From all available sources—trade lists, general and special directories, listing companies, and the like —the names of all. dealers who might handle the Ingersoll line have been procured. The labor of do ing this work so as to cover the entire country will be appreciated when it is pointed out that the Ingersoll line is handled not only by jewelers but by stationers, druggists, hardware dealers and numerous specialty shops, to say nothing of post-card and novelty shops and souvenir stores in various localities.
These names are carded in duplicate on a specially designed form and filed geographically according to states, cities being filed alphabetically behind each state and individual dealers alphabetically behind each city. Several days before a salesman is expected to visit a town, the original cards on that town are taken out of the file and sent to him, the guide card containing the name of the town being signalled at the same tiine and an entry made upon it, showing to whom the original cards were sent and the date of shipment. The duplicate cards which are left in file act as a tickler on individual cards.
These records are of course incomplete and often incorrect. No matter how thoroly any number of lists may be combed, an actual survey of a town is almost certain to reveal dealers in various lines who can handle the Ingersoll line to advantage, but whose names have not been obtained from any of the sources used. The salesman is required to make out a card for these and report upon them in the same manner as upon the dealers whose names are furnished by the house. On the other band, many who from the lists and directories would seem to be logical dealers in the line, will, upon inspection, be found unavailable for one reason or another. The first thing that a salesman checks on the card, therefore, is the question of whether or not the dealer is available as a handler of Ingersoll watches.
The variety of detailed information which the com pany expects eventually to have instantly available on every individual prospect is indicated by some of the questions the salesman is required to answer and for which spaces are provided on the form. He must decide and indicate, for example, whether each dealer is "essential" or "non-essential." The Ingersoll Com
pany classes as essential, those dealers who, because of the size of their trade, their commanding locations, or their progressive methods, should carry the line if dis tribution is to be complete. In every town, there is a stationer, a druggist or a hardware merchant—and in some cases there are all three—who commands the best or largest trade in his line. In larger cities, where there are several large business centers, there are sure to be one or more dealers in each center who occupy a commanding position in their trade. In many cases, there will be dealers who without doing a large business are important in their communities be cause of progressive advertising and merchandising methods. These will indicate the classes of possible dealers which the Ingersoll Company considers as "es sential." In making this classification it is not the idea of the company to secure the essential dealers and to neglect the others. But the smaller and so-called "non-essential" dealers will be more easily procured as handlers of the line after the essential dealers have been secured. Furthermore, the company takes this classification into consideration in its distribution of advertising cuts, indoor and outdoor display signs and counter display fixtures.
Spaces are provided on the record card in which the salesman may check the merchant's evident care of his windows and the frequency with which he dresses them ; the amount, nature and effectiveness of any ad vertising the merchant may do; his general progres siveness and merchandising ability as indicated by these things and by his methods of keeping, caring for and displaying his stock—not only his watch stock, but all other lines as well; and his rate of turnover both of the Ingersoll line and his. entire line as well. This information is used by the company's service de partment in keeping in touch with the dealer and suggesting to him ways and means of increasing the volume of his sales. Here again it is the policy of the company not to confine advice to the turning over of Ingersoll products, but to extend it to everything that the merchant carries, as the company relies upon the general improvement in his merchandising to have A beneficial effect on the Ingersoll watch sales.