7. Salesman's route card.—If the salesman is mov ing rapidly from place to place and his route has not been settled definitely before the start of the trip, the sales manager should be kept in constant touch with his movements by means of daily or weekly route cards showing the towns in which he will be on certain dates and the hotels at which he may be reached. It has been found advantageous to have this card of a size convenient for filing.
8. Reports on customers.—It may be found advis able to have the salesman report on each individual customer upon whom he calls, either as a supplement to or a substitute for his daily report. In the selling of a varied line, for example, the sales manager will want to know in regard to each class of goods whether the customer still has a large proportion of the previ ous order on his shelves, whether he has been sold on the trip or is a future prospect; whether he has been stocked by a competitor, and if so, when he will again be in the market.
In other cases, it may be found necessary to have the salesman supplement the work of the credit de partment by reporting on the financial standing of the customer, the class of his trade and the general condition of his store and stock. The report on the individual customer will be found a valuable record for the service department both in acknowledging the initial order and in writing subsequent letters. Cor respondents with this information can write letters on specific topics which affect the customer's individual interests and avoid generalities. The customer's re port will also enable the house to give the salesman at any future time specific information as to previous purchases.
9. Illaps.—A nest of maps—a cabinet consisting of shallow drawers in which the maps are pasted—is es sential. In the case of the house selling a product nationally, maps of each state should be provided. When a concern covers a more limited territory, there should be provided maps of the individual counties contained in the area in which the company operates. On these maps, the territories of the individual sales men should be indicated by being outlined either with tacks and a string or with colored crayon. The city in which the salesman has his headquarters may be indicated by suitable marking. Branch offices, deal ers or agencies may be indicated. The salesman's progress on a trip thru his territory may be shown by driving a tack in each town visited and stringing a colored cord from one to the other. A further re
finement is to show various trips during the year in: different colored cords.
When the information noted on the map changes infrequently, the use of colored crayon will be found much simpler and more satisfactory than the use of tacks and string. The latter are always likely to be come disarranged. Even in cases where the informa tion recorded changes rapidly it is an easy matter to use colored crayons and have the marked-up maps re placed frequently with fresh ones.
10. Monthly tabulations of sales.—The sales man ager should have tabulated a monthly record of the number of sales, the volume of sales, the classes of goods sold, and if practicable, the terms on which sales were made. Such a record enables him to see at a glance which goods are moving rapidly, to devise plans for the pushing of goods showing a larger profit, to forecast the future volume of sales in each line, and to compare results with those of previous periods.
11. Other possible information.—The statistical records that may be compiled from the information available will vary with different lines of business. They should be sufficient to enable the sales manager to make all necessary comparisons. It may be found advantageous to have charts showing the relations of sales to prospects; the relation of cost to sales; and relations of sales in one section to those in another. The sales manager may find it advantageous to sub scribe to one of the reporting services which make a business of furnishing information on which to base judgment of business conditions and selling opportun ities in various parts of the country.
Too many records, however, are almost as confus ing as too few. All cost money. It should be borne in mind constantly that sales records and statistics have two general purposes: first, to enable the sales manager to gauge the business that the organization should secure, and to see what percentage of this it is securing, so that he may put his finger on the weak spots; to show him what classes of goods sell best and why, and to indicate the producing ability of each salesman; and, secondly, to furnish the salesman with the greatest possible measure of assistance and co operation in the field.