SALESMEN AND DAILY REPORTS.—In addition to making out orders secured during the day, many commercial representatives are required to make out a daily report dealing with each call made, or at least with every new call. There is always a difficulty with a certain percentage of men in getting a correct report of their work in the field : that is because nothing much results from their reports, or because they do not understand that the information contained in them is regularly used for the joint benefit of themselves and their employers.
In some concerns, there is a continual feeling of insecurity of tenure, owing to numerous changes in personnel or in districts, due to a continual cutting up to make room for more and more men. Under these circum stances, a salesman feels that he is spending a good deal of valuable time in order that some new-comer in the future may pick up the thread with a minimum of loss of business. Unless the selling man sees some tangible benefit resulting to him personally, and sees it oftett, he will not report correctly. He will not report wrongly, hut will be negligent.
If the making out of a report results in the writing of a sensible and useful letter, or even the dispatch of advertising matter indicated by the salesman, then he will naturally delight in sending in such reports as will, in the aggregate, form the basis of an exceedingly valuable mailing list. If he hears from some friend on the inside that reports are tossed into a basket and left there for days or weeks together, then he will act, or fail to act, Daily reports should be made Out and mailed daily, and the fullest use made of facilities at headquarters for the sending out by a special department of a fine series of facsimile or special letters and pamphlets. The man on
the road should have the absolute assurance that when he asks on his report for a pamphlet or follow-up letter to be sent, it will go out on the same day that his report arrives. Otherwise, his calculations are so often upset that he ceases to formulate any definite campaign for working his territory.
Names and addresses from reports should he promptly entered in lists or card index, so that when the advertising department is sending out a special piece, the necessary envelopes can be ready at short notice. In some cases, it is well to differentiate between likely buyers and those who are only pos sible purchasers, and then costly pieces of advertising need only be sent to those cases where results can most reasonably be expected. Less costly and larger issues can be sent to the entire list. es Great care must be taken by outside men to give correct addresses, and they will take the proper care if it is explained to them how fatally easy it is for a man whose business is at the corner of Regent Street and Oxford Street, to be differently entered at various times in reporting, with the result that he receives two or more of everything, than which nothing more seriously discounts the value of good advertising matter.
When daily reports are sensibly used the salesmen will render them regu larly; but if they are not so used, it will be found that they will decline, either virtually or actually.