254 



SELLING LUMBER 



Advertising 

 Is Service 



How Adver- 

 tising Helps 

 Make Sales 



to cleaning up our copy, and we threw a lot of the fake stuff out 

 and put laws in every state of the Union almost thirty-seven 

 states; and we tried to clean up the copy. But after all we get 

 down to the one point that advertising is service, and to get the 

 big game in advertising is to make the dealers see what adver- 

 tising means to him; to get him to couple up with us, and to get 

 him over the idea that advertising is going to rush a lot of sales 

 into him, because advertising alone can't do that. Let me illus- 

 trate what I mean, by a clothing sale. I am a farmer up near 

 Shafton, Iowa. I walk into the clothing store. I meet Mr. Lar- 

 rimore, the proprietor of the store. I say, "'Mr. Larrimore, I 

 want to buy a suit of clothes." He says, "All right. I think 

 here is a garment that you will like. Notice the hang of 

 it. The fabric is good. I can recommend it. The buttonholes are 

 all worked nicely. It fits you well, and it is a very good garment." 

 Mr. Larrimore exercises his salesmanship on me, and at last says, 

 "That is Hart, Schaffner & Marx goods. They are the greatest 

 dealers in the world." That is what he did. He coupled up a 

 valuable asset the advertising that Hart, Schaffner & Marx have 

 made in that line. Another story : Up at Hampton, Iowa, an 

 automobile dealer learned that a farmer out in the country was 

 very likely to buy a car. He called on the prospect and asked 

 for a demonstration. The dealer said, "I would like to show you 

 my car." The farmer said, "I have practically decided to buy." 

 He said, "I would like to show you, anyway." So he started the 

 demonstration and was careful not to say anything to the farmer 

 .that was not contained in the advertising of the Hudson Automo- 

 bile Company. Now, he just banked on the fact that that fel- 

 low had been reading the advertising of the Hudson company, so 

 instead of diverting his mind, he caused the same impression of 

 ideas that the advertising had been reaching him on. After he 

 made the demonstration, he went back to his office. The other 

 dealer rushed out and attempted to close the sale. They got into 

 a little argument over something that the Hudson dealer had said. 

 The farmer said, "I believe that is so. I believe what the Hudson 

 man said to me is so, and I think that is what I read in the paper 

 the other day," and he went and got his farm paper and showed 

 the other dealer, and said, "There it is." Now, you follow ex- 

 actly the same line of your advertising. Keep reminding them 

 that there is an asset out in their territory that has already been 



