The fact that certain big &moods concerns have stocked up on a certain line will influence the smaller dealers to do the same. The fact that a president buys a certain article will influence the vice-president to buy it; the department heads will be influenced by the president and the vice-president. The names of the prominent people of' a town on a list of purchas ers, have a dollars-and-cents value. The general prin ciple is to start at the top and work down; that is, to secure first the business of the individual or the con cern that will influence further business.
12. Customer as a firm representative.—A sales man who was being complimented on his wonderful record in selling a new office device, replied that his record would be remarkable if he were the only rep resentative his firm had in town. He was only the chief representative, it seemed. Every customer, he explained, was an assistant representative, operating under his direction and working up leads, cooperation and enthusiasm. Considering that he had one hun dred and fifty representatives, he concluded it was not so surprising that he was getting big results.
This man seldom asked directly for cooperation. He would merely drop in as Ile was passing to thank a customer for having directed him to a man who had purchased the day before ; or he vvould stop with a magazine article in which he thought the customer might be interested; he would bring in a little book for which he had sent to New York because he knew the customer would enjoy it. Then as be was leaving, his host would probably make some such remark as this: "I was talking to Brown yesterday about your office device and Ile seems quite interested. I should suggest that you go and see him. Mention 111V name." Here again we find the "you" attitude of the salesman effective. A great many specialty sales men make the mistake of breaking in upon a customer merely to ask whether he can suggest anyone who would be likely to buy.
-Under some circumstances as, for instance, when the new prospect whose name is suggested is difficult to see, it might be well for the salesman to reply: "All right, I shall be glad to see him. I wonder whether you would mind getting him on the phone and telling him I am coming?" Or, if it seems preferable: "I wonder whether you would mind giving me a few words of introduction to him on the back of your card." Cooperation is valuable; it wins for the sales man interviews which are based on friendliness; and in the case of this kind of interviews the proportion of sales is large.
Staple salesmen very often overlook opportunities for cooperation. Retail salesmen do not get as much of it as they should. There is a large number of sales men in the men's clothing, women's cloaks and suits, furniture and rug departments of the big retail storeS, however, who have a following of customers who fre quently send friends to them.
M. Letters of indorsemeitt.—The use of letters of indorsement as a part of a salesman's equipment is be coming more and more common. Those received from especially influential men or particularly impor tant concerns are valuable sales material in any part of the country. The same thing is true, in a slightly less degree, of letters from people who are little known. Much more valuable than either of these are the local letters of indorsement that the salesman se cures thru the cooperation of his more prominent customers.
It is an art to secure from a customer the exact sort of letter of indorsement desired. In a few cases, the customer will allow the salesman to dictate the letter, and then, of course, the matter is simple. In a much larger number of cases, however, the customer will desire to say what he pleases and to say it in his OW11 way. The danger here is that the letter may be too long, too general or possibly couched in such extrava gant terms as to seem an exaggeration.
The salesman, then, must draw the customer out on particular points, and, when he has secured two or three specific statements in good forceful language, he can suggest : "Mr. Customer, you have made three strong points for my proposition and you have made them in very forceful language. I wonder whether you would mind giving me a letter making just those three points. I know you would be willing to indorse the whole proposition if I asked you to, but I am going to be satisfied if you will just give me three or four paragraphs making those three points." The salesman will, of' course, know what kind of indorse ment letter he desires, and lie must secure it by means of strong, positive suggestion.
14. Loyalty and cooperation .—The salesman, then, should be loyal to the house and loyal to the cus tomer. He should cooperate with the house and- with the customer. Loyalty inspires loyalty and cooper ation inspires cooperation. The salesman who satis fies the customer, who gets business in the right way, and who brings his customer helpful, practical sugges tions is giving hini cooperation in the best sense of the word. Friendship and the cooperation that it cre ates govern almost every act of humanity. Unless the salesman can create influence, friendship and co operation, for himself and for his house, he will meet with untold difficulty and discouragement. But the man who can foster these will find both pleasure and profit in practising the art of salesmanship.