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, was approached by
another club member about a printing job for her direct-mail
This time, with so much at stake, he decided to do a
little extra research. With a quick call to his secretary, he
learned that the COO was Jewish. Instead of sending nor-
boxes illustrate how salespeople, company. As VP of sales and marketing, he was interested
in the sample she showed him. “Is it something you can
mal bakery bread, Phil sent a fresh loaf of Challah bread.
The results were incredible. The COO’s secretary called
when faced with challenges, use
fut28930_ch14_414-438.indd 431 handle?” she asked. When
8/31/12 8:33she
PM told Phil that her company

produced 30 million direct-mail pieces per month “at a total

him soon after his package arrived with an invitation to
come to the office that afternoon. The COO was absolutely

new ideas to sell their products. printing cost of more than $1 million each month,” he said,
“Of course.” However, he still had to convince the COO of
her company that they were the best choice for the job.
To create meeting interest, he routinely uses a corny but
effective prop: a simple bag of bread with a note that reads,
“Our clients say we’re the greatest thing since . . . sliced
bread.” It’s a little out of the box, but it works as an immedi-
ate door opener.
ecstatic. He thought it was the boldest, most creative intro-
duction he’d ever seen. Even though he was about to com-
mit to another company, he changed his mind at the last
minute and insisted on splitting all the work between the
two companies.
With the good recommendation from his fellow club
member, and the initiative he showed in the sales process,
Phil closed the sale before he even made the call.1

xvii
GUIDED TOUR
SELLING TIPS
Every salesperson will be faced Your Prospect’s Name Is a Powerful Closing Tool
with unique selling issues, whether
D ale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends and
Influence People, taught his students, “If you remember
Your prospect will not know that you are using a powerful
psychological strategy referred to as learned association or
it be a specific client objection or my name, you pay me a subtle compliment; you indicate
that I have made an impression on you.” Your prospect’s
positive pairing. If you have connected your prospect’s name
with three or four prominent product benefits, your customer
negotiating a sale. The Selling Tips name is one of the most powerful closing tools because most
of us are more interested in ourselves than anyone else.
will expect to hear something positive when you merely
mention his or her name. When you approach the close,

boxes provide extra tips for stu- Repeat your prospect’s name several times—but don’t
overdo it—during your sales call. Connect your prospect’s
remember to use your prospect’s name. Chances are that the
sound of her or his name will again evoke positive feelings.
name with the major benefit statements: By using this little-known secret of master sales closers, you
dents to use in certain situations ■ “This automatic dialing feature, Jim, will save you a lot will improve your chances of making the sale.
of time.”
that require adept communication ■ “Our warranty is designed to give you peace of mind,
Susan.”
skills. These boxes also help
create additional class role-plays. The probability close permits prospects to focus on their objections. It allows the
true or hidden objections to surface. The more prospects fight you and the less can-

CASE 9.3 Ann Saroyan is a salesperson for the Electronic Office Security Corporation. She
Electronic Office sells industrial security systems that detect intruders and activate an alarm. When
Security Corporation Ann first began selling, she used to make brief opening remarks to her prospects and Cases for Analysis appear at the
then move quickly into her presentation. Although this resulted in selling many of
her security systems, she felt there must be a better method. end of each chapter.
Ann began to analyze the reasons prospects would not buy. Her conclusion was
that even after her presentation, prospects still did not believe they needed a security
alarm system. She decided to develop a multiple-question approach that would allow
her to determine the prospect’s attitude toward a need for a security system. If the
prospect does not initially feel a need for her product, she wants her approach to help
convince the prospect of a need for a security system.
Ann developed and carefully rehearsed her new sales presentation. Her first sales
call using her multiple-question approach was with a large accounting firm. She
asked the receptionist whom she should see and was referred to Joe Bell. After she
waited 20 minutes, Bell asked her to come into his office. The conversation went like
this:
Salesperson: This is a beautiful old building, Mr. Bell. Have you been here long?
Buyer: About 10 years. Before we moved here, we were in one of those ugly
glass and concrete towers. Now, you wanted to talk to me about office security.
fut28930_ch12_353-385.indd 370 8/31/12 5:39 PM
Salesperson: Yes, Mr. Bell. Tell me, do you have a burglar alarm system at
present?
Buyer: No, we don’t. We’ve never had a break-in here.
Salesperson: I see. Could you tell me what’s the most valuable item in your
building?
Buyer: Probably the computer.
Salesperson: And is it fairly small?
Buyer: Yes, amazingly, it’s not much bigger than a typewriter.
Salesperson: Would it be difficult to run your business without it—if it were
stolen, for example?
Buyer: Oh, yes, that would be quite awkward.
Salesperson: Could you tell me a bit more about the problem you would face
without your computer?
Buyer: It would be inconvenient in the short term for our accounts and records
people, but I suppose we could manage until our insurance gave us a replacement.
Salesperson: But without a computer, wouldn’t your billing to customers suffer?
Buyer: Not if we got the replacement quickly.

xviii
 Another helpful tool included for use in ABC’s of Selling, twelfth edition, is the text’s appendixes.
Responding to the need for more practical resources, the appendixes provide students with
additional role-plays, exercises, global selling illustrations, and answers to chapter crossword
puzzles.

