Arizona republican., 1906-03-26
By Nath1 c. Fowler, Jr.

Dollars and Sense" Practical l. Publicity and Printing" "Gumption,'
 ARTICLE NO. 6.
 Copyright, 1906, Nath1 c. Fowler, Jr.) | The salesman was born at the birth of trade, and ever since their dual ere ation, he has been in increasing evil dence.
 Selling has become an art. Its prac- tice is universal. It is one of the two fundamental elements of business. It may be said with absolute truth, that | there is not a wholesale. or a retail. | or a manufacturing house of any kind | without a greater or less number of | selling representatives. The tradesman | may know what he wants, and he | doubtless is aware that he cannot do ! the maximum of business without the | proper goods yet for some reason | which has not yet been fully explain l ed. the chances are that he will sell | dom order these goods by mail. or go | after them. but will wait until some travelling salesman has called upon him and solicited his trade. It would appear to be an unnatural condition of trade that makes it nee essary for the buyer to be told what he should buy; but whether it by un- natural or not, it remains a fact The selling of practically everything except a part of that which is sold over the counter is the direct result of soli- citation, or of what is known as drum ming, and this occupation of solicitor or drummer is one of the foundation stones of cOmmercialism. The salesman is one that sells, whether he be a proprietor or a wage earner. It is he who represents the firm in presenting the goods, and he is virtually the go-between. The sales man is a solicitor of trade, whether he sells the goods on the road or from be- hind a counter, and his remuneration depends upon the perfection of this solicitation. The travelling salesman. or drummer as he is commonly called, is one who solicits outside of the office or store. He usually earns a higher salary than is paid the counter man, who handles the trade which comes to his store or office; and. while, to be successful, the latter must possess the abilities of solicitor yet it is not necessary that he be so alert and aggressive as the drummer who goes from place to place for orders The real difference between the outside and inside salesman is this: The outside salesman takes the initiatives: while the customer, to some extent. makes the first move when buy ing goods from the inside salesman.
 It has been claimed, and with a suf- ficient degree of truth to make 1t all most indisputabIe, that no man can al . rect the selling of any commodity un- less he has actually sold goods him. self I do not recall a single successful merchant or stOrekeeper who has not at some time in his career, actually met his trade face to face and per sonally sold goods.
 Probably seventy-ive per cent of the successful merchants and storekeepers began as salesmen, and nearly every prominent wholesaler was at one time a drummer It is certainly common sense to assume that no man can suc- cessfulIy direct the movements of oth- CTS unless he has actually done what his employees are called upon to do True. a man may be an expert at sell ing and not make good manager oi salesmen or a good merchant, for some mems selling ability needs the direct ion of a broader and greater mind. II is also true that some sales managers have little actual selling capacity and cannot successfully meet a customer.
 Business, commonly speaking, con- sists of two parts. buying and selling and the profit of business is in the ability to sell for more than cost, ovel and above the expense of selling.
 All or nearly all of our merchants and storekeepers entered mercantile life through office work or through the selling department. They beguT either as office boys or as store boys and after one or more years of me niaI work of little value to anyone eX' cept to themselves, they became clerks or salesmen. Many boys, particular! the bright ones, jump directly iron this boyship into subordinate salesman ship. The average boy working ia ai office Or in a store receives anywher' from two to six dollars week, and oc casionalIy he is paid as much as tei or twelve dollars a week. From tn twelve-dollar mark, his rise depend upon his proven ability and the con ditions under which he is working.
 Ability without the assistance Of al encouraging environment will hlnde the boys advancement sometimes however. not so much as will less abil itv with a good opportunity. It is there fore extremely important that the bo should start right; that is to say Una he should connect himself with som business that he will not outgroW. the first few years, the boy Will learning and really accomplishing yer little This is his apprenticeship an during these initial years cannot mop to receive more than few dollars
 week When he becomes a salesman then he begins to rise. and if he has tn right kind of stuff in him, and the con ditions are right, his rise may be rapl'
 The rank and file of country stor salesmen, that is, inside men, do hO receive on the average more than te or twelve dollars week, even aIIe the, have become thoroughly eXperl enced, and the maximum pay prooapl has never exceeded twenty-five dollar a week. Department store salesme in large cities draw salaries Of troI eight to thirty dollars a week, the aV trage paid to a good salesman Of eN perience being from eighteen to twen t,, dollars The average salesman i