426 MARKETING THE PRODUCTS 



The doing away with much of this unnecessary handling will 

 reduce the ultimate cost of the product for the consumer, and the 

 quality at point of consumption will be better. 



Customers' Interests.* — To do justice to both, a good sales- 

 man must take the viewpoint of the consumer as well as that of 

 the producer; and, in order to do this, customers may be arbi- 

 trarily divided into five well-defined classes, according to their 

 financial standing, as follows: (1) Poor, (2) of moderate means, 

 (3) high class, (4) wealthy, (5) hotels and restaurants. 



It is evident at a glance that the quality of products demanded 

 by these five classes will vary considerably. The well-to-do con- 

 sumer demands and is willing to pay for a high-class product, 

 whereas the poorer customers with limited means will purchase 

 a lower quality for less money. 



There is a marked variation according to the season, the 

 poorer classes demanding products at the season of abundant 

 supply when the prices are correspondingly low, while the wealthier 

 classes and hotel trade will demand and gladly pay a higher price 

 for a product out of its natural season. 



All customers, regardless of their financial standing, have 

 the same personal interest at heart, and are governed by the 

 same thought when purchasing, — namely, to get the largest 

 possible quantity of the best quality of product available for 

 the money. These interests may be classified under the follow- 

 ing six headings: 



Quality, price, supply, accessibility, systematic delivery, re- 

 sponsibility of salesman. 



Quality is the first requisite, and may be estimated by the 

 following factors: Freshness, whether in dressed poultry or eggs; 

 care in handling, from producer to point of consumption; whole- 

 someness, which means absence of any taint; type of egg as to 

 size and color; weight, whether of eggs or meat; method of pro- 

 duction; price, in so far as it represents quality. 



Price. — Price is a consideration with all classes, but the actual 

 purchasing power of money is estimated differently by these 

 different groups, according to the amount on hand for their pur- 

 pose. To the producer, the price depends upon variations in 

 quality; shortage or abundance; competition, both in selling and 

 buying; the middle man's profits, which vary accor ding tG the 



* From work performed by Prof. E. W. Benjamin at Cornell. Ameri- 

 can Association of Instructors and Investigators in Poultry Husbandry. 