Appendix A:
Sales Call Role-Plays
Appendix A: Sales Call Role-Plays
provide complete information on four
sales situations that students can use
How would you like to take a computer class without ever using a computer? To learn,
to create their class role-plays. The first
you need an instructor, a textbook, and a computer. To learn to sell, you need an instructor,
a textbook, and one or more role-plays. Role-plays are where the true learning takes place,
three role-plays have an accompanying
where you see how to use all of the classroom instruction materials your instructor and
textbook provided. video illustrating our ProSelling pro-
I have worked with thousands of people to help them develop role-plays similar to those
presented in a sales training class. The following role-plays have been created from actual
organizations’ sales information provided to their salespeople. The names of the companies
cess using Professor Futrell’s students
and their products have been changed to provide anonymity. selling a consumer or business product.
ROLE-PLAY ONE: You are a salesperson for a multibillion-dollar consumer goods manufacturer. Today
CONSUMER SALES you will be calling on Amy, the cereal buyer for ABC Grocery Stores. ABC is a
chain of 20 large grocery stores. You have known Amy since last year about this
time, when she became the buyer. Since then you have called on Amy about every
month to sell her your various new items, talk about reordering your other products
ABC currently carries, and create marketing plans for your major items.
Amy’s office is in the largest city in your area. ABC currently carries about 100
different products of yours, with each of these 100 products available in various sizes
and flavors. Thus ABC has 450 SKUs (stock-keeping units) of yours that it sells.
(Each item carried in the store is given a tracking, or stock-keeping, number referred
to as an SKU.)
You will be selling Amy one size of a new ready-to-eat cereal. For your role-play
choose any cereal in your favorite grocery store to use in this exercise. Incorporate
the following information relates to the role-play’s product, promotion, pricing, and
sales objectives.

Product Select any ready-to-eat (RTE) cereal of your choice to use in your role-play.
Description
■ Ready-to-eat cereal is the largest dry grocery category, with sales of $8 billion.

Category/Segment The following information is based on AC Nielsen information and test markets.
Performance ■ 93 percent of consumers will buy your cereal in addition to their normal cereal.
■ Your cereal focuses on people nine years of age to older adults.

Item Fit and ■ 60 percent of category growth comes from new cereal products.
Uniqueness ■ Your product attracts your key consumer group—households with kids.

fut28930_appA_439-456.indd 439 9/3/12 8:10 PM

xix
 GUIDED TOUR

Appendix B:
Personal Selling Appendix B: Personal Selling
Experiential Exercises Experiential Exercises
■ Sell Yourself on a Job Interview
explains how to incorporate sales com-
SELL YOURSELF You will play the roles of a sales job applicant and a recruiter.1 You may interview
ON A JOB any organization, but the hope is you will choose to interview an organization with munication and techniques into a job
INTERVIEW which you would like to interview for a job sometime in the future. For your role as
an applicant, develop a one- to two-page professional-looking résumé. Before you
are to be interviewed, turn in a copy of the résumé to your instructor to give to your
interview. This is a favorite role-play
interviewer to go over before the meeting. Also give the instructor a one to two-page
description of the company at which you are applying for a beginning sales job.
of students.
Assume this is your first interview with the company and you have never met the
recruiter. It will last approximately five to eight minutes. ■ How to Create a Portfolio shows stu-
Recruiter Create a business card to give to the applicant sometime during the interview. dents how to create information for the
Résumé Bring an original copy of the résumé with you to the interview (see page 462). Dur-
ing the interview, be prepared to point out one or more selling points in the résumé job interview highlighting their abilities,
that relate to the interviewer’s question(s) or to major point(s) you will discuss about
yourself during the interview. accomplishments, and experiences.
Personal
Business Card
Here are several format ideas for your business card. On the left side have a head and
shoulder photograph of yourself. This should be a professional pose. On the right
■ Sales Team Building is great for the
side have your name in bold. Underneath your name, have your address, telephone
number, and e-mail address in a regular typeface. Now skip a line and have the name instructor wanting to incorporate a
of your school in bold, followed by your degree, such as BBA in Marketing, and
graduation date. On the card’s back have a bulleted list of items such as your overall
and major GPA, courses relating to job, and main job(s). You are creating a creative
team selling assignment into class.
mini-résumé. ■ What’s Your Style has students deter-
Portfolio Create a bound portfolio of school projects you have completed during your work
career and coursework (see pages 467–470). At the appropriate time during the inter- mine their core personality style in
view, go over one or more of the projects that best relate to this job. If you have no
projects, use a fake portfolio. Make up facts related to the project(s) for discussion
with the recruiter.
order to become a better communicator.
The résumé and course portfolio serve as visuals that aid in creating the image
of you as a creative, highly motivated person who has thoroughly prepared for this
interview and is very interested in obtaining a job with the organization. You will
leave both the résumé and the portfolio with the interviewer. They will be returned
to you after the interview. You are encouraged to develop other creative elements for
your presentation.

