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In its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. Author: Boulder [pseud.] Title: Hidden causes of reckless advertising waste Place: Chicago Date: [1913] q4-^^\q^'G> MASTER NEGATIVE # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DIVISION BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED - EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD £66 Boulder, pseud. Hidden causes of reckless advertisiii.a: waste, by ** Boul- der" [pseud.] ... 1st ed. Chica^j^o, Lord and* Thomas publishing house flOK], 112 p. illus. 20*^'". •'Reprinted from Judicious advertising." 1. /Vdvertisintr. 2. Salesmen and salcMnaiislnp. i. Title Library of Conj^re^- Copyright A MMm HF5Sr> !'.; 13-7810 ^ RESTRICTIONS ON USE: TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA RLM SIZE: "^bmw^ REDUCTION RATIO: \'^X IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA (g) IB IIB DATE FILMED: 9-15-94 INITIALS: TRACKING # : iiia oz/)Ki FILMED BY PRESERVATION RESOURCES, BETHLEHEM. PA. 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C Q ■OOIM grill '• o ^^ •mmJ i' s ® ■»< 50 OOIM s Hidden Causes of Reckless Advertising Waste ilb 'v.^T^^r Columbia tHniberjiitp LIBRARY School of Business .^ '(ii.i'V \ Hidden Causes of Reckless Advertising Waste Copyright, 1913, by the Lord and Thomas Publisbh^ Housb Chicago Hidden Causes of Reckless Advertising Waste By "BOULDER The Business Detective » (Reprinted from Judicious Advertising) First Edition Lord and Thomas Publishing House Chicago, U. S. A. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. How the House Correspondent Wrecks Business & 11., Selling Anununition Aimed in the Dark . . li ni. Cumpnigiis Crippled by Fallacies of Salesmen 29 IV. The Internal Feud 41 V. Resistance in the Shipping Department . . 47 VI. Missing the Straight Path to the Market 57 VII. The One-Man Business 68 VIII. The Weak Link in the Selling Chain . . 74 IX. The Best Doctor Cheapest in the End . . 81 X. "Penny Wise, Pound Foolish" .... 88 XI. Defective Cog Nearly Wrecks Great Machine 96 Jill. Mflu Order by Hit or Miss 104 ,( ( !■ i/ «0 1*1 i CHAPTER I How the House Correspondent Wrecks Business A POWERFUL figure in a certain line of automobile accessories one spring morning about a year ago ^ sent for his advertising manager post haste. When the latter put in his appearance the president of the concern had spread before him on his desk three large sales maps, which gave at a glance sales conditions in every territory in the country. "The reason I called you," he began, "is on account of a bad slump in sales during the past month in two terri- tories that previously were among the six largest producing territories in which we sell. "Isn't the advertising we are doing in those territories right? "Are our competitors advertising so heavily that our publicity is being offset? "Are we spending too Uttle there, or are conditions such that our products are not being bought? Have we 'jammed' the market? Is our copy wrong for that territory? Are there any special conditions which we are not meeting — local conditions? "Please have a report ready for me on these points in three days." This advertising manager, whose judgment of copy was sound, and who was a close student of the trade conditions^ found himself up against a severe task. There was no visible way of ascertaining the difficulty. That was the way I happened in on the proposition. The following afternoon I was in conference with the sales manager, the advertising manager and the president. Htddm CoMMm of EeeMmi Aimtidng Waste Took One Temtory at a Time. We took each territory at a time. I was told the dealers who had the articles in stock in those torritories— some of tbeir business trails and other points which would aid me in mj investigalioii. There was ahiolnto knowledge that the product was r%ht ~4iat the methods were right That the advertising copy ^itself waS' sending possible buyers into the stores to buy the .goods was almost certa.in to my mind. The concern was using large space in practically all the good national mediums and in most of the territories the consumer was approached through the columns of the newspapers. Trade paper space had also been bought in large quan- tities. It did not seem to me that anything could be wrong with the advertising campaign — ^there were no breaks in the links between the ads and the consumer. The consumer was asked to write for a booklet and send the name of his dealer or one in his city or town. He was also asked to inquire for the product at the business place of the local dealer. The newspaper copy carried the names of the dealers — so that there was no loose joint in the campaign. It looked good from every viewpoint. Called on Large Dealer. I called upon one of the largest dealers in automobile accessories in the metropolis of a middle-western state. In the store, signs calling attention to a heavy advertised line of accessories which was in direct competition with the line that I was investigating at that time, were everywhere visible. I had been informed that the dealer had handled exclusively the line for which I was investigating; hence I was somewhat shocked when I asked the manager what he thought of the advertising which my concern was doing — ^if his relations with the house were satisfactory and if business was increasing. I was informed by him that he did not handle the line. Chapter I: How the House Correspondent Wrecks Busineu Was Handling a New Line. "You have handled this business until very recently^ have you not?" was inquired. "Yes, I have been," he replied, "but I am not at the present time handling it and I will not in the future. I have given up the agency and am handling the line which you see in stock.