15. Interviewing the applicant.—The first inter view should be friendly and informal from the begin ning, and it should be interspersed with such ques tions as have been indicated, and others of a similar nature. The applicant should be encouraged to give an accurate account of his business life ; the sales manager should take care to observe whether any lapses of time are left unaccounted for. It is advis able to ask the applicant as a test question whether or not he stands ready to furnish a bond, and this irre spective of whether or not a bond is required. The reason that a man gives for wishing to make a change will furnish a side-light on his character and the truth fulness of his answers can usually be gauged by their straightforwardness. To quote Mr. Cottingham again : In selecting salesmen I endeavor to find out whether the applicant is dead in earnest in seeking a position with us. I try to find out if he has a consuming desire to make a success of himself in the world, or if he is merely looking for a job. I want to know if our business and the position he seeks, appeal to him as the right place to work out a business career.
The sales manager can test the applicant's resource fulness by outlining some situation commonly- met in the field, and asking him how he would handle it. For example, the Addressograph Company selects some dealers in the trade with which the applicant is familiar. An imaginary presentation is described, carrying the applicant up to the point where the dealer makes some such statement as: "I can fully appre ciate the value of your proposition, but I have been in this business now for forty years and, as you see, have the best business in town. I have never advertised at all, yet my competitor down the street spends a great deal for publicity of all kinds and does about half as much business. So you see, I would not consider it, and even if I were inclined to advertise, my clerks can do the addressing in their spare time." The ap plicant is then asked how he would handle this situ ation. His answer, tho it is not expected that it will be' a finished one, will show how resourceful he is.
The sales manager should have the applicant come back to his office several times on one pretext or an other, to discover whether or not he "wears well." This is especially important if the line is a staple one where customers are to be visited repeatedly, for here the personality with lasting qualities—with the capac ity for making and holding friends—is of vital im portance. It goes without saying that the specialty salesman, too, should have qualities that wear well. It is a good idea to introduce the applicant around the office and pass him from one to another for short friendly chats so that their impressions may be added to those of the sales manager.
There will undoubtedly be applicants whose ability to do business will be unquestioned, but whose ability to do it on a right basis may well be questioned be cause of a flashy cleverness, or an attitude toward their profession which is perhaps not very high ethic ally. These considerations should always be care fully weighed; sometimes. they may be frankly dis cussed with the applicant.
Naturally, the applicant for a salesman's position will, except in rare instances, appear at his best. He will be freshly shaved, his linen will be- spotless, his clothes freshly brushed and his shoes carefully shined. There is, however, a "dressed-for-the-occasion" look which the sales manager will learn to recognize. There is, on the other hand, a certain well-groomed appearance—the result of habit—which cannot be ac quired in a da3r and which will be in evidence even tho a man's clothing be not in the best of condition. Such habitual carefulness includes care of the teeth, hair, finger-nails and skin. The quality and condi tion of the linen, shoes and clothing that a man wears largely indicate a man's business and social caliber. Often an applicant who shows up strong in an inter-, view at the sales manager's desk, upon being invited to a more or less exclusive hotel for a meal will appear so unaccustomed to places of the kind, and will show so evident an embarrassment and indecision as to the proper thing to do, as to cause the sales manager to change his opinion about hiin.
The importance of these more or less social consid erations will vary according to the proposition to be sold. A salesman whose business is with the retail grocery trade does not require an intimate knowledge of the social amenities; on the other hand, the sales man who calls on presidents and other executives of large corporations should be able to take luncheon gracefully at the other's club, or even at his home. And the man who is not as well dressed and as well groomed as the executives upon whom he calls, will usually show a lack of poise and be ill at ease in his prospect's presence. The fact is, he is lacking in an important essential for that kind of selling work. Similarly, a mature man with a great many years of business experience behind him, but whose earnings have been far below the amount he may justly be expected to make from his proposition, will generally be found to possess a fundamental business weakness which will prevent his succeeding with any proposi tion. This is not always true, but the sales manager is justified in assuming that it is the case unless there is substantial evidence to the contrary.