fut28930_appB_457-472.indd 457 8/31/12 9:50 PM

xx
Supplements

Videos
ProSelling videos provide several hours
of role-plays, exercises, examples of sell-
ing techniques, and industry sales training
programs. These segments illustrate how
students will incorporate text materials
into creating their class sales role-plays
and show how textbook content relates
to the sales world. There are also sev-
eral segments that are new to the twelfth
edition video package that give real-life
profiles of salespersons in different com-
panies and industries.

Online Learning Center

The Online Learning Center houses
resources for both students and instructors.
Students will find quizzes, key terms, chap-
ter outlines, and chapter summaries on the
Web site. Instructors can access materials
such as the Instructor’s Manual, Power-
Point slides, Test Bank, Computerized Test
Bank, and also find a link to McGraw-Hill’s
course management system, PageOut.

xxi
CONTENTS IN BRIEF

10 Elements of a Great Sales Presentation 287

PART I 11 Welcome Your Prospect’s Objections 319
12 Closing Begins the Relationship 353
Selling as a Profession 3 13 Service and Follow-Up for Customer Retention 386

1 The Life, Times, and Career of the Professional

Salesperson 4 PART IV
2 Ethics First . . . Then Customer Relationships 41

Time and Territory Management: Keys

PART II to Success 415
14 Time, Territory, and Self-Management: Keys to
Preparation for Relationship Selling 73 Success 416
Appendix A: Sales Call Role-Plays 439
3 The Psychology of Selling: Why People Buy 74
Appendix B: Personal Selling Experiential
4 Communication for Relationship Building: It’s Not
Exercises 457
All Talk 101
Glossary of Selling Terms 473
5 Sales Knowledge: Customers, Products,
Technologies 135 Notes 482
Photo Credits 486
Index 488
PART III

The Relationship Selling Process 177

6 Prospecting—The Lifeblood of Selling 178
7 Planning the Sales Call Is a Must! 205
8 Carefully Select Which Sales Presentation Method
to Use 226
9 Begin Your Presentation Strategically 256

