A prize fighter does not punch his opponent until he is down and out, and then keep on striking him. He knows better. A carpenter does not hammer a nail after it is all the way in and clinched. If he did he would loosen it. Many a salesman pounds away to get an order after it has been thoroughly clinched in his prospect's mind. He sometimes talks the man into buying and then talks him out of it. Such a salesman fails without knowing why. He believes that no one could have obtained the order. He made the sale and lost it but does not realize it. -from "Chapter XVII: Resolve to Buy" The details change, but as anyone who has ever had to sell anything from widgets to ideas surely knows, human nature is the greatest obstacle to be overcome by the salesman. And human nature is the same today as it was in 1921, when this lost classic bible of salesmanship was first published. Expert seller James Samuel Knox explains: . fundamental factors in business, from economics of distribution to the psychology of business . the basic principles of salesmanship, including arousing interest, producing conviction, and creating desire . efficient & inefficient selling methods, from motives that move buyers to how not to sell . and more. OF INTEREST TO: sales and marketing specialists, students of human psychology American salesman and author JAMES SAMUEL KNOX (1872-1945) also wrote The Science of Applied Salesmanship (1911) and Salesmanship and Business Efficiency (1922).