Usually the men who are to be trained are picked out at least a month prior to the date set for the con vening of the class. From the time they are chosen, the new men should get letters from the. house daily just as the old men do, and they should also receive the house organ regularly. The instructor will save a great deal of valuable time by utilizing this month for preliminary instruction. Each day a piece of the house literature should be sent, accompanied by a AA-arm, friendly letter pointing out the strong selling points contained in the printed material. The new men should be told that they will be quizzed on each of these pieces of literature during the period of house training. If a standard presentation is to be commit ted to memory, this is a good time to send it out.
At this time also, the equipment which the salesman will carry with him into the field should be sent, either all at once or piece by piece. Its use will already have been explained in the standard presentation. One concern in order to give this procedure some in terest, first sends the leather bag in which the equip ment is to be carried and then gradually fills the bag. Letters accompanying the various pieces emphasize this idea of "filling the bag." The prospective sales man should have his complete equipment at least two weeks before he comes into the class, in order that he may practise his delivery of the standard presentation with the equipment, endeavoring to produce and han dle each piece at the proper time and in the proper manner.
If the salesman is to be required to give this talk verbatim before going into the field, it will be well to insure an early start on it by making his ability to deliver it satisfactorily a prerequisite to entrance into the sales training class. He should be required to call upon the instructor several (lays before the class opens in order that lie may be examined on this sub ject. If this is not done, the prospective salesman will delay committing his talk to memory. Then one of three things will happen : his entrance upon field work will be delayed or he will go to his territory only half prepared, or the nerves of both student and in structor will be worn to a frazzle by forced study.
The National Cash Register Company, instead of' selecting untried men for their training classes, invite only those to come to Dayton at the expense of the Company to attend the sales school, who have already made good selling cash registers under the direction of a district manager or a sales agent for a period of six months. Where this method is followed, a
great deal of the preliminary work described here will be unnecessary. This is true also of cases where new members for the sales- force are secured from within the organization.
5. Opening the training elass.—After the instruc tor has given a brief talk outlining the ground to be covered by the course, there should be a speech of wel come by the sales manager and a talk on opportunity and house ideals by the biggest company executive available. During the training course, the men in charge of the various departments should address the class. There should be a talk by the head of the serv ice department, in which the latter should promise to cooperate with the men in the building of sales. The credit man should discuss credit risks and point out ways in which the salesman can cooperate with him. The advertising manager should explain how the salesman may take the utmost advantage of the house's publicity. It will be found advisable to make arrangements for executive officers and department heads to have lunch with the members of the class, for during such informal social intercourse discussions arise, friendships are formed and the new men become well acquainted with those in the organization who are to handle their business. The spirit of loyalty which is engendered in the new men in this way, and the knowledge of the house spirit and house ideals that he gains, are among the most valuable acquisitions that he can carry into the field with him.
6. A.S' pecial instruction in diff erent lines.—There will be some special subjects related to the product, in which the neNv salesman will need instruction. The nature of this instruction will depend entirely on what the product is. For example, men selling loose-leaf devices will be instructed in accounting principles and will be given at least a talking knowledge of loose leaf accounting systems. The National Cash Regis ter Company men are shown how to investigate and analyze different types of business with the idea of introducing cash-register systems. The training sys tem of the Willys-Overland Company provides for the student's spending half of each day during the month's training, in the shop or laboratory, studying construction, engine details and tensile and torsional strength of axles and other steel parts. The necessity for a knowledge of such related subjects should not be overlooked in the training course.