There was a time not very long ago when a great many houses insisted that all their salesmen, old and new alike, should learn a standard presentation and give it verbatim. It is generally recognized today that there can be no advantage in insisting upon this in the case of an experienced salesman. Whether or not the new men should be required to learn the pres entation word for word, will depend upon the com plexity of the product sold. When the proposition is simple it may be necessary merely for the salesman to get an idea of the general outline and sequence of ideas in the selling talk, and present them in his own words. When, on the other hand, the proposition necessitates an elaborate explanation or requires the salesman to educate his prospect in the principles of the proposition, it has been found that the success of new men at the outset is generally in proportion to the accuracy of their knowledge of the standard presenta tion and their ability to use it effectively.
The new salesman should study the standard pres entation thoroly and should be able to give it word for word, but it is not expected that Ile should use it always. The standard form is a clear-cut method of presentation which the salesman should follow until he develops methods of his OW11. When that step is reached, it will furnish him with a track to run upon in making his OW11 talk, and will give him something it() say on the days which come to most salesmen, when he cannot be original. In short, the new salesmen should learn the standard presentation thoroly—and then gradually forget it.
6. Equipment.—The term, equipment, includes everything that the salesman carries to aid him in making the sale, even down to the personal cards with which he is furnished by the house. It includes aids to selling, ranging all the way from the cold, figure strewn prospectus of the bond salesman to the fif teen or twenty trunks of the general dry goods man. Much as the salesman's equipment may vary in differ ent lines, there are certain definite principles that are applicable in any case--in regard to both convenience of form and force of selling appeal.
Special care should be taken not to overload the salesman. When he carries the equipment, it should be easily portable and not so heavy as to tire him and sap his energy early in the day. This carrying about of a heavy equipment has a great deal more to do with keeping down a man's volume of sales than most sales managers realize. If the equipment consists of sam ples carried in trunks, care should be taken lest the individual pieces exceed the weight that may be car ried as baggage over the railroads. 'Whether or not
there will be facilities for handling a large trunk line in the town to be visited has to be considered. For example, a Cleveland blanket manufacturing concern which usually equips its salesmen with several large trunks has recently started a salesman in an automo bile making small towns off the railroad. It has been necessary to cut down his equipment to one trunk and to show the balance of the line by catalog and samples of material.
Trunks or other carriers of equipment should be so constructed that the contents will be accessible. Wardrobe trunks are largely used now for clothing lines. Some goods will lend themselves to an effec tive display when fastened in the trays of a trunk. Shoes and millinery may be shown in this manner. The sales manager makes a mistake if he slights these matters on the ground that the salesman has plenty of time in the evening to arrange his display and can pack while he is waiting for his train. The salesman has just so much energy, and as much of that energy as possible should be devoted to the actual selling of (roods.
. 7. Equipment with an imaginative equipment should be designed, if possible, so that it will appeal to the imagination. The salesmen who sell apple-growing lands in a Montana tract are equipped with a small case in which to carry samples of the apples. A story is told of a grocery salesman who set out to sell a large consignment of prunes. He secured a number of pictures of the Santa Clara \Tal ley in California where the prunes were grown. He sent for pictures of the Loire Valley, in France, where the slips of his prunes were grown. lle carried sam ples both of imported French prunes and of the prunes he was selling. As part of his demonstration he would cut one of each kind, and with the aid of a mar, nifying glass he would show that the texture of his domestic prune was just as fine as that of the imported variety, which was much more expensive.
Facsimile letters of indorsement from purchasers are coming more and more into favor in lines where the use of such letters is practicable. They are valu able not only for the definite statements they make in regard to the product, but also because they indi cate the class of people who have bought it. Great care should be taken to have the reproduction look as much as possible like the original.