San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-10-10
educate the retailer and the consumer

educate the retailer and the consumer
alike.
What is the succeeding stage
Sales nourishment, for after sales are
created they must be nourished. Much
can be expected from such mediums
as follows: mail order department
business stimulating sales, catalogs
and sales contests.
Price Cutting . Wealtnessc.
more and more We see the growth
ness tending to show that We are fol.
lowing the course Of least resistance
and thereby encouraging BolshcvIs.
are revolutionary, destroying conf
dence and faith in the manufactures
jobber and retailer, with the consum
er.
This is building destructive bust
ness, for it does not tend to crea;e
more business; it merely shifts the
channel of distribution from one course
to another: subsequently. the process
that follows is absorption. This, how
ever, is a slow process and is depend
ent on adequate finance and success
full management that tends to restrlc;
development.
''Now we come to the intermediary
of sales, the travelling salesman; he is
a vital force if made so. and how ia
make him more SO is by coaching and
directing his energy and initiative IN
the right direction.
= ''Sales managers should have con-
troll of the general policy Of directing
statesmen. He should be as much for
the salesman rs he is for the house
and in no event more than $3.50 for
either. There again is evidence of q
need for standardized plan of coach
ing statesmen. 1t is encouraging that
much is being done to educate sales
men in the art of selling, and yet
there is much more to do, because
salesmanship is in my opinion like a
race horse, you must know how to get
all Of the speed you can without driv-
ing him off his feet. Therefore, it is
necessary to train him to get the max
imum result and that course of train.
ing should be well fortified by plans
that inculcate the right methods Of
selling.
"Sales conventions -are either good
or bad. You can accomplish much in
creating enthusiasm with constructive
plans, and on the other hand much
harm results by following destructive
plans. Hence, programs>for sales
meetings should be carefully consid
cred rs to cause and effect. and tn.
four elements of a we'll regulated job.
bling business should have equal voice
in arranging programs, j. e., execu.
tiyes, president and sales, manager !;
buying, merchandising executive and
buyers finspcial, treasurer and credit
man; routing, operating superintend'
ent and traffic manager. -:
Opened by Archbishop.
II recall with considerable pleasure
meeting. 1t had been tried once, many
years before i took charge, with a
disastrous result for lack of a well
defined program; so determined
first, with the assistance Of the four
factors mentioned, to open my first
sales convention with the archbishop
and after he got through l had easy
sailing.
"The effect was sensational and the
result that year was the same. The
oftener these meetings were held, the
more the enthusiasm was kept gener-
ating and where salesmen make head.
quarters in the jobbers home town
every month is not too often provid
cd the programs are short and
snnppy. Because long meetings tend
to create failure. for almost in every
case statesmen are coached for hours