September 2 5, 1922 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



49 



Observations on Hardwood Merchandising 



{t'uiitiHiirfl fntiti jiiuic 1!() 



Thu result is that they fjot iiiiiic of my jKi])hir Ifusiiicss and oiio 

 firm furnishes all I buy. I have a staiidiuy order with this outfit 

 and I pay a good ijriee for all they ship. I think I am paying 

 now aliout ff't above the market, but I don't care because it is 

 worth mure to do business with a trustworthy source of supply and 

 get what I want. ' ' 



There is another instance of the purchaser for a certain large in- 

 dustry' who annually buys millions of feet of what is loosely called 

 No. 2 chestnut, a grade iu which the rules do not demand especially 

 good widths. But he has found an outfit that ships him a grade in 

 which there are a great many wide boards. He buys his chestnut 

 e.xclusivcly from this firm and paj's a premium for their stock, 

 because he has found that there is less cost in yarding and cutting 

 this wide stock. As long as he can buy this kind of stock he is 

 not going to take stuff from which the wide boards are sorted out, 

 as is the common practice. For twelve years jjrevious to this 

 arrangement with his present source nf chestnut supply he bought 

 all of this Ivind of stock from one firm, which he f|uit only when the 

 firm had cut out its timber supply. 



'■'Can't Get Poplar Shorts 



These conditions are strikingly exemplified b\' a large Xcw York 

 State manufacturer of store fixtures, who wrote to Hahdwood 

 Record under date of September 18. This gentleman said: 



In Rotary we says. "He profits most who serves best,"' and the longer 

 you think over these few words the more menninji you will Hinl in tticiii. 

 "The seridus mistalies nutilc by manufacturers, wholesalers ;inil li-avt>liui; 

 men is Tlinf tliey are more intent on selling what Ihey A\:nir to sell than 

 tliey are to find oat what the customer wants :nid tbeii making a com- 

 bination to mutual advantage. 



Let jne illustrate: At a yellow iiopbir mill I rmiml tti;it in trimntin,u' 

 ."i .Ss to L-rade, a large quantity of shorts went iulcr tlie lirernoni. and after 

 sitting iij the fireroom the most of one morning 1 went to the manager 

 •of the mill with a proposition to buy these shorts, and was told It.v the 

 siiles manager that they didn't make any shorts. I told bim that I knew 

 nu)re ab^•nr his business than he diil. which of .course he didn't relislt. The 

 presiilent, of the company came out during this rather heated argumeni and 

 told the sales nuinagor that I was absolutely right. Then came the ques- 

 tion fif meas\irenient as being an insurmovmtnido diffieuUy. I offered to 

 I»iek a i**w random samples, cutting them to measurable sizes, to deter- 

 mine whether it was 1,000 to the thousand or 1.7110 or l.-'^OO. and making 

 an !igre«*ment to take railroad weights and divide by the agreed tipon 

 weight vif the lumber per thousand and to nnike settlement accordingly. 



This w.as I)efore the war. luit iluriug the war wagfs were so liigh that 

 if was not attractive to the manufacturer. 



We ar- iu the market for 5/S yellow poplar souml trimming shorts. 4" 

 and \\\) in wiilth and 14" and up iu length, to i>e measured as outlined 

 aliove. We use a good deal of this stufl' and place our orders "when 

 aeenmulait'd." We ex|iect a mill to receive more for their product than 

 they would in firewood, but we do not expect to p:iy mercluintnide grade 

 :prices for this material. 



.Should you l)e aide to bring this niiitter to tin- atfeiifioii td' some mill 

 in the South I am cpiite sure that the material would pay their taxes out 

 of whi>': has now been firewood. I shall await with interest the result 

 ■ of this T-Kiffer. 



Buyers Full of Grievances 



r.nyers are full of complaints over the indifference of hardwood 

 salesmen to their s|iecial needs, or of attemjits to ''init something 

 over.'' Buyers who deal in hirge cpmutities of hardwoods are gen- 

 er;illy able to protect themselves from these sh;irp iiraetices, but it 

 aggravates them to have to be always ou their guard and always 

 squabbling. Thus they prefer to do business and do do business 

 whenever possible, with firms that they do not have to watch. 

