344 SELLING LUMBER 



with Mr. Smith, and he would say, "Well, now, I see you are 

 short on 2x4 16', and he marks it down; and goes along, and 

 then there is some ceiling; "you need some ceiling, too. Is that 

 all you have got there ? " And he marks it down. He goes along, 

 and "Here; is this all you have got of this vertical grained floor- 

 ing?" And Smith indicates that it is. He don't give Smith much 

 time to talk as he puts it down. And he says, "You keep your 

 yard up in elegant shape. I never saw a better shed, and things 

 . .. kept up so clean; no litter at all; and, by the way, I see you need 



Becoming some finish." And then he says, "Now, Mr. Smith, just sign your 



Unfashionable namg right here ,, w ^ if you haye gQt that abmty tQ gQ around 



and size up the needs of your lumber man and ask him to sign 

 his name right here, he might stare at you a little bit, because 

 it is unusual; but you might do it. If you don't do it to the full 

 degree you might to a certain extent, because it requires your 

 knowledge of your own stock and your knowledge of the needs of 

 your customer, and it requires a man to be in all respects at all 

 times a perfect gentleman. He can't take a drink of whiskey to 

 fortify himself to go down and meet that customer. That never 

 did it in the world, and it don't keep the customer very long if 

 you are leading him into the saloons to treat him, if he is one 

 of the kind that drinks, because drinking is getting unfashionable, 

 and he begins to think that you are not fully the gentleman that 

 he thought you were. He don't feel honored. He don't feel really 

 honored by your company. I think the best salesman is the man 

 that his customer is glad to see him socially. He won't keep him 

 out in the front office an hour and a half waiting for him to get 

 through some unimportant detail. He will be glad to see him 

 He wants you to go out to dinner with him, or invites you to his 

 house. He wants to show his appreciation and friendship, and it 

 Meeting the is a P rettv d thing for the salesman to be pretty well informed 

 Customer on the fads and outside work and interests of his customer. If 

 Basis { hi s customer is raising chickens he wants to be "able to ask intelli* 

 gent questions about those chickens. He wants to say, "Look here ! 

 You don't keep your chickens in a steel or one of those cement 

 chicken houses, do you? I never knew a chicken to be kept in 

 one of those houses without he came down with the pip. He gets 

 cold. And people are finding that out now. Cement is the great- 

 est thing to produce disease in chickens, in cattle and in hogs. 

 Now, a neighbor of mine the other day lost a cow feeding ensilage 