** I spent some time with him without gathering much in- formation until he finally said, "I will give you the reason why I cannot do business with the manufacturer you are asking about. I have worked up a business in this partic- ular line for some years and last year I sold $25,000 worth of these accessories, but I have made a new contract with a different concern which calls for $50,000. There is no question in my mind but what the contract will be largely overrun, and from present indications I will sell $76,000 worth of these goods the coming year.** Knowing as I did the heavy advertising campaign wMch was being conducted by this manufacturer and knowing of the tremendous success it was bringing dealers in all parts of the United States, it was rather amazing to me that this man should wilfully pull away and adopt another line, which he confessed to me was not equally as good. As a result of my investigation I gleaned these facts. There were a great many of this dealer's customers who were using the goods that this manufacturer made and dur- ing a period of six months last past he had had 12 or 15 complaints from customers showing that the product manu- factured was not 100 per cent right. Fault of Manufacturer. This was clearly the fault of the manufacturer and not the fault of the consumer, because the manufactured arti- cle at this time would not stand up under the use for which it was built. Here was a case where poor goods had got out of the factory which had not stood the usual tests. They were sent out by mistake, I found later. The dealer had been unable to get any adjustment what- Miidm Causes of Reckless Advertising Waste Chapter I: How the House Correspondent Wrecks Business C¥ef fram llie house as lie returned the product time and again. This showed conclusively that the article was not up to the high standard that this manufacturer had him- self believed it was. Tlie article cost from $40.00 to $90.00, and consequently the consumer had cause to be especially "sore" when he had to bring back the article, practically worthless, to the deal.er. I asked the dealer why he had not taken this matter up personally with the president of this concern and he stated he had made a trip to the factory and explained to the head of the adjustment department all the conditions, but he did not get satisfaction, and his letters — ^both before and •Iter his visit — seemed to have had no effect whatever. Said Advertising Was Worthless. He said "that all the advertising in the world could not offset the local conditions if adjustments were not made, because many purchasers were dissatisfied and not in line." He informed me that it was impossible to get buyers back into the state of mind that would compel them to continue buying the article, unless adjustment had been made and that in all instances he had been forced to stand the loss himself and these losses cut into his profits to such an extent that he found it impossible to continue. He informed me that he had taken this matter up — ^not in an aggressive way but in an appealing way — ^with the head of the department, but even then he had failed to get a satisfactory adjustment. I asked to see the correspondence which had passed be- tween him and the house. The truth dawned upon me in a flash. I noted the dictator's initials at the bottom of the first letter— "H. R. E." The same correspondent had dictated every letter; his answers were short and antagonistic. Between the lines I could read over^zealousness and de- sire to save money for the house. A desire to avoid costly adjustments with apparently little conception of actual conditions "on the firing line," A Sample. Here is an extract from one letter: "Your favor of the 27th inst. at hand, relative to an adjustment on the car of H. L. Henderson. . . . We cannot see how your customer can in any way lay the blame upon the , It was tested 36 times before leaving the factory and was mechanically perfect. There must be some other cause that your customer has not di- vulged — an accident or an attempt to fool with it. Under the circumstances we cannot see our way clear to make any allowance whatever." And other letters were similar in tenor. Apparently no attempt had been made to ascertain the true state of affairs whatever. The simple