 This makes it plain tha' mixing and skinning grades doesn't pay 

 and that service and honesty do. The hardwood concerns that are 

 succeeding, that are already big, or growing big, :inil that yetir 

 after year increase their wealth and jirestige lire the ones that al- 

 ways give liberal nieiisure :ind exhaust every reasonable means to 



' (Editor's Note: The original of this letter is on file ill Hardwood 

 Ri;coRn office and the name of the writer will be furnished upon request 

 to any mill genuinely interested in the proposition of furnishing the 

 poplar fhorts he desires./ 



furnish the buyer what he believes he ought to have. The failure 

 of the common run of hardwood concerns and their salesmen to 

 realize the advantage of this policy exjilains why so many of 

 them are "just getting by"; why they can't make permanent con- 

 nections with big consumers, why they are not accustomed to get- 

 ting repeat orders from the big buyers. 



If these struggling concerns, instead of wasting time adjusting 

 complaints and envying the fine connections of their successful 

 competitors, woiibl devote their thought and energy to a conscien- 

 tious effort to su])iily their customers with straight grades, or what- 

 ever special stock they require, they would soon be able to run out 

 of the ruck of also-rans and into the class of the respected and 

 successful. 



It is a pity that there is so much of this careless or actually 

 venal salesmanship in the hardwood industry. It is rather discour- 

 aging to have buyers for big industries, men who buy not only 

 lumber but many other commodities, assert that they have greater 

 difficulty getting what they want in lumber th;in :iny other 

 eomniodity; th.-it they suffer more aggravation througli fheir deal- 

 ings with lumVii'rmen than from any other class of peo]ile with 

 whom they do business. 



This does not mean, of course, that luinliermen as a class are less 

 honest or intelligent than the members of any other industry; but 

 it may be explained by the fact that the human equation and the 

 vagaries of nature play a larger part in the lumber industry than 

 perhaps any other. To begin with, no two trees are alike in texture 

 and in size. Then, no two millmeu will cut lumber alike, nor will 

 any two men grade it alike. So luuch dejiends upon human judg- 

 ment and human honesty that the opportunities for sin and error 

 are mulfiidied. 



Should Serve as a Challenge 



But instead of being an excuse for sharp practice and incom- 

 petency, these facts ought to be a challenge to lumbermen to pro- 

 ceed conscientiously in all things and to strive to the utmost of 

 their energy and ability to understand their owii business and the 

 needs of their customers. That such efforts are possible of success, 

 and th.it some concerns do largely avoid complaints and build 

 enduring connections, where there is no lack of goodwill and mutual 

 confidence, should encourage all members of the industry to work 

 unstintingly to better the standards of the trade and the general 

 goodwill between sellers and buyers. If more lumbermen could 

 realize the value of goodwill, based on honest and intelligent 

 methods, the business of Iniying and selling lumber would become 

 a h:ipiiier one for all concerned. 



It must not be inferred from all this talk about the need of more 

 wisdom .ind good conduct among the merchandisers of hardwood 

 lumber, that :iny one believes the buyers to be a solid rank of white 

 sheep without blot or blemish. There are black sheep among the 

 buyers, as there are in all ranks of humanity, and not all of them 

 are gentlemen and four square in their dealings. But we are dis- 

 missing certain measures for successfully selling to the cream of the 

 li.'irdwood trade, :ind the question of buyers' peccadillos is not 

 at issue. 



Of course there are many elements necessary to the greatest success 

 in lauding the "Big Fish," as one highly successful hardwood sales- 

 man once called the large consutners. The willingness to ship 

 honest grades and give special service may be supplemented by 

 m:iny (dher things, some of which liiive to do directly with the 

 ]iersonalify of the salesman. There are few dudes amofig the impor- 

 t:iiit linyers of h;irdwoods, but few of them are roughnecks, and 

 most of them are broad-gauged men of more than average intelli- 

 geni'c. A hardwood salesman who expects to get a valuable share 

 of their business must be prepared to meet them on their own level. 

 For instance, it is likely that these men keep in touch with im])or- 



