Sales manager

“ The sales department proper is in charge of a sales manager, who has immediate authority over his subordinates and is responsible for the results secured by his department. No position in the business organization carries with it greater responsibilities, for on the sales manager rests the burden of marketing the goods at a profit. ”

“ When I gave you that job I was following out a plan that has proven successful in many cases as shown by magazine articles. I thought you would make a good Sales Manager because you knew nothing about Selling, just as the best [152] organizers of Business Men’s Associations are Kendallville Professors who know nothing about Business, and the best writers of Efficiency Stuff are men who file their correspondence on a hook, and the most dazzling Shop Management Talksters those who heave a wheelbarrow over a fence and never see the gate. ”

“ The Sales Increase for last year was only 120 percent. It should have been 850 percent. The fault lies with my Sales Manager.”
“True, he is a good slob, but he is not good enough. My Salesmen all like him and plug hard on his account, to say nothing of their own; but they don’t plug hard enough.”
“What I need is a Sales Chief who is not stocked up with the dry-bones of Salesmanship—someone who comes from the outside and brings a fresh, crisp point of view—someone who knows nothing at all about the Selling Game. That’s the stunt these days! My present man is in a rut. ”

“ Without entering into a discussion of the science of salesmanship, the writer takes the liberty of suggesting some necessary qualifications of a sales manager.
He must be thoroughly imbued with the importance of his work and have an abiding faith in his ability to get the very best results out of his department. He must be enthusiastic and capable of imparting his enthusiasm to others. ”

“ Here the buying is further specialized, for one man buys for one, or at most three or four departments. The same men act as sales managers and buyers in the departments for which they are responsible. The manager of a department in a big store is selected as much for his ability as a buyer as for his salesmanship. But we do not get away from fundamental principles, for in buying and selling the manager is performing two entirely separate and distinct functions. ”

“ As a scientific salesman, do not forget to consider the buyer. He is buying scientifically. He is suspicious. Every one is trying to drive [188] a very close bargain. He tries to make you yield on price, to make some concessions on payments, to give special privileges about returning goods, etc. Beware of all these tactics. Here, again, you must consult frequently, and with confidence, your sales manager. He knows the tricks of your particular trade, and he will be able to give you proper coaching. ”

“ True, the president of companies like yours does those things, but not alone, Boy, not alone. He has a lot of high-class men like yourself specializing and directing certain ends of it. Don’t be too big, however, to detect a good idea or suggestion from those in other ends of the business. I once knew a great sales manager who got the best sales lead of his experience from an office boy.
And, Red, be human—keep away from the clouds—keep your feet on terra firma. ”

“ Written instructions from a sales manager are the best kind. He would always do well to sum up briefly the main points of his advice, and get them out in the form of a letter or bulletin. Half a page of typewritten ideas, containing a few words of inspiration, will work wonders, both for the discouraged and for the enthusiastic members of his force.
To get the best results, sales managers should always be friendly and sympathetic with their men. Harsh criticisms upset a man, sometimes, to the extent that he will be worried and nervous for several days. ”

“ A sales manager in a typewriter house keeps the managers of a score of branch offices and several hundred salesmen gingered up by his weekly letters. He prepares to write these letters by walking through the factory, where he finds inspiration in the roar of machinery, the activity of production, the atmosphere of actual creative work. ”

“ Now Red, listen to me—the success of this campaign doesn’t depend entirely on the amount of enthusiasm that your department sales manager and the branch house managers generate. Not at all—they’ll have the enthusiasm in sufficient quantity all right—just leave that to the managers and salesmen.
This campaign will be won by one thing—plans—Red, that’s the word—plans. No salesman is going to kid himself into winning this campaign. The fellow who wins will be the chap who first realizes that there has been a change come over business in the last few weeks. ”

“ This check was the entering wedge for a $250,000.00 life insurance policy, which this resourceful salesman soon after wrote for the man whose pet hobby was the big hospital in question.
The main trouble with most salesmen is that they put the problem of finding customers up to the sales manager or heads of the company. They want them to do all the thinking in the matter of where to go, and how to proceed in this difficult business. Let me say right at the start; there is no iron-clad rule for finding customers. ”

“ If you have suggestions, do not hesitate to call his attention to what you think would be helpful to the other men. Remember that if you really know more than the sales manager does, it is not going to be long before you will have his job. If you only think you know more than he does, and you persist in showing this, either by words or actions, you will soon lose your job. ”

“ And Red, don’t spend all your time telling the other fellow how to do it. All men are not “from Missouri,” but the “show me” method carries a healthier kick than volumes of sales talks.
You’re going to be a busy man in the new job, Boy, but Mother and I have decided now that we’re glad we didn’t insist on your finishing your musical education, for some day we know you’ll be a Sales Manager and I tell Mother that if she had her way, you would now be playing the snare drum in a jazz orchestra. ”

“ The daily record of sales should show the sales of each department, the source of the sales, and the proportion of cash and credit sales. These should also be divided as to wholesale and retail.
A convenient form is shown in Fig. 39. This is a sheet punched for a loose-leaf book, and there should be as many copies as there are men in the organization who are directly interested. Besides the sales manager, the general manager, the advertising manager, and the comptroller are all directly interested. By using carbon paper as many copies as needed can be made at one writing.
[122]
Fig. ”