desire was to save the house money. One letter was even insulting. One phrase of it was: "We have had people try to put that over before, but no one has got by with it yet." That was certainly serious. And the dealer had de- clared he had been insulted at the factory. So here was the situation in a nutshell: The thousands of dollars spent in advertising that pro- duct in a city of close to 250,000 — all magazine and na- tional publication advertising which reached that town was lost simply because of a tactless, overzealcus correspondent — & man who wasn't broad enough to admit that any prob- lem had two sides — ^backed up by a factory man whose natural capabilities should have prohibited him meeting a customer alone. "Made Good" at Own Expense. The dealer informed me that he had "made good" with his customers, but in spite of that fact he could see a falling off of his business along other lines, and customers who had purchased steadily from him were drifting away and he was losing other business that should rightfully have been his. These conditions were taken up forthwith with the manu- HiMm €aum» of EeeUeu Aimtidng Waste f actef ef and an inquiry waa started at once which deyel- ©ped the fact that a clerk in the manufacturers organiza- tion was incompetent, but the institution was so large that nothing of this nature had ever come to their attention before. Upon asking the head of the adjustment depart- ment if there had been any difficulty with the dealer, the gales manager had been informed that this particular dealer had been treated the same as everyone else. Every dealer had been treated the same way. A$ m comequence sdeM had fallen of. The sales depart- mtnt and ttdvertidng department were blamed, for they mere reipomihle for the sales of the business. There was plenty of consumer demand and the Bales md mdvertising departments had done their level best and had aetudlu produced the business, but the resistance was tn the correspondence department where incompetent clerks were handling the business and had failed to hold it after the sales and adveHising departments had created it. Same Trouble With Other Dealers, I investigated 100 other dealers in exactly the same manner. .11 • *.• In every instance I found the same trouble existmg, although it had not caused any further loss of customers— however, it had established a barrier of resistance that was in a measure difficult to overcome. The other dealers whom I visited had not so many complaints as the instance cited The afternoon that I finished my entire investigation and met with the sales manager, the president and the ad- vertising manager, there was a terrific shaking up m the institutions correspondence department. Incidentally, "HRE" each day for a month afterwards was compelled to submit his daily dictation to the advertising and sales managers before the letters left the office. Beginning the Monday following the upheaval, 30 mm- nles each day were devoted to schooling the correspondents in tact, diplomacy, etc. Examples of wrongly-dictated let- ters and their corrections were presented for scrutiny. For- 10 Chapter I: How the House Correspondent Wrecks Business mulas for handling certain situations, by correspondence, were devised. Strict laws on adjustments were laid down, printed copies prepared and placed upon each correspondent's desk. »'The campaign had fallen flat. The correspondents, like those in hundreds of other business houses were overworlced. A serious situation had been averted by the discovery of the house correspondent's errors in business practice, and, in this connection, it was interesting to note that last fall the accessory house had recovered the lost business through a well-timed visit by the sales manager himself. 11 Bidden Comet of ReckU u Advertinng WoHe Steady Employment for "Business Spy." dete^,f^ tl"^' "^^ " *« "'P'^y of « brines, detecbre for this concern, is making the rounds trav^Iin» fwm town to town and from state to Lte inv^lw- * tuiy detail, "on the iiring line." He is w'k^^^^^^'^ of the heads of the dep^^s orlZT^^ ^ ""^ this manufacturer and W^^ "'^w T the employ „f became that is his bi^iness! ^^ ^ ^ "^"^ » 'P^' PoSen?'or'^,!^r^' T^ '^'^' »« '•°«« co"e»- ponaent or correspondenb were sraduallv w.-ii1«» ««« • • ^ ®°**" percentage of these Z!