6. Cooperation from the house.—The salesman has a perfect right to expect that all this cooperation he gives the house, every bit of information he fur nishes regarding a customer or prospect, every report he turns in, will sooner or later be to his advantage. If the assistance he renders does not enable the house to cooperate with him in increasing business in his territory, his efforts are not accomplishing their pur pose.
Unfortunately, many salesmen ask for and expect a great deal of help and information which it is im possible for the house to give, or which would be far too costly for the results that could be achieved by giving it. Moreover, salesmen sometimes make prom ises to customers that cannot be carried out. The salesman should bear in mind that most of the co operation that the house can afford to give, has been systematized. When asking for special cooperation not provided for in the system, he should carefully consider the cost of that assistance as compared with results that could be expected if it were given.
The cooperation given to the salesman by the house will be discussed more in detail in the second section of this Text. Briefly, it is of two kinds: Cooperation in organizing territories and in securing prospects and information concerning them; and the cultiva tion of customers, to the end that he may get further and increased business from them.
7. Salesman's cooperation with customers.—A leading drygoods salesman tells a story of having worked strenuously all week to finish his last town 011 Friday afternoon so that he might take a run home over the week-end. He arrived at the last place on schedule late Friday afternoon and went to make an appointment for that evening. with the proprietor of the big drygoods store. He found his prospect in the midst of hurried preparation for Saturday busi ness. His window-dresser had left him unexpectedly the day before. The salesman forgot all about the order for which he had come into town, and the pleas ant week-end he had planned ; he took off his coat and dressed those store windows as they bad never been dressed betore. The window-dresser had acted also as clerk, so the salesman stayed over to plunge into the Saturday selling. He did not get away from the town until Saturday, on the night train. It is
easy to believe that the store proprietor did not soon forget that service ; it is not improbable that he held his orders until the arrival of the friend who had dressed his windows; indeed, it is quite likely that he turned the business of other merchants toward the man who helped him at the sacrifice of his own pleas ure. That is probably the exact result the salesman expected, but his help was no less sincere because he expected this result.
A salesman expects to get cooperation from his customers and, in turn, stands ready to give all pos sible cooperation to them. It is significant in this connection, that the Heinz Company some time ago issued instructions to every salesman not to attempt to sell anything on Saturdays, but to jump in behind the counter with one of the retail grocers in the town in which he happened to be and help him sell his goods.
8. Serving as a clearing house for information.— The traveling salesman covers a wide range of terri tory and accumulates a great deal of information re garding the best business methods of the firms on which he is calling. He acts as a clearing-house for these ideas. He knows much about window-trimming and effective display; he can tactfully correct the ten dency of the storekeeper in the small town to over crowd his windows. He can arrange a tempting array of things to catch the eye of anyone who enters the store. And who can blame him if, in doing so, he gives his own line a proniinent place? He knows the new styles. He is familial' with the lines that are moving most rapidly' or with those that the bigger buyers are securing in large quantities. If the dealer is overstocked, or has a line of goods that is slow in getting off the shelves, the salesman can give him sug gestions for plans of special sales that will help him move them.
The salesman can help his customer with advertis ing problems ; he can suggest more effective copy and new, distinctive methods of arranging the advertising matter. He can be of assistance in the preparation of lists for circular letters. In some cases, he can even go so far as to suggest and discuss better methods of financing the customer's business.