xxii
CONTENTS
PART I
Selling as a Profession 3
CHAPTER 1
The Life, Times, and Career of the Professional
Salesperson 4
What Is the Purpose of Business? 5
The Primary Goal of Business 5
Marketing’s Definition 6
Essentials of a Firm’s Marketing Effort 6
Product: It’s More than You Think 6
Price: It’s Important to Success 6
Distribution: It Has to Be Available 7
Promotion: You Have to Tell People about It 7
What Is Selling? 7
A New Definition of Personal Selling 8
The Golden Rule of Personal Selling 8
Salesperson Differences 9
Everybody Sells! 10
What Salespeople Are Paid to Do 10
Why Choose a Sales Career? 10
Service: Helping Others 11
A Variety of Sales Jobs Are Available 11
Freedom of Action: You’re on Your Own 14
Job Challenge Is Always There 14
Opportunities for Advancement Are Great 14
Rewards: The Sky’s the Limit 16
You Can Move Quickly into Management 16
Is a Sales Career Right for You? 17
Success in Selling—What Does It Take? 17
S—Success Begins with Love 17
S—Service to Others 17
U—Use the Golden Rule of Selling 18
C—Communication Ability 18
C—Characteristics for the Job 19
E—Excels at Strategic Thinking 19
S—Sales Knowledge at the M.D., Level 19
S—Stamina for the Challenge 19
C—Characteristics for the Job Examined 19
Caring, Joy, Harmony 19
Patience, Kindness, Moral Ethics 20
Faithful, Fair, Self-Control 20
Relationship Selling 21
Sales Jobs Are Different 22
What Does a Professional Salesperson Do? 23
Reflect Back 25
The Future for Salespeople 25
Learning Selling Skills 26
Preparing for the 21st Century 27
An Ethical Megatrend Is Shaping Sales and Business 27
E-Selling: Technology and Information Build
Relationships 28
Selling Is for Large and Small Organizations 29
The Plan of This Textbook 29
Building Relationships Through The Sales Process 30
Summary of Major Selling Issues 32
Key Terms for Selling 32
Sales Application Questions 33
Further Exploring the Sales World 33
Selling Experiential Exercise 33
Aerobic, Strength, and Flexibility Exercise Guidelines 33
CASE
1.1 What They Didn’t Teach Us in Sales Class 34
APPENDIX:
The Golden Rule of Personal Selling as Told by a
Salesperson 36
The Golden Rule of Selling 36
Others Includes Competitors 36
Sales Is Your Calling to Serve 36
To Serve, You Need Knowledge 37
Customers Notice Integrity 37
Personal Gain Is Not Your Goal 38
Others Come First 38
xxiii
xxiv Contents
The Golden Rule Is Not 38
Corruptible It Is Not 38
Self-Serving It Is Not 39
Comprehensive It Is Not 39
Easy to Follow It Is Not 39
The Great Harvest Law of Sales 39
A Corny Example 39
The Common Denominator of Sales Success 40
The Fruit of the Selling Spirit 40
CHAPTER 2
Ethics First . . . Then Customer Relationships 41
What Influences Ethical Behavior? 42
The Individual’s Role 42
The Organization’s Role 44
Are There Any Ethical Guidelines? 44
What Does the Research Say? 44
What Does One Do? 44
Is Your Conscience Reliable? 45
Sources of Significant Influence 46
Three Guidelines for Making
Ethical Decisions 46
Will the Golden Rule Help? 47
Management’s Ethical Responsibilities 47
What Is Ethical Behavior? 48
What Is an Ethical Dilemma? 48
Ethics In Dealing With Salespeople 49
Level of Sales Pressure 49
Decisions Affecting Territory 50
To Tell the Truth? 50
The Ill Salesperson 51
Employee Rights 51
Salespeople’s Ethics in Dealing with Their
Employers 53
Misusing Company Assets 53
Moonlighting 53
Cheating 53
Affecting Other Salespeople 53
Technology Theft 54
Ethics in Dealing with Customers 54
Bribes 54
Misrepresentation 54
Price Discrimination 59
Tie-in Sales 59
Exclusive Dealership 59
Reciprocity 59
Sales Restrictions 59
The International Side of Ethics 60
Managing Sales Ethics 61
Follow the Leader 61
Leader Selection Is Important 61
Establish a Code of Ethics 61
Create Ethical Structures 62
Encourage Whistle-Blowing 62
Create an Ethical Sales Climate 62
Establish Control Systems 63
Ethics in Business and Sales 63
Helpful Hints in Making Career Decisions 63
Do Your Research! 64
Golden Rule of Personal Selling 66
Ethics Rule Business 66
Summary of Major Selling Issues 67
Key Terms for Selling 67
Sales Application Questions 67
Further Exploring the Sales World 68
Selling Experiential Exercise 68
Ethical Work Climates 68
CASE
2.1 Ethical Selling at Perfect Solutions: The Case of
the Delayed Product with video 69
2.2 Sales Hype: To Tell the Truth or Stretch It, That Is
the Question with video 71
PART II
Preparation for Relationship
Selling 73
CHAPTER 3
The Psychology of Selling: Why People Buy 74
The Golden Rule: Benefits 75
Why People Buy—The Black Box Approach 75
Psychological Influences on Buying 76
Motivation to Buy Must Be There 76
Economic Needs: The Best Value for the Money 76
Awareness of Needs: Some Buyers Are Unsure 77
A FABulous Approach to Buyer Need Satisfaction 78
The Product’s Features: So What? 78
The Product’s Advantages: Prove It! 78
The Product’s Benefits: What’s in It for Me? 79
How to Determine Important Buying
Needs—A Key to Success 81
The Trial Close—A Great Way to Uncover
Needs and Sell 82
Sell Sequence 83
You Can Classify Buying Situations 85
Some Decisions Are Routine 86
Some Decisions Are Limited 86
Some Decisions Are Extensive 86
 Contents xxv