«T ^^^ ^''* *^^ ^^*°^e was wronirf dly placed iil»n the correspondents' shoulders. ^ ^ Chapter I: How the House Correspondent Wrecks Business Answering the dealer communications was reallj the sales manager's task. The correspondents, like those in hundreds of other business houses, were overworked. Each individual had more work than one man can safely handle. Instead of making the prospective dealer ambi- tious to secure the agency for the well advertised product, the correspondents' letters reached the dealer's waste- baskets. Then the dealer would continue to receive the same old follow-up matter, without a spark, without a new thought, without a single sound reason that would appeal to his business interests. Enormous Business Increase, After this quarterly house cleaning the house correspond- ents were shown the enormous increase that had been ac- complished. ^ It was due to the fact that the letters which the execu- tives wrote stimulated the dealer to action and carried con- viction, a conviction that the dealer must have in any prod- uct before he would stock it. Here was the cause of advertising waste that was com- pletely hidden until the executives decided to handle a share of the correspondence. The stimulant it effected converted the advertising from a failure into a success. Another instance of this nature comes to mind where the house correspondents are given inquiries and are instructed to write certain kinds of letters such as were indicated in the foregoing. Every letter which was written by the house correspond- ent was not mailed but taken to the private office of the sales manager, who scrutinized carefully each and every letter which was to be sent out. Those letters which "rang the bell" were sent immediately and those that were of little interest and did not tell the story clearly and con- cisely were held up. At the end of the week the house correspondents were called in conference and the letters which were "possible" were discussed. 1.2 Hidden Caum of ReMess Advertising Waste Tilcj were dliiected and returned to the writers. After Hie first "house cleaning" of this nature of this concern the increase in orders jumped over 40 per cent. It was a lurprise, as can be imagined, to the house cor- nsiponients that these letters had been held up by the sales manager, for they were unaware that these letters had been carefully scrutinized before going to the mails. The house correspondents by this method we're "on their toes • aU of the time because they did not know but that their letters which they were writing to prospects were beinir puie over hj the head of the house. Every Letter of the 100 Per Cent Class. It can be readily seen of what vast importance it is to any busmess that correspondents be of the highest class employes so that every particle of "juice"— so that every Oliice of selling energy, intelligence and concisely told ■ales^talk be given to the prospect; and that when a letter reaches an organisation it is 100 per cent riffht in all tartanccs and not 20, «0, 40, 60 and 70 per cent in the great majority of cases. Every letter should be of the 100 per cent class. Yet few manufacturers realize its importance. But it should be just as important to them that the house correspondent has as much abUity in his line as the sales manager, or the treasurer, or president has in directing the financial and intricate problems of the business. In my discussions with manufacturers I have gone into the subject of correspondents and have been told when I inquired about correspondence and house correspondents, Oh, yes, we have a complete set of letters and follow-ups." When I told these manufacturers how the dealers, after receiving letters that meant nothing, consigned them to the waste-basket, they began in a small way to realize what house correspondence meant to them and to the future building up of their business. Why Some Campaigns Fail How frequently have I come in contact with manufae- Chapter I: How the House Correspondent Wrecks Business turers who have told me that they have received hundreds of inquiries but after receiving the inquiries no business had developed and in a great many instances when I have ffone over the correspondence it was a wonder to me that they ever secured even a reply. Great injustice is done publications whose pulling power is unquestioned — ^whose inquiries in number have been im- mense, but the cash results of which have been nil because of poorly written replies. There was no "meat" in them. You manufacturers have a house cleaning day, whether every three months or six months, have a house cleaning, and get after your house correspondents and scrutinize carefully the replies which go to inquirers, as you would your bank account and the debit side of the ledger. It is just as important, this phase of the business, as your trial balance. Your trial balance tells you each month exactly the con- dition of your business. Your letters to the consumer, to the prospects and to the dealers should be scrutinized just as carefully, because this is the true pulse of your business. 