206 SELLINGLUMBER 



vided, of course, the orders fit stocks. Therefore, I am riot so 

 keen about the merits of straight car orders as I might be, at least 

 some of them. They may prove to be enough harm to the condition 

 of your stocks to overcome any small gain in shipping costs. 



To illustrate this point, let us assume that you are one of 

 twenty salesmen and have received a stock sheet showing at one of 

 the mills a total of about a carload of 1x12 16' No. 2, along with 

 practically the same proportions or a desirably proportioned stock 



of other lengths and you have an inquiry for a car of 12" 16' No. 

 How One- _ . : 



Size Orders 2 and your customer is willing 10 pay our asking price. Because you 



May /J ause want an order pretty badly, you take this car and send it in to your 

 mill. As this order moves all the 1x12 16' No. 2 they have in ship- 

 ping condition, they send put a circular to the nineteen other sales- 

 men composing the organization asking them to cancel from their 

 stock sheets eighteen or twenty thousand feet whichever the 

 amount may be of 1x12 16' No. 2, as the stock has been sold. 

 Up to this point the sale appears to be a good one, and you have 

 one car more to your credit at list price. The objection to this 

 order appears later after the other nineteen salesmen have received 

 their instructions to cancel. Let us now assume that eight or ten 

 of these other nineteen receive inquiries for 1x12 16' No. 2, and 

 other lengths of that size and grade, and other stock to make up 

 mixed cars. Each of these eight or ten men needed only three or 

 four or five thousand feet of the 1x12 16' No. 2 to put them in 

 shape to quote on their inquiries ; but they do not have two or three 

 or five thousand feet because the office has instructed them to can- 

 cel, and perhaps as it may be accumulating slowly, they have been 

 cautioned not to sell the 1x12 16' No. 2. Under normal running 

 conditions most salesmen would not turn down an order for as 

 small amount as two thousand feet missing from the stock sheet 

 on such an item as 1x12 16' No. 2, which is a stock item, but 

 whether they did turn down the orders or accepted them, there 

 would be an objection there; either that eight or ten salesmen lost a 

 car each or more, or eight or ten salesmen did sell a car each or more, 

 and caused the next stock sheet to show up with the 1x12 16' No. 

 2 in the red, or oversold. So you will see that if you do not 

 cause the trouble at once, sooner or later you are going to develop 

 it ; and our experience has been that the facts of the matter are 

 that we not only create oversales, but lose business as well. From 

 this illustration, I would draw the conclusion that any order that 

 substantially sells all of one length disregarding the proportion of 



