Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1915-03-20
REQ MARKETING
| COSTS LESS MONEY
General Manager Scott Tells
Why His Car Appeals to
the Buying Public

aroused by the statement recently maue
to the effect that the cost Of merchan'
dsing REQ automobiles was less than
that Of marketing most any line of so
called staples. The statement was made
by General Manager Richard H. Scott,
Of the REQ Motor Car Company, that
the total administration, sales and adj
yertising expense Of the REQ Company
is less than three per cent
Following the publication of that
statement, Mr.. Scott has been deluged
by letters from heads Of big concerns
in various other lines of manufacturing
notably typewriter, adding machine,
cash register, stationary gas engines
and farm machines, asking if the state
ment can be true and for information
yas to how the REQ company does it.
Previous to tho publication of Mr..
Scott's sensational statement it was the
general impression, evidently, that the
cost of selling automobiles was high
that in other words, the buyer Of car
really received only small percentage
of actual mechanical value for his
money, the major portion going to pay
champaign bills and other items that
were recognized as a part Of the bust
ness in the early days.
That one of the leading concerns
operates on so small a margin of cost
came almost as n shock to men in sup
posedly more conservative lines.
"The explanation cannot be made in
n sentence says Mr.. Scott. Efficiency
in one department does not guarantee
success. 1t must pervade every depart
ment.
at is a fact that three per cent
more than covers our total administra'
ton--meanng salaries of the executive
department heads, the sale force and all
advertising including catalogs, photo
graphs, etc. OF course / do not include
in that the dealers commission on re-
tail sales though that also is only about
half what It is in the case Of Americas
most famous piano for example-an
article the demand for which is so
steady and so certain one would natur.
ally suppose il would cost much less to
sell-than an automobile-especially
as the average price Of REQ cars is
nearly twice the average price of the
various models of that piano.
One reason why our administration
expense is so light is the fact that no
executive in the REQ company draws
more than $4,000 salary per year. Con.
trast that with the $4,000 and even
100000 salaries paid by men in similar
positions--but of lesser ability as shown
by the results achieved--in other con.
automobile and other.
"Of course the REQ executive re-
ceiyes more-but they have, from the
first been content to take theirs in
dividends on their stock from the actual
earnings Of the business,
"Anothcr, and very important fac
tor, is the fact that REQ has alway'
been practically close corporation
and there never has been a drop OF
water in the stock. Every share repre-
sents not only its face value in actua
cash invested-but at this moment, il
you will look at the stock quotations
and note that REQ, par value $40 il
quoted at about 90 (Which is 260 OF
the usual 800 basis) you will see thai
II share Of REQ stock today represents
more than two aud one half times it,
face value.
"Still another factor; there nevel
has been, from the day REQ was organ
lied a change in n single executive ol
major department head, From tn,
first Mr., r, c. Rueschaw has direete,
the sales policy Of the company. Hi
organization too has remained with few
or no changes REQ dealers almos
never change--due to the way they ar,
treated by Mr., Reueschaw and his lieu
tenants as well as TO the quality W,
have always put into the product an,
the way we have stood back of It at al
times,
81 can't say that we have Away
made taultlcss productive ncye
can hope TO do that. But | can 50,
and every REQ dealer and owner will
endorse the statement that we hav
made good any defective part or erro
i in workmanship aud without quibbhug
i Service which has been used 81
much but from dishonest practice ha
come to mean so little not only in tn
automobile but in many other lines, i
not an empty word with us, And we W
found that the cost Of giving actua
scrvice-of replacing part which
many times we felt we were not calle,
d upon to replace gratis, has paid man,
times over aud proven an importan
! factor In keeping our total sales cS
pense at the remarkably low figure /
\ is.
advertising, | believe, has playe
4 an important part In that as in al
other departments we insist on tn
, highest efficiency, We aim to max
every dollar produce as high q pr,
centoge OF results as any other. No
DO We depend upon so called statistic
the premise Of which II false make
n the whole mess of figures misleading
but we watch results following cac
ad and gauge our subsequent expcndI
lures accordingly By results we 4
not mean anything so fragile or mean
ingless as inquiries hut sales Of car,
sales by dealers everywhere.
M medium ever gets ON the Re
\ list on grounds of personal friendshi
d or personal preference or pull II mus
v prove il will sell the cars We hav
Il found the daily newspapers the mos
n efficient of all media-thcy rcat
N everywhere aud they 20 every da,
d Instantaneous as well as tangible an
"A certain results are obtained by the us
4 of the big sunday issues Of the dahC
"A Nhiph va un thN N.iinun aud far