15 Chapter II: Setting Ammunition Aimed in the Dark CHAPTER n Selling Ammunition Aimed in the Dark BEFORE a body of troops assumes its position on the firing line, an expert rifleman determines the correct "wind gauge'* and the correct "ranges- allowing for resistance of the wind against the steel missile and the distance of the target On his analysis of conditions hangs the effectiveness of every man's fire, for every soldier's rifle is "set" to equalize those conditions. That is good military practice — ^the war department would count fighting men worthless, regardless of their courage, were these essentials of modern military practice omitted. Now then — ^turn to modern business practice. And take that branch of sales-promotion through adver- tising in which the target is the dealer. And the selling ammunition is promotion documents, dealer-circulars, book- lets, folders, follow-up letters, or co-operative advertising. And what have youf The Business Problem. That, in short, was one problem that I tackled last sum- mer. For the purpose of investigating "under the sur- face" of five national advertising propositions — to find the resutance in the sales avenue — I entered the employ of five great men in the business world, whose names, were I to divulge them, would amaze you. For they are men whose names in business are extremely well known. But they had evidently collided with the law of diminish- ing returns. As evidence of the commercial correctness of 16 their respective articles were a remarkable string of sales effected by their advertising in past years. The central selling idea was being driven home by their advertising-— exactly as it had in the successful years past. It was supposedly well placed, for there had been little change in the caliber of mediums used. Books Reflect a Snag. But an inspection of sales records showed a set brake somewhere along the path between the factory and the ultimate consumer. You Must Know the Dealer. The sales were not in correct ratio to the exerted selling force. Here were a quintette of advertising appropriations that were from 30 to 65 per cent larger than the year previous 17 Hidden Causes of RecUess Advertidng Waste — yet in no case mere sales more than 22 per cent greater than during the same month the year previous. Now I had learned from situations of this sort that the selling avenue was somewhere seriously blocked. For in the most favorable of the propositions there was a 26 per cent variance between the actual sales and what would have been a legitimate volume, taking into reckoning the increaicd expenditure. Establishes Basis for Operations. Carefullj I prepared my route through states and sec- tions where the selling barometer was especially low. I planned to visit the consumer — ^to see the dealer — to see the jobber — ^to peer into every nook and cranny where the least possibility of the discovery of solutions existed. I ahull not weary you with the details that my tour through fourteen states embraced. The jobbers, I found, were perfectly in sympathy with the &Ye enterprises. This was the net of information gathered from the mid- dlemen: "We're getting about the same orders from our customers as last year — don't seem to be dropping off — so I guess there isn't anything that we could tell you. You might send us some literature to ginger up the dealers. But, of course, I don't know that you'd get any results." Germ of An Idea in Jobbers' Attitude. In the jobbers' laconic summary of the situation — ^and they were all practically of the same mind — I grasped the thought that mayhap the dealer was unresponsive to the manufacturers' increased selling efforts. In the case of a number of articles under investigation I was familiar with the fact that practically every dealer on my list had been circularized a number of times. The literatuf e had given them information relative to cam- paigns — had been replete with ideas and business aids that were calculated to quicken action in the removal of the goodi from the dealers' counters. Chapter H: Selling Ammunition Aimed in the Dark These facts I bore in mind when startinir mv mn^A. ^e the listed dealers. starting my rounds of T IZ ft f Tlu*^*t net-when calling on the dealers I first asked if the dealer was receiving this matter inform- TA^'^fu ^^^P"?"'"'! "f the manufacturers' selling «!^j!!~-f V* 7n *^f ^^ '*^"' *° *« powerful cam- paigns— if he fully realized the potency of the facts thia promotion matter told him. = i« ™'=P^'° . „f ^^e dealer vertised products is accompbshed "» "P™ "'^"^^ ^^^ rather than through any effort on ^pa^. When jo •^^TL-TstaitrfSwSnra^-n^^^^^^^^^ . '"'?he"^V^- LbodiedjI this ^de -ay -u^ that «>hievfment. That U the '^rV^:^^^" *!^aTrf The first nation J »dver«ser to o^^^T^l^e tl the situation and capably execute 7*'^, *° "^f^^^^nt Za to distribution wiU be famous for the f^^^'^^^J' . -'t% I ttS' ZlTor^aTfai of dealers mark, it w emtnenu^ u^u / :Jea—ihe excuse to wkmii a if addre$ied. The germ of an laea 26 Chapter II: Selling Ammunition Aimed in the Dark for attempting to enlist the dealer's co-operation — i* almost invariably buried. Even should the dealer be patient enough to get down into the average promotion circular, his mind would be so muddled with bombastic statements that the submerged central selling idea would be untruth to him and be wasted ammunition. There is a positive absence of knowledge of the dealer's problems. He fails to grasp the powerful truths that stand behind the meritable article because he is "slobbered" over with things his restricted business mind cannot grasp. Sales Promotion Matter Weak. This treatise presents the cold-blooded, harsh facts as I found them. And I know