Technology Provides Information 87 Further Exploring the Sales World 127

View Buyers as Decision Makers 87
Need Arousal 88
Collection of Information 88
Information Evaluation 88
Purchase Decision 89
Postpurchase 90
Satisfied Customers Are Easier to Sell To 91
To Buy or Not to Buy—A Choice Decision 91
Summary of Major Selling Issues 93
Key Terms for Selling 94
Sales Application Questions 94
Further Exploring the Sales World 97
Student Application Learning Exercises (Sales) 98
Sale 1 of 7—Chapter 3 98
Selling Experiential Exercise 98
Is Organizational Selling for You? 98
CASE
3.1 Economy Ceiling Fans, Inc. 99
3.2 McDonald’s Ford Dealership 99
CHAPTER 4
Communication for Relationship Building:
It’s Not All Talk 101
The Golden Rule: Communication 102
Communication: It Takes Two 103
Salesperson–Buyer Communication Process Requires
Feedback 103
The Buyer’s Personality Should Be Considered 105
Self-Concept 105
Adaptive Selling Based on Buyer’s Personality Style 105
Personality Typing 105
Adapt Your Presentation to the Buyer’s Style 107
Nonverbal Communication: Watch for It 109
Concept of Space 109
Communication through Appearance and the
Handshake 111
Body Language Gives You Clues 114
Master Persuasive Communication to Maintain
Control 117
Feedback Guides Your Presentation 117
Remember the Trial Close 118
Empathy Puts You in Your Customer’s Shoes 118
Keep It Simple 119
Creating Mutual Trust Develops Friendship 120
Listening Clues You In 120
Your Attitude Makes the Difference 123
Proof Statements Make You Believable 124
Summary of Major Selling Issues 124
Key Terms for Selling 125
Sales Application Questions 126
Selling Experiential Exercise 127
Listening Self-Inventory 127
CASE
4.1 Skaggs Manufacturing 128
4.2 Alabama Office Supply 129
4.3 Vernex, with video Inc. 129
APPENDIX:
Dress for Success . . . and to Impress for Business
Professional and Business Casual Occasions! 131
CHAPTER 5
Sales Knowledge: Customers, Products,
Technologies 135
The Golden Rule: Knowledge 136
Sources of Sales Knowledge 136
Knowledge Builds Relationships 137
Knowledge Increases Confidence in Salespeople . . . 137
. . . and in Buyers 137
Relationships Increase Sales 138
Know Your Customers 138
Know Your Company 138
General Company Information 138
Know Your Product 139
Know Your Resellers 140
Advertising Aids Salespeople 140
Types of Advertising Differ 141
Why Spend Money on Advertising? 142
Sales Promotion Generates Sales 143
Point-of-Purchase Displays: Get Them Out There 143
Shelf Positioning Is Important to Your Success 143
Premiums 144
What’s It Worth? Pricing Your Product 144
Know Your Competition, Industry, and Economy 145
Personal Computers and Selling 147
Knowledge of Technology Enhances Sales
and Customer Service 147
Personal Productivity 148
Communications with Customers and Employer 150
Customer Order Processing and Service Support 152
Sales: Internet and the World Wide Web 153
The Internet 153
World Wide Web 153
Global Technology Provides Service 154
Technology Etiquette 155
Netiquette 155
Cell Phones 156
Voice Mail 156
Faxes 157
Speakerphones and Conference Calls 157
xxvi Contents
Summary of Major Selling Issues 157
Key Terms for Selling 158
Sales Application Questions 158
Further Exploring the Sales World 159
Selling Experiential Exercise 159
How Is Your Self-Confidence? 160
APPENDIX:
Sales Arithmetic and Pricing 161
Types of Prices 161
Discounts Lower the Price 162
Quantity Discounts: Buy More, Pay Less 162
Cash Discounts Entice the Customer to Pay
on Time 162
Trade Discounts Attract Channel Members’
Attention 163
Consumer Discounts Increase Sales 163
Resellers: Markup and Profit 164
Markup and Unit Price 165
Markup and Return on Investment 165
Organizations: Value and ROI 167
Compare Product Costs to True Value 168
Unit Costs Break Down Price 169
Return on Investment Is Listened To 169
Key Terms for Selling 169
Sales Application Questions 169
Student Application Learning Exercises
(Sales) 171
Sale 2 of 7—Chapter 5 171
CASE
5A.1 Claire Cosmetics 171
5A.2 McBath Women’s Apparel 172
5A.3 Electric Generator Corporation 173
5A.4 Frank’s Drilling Service 173
5A.5 FruitFresh, Inc. with video 174
PART III
The Relationship Selling
Process 177
CHAPTER 6
Prospecting—The Lifeblood of Selling 178
The Golden Rule: Prospecting 179
The Sales Process Has 10 Steps 180
Steps before the Sales Presentation 180
Prospecting—The Lifeblood of Selling 181
The Leaking Bucket Customer Concept 182
Where to Find Prospects 182
Planning a Prospecting Strategy 182
Prospecting Methods 183
E-Prospecting on the Web 183
Cold Canvassing 184
Endless Chain Customer Referral 184
Orphaned Customers 185
Sales Lead Clubs 185
Prospect Lists 185
Getting Published 186
Public Exhibitions and Demonstrations 186
Center of Influence 187
Direct Mail 188
Telephone and Telemarketing 188
Observation 188
Networking 189
Prospecting Guidelines 190
Referrals Used in Most Prospecting Methods 191
The Prospect Pool 191
The Referral Cycle 192
The Parallel Referral Sale 192
The Secret Is to Ask Correctly 192
The Preapproach 193
The Presentation 194
Product Delivery 194
Service and Follow-Up 195
Don’t Mistreat the Referral 195
Call Reluctance Costs You Money! 196
Obtaining the Sales Interview 196
The Benefits of Appointment Making 196
Wireless E-Mail Helps You Keep in Contact And
Prospect 200
Summary of Major Selling Issues 201
Key Terms for Selling 201
Sales Application Questions 202
Further Exploring the Sales World 202
Selling Experiential Exercise 202
Your Attitude toward Selling 203
CASE
6.1 Canadian Equipment Corporation 204
6.2 Montreal Satellites 204
CHAPTER 7
Planning the Sales Call Is a Must! 205
The Golden Rule: Planning 206
Begin Your Plan with Purpose! 206
Plan to Achieve Your Purpose 206
What’s a Plan? 207
What Is Success? 207

