SELLING LUMBER 



297 



pushing those items which are most profitable as well as to avoid 

 the mistake of overselling or promising shipment on something 

 which cannot be gotten out in a reasonable time. The traveling 

 salesman should also be a student of the lumber market in its 

 broadest sense. He should be thoroughly familiar with every con- 

 dition which has affected or which might affect the market, and 

 he should be prepared to answer any question correctly and in- 

 telligently as to the cause of any market fluctuation in the price 

 of lumber. He should be able to perceive the economic relation- 

 ship between prosperity and the lumber business, and to be able 

 to discern the cause of the prosperity and its stability. He should 

 also be able to forecast the probable eras of business depression 

 so that he may protect his firm from the evils of overselling to" 

 financially weik concerns. Are you efficient in these things, if 

 so, what per cent? 



p. Traffic, Rate and Transportation. 



The lumber salesman should be somewhat of a traffic man. 

 He should be perfectly familiar with the cost of delivery of any 

 kind of lumber to any given point in his territory. To do this he 

 must know the freight rate and the weight of each class of Yel- 

 low Pine lumber. He should know the approximate number of 

 feet required to make up a minimum or maximum car of any one 

 kind of lumber, and the same if in mixed cars. He should also 

 be familiar with the best routing from his mill to the customer 

 and be prepared to answer any reasonable question his customer 

 might ask, relative to weight, rate, transportation, routing, etc., 

 etc. In these things what per cent are you efficient ? 



10. Retail Merchandising. 



I believe, as a rule, lumber salesmen fail to appreciate the 

 immense value of a knowledge of the retail lumber business, but 

 in my judgment such knowledge is inestimable. The more you 

 can find out, learn or know about the retail end of the lumber 

 game the better you will be prepared to play your cards to win. 



If you sell direct to the retail dealer and can show or demon- 

 strate to him that you are familiar with the demands or require- 

 ments of the trade, that you know about what would constitute 

 a fair stock or assortment of the various kinds and grades of ma- 

 terial, the purposes for which they are used and the general meth- 

 ods of conducting a retail lumber yard, the closer will be your 

 relationship with him. Under these circumstances your customer 



The Salesman 

 as a Traffic 

 Expert 



How Do 

 You Rank 

 as a 

 Retailer? 



