124 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 



to spread through the whole field of international commercial intercourse. 

 The outlook is away from broad general sales towards differentiation of 

 consumer groups. 



Closely associated with the range, choice, and adaptation of the goods 

 as produced, there has come increased emphasis on all those services 

 which the purchaser requires to accompany a successful sale ; these 

 include ' no trouble ' quotations as regards language, prices, weights and 

 measures, considered action regarding packing, its weight and suitability, 

 a clear position regarding terms of sale, time of delivery, and terms of 

 credit, and with some classes of goods the producer or his agent may 

 require to instruct the purchaser both in the proper methods of use and 

 upkeep. The net terms of purchase have come to cover much more 

 than a price, and in some markets have given rise to considerable friction 

 between buyers and sellers. 



A somewhat widely quoted criticism of British selling methods has 

 been that which urges that the quality of British goods is too good for 

 their market, while their price is beyond its paying capacity. In the 

 poorer markets like China, this point has, no doubt, substance, but it raises 

 difficulties in industrial policy. If what is meant is that Lancashire, for 

 example, is sticking to the upper end of the market and offering a better 

 article at a higher price, then the question whether such extra quality is 

 really dearer in actual use arises. If, on the other hand, an article with 

 a short life at a low price is deemed adequate for the job, then this cheap 

 grade must be provided if the connection is to be held. No doubt 

 British industry cannot view with equanimity the loss of the cheap ends 

 of markets ; at the same time it must be recognised that there is more risk 

 at the cheap end, since it is more open to competition from the foreign 

 country's own industries as well as to that of other countries ; the whole 

 trend has been to leave the cheaper and rougher work to beginners or to 

 countries with low levels of remuneration. 



The evidence seems to suggest, however, that there has grown up a special 

 type of cheap market for articles, either machine or textile, which are 

 rapidly scrapped either through the influence of fashion, invention, or 

 through having served some limited purpose. The example of a special 

 type of shovel,^ light and fragile, used for unloading a cargo of coal and 

 then thrown away so that no collecting, storing, or reissuing troubles 

 might arise, is a case in point. It was not considered that this article 

 compared in any way with a sound standard article, but its net advantages 

 were deemed greater to the purchaser. Low price is, of course, vital for 

 such sales, and as many such cases can be given, it seems worth further 

 investigation whether recent invention in many fields is not creating a cheap 

 substitute article to many old-established standard articles of such a 

 character that an appeal is made to people with relatively high standards 

 of living, and not merely to those who cannot afford anything better. 

 A further difficulty emphasised in most of the reports is the credit and 

 finance of sales , particularly of machinery and the more elaborate forms of 

 capital equipment. It is not possible to consider in this paper how far 

 British methods of export finance can be said to curtail unduly the period 

 8 Interim Report of the Committee on Education for Salesmanship, p. 27. 



