H A R D W U U D RECORD 



341 



prices. I think personality is one of the greatest assets of a sales- 

 man in any business. Personality itself is the means of getting 

 many orders at even prices, and in some eases the man who is liked 

 gets the order at a higher price because they have faith in him, 

 and -n-here faith is shown it is simply a stronger bond that has been 

 -welded by the man 's personality. 



There are too many lumbermen, but there are very few lumber 

 merchants. \Vhat does it cost you per thousand to sell lumber?. 

 How many can tell? — perhaps one out of a hundred really can. 

 What does it cost you per salesman to sell lumber? I bet not 

 one out of five hundred lumbermen can answer that correctly. 

 "What does it cost any particular salesman to sell lumber? "What 

 does it cost to dictate and write a letter? I don't think one in a 

 thousand can answer that last question correctly. Understand, I 

 say lumbermen, because of course there are cost accountants and 

 men in other lines of business who know how to figure costs. Lum- 

 bermen are as a class, in relation to their commodity, the poorest 

 "business men of today; yet the lumber business ranks fourth in 

 the country and it ought to be a science. 



We ought to import a few advertising men into the lumber busi- 

 ness. They are the boys that get at the facts. Any advertising 

 man turned loose in your own mill or yard will dig up more real, 

 salient, selling points about your own business than you or your 

 salesmen ever knew existed, because that is one of the first princi- 

 ples of advertising, and the next one is to see whether the manu- 

 facturer knows his costs and whether he is producing his product 

 on a scientific basis. Besides discovering new selling points, cre- 

 ating new markets, overcoming criticisms and objections that are 

 ■continually fired at them, they can think up appropriate replies and 

 arguments for the product before they ever hear of objections or 

 criticisms. In fact, they figure in advance, so to speak. Advertis- 

 ing men are real merchants, because they have to be. 



I learned the lumber game from experience and I have had some 

 years at it. But about three years ago I discovered the possibilities 

 of advertising and especially in general and mail order work. I 

 think I can say that I was of the usual type of lumberman at first, 

 but advertising has taught me real merchandising and salesmanship. 

 One of the first principles of salesmanship is to have the manufac- 

 turing end of the game down to perfection and know what the 

 real cost is, in order that in the case of a high price (if it is high) 

 you can think out the real selling points in connection with it and 

 see where the value comes in. Study of the costs teaches a man the 

 proper worth of the stock and enables him to sell so as to make the 

 proper margin of profit. Now, for example, would you sell a car 

 of 3 inch oak, that you had had on hand for two years, at the same 

 price as a car of 3 inch that you had had on hand but six months? 

 If you do you are a poor merchant. That old stock is worth twelve 

 months ' interest at 4 to 6 per cent added on the price of your six 

 months old stock. Is not old stock of more value? Surely you can 

 find consumers who want dry stock and who are perfectly willing 

 to pay the price. Yet I know of concerns that do not recognize 

 the difference and sell at the same price. 



There are some wholesale dealers who take orders at little or 

 nothing in the way of profit to keep the trade, and excuse them- 

 selves by saying that they make it up on other orders. Wouldn't 

 you or I be pleased, if we were consumers, to know that we pay 

 these dealers a little more for our lumber in order to help them 

 give lumber to others at cost or less? Common sense should tell 

 a man, even though he has no ideas of merchandising, that every 

 shipment should show a profit. We eliminate from this, however, 

 the refused car. I have said that every shipment should show a 

 standard profit but I do not see any objection to making more than 



usual when vou can. 



Have you" ever looked over a list of customers of any wholesale 

 concern that failed? If you have not, do so; it will cause you 

 considerable surprise. I have examined two lists of recent failures 

 in one of our largest cities. In both cases the customers were of 

 the poorest class of trade— all lengthy time takers and concerns 

 who are constantly sending out complaints. Now any merchant 

 who understands his business will tell you that it costs exactly 

 the same to sell the best class of trade as it does the poorer class 



of concerns. Another thing, the larger the concern the more stock 

 it uses. If it is a question of salesmanship, isn 't it just as easy 

 to sell a large concern as it is a small one? That is the way I 

 reasoned it out in my several years of experience. ] know for a 

 fact that my sales' cost is less than that of any other wholesale 

 dealer. Furthermore, I know exactly what percentage I have 

 to make in order to pay (livi<lends. Now, on the other hand, right 

 in our own city, 1 know wholesale concerns handling stock at 

 30 cents a thousand feet and I know further that there are whole- 

 salers selling some pine and some hardwood at a profit of 2.5 cents 

 per thousand feet. I would not think so much of it if they were 

 commission men, but they actually handle the accounts through 

 their books and in most cases have to pay the mills cash and 

 their customers take three or four months' time. These are the 

 men who go under sooner or later, but while they last they are 

 destructive characters. 



In closing, and as a contrast, I would like to explain my con- 

 cern's new method of selling one of our American woods. We 

 have always been firm in our belief of this particular wood and 

 have pushed the sales by scientific advertising and also service in 

 showing our customers how to kiln-dry, finish and take care of 

 the wood in general. Our success has been marked, and I think 

 a record of it has already been published. Since the first of 

 1913, however, we have adopted a new policy. For example, in 

 answering an inquiry we reply that we have the stock on hanrl 

 (and as we have enormous production, we nearly always have) 

 but that we do not care to submit prices in competition with 

 any other concern. We add that as our grades are from five to 

 ten per cent higher in grade than ordinary stock and inasmuch 

 as each ear is shipped to fill the customer's individual require- 

 ments (such as stock for long rippings or short cuttings), we 

 claim he can get more out of it, and for these reasons a comparison 

 of prices is not fair or just. We shall be glad, we tell him, to 

 demonstrate these facts by a sample shipment. This new policy 

 had been in effect for only one day before our first order came in. 

 We had taken it up with this man by telephone. The letter he 

 sent in with the order stated he knew for a fact that our price 

 was $4.00 per thousand higher than the highest price he had ever 

 heard of, but that he was confident that our stock would be as 

 represented. 



Shipping the stock this way is building for us a reputation and 

 building a future. This is good merchandising, good policy and 

 already it has demonstrated its practicability. 



Exports and Imports for December 



Advance sheets showing imports and exports for December, 1912, 

 as issued by the Department of Commerce and Labor at Washington, 

 show that exports of all wood and manufactures of wood aggregated 

 $8,503,196 during the month. This is compared to an export value 

 December, 1911, of $7,074,254, which is a distinctly favorable show- 

 ing, considering the ocean freight rate situation. 



The total export of logs and other round timber showed a gain 

 from $252,130 in December, 1911, to $297,319 December, 1912. The 

 total hewn and sawed timber exported gained from $559,134 Decem- 

 ber, 1911, to $895,575 December, 1912. 



The total export value of manufactured lumber in the form of 

 boards, planks, deals, joists, scantling, etc., was $3,841,407 December, 

 1911, and $4,683,188 December, 1912. 



The total import value of wood and manufactures of wood aggre- 

 gated $5,044,786 December, 1911. The import value of mahogany 

 increased from $228,453 December, 1911, to $709,131 December, 1912. 

 There was a corresponding increase in the importation of other 

 cabinet woods. The importation of pulp woods decreased in value 

 from $373,825 December, 1911, to $343,530 December, 1912. 



Manufactured lumber in the form of boards, planks, deals and 

 other sawed stock was imported to the value of $1,311,861 in Decem- 

 ber of last year. This was a slight increase over the preceding 

 December. 



The import value of wood pulp of all kinds^ decreased from $1,- 

 442,997 December, 1911, to $1,371,549 December, 1912. 