they will be as equally aston- ishing to the average manufacturer as they were to me when I unearthed them. They account for the apparent existence of a multitude of imaginary business ills. In the five propositions I investigated the manufacturers, before my tour of dealers, had charged the difficulties variously to bad copy, bad merchandising, hard times, changing seasons, consumer indifference, too high a price, bad weather and other causes in reckless profusion. An Experiment Upon One Dealer. With my discoveries in mind I decided to make a busi- ness experiment upon one dealer who operated in the town where I was born. I visited him, found him doing exactly as the rest of this class of merchants — throwing away the good, meaty ideas that this promotion literature contained. He had given it little thought. He said he was "flooded" with-it month after month — couldn't "buy everything," he declared. Now three of the manufacturers for whom I investi- gated produced articles that were suitable to this dealer's business, so I took special care that he receive the new promotion literature built on the findings of that investi- gation—literature that teemed with live vibrating busi- ness truths that were understandable to the dealers — ^he 27 £ HMdm Causes of Reckless Advertising Waste H was talked to in his own language— with figures that re- lated to his particular business — he was told what dealers in his circumstances had done — the number of dozens each had sold — the gross and net profits — facts with fixed bearing on the case in point. Then I had an evening's session with my dealer-friend. I told liim something of my investigation. He learned a mighty strong lesson in good business practice. I laid down the advantages of utilizing the promotion literature and he promised me he would utilize the ideas it gave him — ^that he would endeavor to co-operate with national ad- vertising — he agreed to test my theory. The Result. Two days ago I received a letter from him. Here are the excerpts which have bearing upon our subject: "Since I have been taking advantage of the ideas on ad- vertising given bif the makers of the three articles you told me of, I have done more than five times the business I did previously on one of them. On both the others I have over doubled the amount of trade I used to have on them. And I want to thank you for calling my attention to these trade-helps. My profits have increased 45 per cent during ike past month because as soon as I saw that the three you explained, were paying me, I took advantage of other cir- etdmrs which came in. And the ideas are making a 'barrel' of money for this store today." That, gentlemen, is the verdict against aiming your idling ammunition in the dark. It is good business prac- tice to set your "wind gauge" and "range" before you CHAPTER III Campaigns Crippled by Fallacies of Salesmen HI EARLY in the spring of 1910 a shoe manufacturer, well known in the trade for women's high-grade footwear, decided he must reach the consumer. He decided to concentrate on half a dozen states Within a radius of 500 miles of the factory. Several leaflets addressing the consumer were written. Copy was prepared for newspapers in the territory. The ads were embodied in a folder for the use of the sales- force. Early in March the salesmen were called in, a ginger meeting held, and the announcement of the advertising campaign climaxed the proceedings. The manufacturer told his men the advertising would probably mark a new era in the business — not only would it secure better terms for the house from its customers, but it would enable them to broaden the field of distribution— to stock the shoes in more stores. When fall came— the period the campaign was to run in newspapers — demand would increase. New dealers were to be stocked by the salesmen during the spring. That was the important function of the cam- paign, at that moment. Salesmen Depart for Territories. Armed with the folders of the advertising, a myriad of dealer helps to round out the campaign and a newly-organ- ized sales talk, the salesmen left for their respective ter- ritories. New dealers was the central theme of the campaign. But, at the same time, the old dealers must be stocked more heavily than the fall before— for the advertising Hidden Catises of Reckless Advertising Waste Chapter III: Campaigns Crippled by Fallacies of Salesmen III would sell more shoes for them than they had sold the year previous. It was about a month later that unrest at the factory became apparent. And at this point the writer was called upon to lend his aid. No More Orders Than the Year Previous. Business from old dealers seemed to be holding up fair- ly well, I found upon interviewing the sales manager. But new accounts were few and far between. The seven or eight new dealers who had been added, ordered in tiny lots, as if rather wary of the proposition. The manufacturer became panic-stricken at the thought of a possible loss. Fidelity to old dealers prohibited the canceling of the advertising campaign, for old dealers had been more heavily stocked on the strength of it, WUhout new dealers, the increased demand would re- maiii unanswered — for the consumer would inquire for the shoe, hut would not be supplied. That would be a decid- eMy serious waste. The situation looked dark, for the manufacturer needed at least $100,000 new business to offset the expenditure for advertising, which amounted to about $60,000. And the business had to be secured during the spring selling season. The task given me was to unearth the snag that threat- ened to wreck the campaign and waste the major part of the manufacturer's $50,000. CCi »f it* *Co¥ering Territory Splendidly.' 