Strategic Customer Sales Planning—The
Preapproach 209
Strategic Needs 210
Creative Solutions 210
Mutually Beneficial Agreements 210
The Customer Relationship Model 210
Reasons for Planning the Sales Call 210
Elements of Sales Call Planning 212
Always Have a Sales Call Objective 212
The Prospect’s Mental Steps 218
Attention 218
Interest 219
Desire 219
Conviction 219
Purchase or Action 219
Overview of the Selling Process 220
Summary of Major Selling Issues 220
Key Terms for Selling 221
Sales Application Questions 221
Further Exploring The Sales World 222
Selling Experiential Exercise 222
SMART Course Objective Setting 222
Student Application Learning Exercises (Sales) 223
SALE 3 of 7—Chapter 7 223
CASE
7.1 Ms. Hansen’s Mental Steps in Buying Your
Product 224
7.2 Machinery Lubricants, Inc. 225
7.3 Telemax, Inc. with video 225
CHAPTER 8
Carefully Select Which Sales Presentation
Method to Use 226
The Golden Rule: Presentation 227
Sales Presentation Strategy 228
Sales Presentation Methods—Select One Carefully 229
The Memorized Sales Presentation 229
The Formula Presentation 231
The Need-Satisfaction Presentation 233
The Problem–Solution Presentation 236
Comparison of Presentation Methods 236
What Is the Best Presentation Method? 237
The Group Presentation 237
Give a Proper Introduction 238
Establish Credibility 238
Provide an Account List 238
State Your Competitive Advantages 238
Give Quality Assurances and Qualifications 238
Cater to the Group’s Behavioral Style 238
Negotiating So Everyone Wins 240
Phases of Negotiation 241
Contents xxvii
Sales Presentations Go High-Tech 243
Select the Presentation Method, then the
Approach 243
The Parallel Dimensions of Selling 244
First Column 245
Second Column 245
Third Column 245
Fourth Column 245
The Sales Presentation and Techniques 245
Your Sales Presentation 246
The Golden Rule Makes Sense 249
Dale Carnegie Gives a Word of Warning! 249
Practice and Time 250
Summary of Major Selling Issues 250
Key Terms for Selling 251
Sales Application Questions 251
Further Exploring the Sales World 252
Selling Experiential Exercise 252
What Are Your Negotiation Skills? 252
CASE
8.1 Cascade Soap Company 253
8.2 A Retail Sales Presentation 253
8.3 Negotiating with a Friend 254
CHAPTER 9
Begin Your Presentation Strategically 256
The Golden Rule: The Beginning 257
What Is the Approach? 257
The Right to Approach 259
The Approach—Opening the Sales Presentation 259
Your Attitude during the Approach 259
The First Impression You Make Is
Critical to Success 261
Approach Techniques and Objectives 262
Small Talk Warms ’em Up 262
The Situational Approach 262
Opening with Statements 263
Demonstration Openings 265
Opening with Questions 266
Technology in the Approach 273
Is the Approach Important? 273
Using Questions Results in Sales Success 273
The Direct Question 274
The Nondirective Question 275
The Rephrasing Question 275
The Redirect Question 275
Three Rules for Using Questions 276
Is the Prospect Still Not Listening? 276
Be Flexible in Your Approach 277
Summary of Major Selling Issues 278
Key Terms for Selling 279
xxviii Contents
Sales Application Questions 279
Further Exploring the Sales World 281
Selling Experiential Exercise 281
Plan Your Appearance—It Projects Your Image! 282
Student Application Learning Exercises (Sales) 282
SALE 4 of 7—Chapter 9 282
CASE
9.1 The Thompson Company 283
9.2 The Copy Corporation 283
9.3 Electronic Office Security Corporation 284
CHAPTER 10
Elements of a Great Sales Presentation 287
The Golden Rule: Presentation 289
The Purpose of the Presentation 289
Three Essential Steps within the Presentation 291
Remember Your FABs! 292
The Sales Presentation Mix 292
Persuasive Communication 293
Participation Is Essential to Success 297
Proof Statements Build Believability 298
The Visual Presentation—Show and Tell 300
Visual Aids Help Tell the Story 301
Dramatization Improves Your Chances 301
George Wynn the Showman 302
Demonstrations Prove It 303
A Demonstration Checklist 304
Use Participation in Your Demonstration 304
Reasons for Using Visual Aids, Dramatics, and
Demonstrations 305
Guidelines for Using Visual Aids, Dramatics, and
Demonstrations 305
Technology Can Help! 306
The Sales Presentation Goal Model 306
The Ideal Presentation 307
Be Prepared for Presentation Difficulties 307
How to Handle Interruptions 307
Should You Discuss the Competition? 308
Where the Presentation Takes Place 310
Diagnose the Prospect to Determine Your Sales
Presentation 310
Summary of Major Selling Issues 310
Key Terms for Selling 311
Sales Application Questions 311
Further Exploring the Sales World 312
Student Application Learning Exercises (Sales) 313
SALE 5 of 7—Chapter 10 313
CASE
10.1 Dyno Electric Cart Company 314
10.2 Major Oil, Inc. 314
10.3 Dumping Inventory: Should This Be Part of Your
Presentation? with video 317
CHAPTER 11
Welcome Your Prospect’s Objections 319
The Golden Rule: Objections 320
Welcome Objections! 320
What Are Objections? 321
When Do Prospects Object? 321
Objections and the Sales Process 321
Basic Points to Consider in Meeting Objections 322
Plan for Objections 323
Anticipate and Forestall 323
Handle Objections as They Arise 324
Be Positive 324
Listen—Hear Them Out 324
Understand Objections 324
Six Major Categories of Objections 327
The Hidden Objection 327
The Stalling Objection 328
The No-Need Objection 330
The Money Objection 331
The Product Objection 334
The Source Objection 334
Techniques for Meeting Objections 336
The Dodge Neither Denies, Answers, nor Ignores 336
Don’t Be Afraid to Pass Up an Objection 336
Rephrase an Objection as a Question 337
Postponing Objections Is Sometimes Necessary 338
Send It Back with the Boomerang Method 339
Ask Questions to Smoke Out Objections 340
Use Direct Denial Tactfully 343
The Indirect Denial Works 343
Compensation or Counterbalance Method 344
Let a Third Party Answer 344
Technology Can Effectively Help Respond to
Objections! 345
After Meeting the Objection—What to Do? 345
First, Use a Trial Close—Ask for Opinion 345
Move Back into Your Presentation 346
Move to Close Your Sale 347
If You Cannot Overcome the Objection 347
In All Things Be Guided by the Golden Rule 348
Summary of Major Selling Issues 348
Key Terms for Selling 349

