Here, again, the cooperation of the two depart ments should be hearty and complete. The credit manager must often rely upon the men in the field for information concerning the moral risk on purchasers who possess little capital. While the sales manager should jealously guard against his men's time being taken up to too great an extent by work for other de partments, it is only right that he should have the salesmen handle all cases of payment overdue where the reason given for non-payment is that the goods or service was unsatisfactory.
14. Handling of complaints.—Those who handle complaints must have the selling point of view if the complaints are to be treated with the necessary care and breadth of vision. There is constant danger that trouble already existing between the house and the customer may be made worse. The improper han dling of complaints may totally destroy the good busi ness relations between the house and the customer. The sales manager should see that the house adopts a rational and liberal policy toward complaints. He should impress upon the official who handles these cases the fact that, it is often better to acknowledge that the customer is right than to endeavor to prove that he is wrong. A right attitude in this matter is a powerful influence in building up trade.
15. Service department.—Sometimes the salesmen are given more than goods to sell. They may sell goods plus the service of the house to the cus tomer. The performance of this service is usually in the hands of a separate department, tho salesmen take orders for the service of the house as well as for the goods it sells. The service may in some instances take the form of repairs, replacements and prompt supply of extra parts, or it may take the form of counsel to the customer, as to how best to use the goods, according to the nature of the business. In many lines the service department opens its relations with the customer by acknowledging the order. Serv ice is in many cases one of the salesman's strongest talking points. The person who intends to buy an automobile, for example, will always look into the service behind the car. Most makers of office appli ances lay particular stress on the nature of the service that goes with their machines.
It is imperative that the members of the service de partment possess the selling point of view. A service that falls short of the customer's expectations is much worse than no service at all. The sales manager
should see to it that a spirit of real helpfulness and sin cerity pervades the service department. The service may be of such a, nature that, while it adds materially to the comfort, pleasure, convenience, profit or safety of the customer, it nevertheless costs the house com paratively little money or effort. Those in charge of the service should be made to see that it is the little things that create a feeling of friendliness in the cus tomer and make him a booster for the house. This is an age of service, and any efficient house possessing a spirit of real helpfulness to its customers may feel well assured of increased sales.
16. Pinances.—A great many• houses sell their goods on a basis of deferred periodical payments, and almost all extend more or less liberal credit to their customers. In all except a strictly cash business, it is imperative that the financial management look ahead and provide for the financing of every order produced by the sales department. Raw materials must be paid for in most cases before the finished product is sold, and in trading companies the product sold must be paid for before payments from its customers are due. Where the volume of business produced by the sales department is fairly constant, and collections are ordinarily good, these expenditures will be taken care of by collections. If there is a rapidly increasing volume of sales, on the other hand, an ever-increasing working capital must be provided, if orders are to be filled promptly and the business is to be kept in a sound condition. This means that there must be close harmony and cooperation and a thoro understanding between the sales and the financial managers.
17. How cooperation is secured.—The develop ment of this cooperation between the sales organiza tion and the other departments of a business cannot be left to chance.. Unless an organization is composed of exceptional individuals, it seems natural for many of the employes to work at cross purposes. It is natural that each department should be concerned chiefly with its own interests. Its members are prone to magnify the importance of their department and to underesti mate the importance of the others. Interdepartmen tal jealousy and the lack of cooperation are unfortu nately characteristic of many establishments, even when their organizations are highly developed and they have attained a large measure of success.