SELLING LUMBER 



313 



Each Indus- 

 trial Plant a 

 Separate 

 Problem 



are selling ; and, second, if it will meet the requirements for which 

 it is sold. 



The first requirement is to my mind not nearly so general 

 among salesmen as one would naturally think. The second require- 

 is a matter to which only a small percentage of yellow pine sales- 

 men have given serious study. Unlike selling to the retail yard, 

 you have a different condition to meet in each industrial plant, 

 which necessitates a close study of their requirements. The second 

 point my illustration brings out is the fact that almost without ex- 

 ception the purchasing agents of the different industrial plants 

 have a very limited knowledge of lumber, as pertaining to the 

 manufacturing methods, grades, etc., for the reason that their lum- 

 ber consumption represents a very limited part of their raw 

 material purchases and for this reason the buyer is governed largely 

 by price and the price is in many instances made to them by sales- 

 men who contemplate the substitution of lower grades. 



The point I wish to bring out in this connection is the im- 

 portance of the salesman having a thorough and complete knowl- 

 edge of the wood he sells, proper use of each grade, and a fair 

 knowledge of operating methods in order that he may help solve 

 the problems of his customer and educate him to the uses to which 

 different grades can be put from an economical standpoint, this 

 educational campaign on the part of the salesman, in my mind, 

 stands first in importance. You not only obtain the confidence of 

 the purchasing agent by impressing upon him your knowledge of 

 the yellow pine industry by being prepared to state quickly and 

 positively if your own mill or any other plants are able to work 

 stock in accordance with their requirements, but it will ultimately 

 overcome another very serious handicap : The substitution of grades 

 and the buying by industrial plants of woods unfit for the use for 

 which they are intended. By overcoming these very serious de- 

 fects in their marketing methods, the yellow pine manufacturers will 

 have done much towards the successful marketing of their products. 



There is another very, very important problem that the specialty 

 salesman must solve, and that is the disposition of short lengths, ghort Lengths 

 The matter of marketing short length stock is and has always been and the 

 a problem to the manufacturer of lumber and we all know that the 

 percentage sold to the consumer direct as compared to the sales 

 made to the wholesaler is very small. I am of the opinion that a 

 comparative statement made up by the manufacturer will show 