Sales Application Questions 349
Further Exploring the Sales World 350
Student Application Learning Exercises (Sales) 351
SALE 6 of 7—Chapter 11 351
CASE
11.1 Ace Building Supplies 351
11.2 Electric Generator Corporation (B) 352
CHAPTER 12
Closing Begins the Relationship 353
The Golden Rule: Closing 354
When Should I Pop the Question? 355
Reading Buying Signals 355
What Makes a Good Closer? 356
Ask for the Order and Be Quiet 357
Get the Order—Then Move On! 357
How Many Times Should You Close? 357
Example of Closing More than Once 358
Closing Under Fire 358
Difficulties with Closing 360
Essentials of Closing Sales 360
Prepare Several Closing Techniques 362
The Alternative-Choice Close Is an Old Favorite 363
The Assumptive Close 364
The Compliment Close Inflates the Ego 364
The Summary-of- Benefits Close Is Most Popular 365
The Continuous-Yes Close Generates Positive
Responses 366
The Minor-Points Close Is Not Threatening 366
The T-Account or Balance-Sheet Close Was Ben
Franklin’s Favorite 367
The Standing-Room-Only Close Gets Action 369
The Probability Close 369
The Negotiation Close 370
The Technology Close 370
Prepare a Multiple-Close Sequence 371
Close Based on The Situation 371
Research Reinforces These Sales Success Strategies 371
Keys to Improved Selling 375
The Business Proposition and the Close 375
Use a Visual Aid to Close 375
Closing Begins the Relationship 375
When You Do Not Make the Sale 377
Summary of Major Selling Issues 378
Key Terms for Selling 379
Sales Application Questions 379
Further Exploring the Sales World 381
Contents xxix
Student Application Learning Exercises (Sales) 382
SALE 7 of 7—Chapter 13 382
CASE
12.1 Skaggs Omega 383
12.2 Central Hardware Supply 383
12.3 Furmanite Service Company—A Multiple-Close
Sequence 384
12.4 Steve Santana: Pressured to Close a Big Deal with
video 385
CHAPTER 13
Service and Follow-Up for Customer Retention 386
The Golden Rule: Service 387
The Importance of Service and Follow-Up 388
Words of Sales Wisdom 389
True Caring Builds Relationships and Sales 390
Building a Long-Term Business Friendship 391
What Is a Business Friendship? 391
How to Build a Business Friendship 391
What Is Most Important? 393
How Many Friends? 394
Relationship Marketing and Customer Retention 394
Relationship Marketing Builds Friendships 394
The Product and Its Service Component 394
Expectations Determine Service Quality 395
Customer Satisfaction and Retention 395
Excellent Customer Service and Satisfaction Require
Technology 396
So, How Does Service Increase Your Sales? 396
Turn Follow-Up and Service Into a Sale 397
Account Penetration Is a Secret to Success 398
Service Can Keep Your Customers 399
You Lose a Customer—Keep on Trucking 402
Returned Goods Make You a Hero 403
Handle Complaints Fairly 403
Is the Customer Always Right? 403
This Customer Is Not in the Right! 403
Dress in Your Armor 404
Build a Professional Reputation 404
Do’s and Don’ts for Business Salespeople 405
The Path to Sales Success: Seek, Knock, Ask, Serve 406
Summary of Major Selling Issues 408
Key Terms for Selling 409
Sales Application Questions 409
Further Exploring the Sales World 409
Selling Experiential Exercise 410
What’s Your Attitude toward Customer Service? 410
xxx Contents

