Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-20
SELLING TO CHANGE
When Production is Equal to Demand
Standard Of Machines Will Raise.
LARGELY MATTER OF BRAINS
These VIII soon Brins Production 10
supply All, and Then Real Sales
men WIN Re Needed to
SELL Autos.

Automobile salesmanship is Of two kinds
the sales Of cars by tthe manufacturers
to the dealer and the sales OF cars by the
dealer to the public.
SO far az the wholesale side is concerned.
automobiles have been bought rather than
sold. The demand from dealers has been
enormous. 1t has been too great for all OF
the factories in the country to fiji orders,
hence there has not been as careful appli-
cation by many manufacturers OF the
principles Of craftsmanship in the distribu-
ton of automobiles as there has been in
most other lines Of commercial activity.
Many companies seem to go on the prin-
ciple that as soon as the factory output is
spoken for by the dealers it is sold. This
is far from true. Cars are not really sold
until they are in the hands of users at a
price that gives a fair profit to both dealer
and manufacturer.
Competition is s~trong>among the dealers
and they know that It takes brains and
hard work to sell cars, no matter what the
man at the factory may think.
There are certain fundamental principles
in craftsmanship which apply in the dis
tribution of clothing, farm machinery,
pianos, talking machines, or any other line.
Selling is simply the art of influencing the
human mind, and the things which influ-
ence the human mind are pretty much the
same all over the world in all lines Of
business. The problem, no matter what
you may be selling, is to find out what
these things are, and then see them.
Good Goods Necessary.
The potent factor In influencing the pub
lie is good goods. No possible amount OF
strenuous salesmanship and advertising will
.ersA a. H~A.n 3, a,Ar aEfNn1a ~ the mar
ket. 1t is possible by strong salesman
ship and clever advertising to sell a first
edition."
Profitable business is a matter of repeat
orders, and you can't have repeat orders
when you put out poor goods. A salesman
with good goods to, offer always makes a
better record In the long run than the
salesman with inferior goods, even though
the man with the poor goods may be SUI
perior to the other man In the practice OF
the arts of his profession.
The conditions, in quite recent years, in
the m industry have been such
that any factory that could turn out a car
that had any merit at all could sell its
output. The time is bound to come when
or ly those factories which turn out cars Of
Nnusual and unquestioned merit will be
able to sell their output.
conditions sure TO CnanBes
Wien one stops to think of all the en-
ergy and all of the brains concentrated now
on the production end of the automobile
business ore is inevitably forced to the
conclusion that sooner or later production
will catch up with demand. Then good
craftsmanship and good advertising will
play a more prominent part in the\ auto
mobile business than it has heretofore. II
is playing a part now, but that part is not
plain to every one
The Fundamental principle of salesman
ship is good goods. When the time comes
that production equals or passes demand
then the manufacturers who have main
tanned a high standard in spite of all temp.
tations to lower the standard for the sake
of turning out greater quantities, will find
that they have been much better statesmen
than they knew. They will find themselves
standing on the solid rock of public conf
dence.
The man, no matter what his reputation
!, as a salesman may be, who would under
take the job Of selling through a long tern
: Of years a product that was inferior, would
l be extremely foolish. He would be play
t ing a game where he had absolutely NJ
chance for final success.
i