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Education of the Salesman 



Editor's Note 



Tbo following address was pi-esontod at llio reci-nt mcctins of 

 M Holland, sales manager of the Sti'arus Salt & Lumber Company, 

 logical, forceful and instructive paper 

 been presented at a lumber 



conv 

 business. 



<U1 till' 



'Ution. and 



subject of 

 its careful 



the Lumber Sales Managers' Association, by E. 



Ludington. Micb. F.eyond question it is the most 

 the training and handling of the salesman 

 reading is conimended to every 



that has ever 

 Inralwrman interested in the 



sales department of th 

 My subject is about as broad as the manu 

 factiire of the product we sell, and opinions 



are undoubtedly as different. It is a subject 



on which I would invite an open discussion 



when I am through, as I think the trading of 



ideas would help wonderfully to cope with 



same. To illu.stratc to some extent I am goius 



to relate a few observations made while I was 



aboard the training ship. We had three men 



on the road steadily— one sold a large amount 



of goods, but had the extreme misfortune of 



having a great number of complaints on same 



after shipment; the second sold even a larger 



quantity of goods at higher average prices and 



rarely had any trouble; the third was extremely 



unfortunate in closing his contracts. He could 



get business well started, but for some unac- 

 countable reason could not close a deal and 



someone from the main office invariably had 



to assist him. This weakness caused him to be 



a poor business getter. The first mentioned 



salesman did not know one grade or kind of 



lumber from another, hence unintelligent sales. 



The second could inspect and tally lumber as 



well as anyone, nmlerstood maniifacture 



thoroughly anil could impress his clients with the fact that he knew 



his basiness. The third knew the lumber business from a manu- 

 facturing standpoint, but he could not give his customers an in- 



-telligent idea or description of what he had to sell — at least to a 



sufficient extent to warrant their placing their business with him. 

 Later we engaged two more salesmen, with the result that we se- 



•cured one' good traveling man and one fair cocktail absorber. Onr 



traveling man always had the same hardluck story. I often wondered 



why he was not provided with printed blanks, the beginning or end- 

 ing" of which was ' ' Business is rotten. ' ' The other usually secured 



a reasonable number of orders, but largely from our poor paying 

 friends, about ninety per cent of the time off the list, and never an 



order from a good, responsible concern. 



The results just cited often made me ask myself, "Why doesn't 

 Jones' business go through? Why does Sjmith sell so much and 

 have so few complaints?" "Why could not our third friend close 

 his deals without assistance from the office? Why could not our 

 traveling man friend get orders when all lines of business seemed 

 good, mill running full blast, correspondence orders coming in freely? 

 ■Why could not our ' Jolly good fellow ' get some respresentative trade 

 and the higher standard of business that goes with it?" Simply a 

 lack of the proper education on the part of three and wrong voca- 

 tion on the part of one out of the five mentioned. Nothing struck 

 me so forcibly as when we figured each one's cost per thousand dol- 

 lars' worth of business. The comparison was astonishing. 



Simmering the facts down, it meant that the salesman must know 

 his own business first; to like it, to eat it, to dream it, and to live it. 

 To do so he must begin at its source and follow it to the end. When 

 he has to a degree mastered his own business, he must learn his 

 customers' also, and know bis customers' weaknesses, whatever they 

 n,igt,t be — make his customer his personal friend — indulge him in his 

 whims just as he woulil a social friend — but above all, gain the ex- 

 plicit confidence of his customer by knowing his customer's business; 

 help him and hel[. himself; give the j.roper suggestions at the proper 

 time; get him to experiment a little — put up his ideas in such a ni;in- 

 ner that his customer will feel he is being done a kindness and can- 

 not lose; not to be afraid to educate him and not to misrepresent 

 his lines. An overdrawn idea has a more weakening effect on a sale 



!■;. M. HOLLAND, LUDINGTON, MICH 



tliau :iu underestimated one. To illustrate: 

 Selling goods at a fixed price that represents 

 profit to your house is salesmanship, but the 

 man who is constantly cutting prices and seek 

 ing ways and means by which he can secure 

 orders by manipulating and misrepresentation, 

 contrary to the rules of his house, is not a sales- 

 man, and he will not only prove a disappoint- 

 ment to his customer, but to both his company 

 and liimself as well. Never misrepresent your 

 jiooils; when it becomes necessary to do so, it 

 is time to quit the business, or secure another 

 line that does not require misrepresentation. 

 WK ALL MAKE MISTAKES, BUT THE 

 JIAN WHO PERSISTS IN MAKING THEM 

 EITHER IS A FOOL OR DISHONEST. We 

 are employed to represent our company, not to 

 misrepresent it. IF YOU ARE RIGHT YOU 

 CAN PROVE IT; IF YOU CAN'T THE 

 CHAXCKS ARE THAT YOtJ ARE NOT 

 RIGHT. 



Von \\ill liiid a great number of traveling 

 salesiuen who will usually consume their cus- 

 tomer's time talking baseball, politics, aero- 

 planes, etc!, instead of getting down to busi 

 ness after a reasonable greeting. This is the fault of a great many. 

 They must learn to be a character reader to some extent. Some 

 buyers are pleased with tliis method, but most of them uow-a-days 

 are too busy to see you at all, to say nothing of having time for 

 gossip. Also when a man is in a bad humor he should be given time 

 to get over it. Get out, then call again, A lunch or night's sleep 

 is likely to work like the sun after a heavy rain. He may be as 

 glad to see you when you return as he was grouchy the day before. 

 This will be the time to make the most of your visit. Try to show 

 him that 3'ou have something that would be worth his investigation; 

 interest him with what you have; give him a word picture of same 

 and if you are not successful in closing, you will have left an im- 

 Ijression that will work out its own salvation, 



A good plan on the part of the sales managers is to have their 

 men visit the plant as often as possible, giving them op|)ort unity 

 to refresh their memories, and at that time go over every detail in 

 regard to their territory. Make them ask questions, and in turn 

 riddle them with a rapid fire yourself. Make them explain their ex- 

 perience with this buyer and that buyer. What does he think of us? 

 Are you of the opinion you i-an command a share of his business? 

 What indications do you see that lend thai way? How many times 

 has he turned you down? Are you sure he has not bought anything 

 in our line since you first called? What does he think of you? This 

 gets results and you can readily see whether or not the territory is 

 being covered properly. .Xnother thing — be sure that your salesman 

 has his prices and stocks put up to him intelligently. This is a 

 fault usually laid at the door of the salesman, when In fact, most of 

 the sales managers leave half to be guessed at. Salesman should 

 have lists gotten up in such a manner that they could memorize the 

 greater portion of them. Did you ever see a salesman w-ith about a 

 hundred pages of dope like this? Nothing gets on the nerves of a 

 buyer so much as to have to wait from one to three minutes while a 

 salesman runs through this distorted hetip of papers trying to find 

 something that shoidd be ,at the tip of his tongue or easy of access, 

 .Ttist a little help along this line would work wonders with your meu. 

 Another good plan on the part of the sales manager is to send 

 his men a weekly letter, giving a synopsis of the week 's business, 

 some idea of the market conditions, and above all, a little "salve" 



—34- 