CASE Key Terms for Selling 433

13.1 California Adhesives Corporation 411 Sales Application Questions 433
13.2 Sport Shoe Corporation 411 Selling Experiential Exercise 434
13.3 Wingate Paper with video 412 Further Exploring the Sales World 435

PART IV
Time and Territory
Management: Keys to
Success 415
CHAPTER 14
Time, Territory, and Self-Management: Keys to
Success 416
The Golden Rule: Time 417
Customers Form Sales Territories 418
Why Establish Sales Territories? 418
Why Sales Territories May Not Be Developed 419
Elements of Time and Territory Management 419
Salesperson’s Sales Quota 420
Account Analysis 420
Develop Account Objectives and
Sales Quotas 423
Territory–Time Allocation 423
Return on Time Invested 424
Customer Sales Planning 427
Scheduling and Routing 428
Using the Telephone for Territorial Coverage 430
Territory and Customer Evaluation 431
Summary of Major Selling Issues 432
CASE
14.1 Your Selling Day: A Time and Territory
Game 435
14.2 Sally Malone’s District—Development of an
Account Segmentation Plan 436
APPENDIX A:
Sales Call Role-Plays 439
Role-Play One: Consumer Sales 439
Role-Play Two: Distributor Sales 441
Your Sales Call 443
Role-Play Three: Business-To-Business 445
Role-Play Four: Business-To-Business
Sales XDT’s Robophone1 (XDT) 449
APPENDIX B:
Personal Selling Experiential Exercises 457
Sell Yourself On A Job Interview 457
Résumé, Follow-Up Letter, E-Mail 459
How to Create a Portfolio 467
What’s Your Style—Senser, Intuitor,
Thinker, Feeler? 470
Glossary of Selling Terms 473
Notes 482
Photo Credits 486
Index 488
THE ILLUSTRATED
OVERVIEW OF
SELLING

Even before you begin a formal study of selling, you probably already
know a few things about the subject. You know, for example, that
selling is about persuading others to buy your product. And you may
understand that it is also about helping others satisfy their needs. But
that is only part of what you will be studying in selling. The Illustrated
Overview of Selling gives you an introduction to the major concepts
and issues that are part of selling:
■ Selling as a Profession
■ Preparation for Relationship Selling
■ The Relationship Selling Process
■ Time and Territory Management: Keys to Success

xxxi
Today’s salesperson is a professional
manager involved in building long-term
relationships with customers.

By tailoring a presentation to an individual or group, the salesperson

can better help solve problems and satisfy needs.

An organization’s marketing mix includes

its products, prices, distribution, and
promotional efforts. Personal selling is
one very important element of a firm’s
promotional activities.
It takes expertise to sell today’s
complex goods and services. Whether
selling soap or computer chips,
salespeople must know their business.

xxxii
 The ability to communicate effectively
influences a salesperson’s success.
Using a combination of verbal,
nonverbal, and visual communication
techniques greatly increases the
likelihood of making a sale.

From beginning to end, the sales presentation should

be a well-planned and well-executed discussion of
how to help the prospect.

xxxiii
 The sales presentation is a persuasive vocal and visual explanation of a
business proposition. The salesperson presents the information needed for
the buyer to make a well-informed decision.

Properly managing one’s time

is essential to being successful.
Tools such as computers,
telephones, and e-mail and
contacting decision makers at
planned intervals help sell and
service customers effectively.
You are your company’s representative. Customers rely on you to
provide updated information, suggestions on how to solve their
problems, and service. Your employer relies on you to generate
sales. As a salesperson you are involved in a highly honorable,
challenging, rewarding, and professional career.

xxxiv
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 DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
 FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
 Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
 The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

 This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
 “We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
 Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
 BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE

 FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

 LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
 Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

 BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN