The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-05-15

| | have traVelede ~ years, ana never
missed Il season. l have been married
eight years, and only spent one Christ
mas with my wife. But / would rather
| be a travelling salesman than lawyer or
Il doctor Perhaps it is true that to sue
coed at anything man must prefer
| that thing. If | am to be guided by my
own experience, there are also other es-
J sentials to even 4 reasonable success:
( Know your goods know your market.
know your customers. Work by day
and travel by night. Keep your diges-
ton and your temper even. Keep your
I eye clear and your hand steady, and tell
your customers the truth-not fairy sto-
ries, not even good STORIES
A COMEDY TYPE.
The commercial traveller who carries
pistol, a pack of cards, bottle of
Whiskey and u box Of cigars in his
satchel doesn't hold out. AS type he
is rapidly disappearing. The merchants
of the United States have gotten edu-
Gated beyond him. Goods are no longer
I, sold on friendship. They must have
merits of their own, and they must be
| offered for sale at the right time. An
ticipation is half the battle. In the de-
yelopnient of this country the part
played by commercial travellers is rarely
I considered. Yet it is IA most important
one But it is great deal easier to go
! out and do thing than it is to tell how
it is done.
/ Instead of the commercial travellers
! work being picturesque spree. with
| good stories, good cigars and perpetual
parlor car seats. it is after all governed
| by exactly the same rules as those
which regulate any other business. lie
| is the middle man between the seller
and the buyer. and he must command
the respect of each of them. In order to
do this he can't well avoid being truth
! full. courteous and polite. Instead of
loafing. drinking and exchanging jokes
with the people along his route, he must
work hard each day. say one town
day. and travel by nights to the next
stopping place. Ii is hardly necessary
to say that he must feel well and keep
we'll to be able to do this; and his di-
geston must be equal to almost any
kind OF food he finds.
III my own experience is of any value
to young men who may think Of starting
ont in this business. they are welcome
To it. | began on the road about the
time / reached my majority: already /
the retail trade. Why was that useful?
Because you can't sell goods unless you
know them; you can't convince n GUS
toner unless you can answer his ques-
tons and anticipate his objections.
There's no use wasting time in trying TO
make friends with him unless you can
sell him goods Drinking with him and
telling him good stories doesn't count
for much nowadays. It's more and more
straight goods and straight business.
PISTOLS ARE NOT NECESSITIES.
Every week | get letters from friends
asking advice about the road. | believe
it is true that ! am the oldest man in
my line, dry goods spccialties, travelling
out Of New York. For 20 years ! have
made regular trips through the south
] west have never carried pistol III
that time and never needed one-ln spite
OF the saying that when you need PTS
toll in Texas you need it like HI.
never saw trouble that | felt | had to
take any part in. Indeed l never car
ried weapon since my early days,
when there were not so many railroads,
and / had to make wagon trips some
times by night, from one backwoods
! town to another. with a colored man
driving me and a winchester on the
seat by my side. When a young man
asks how he can start all / can say is,
begin in small way. Experience and
reputation, in your line. are absolutely
necessary to secure employment by a
good house ut good money. Until you
! have these, try for them, as a retail
salesman. anywhere. Unknown quanti-
ties are not wanted in big houses.
There are certain kinds of trade. such
as the shoe. the hat and the clothing.
which do nearly all their business by
means of travelling statesmen. And they
! do nearly all Of it in four or FIVE months
| of the year. These statesmen go out in
May and June to take their fall orders.
rand they go again in November and De-
cember to take their spring orders. A
salesman who would travel 10 months in
the wear and carry five times as many
goods could not sell any more than they
do in four on FIVE. Which indicates that
there are two kinds of statesmen, the
4 'pikers," who grind away all the time.
and the men who bunch their hits. to
use a baseballism, anticipate their Gus
toners demands. sell spring goods say.
in my line. in November and December.
go ont in March to keep in touch with
I their customers and then spend the
warm months in New York selling
goods in their own houses to their road
customers who have come on here TO
! buy for the fall. While it is true that il
J is the advance business that pays. it IS
also true that there isn't any man who
can make what | call salary unless he
sells goods in New York as well as on
the road. While merchants came TO
New York 20 years ago more than they
do now, it is still true that they con
time TO come on now at certain times.
1t is in New York then that the trayel.
ing salesman who has been in their
stores. and mixed with them. knows
what they want and how to sell to them
And it is here above all that the volue
Of the travelling salesman to his pafent
house is proven, above all mercantile
agency reports.
! DEALING WITH CUSTOMERS
The best customer last year NAV not
be so good this year; discounts NAV
have fallen off ill-health hurt his bnsi-
ness; he may have quarreled by lefter
with the home house Now. the homo