248 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



it does take time to sell a crop; if it pays 

 you well for your time, can you not afford 

 to take it.'' I wish to urge you strenuous- 

 ly to make a brave trial and see if you do 

 not get along better than you expected. 



I am going to give some experiences 

 and suggestions, and will saj* at first that 

 you might make a score of calls and not 

 use many of the ideas; but if I gave you 

 the idea "of how it can be done, your tact 

 and good sense will suit your talk 

 to the right person. I cannot map out a 

 minute program for you, but I can give 

 you some insight of a plan that has prov- 

 ed very profitable to me, and incidentally 

 you will learn something about my ideas 

 of having a crop in such readiness for 

 market that it will command th? highest 

 price the grade will bring. 



You probably know all that is to be 

 known about your own home market. 

 You often go to town to do your trading, 

 and know as well as any man in 

 the community about how much honey 

 your grocers have on hand, and what the 

 possibilities are for business. As an al- 

 most invariable rule you will never make 

 a large sale in the town where you are 

 best acquainted. Your merchant will 

 sav, "I might take one case of you. You 

 are in town often, and I can get more of 

 you almost any time." Therefore I urge 

 you to make a longer drive, get out of 

 vour own immediate community, where 

 you will have a fighting chance of selling 

 several cases to one customer. 



Start with a load of lo to 20 cases, 

 according to the size of the place you are 

 going to visit. Put on the best suit you 

 have; collar and necktie; if you ever wear 

 cuiifs, do not leave them off this time; 

 give your shoes an extra good shine, and 

 look just as neat as po sible. You are not 

 a farmer or bee-keeper now; you are a 

 business man, and are going out to do 

 business in a businesslike way. Take • 

 along your horse-feed if you wish; but go 

 to a modest hotel where you can get a 

 meal for 25 cents, and have the almost as 

 desirable point of being able to wash, and 

 to brush the dust thoroughly from you, 

 from hat to shoe-sole. I do not think I 

 overestimate the value of your personal 

 appearance. While clothes do not make 

 the man, .they do, very largely, make the 

 estimate that people place upon you, es- 

 pecially among strangers. You will walk 

 with a 'firmer tread and feel more Hke 

 business, if yovir appearance is not being 

 criticised, but, instead, is helping you to 

 appear as though you meant business. I 

 trust my reader's good sen.se to under- 

 stand me aright, and not think I advocate 

 unreasonable extremes. 



You know what your honey is worth, 

 and the price you ought to get, which 

 should be enough above the price at which 

 you hold the entire crop to pay for the time 

 you put in distributing it. Adopt your 

 prices for your different grades, and stick 

 to them, treating all alike. It is all right 

 to miss a sale occasionally on this account, 

 as it will save you so much time, and be 

 such a help in making sales to these 

 parties in the future. 



Being all in readiness to be your own 

 "drummer," go to the leading grocer, 

 and be as pleasant and polite as possible. 

 Make your business known at once, for 

 busy men do not care to talk much with 

 strangers about the weather, crops, con- 

 dition of roads, etc. 



"I have driven over from Blankville 

 with comb honey, and this case is a fair 

 sample of my best grade. I take a great 

 deal of care in producing a good article, 

 and casing it up fair, and I think if I 

 could sell my load to you, would find it to 

 give good satisfaction to yourself and to 

 your customers." 



Of course, he will look at the honey, 

 and likely pass his opinion on it, compar- 

 ing it with the honey he has handled. 

 You will soon know whether he is at all 

 interested or not, whether he is well 

 stocked, whether or not he is supplied 

 regularly, as his trade demands, by some 

 home bee-keeper who is his regular cus- 

 tomer, and who may put an article on the 

 market that compares favorably with 

 yours. If there is no chance at all for a 

 sale, bid him a pleasant good- day and 

 tell him you will probably see him again 

 sometime when he is nearer ready to buy. 

 Then if he wants to visit a little with you, 

 and start an acquaintance, meet him half 

 way, letting him make the advances; but 

 make it short, and leave him with the 

 ini]-)ressicn that you are out for business, 

 and that 3'our business is just as im])or- 

 tant to you as any other man's l)usiness 

 can possiljly be to him. 



The next grocery you call at, the man 

 you take to be the proprietor is busy. 

 After waiting a little, and you see he is 

 not apt to be through with his customer 

 very soon, you start out. Likely he or 

 one of the clerks will inquire if you wish 

 to get anything; but you reply that you 

 have a little l)usiness with the proprietor, 

 and that you will call again in a little 

 while. Thus you save your own time, 

 and impress the grocer that 3'ou are a 

 man of business, and too nmch of a hus- 

 tler to waste your time waiting for some 

 independent chap to give you a little of 

 the time he wants you to think is so ex- 

 tremely precious. 



