272 



SELLING LUMBER 



Supply What 

 Is Wanted 

 or Pass 

 the Sale 



Following 

 Up the Sale 

 to Delivery 



Architects 

 Are Becoming 

 Specialists 



used, may deliver to him in one shipment alone both red and white 

 oak. While the mixed red and white oak may be of a good quality 

 of its kind, yet it may not fit the purpose for which it was intended. 



Why not be honest with yourselves, and with the architects 

 with whom you come in contact ? Why hesitate to ask the architect 

 for what particular purpose the lumber in question is to be used, 

 and if your competitor handles white oak and you handle red oak, 

 let the one who furnishes the material wanted make the sale and 

 let him likewise return the compliment to you by letting you make 

 a sale when your particular kind of oak is to be used? 



This theory also holds good in other kinds of lumber, espe- 

 cially in the structural timber that enters into the construction of a 

 building. The architect, if he is a man of experience, ability and 

 logical reasoning power, is a coach to his client in reference to the 

 kind of building to be constructed, and the quality of materials 

 entering into the building, as to their strength for carrying the 

 loads that are to be placed in the particular building. 



Therefore, if the architect specified a grade of material su- 

 perior to that in common usage, and carefully writes his specifica- 

 tion, laying particular stress upon grade, quality and color, he 

 should have enough confidence in you, as a salesman, to confer 

 with you frequently in reference to the specification that he has 

 placed in the hands of the contractors for their use in bidding on 

 the contemplated structure. Thus you may be fully informed when 

 the contract is let and may follow up the sale of the lumber (know- 

 ing what the architect's specifications call for), and not permitting 

 the contractor to buy any material he chooses regardless of quality 

 on a competitive price basis, which will compel you to forget that 

 old virtue, honesty. 



The profession of architecture is more and more becoming 

 a specialty, each individual specializing in the kind of buildings 

 his ability and experience enables him to design successfully. There- 

 fore, the salesman, to keep in trim with the progress of the day, 

 must naturally specialize in some particular kind of material. What 

 I mean by specialization on the part of the salesman is that a sales- 

 man who sells lumber for an apartment building, for structural 

 purposes, consisting of small joists, small wood studding, and small 

 roof joists, cannot successfully meet the architect who is a specialist 

 in mill-constructed types of building or heavily loaded buildings, 