'They are covering their territory splendidly," the sales manager vouchsafed, when I inquired into the capabilities of the men. He assured me the whole territory was being closely worked — ^that the men were doing their work in a very satisfactory manner. His only explanation of the absence of new accounts was the character of the advertising cam- paign, an especially stiff season of competition, business conditions and other commercial bromides of like nature. ft I took Dun's and Bradstreet's lists and picked 60 towns in the territory at random. I had a typewritten list drawn up of all the old dealers in those towns. I found the house was selling shoes to one-tenth the satisfactorily rated dealers in their territories. Then I secured a route list of the salesmen responsible for those 60 towns. f9 Time-Table Shows "Train Schedule Craze.' It had been the manufacturer's intention that I take to the road to unearth the snag. But during my discussion of the situation with the "Salesmen whose work Is crippled by their anxiety to catch trains out of town." sales manager the thought flashed across my mind that each of those salesmen had unusually large territories — too large, in fact, to be closelij covered, it seemed to me. So I secured time-tables and along with the route lists, the sales manager and I did some rapid calculating. 81 HiMen Camm of Reckless Advertising Wasie il I emiieavof ed to ascertain the number of hours for sales wofk the men had in each town. The compuiaiion showed thai the men barely had time to call on their old dealers and make their trains. Wiihout leaving the factory, we proved by simple arith- metic why new dealers were not added to the list. These men, beset by the "train schedule craze" were struggling desperately to solely "cover" their territory. The salesmen positively did not have time to present their entire organised sales talk to new dealers. So how could ihey stocie 'new dealers? How the Truth Was Confirmed. Still one loophole needed inirestigation. Though the sales-destruction of the "train schedule craxe" had been mathematically demonstrated, the cal- culated result might be disproved by practical conditions. The fact that I had once sold shoes stood me in good stead in this investigation. I spent several days in the factory — ^secured the technical schooling a salesman must have on this brand of footwear. To this I hooked my advertising experience and took one typical salesman's route, with a sample trunk of shoes. Also I had copies of the advertisements that were to run and reproductions of the trade helps for the dealer. First Visit to the Dealer. My first visit was to a Wisconsin city, where the sales- man had failed to interest new dealers. I started at the top of the list of well-rated merchants in that city. The first call I made brought forth this information: "Yes, I've heard something about their campaign, but I've already bought my line of women's shoes. One of your men said something about the advertising you're go- ing to do. But I wouldn't care to do anything, anyhow, until next year." The salesman, by a weak solicitation, the thoroughness of which had been crippled by a fear that he would miss Ms train, had spoiled the prospect. Chapter III: Campaigns Crippled by Fallacies of Salesmen I talked with the dealer fifteen minutes — simply cited the remarkable selling success the shoe had accomplished for other dealers, naming some of them close to this mer- chant's city. I told him all this had been accomplished without the shoe being pushed by advertising, with scarce- ly any selling efi'ort whatever on the part of dealers or makers. It was purely a discussion between two business men. I made no effort to get the order that morning, telling the dealer I would see him about 4 o'clock that afternoon. My predecessor's routing showed he had had to leave town at 2 p. m. to make the next point on his route. At 4 o'clock sharp I called on my man. He furnished the "wedge" himself. *'How much did you say this merchant sold last fall?" was his greeting. The few minutes' talk in the morning had set him thinking. He had compared his field to that of the nearby dealer and had superficially calculated his probable profits in his field. The Clincher. "Yes, but that was a year ago. This fall the dealer's business will probably double. We're going to advertise in his own