Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-05-01
ELLEN YOUNG
DOCTOR OF SAILS
By Ruth Leigh
Author Of The Human : % RE-
tall selling" The A b c of Retail
ing etc.

you complain about the careless
ness OF your travelling saiesmen in
writing orders" said Ell. Young.
doctor of sales. to the sales mana
ger o. the Gotham Willow Furniture
company. do you know Mr. Spur. 5
] believe most statesmen don't know
that there Is a right and a wruns
way to send in orders to their firms,
; or TO handle their own clerical work
that is a necessary part OF sci ing"
They don't" g.imIy. Il know
that only TOO well. Would you ad-
wise me TO send u a tulIetiD TO
them about it. Miss Young?"
Yes. I'll suggest some things that
should go in it. Then, at heir next
convention. 4 would advise your
holding an informal discussion about
it, too. The first thing I would pom.
out" began Ellen Young. lis that a
large proportion CT the misunder-
home firm and the customers are due
to the failure or oversight Of the
salesman 10 state things plainly in
his orders. ! think every salesman
should see that all articles on his CT
ders should have proper numbers
and descriptions should be exactly
the same As those used IN the cafa-
logue from which the salesman sells
his goods. A salesman forgets, a. Q
rule, that orders are often prepared
by stock clerks who have not .
thorough knowledge of the goods.
who are not familiar with the =.
iious local or coloquial names Of the
goods and who consequently do not
recognize these names. Numbers are
The thing to use"
Gosh. that's just the trouble. We
have. We can't get 'em to specify by
numbers"
well, refuse to accept orders n
less your men make them out an
that way. Return them to the man.
Then, there's another thing THAT Of
ten makes statesmen careless In I'LL
ing out their orders. they get care
less. They usually write In long
hand because s~tenographers are not
always available on the road. They
carry owe work from one day to an
other. and then, in their hurry to
clean up ragged ends the ends get
all the more frazzled. I would rec
cmmend to statesmen that they never
go to bed a single night without first
cleaning UP each days work Of writ
ing letters. Work Of this kind should
never accumulate"
The sales manager nodded agree
ment.
Then there are several short cuts
and direct routes that statesmen can
employ in handling the clerical part
of selling. They can answer on the
same letter sheet that needs u reply
(this often obviates explanations):
they a S a pencil in place Of a
pen, II more convenient; they can
make their letters as brief al posi-
BILE; they need never write unneces-
sary letters; they can make carbon
copies of letters written to custom
ers on which they think the firm
should be kept posted. Any number
of short cuts will make the clerical
work OF selling easier"
The important thing is to get the
work done carefully and accurately
If these men on the road would only
realize that we, at the once, are not
mind-readers, that we can do and
understand only what we see writ
ten down, they would take more
care in putting in instructions as to
shipping, packing, billing and so
on"
"rr-that's the point" agreed Ell
len Young.
whats your opinion, Miss
Young" asked a young accountant.
about asking for salaries or fees!
I never know what to charge. I'm
afraid of losing the work IL / ask
too much. yet ! don't wan to get
any less than is due me-"
This Is q problem that many PEG.
pie In business often face, and Mon.
days paper will contain a practical
solution by Ellen Young.
Let Miss Leigh answer your bust
ness questions on buying, selling, ad-
vertising, employment. etc. Ask your
questions clearly and give all the