290 SELLING LUMBER 



Likewise, the traveling "lumber drummer" of those palmy 

 days was a genial, easy going gentleman whose chief claim to 

 efficiency was his ability to write the orders down, tell funny 

 stories and dispense cigars to his admiring customers. He was 

 an "order taker," nothing more was necessary. "Salesmen," ac- 

 cording to our present standards were then unknown. 



To be a thoroughly first class lumber salesman of the pres- 

 ent day requires, first, that he should be a lumberman, and by 

 that I mean he should possess practically all the knowledge of 

 the lumber manufacturer and the lumber dealer; and secondly, 

 The "Order ^ e snou ^ possess certain fine qualities of intelligence and per- 

 Taker" Has sonality which are not strictly essential to the manufacture but 

 Salesman a which are used by the retailer under modified or different condi- 

 tions. These qualities of intelligence and personality I will dis- 

 cuss later, in one division of the twenty-three essentials of a thor- 

 oughly efficient lumber salesman. 



If all that I have this far said be true, you can readily see 

 that there has been a marked change, a tremendous evolution in 

 the lumber business during the past few years, and with this change 

 the lumber peddler or drummer has evolved from an "order taker" 

 to a salesman; and you will also note that it involves much more 

 "labor" and; knowledge of lumber eugenics to be "born" a lum- 

 ber salesman in these days of scientific advancement than it did 

 when a salesman could be "conceived" with an idea and be "born" 

 in one night. 



The causes which have led to this tremendous evolution, or, I 

 should perhaps say, revolution in the lumber business, are too com- 

 plex to discuss within the limit of this address, suffice to say what- 

 ever the causes have been they were drastic and far-reaching and 

 resulted in very serious financial losses to all lumber concerns 

 which were unprepared. The result is, however, we are now fac- 

 ing entirely new conditions, new problems confront us both in 

 the manufacture and sale of our product; the margins of profit 

 have been reduced, the costs of manufacture increased, vigorous 

 and aggressive competition has developed not only among lumber- 

 men, but between lumbermen and the producers of many substi- 

 tute lines of material, all of which has necessitated a complete 

 change from the old time tactics of doing business and the adop- 

 tion of new, scientific and modern methods of meeting these ex- 

 traordinary conditions with which we are confronted. 



