"You should know." Thompson could not help a shade of doubt in his tone.
"But I must say I could approach a man with a proposition to sell him an
article with more confidence if I knew that article inside and out, top
and bottom. If I really knew a thing was good, and why, I could sell
it, I believe."
"He has the right hunch, Dad."
Thompson had not heard young Henderson come in. He saw him now a step
behind his chair, garbed in overalls that bore every sign of intimate
contact with machinery.
He nodded to Thompson and continued to address his father.
"It's true. Take two men of equal selling force. On the year's business
the one who can drive mechanical superiority home because he knows
wherein it lies will show the biggest sales, and the most satisfied
customers. I believe six months' shop work would just about double the
efficiency of half our sales staff."
John P. gazed good-naturedly at his son.
"I know, Fred," he drawled. "I've heard those sentiments before. There's
some truth in it, of course. But Simons and Sam Eppel and Monk White are
products of my method. You cannot deny their efficiency in sales.
What's the idea, anyway?"
Young Henderson grinned.
"The fact is," he said, "since I listened in on this conversation I have
come to the conclusion that you've good material here. I need a helper.
He'll get a thorough grounding. Whenever you and he decide that he has
absorbed sufficient mechanics he can join the sales end. I'd like to
train one man for you, properly."
"Well," John P. remarked judicially, "I can't waste the whole morning
discussing methods of training salesmen in the way they should go. I've
made Mr. Thompson a proposition. What do you say?"
He turned abruptly on Thompson.
"Or," young Henderson cut in. "You have the counter proposition of an
indefinite mechanical grind in my department--which is largely
experimental. If you take to it at all I guarantee that in six months
you will know more about the internal combustion motor and automobile
design in general than any two salesmen on my father's staff. And that,"
he added, with a boyish grimace at his father, "is saying a lot."
It seemed to Thompson that both men regarded him with a considerable
expectancy. It perplexed him, that embarrassment of opportunity. He was
a little dazed at the double chance. Here was Opportunity clutching him
by the coat collar. He had nothing but impulse, and perhaps a natural
craving for positive knowledge, to guide his choice. He wasted few
seconds, however, in deciding. Among other things, he had outgrown
vacillation.
"It is just as I said," he addressed Henderson senior. "I'd feel more
competent to sell cars if I knew them. I'd rather start in the shop."