8. Visualizing the equipment should be such that the prospect may visualize the product. Working models of reduced size are sometimes used. A certain salesman selling dog collars takes with him a thorobred brindle bulldog on which to display his wares. A large New York concern manufactures a folding stereoscope that is very handy for salesmen, and supplies firms using them with appropriate pic tures which can be shown in this machine.
In a great many cases. the moving picture bids fair to supersede these other means of visualizing the prod uct. A small projecting machine which the sales man can carry with him has been devised, and con cerns have been organized to prepare commercial films for the use of salesmen. This method is used to show machinery in operation. Explosives are being dem onstrated by moving pictures. One concern that makes automobile tires, is showing by moving pic tures taken at its plants, the process of manufacture and the rigid tests to which the tires are subjected. Styles in dress, also, are being demonstrated in this manner on living models.
9. Making the equipment compact, uniform and complete.—It often requires considerable ingenuity to plan and arrange the equipment so that it can be easily carried and be at the same time so complete that the salesman will never find that he lacks anything that would aid him in making the sale. The equipment should always be so arranged as to present a uniform and orderly appearance. A number of houses are today working out this problem of compactness and completeness most effectively. The Heinz Company, for example, having found that it was hnpracticable for every salesman to carry a sample of each of the "57," and that the few they could carry were burden some, have equipped their men with catalogs which picture the various processes of manufacture in the Heinz plant and which show each of the products full size in color. There are, in addition, pictures of display arrangements for each line of goods. The salesmen for a New York linoleum house, who for merly carried several trunks of • samples, are today equipped only with an ordinary brief-case which con tains several samples of linoleum that show the qual ity of the goods. The various designs in which the goods may be had, instead of being shown by samples, are pictured in full colors in a book of about one hun dred pages.
10. Equipment without salesmen.—A large shoe manufacturing company has recently perfected a sys tem whereby a sample trunk, unaccompanied by a salesman, is circulated among its customers. 'Ile
trunk is consigned to a dealer who, upon making his selections from it, sends it on to the next dealer on the route. This method is used to supplement the work of the salesman between visits. A large machinery manufacturer is working on a plan to route moving pictures of his machinery in much the same manner ; the scheme includes an arrangement with local mov ing-picture houses to show the pictures -privately be fore prospects. This method is capable of applica tion in many lines.
11. Keeping the equipment equipment should always be as attractive as possible. The mo rocco wallet of the bond salesman lends dignity to his proposition. Good substantial trunks give the im pression that the firm is efficient and businesslike in handling its goods. The heterogeneouS mass of cata logs carried by the salesmen of many wholesale houses, can be made attractive by uniform leather covers. Possibly the whole lot might be put into one neat leather case.
Tbe sales manager should always insist that the salesman keep his equipment in the pink of condition. It gets worn and dog-eared so gradually that the sales man may fail to notice that it has become ding-y. Many sales managers require the salesman to set aside one evening a week in which to go over his equipment and send in requisitions for replenishments. In some lines, cloaks and suits, clothing and men's bats, for ex ample, it is impossible to duplicate samples because only one of a kind is made up for each salesman and work is not started on the regular line until after all orders have been received. In this case the salesman should be impressed with the importance of keeping samples clean and in good condition, and the firm should provide adequate means for his doing so.
12. Arrang entent and use of equipment. —The maxim, "A place for everything and everything in its place," applies with especial force in the matter of equipment. The salesman should be able to lay his hands on any single piece without the slightest delay. A break in the selling talk, due to the salesman's in ability to find a particular piece of equipment or to locate a certain indorsement letter is likely to interfere seriously with the prospect's interest and destroy the possibility of a sale. The salesman should repack his equipment in such a way that he will not have to re arrange it before the next presentation.