“ Marcosson, our general sales manager, says that the first in the field can dominate it if he will vigorously push his advantage. Think of all the well-known advertised things—the people whose names are most familiar to you—those which practically dominate their field—are those which were there first. ”

“ In some lines more specific information is needed in each case to enable the sales manager to judge intelligently the chances for future business. Fig. 34 represents a card used in one business for a specific report on each call made. The form shown in Fig. 35 provides for a brief report including suggestions regarding the date of the next call.
Follow-up of Dealers and Salesmen. In the modern advertising campaigns of manufacturers in many lines, an effort is made to secure inquiries from consumers, though the goods are sold through dealers only. ”

“ I’ll tell you—they pick men who have had a broad experience in the game; men who have had good reputations as good housekeepers; men who know how to analyze branch house expense as well as sales results; men who are so constituted that they can give REAL HELP to a manager who is intelligent enough to use the experience and advice that is thus afforded. It’s no reflection against your intelligence and ability to have one of ’em over you—why bless your old red-headed soul, the only man in this life who don’t need supervision, that I know of, is a wooden Indian in front of a cigar store. ”

“ The older, more experienced salesmen and the sales managers, usually, have thought out the most effective answers to the objections that are ordinarily made. The young inexperienced salesman must go to them for advice. ”

“ This is part of the salesman’s responsibility to himself and his job, provided he is serious enough about it to figure beyond the weekly pay envelope and to plan each day’s work so that it will serve as a stepping stone to the position of greater responsibility—toward success, which is the goal of every red blooded and clear thinking man and woman in business. The salesman should actually study every piece of advertising matter put out by the store, whether it be a catalogue, sales letter, newspaper announcement or window display card. ”

“ WORKING IN HARMONY WITH THE STORE SYSTEM In every organization, business or otherwise where there are a number of people working together it is essential that there be provided a certain fixed method of operation to insure the best results throughout. A transaction is not 190complete when the salesman makes the sale. It must be followed up, for instance, with certain very important work in the office department. Records of sales and customers’ charge accounts, stock records and reports of various kinds must be prepared for the management. ”

“ That is, in order to assure the success of an individual salesman, he is required and aided to develop particular qualifications and to do certain things that master executives have learned will get the orders and hold the trade of buyers. The qualified professional salesman is drilled thoroughly in tested principles and methods of selling. He is trained to use this standard sales knowledge skillfully. As a result he works in the field with complete confidence.
Why should he doubt that he will succeed? He knows his own limitations and capabilities ”

“ A real missionary goes into the highways and byways; as the old fisherman says, “he ketches ’em where they ain’t.” He generates enthusiasm in the salesmen he comes in contact with; his sales work is educational; he sets an example for industry, sales ability, loyalty; he teaches the salesman to use superior judgment in not selling too little or too much to a customer; he irons out petty difficulties; he’s an exponent of the sales theory that contemplates holding your head up, but not so high as to let a lot of little orders go by under your nose without seeing them. ”

“ This is how important the salesman is to his firm.
I put hiring and handling of salesmen before having a strong line of goods, because if the proper salesmen are hired and are handled right, they will soon compel the house to put out the right line of goods. Just as a retail merchant should consult with his clerks about what he should buy, so, likewise, should the head of the wholesale house find out from his men on the road what they think will sell best. The salesman rubs up against the consumer and knows at first hand what the customer actually wants. ”

“ The salesman is dealing with a live subject. He is called upon to present facts concerning his goods in such a way that the customer will recognize them as being facts rather than mere opinions. This means that the selling talk must be made to live—it must be freshened-up. The salesman must continually guard against becoming mechanical or stereotyped either in his manner or his sales talk. ”

“ Indeed, the word salesman tends to disappear under this new viewpoint, for the organization which was once charged largely with disposing of goods may now be so intimately involved in technical studies of the customers' problems that selling is a secondary part of its work. The Sales Department is being renamed, and known as the Advisory Department or the Research Staff; while the salesman himself becomes a Technical Counsel or Engineering Adviser. ”

“ For example, a manufacturer of hardware selling direct to the retail trade found that his strongest competitor's policy was to sell to every dealer who would buy and to offer no exclusive sales arrangements, while he himself made a success by offering his goods only under exclusive sales agencies. ”

“ In other words, success for the professional salesman is assured if he develops certain qualifications, and if he does certain things; all within the capacity of any normal, intelligent man. Scientific sales executives know positively, as the result of comparative tests, that the salesman who develops these personal qualifications, and who does these things, should get his quota of business and hold it. Hence, as has been said, specific training is given in the sales schools of the most successful businesses, along the lines of best selling practice. ”

“ The human element enters so much into sales that it is still quite an important part of salesmanship for the salesman to make personal visits, so as to get the orders. To be sure, we have the department stores and specialty houses which have built up a well-known reputation for merchandise of high quality and reasonable price. These will continue to draw customers, with the help of wise advertising, but they must employ the right kind of sales-force to handle properly the customers who visit their places of business. ”

“ There he fitted himself for the position of chief executive in the immense United States Steel Corporation.
The ability of a master salesman is not limited to getting orders for just one line of goods, or to selling only to certain buyers. He has all-around sales knowledge and skill. Though he naturally sells to better advantage in some fields than in others, he can attain a high degree of efficiency in selling anything meritorious, because of his broad and diversified preparation. ”