newspapers. That business last fall, of course, was done without any pushing — ^just from peo- ple knowing the shoe from the season before and recom- mending it to her friends, etc.," was my reply. I let that sink in and waded through a technical de- scription of the shoe. The discussion of selling successes had interested this man and I secured his promise to take dinner with me at the hotel. After dinner I discussed shoe values with him and worked into a description of the shoes I was selling, which I backed up by showing him actual samples from my sam- ple trunk. That disposed of the talk on "goods." "By the way," said the dealer, "I'd like to have yon explain about your advertising in this city." Which I did. And in fifteen minutes his name was on the dotted line. U Hidden Causes of Reckless Advertising Waste Disregarded Train Schedules. I had disregarded trains. It was mtf object to stick to the fort as long as a chance of sdes ea!isted, I consulted time-tables after orders were signed. The net of li was that a traveling SALESMAN is more productive than a TRAVELING salesman. In practically every call the bogey of the "train sched- ule craze" denoted its presence during the call by the salesman. He had given each of the dealers a smattering knowledge that something was "in the air" in connection with shoe advertising. More sales effectiveness conld have been achieved by letter. When the "train schedule craze" had been established as the snag in the path toward a large number of new accounts^ — ^by actual sales of the shoes and the campaign in 75 per cent of the towns I visited — I returned to the factory. The Result. With valuable time already gone, the salesmen were ordered to drop everything and return to the factory. They were told of the experiment, the fact being made clearly plain to them that they were not being criticized — they were shown that a mistaken policy of the house was at fault. The information was welcomed by them. They were as anxious to make good as the house was to have them do so. Enthusiastically, one salesman who was carried away with the spirit of the new enlightenment, proposed that the sales organization adopt this slogan: "AFTER his name is on the dotted line, look up trains," Then the men went back to the road, saturated with intensive salesmanship. Promotion documents were sent out to al prospective dealers and were timed in com- pliance with advice from the salesman — so to get there just ahead of him, wherever feasible. SI Chapter III: Campaigns Crippled by Fallacies of Salesmen A verif strict report system was installed, so as to keep a direct line on the number of new dealers called on each day. Occasionally neatly printed cards were mailed to the men bearing the adopted slogan : "AFTER his name is on the dotted line, look up trains." Thirty days demonstrated the principle in hard coin of the realm. An increase in new dealers, such as the firm had never known before, resulted within a month. Approximately $197,000 worth of business was on the books before the manufacturer invested a penny of the $60,000 in newspaper advertising. Cause of Reckless Waste. Yet had the "train schedule craze" remained undiscov- ered this advertiser stood to lose nearly $50,000, for his additional selling effort would have been practically nil without equal expansion among dealers— without enlarge ing the avenue of distribution in proportion to the en- largement of selling expense, which the $50,000 campaign constituted. The fall found the campaign a healthy success and re- sulted in plans for the expansion of the manufacturer's appropriation. Waste of selling effort had been abolished by securing distribution— by getting the dealers to pledge themselves beforehand to answer the prospective demand. A Prevalent Idea Among Salesmen. With the route list laid out and often dated by sales- managers, lies the responsibility for the craze to keep pace with time-tables. Many salesmen and their chiefs are dominated by the jdea that when they are given a territory to cover they feel that at all hazards they must cover their section of the country. Sales become secondary then. If they are scheduled for Poughkeepsie today and Buf- 1 1 ll 35 I I i Hidden Canms of Reckless Advertising Waste falo tomorrow, some salesmen feel they must make some sacrifice of trade in sight in Poughkeepsie, if necessary, to make the train for Buffalo. They forget that orders are orders and that the best place to be is where the orders can be secured. Likewise, to «>me «Je«nen, if they .re np against it for sales, it doesn't matter how far they travel, if the result at the end of the day is still «5ro. Which is one reason we call some salesmen "order- takers," The Napoleon of saiesmanship masters today's trade battleground instead of going on to new Waterloos to- WmVW f w»wm A Great Salesmanager's Creed. Recently I had the opportunity of talking with a man whom I consider a great salesmanager. The talk happened to hit upon the train schedule craze. Here was his gospel on this subject: "I g