Sell the convenience of the kitchen

TI-ENRY A. "Hank" Rieckers, Jr., kitch- lr en cabinet sales manager for the f,o_ng-Bell Div. oI International Paper Co., believes kitchen cabinet salesmen should heed the advice of an old adase about salesrnanship: 'oSell the sizzle, "not the steak."

He explains that too many kitchen cabi- net salesmen concentrate on selling ca6jnets, when they should be selling conaeniences.

"In today's affluent society, the consumer buys more than just utility.,' He continued, "He wants convenience. And he's ready, willing and able to pay for the conveniences he wants. The appliance and automobile industries caught on to this years ago; their salesmen do a fine job of selling conveniences; and as a result almost every refrigerator and car sold today has all sorts of sophisticated gadgets for the convenience of the customer. o'Many customers aren't even aware of the kitchen cabinet conveniences available to them," Rieckers says. o'That's why we encourage Long-Bell dealers to point out the standard and optional convenienceg whenever they talk about kitchen cabinets.

"When the housewife is remodeling her kitchen, she can get all kinds of helpful advice on dishwashers, garbage disposers, ranges and ovens-and the salesmen do a good job of selling her on the conven. iences of these items. But when it comes to kitchen cabinets, the salesmen, except in rare cases, fail to give proper emphasis to selling conveniences.

'oThis is doing the housewife a favor, because it helps her decide exactly what cabinet conveniences she wants in her kitchen-conveniences that will save her work, time and space. It also helps the salesman and the dealer, because it usually results in a bigger sales with higher profits."

"Our experience has been that when we concentrate on selling conveniences to the housewife, she is more aware of the value she is getting, and she is willing to pay extra for additional conveniences" Rieck. ers concluded.

Morketing Report Releosed

Copies of the proceedings of the fourth annual Forest Industries Marketine Con. Ierence, held at the University of bregon are available at g4 the copy.

Many nationally famed industry speak. ers discussed major problems in lumber, plywood and paper at tlle summer meet. rng.

For a copy, write to Dr. Stuart U. Rich, School of Business Administration, Uni. versity of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97409. Make checks payable to the University of Oregon.