SNN@@TH SELtING

by George N. Kohn, Marketing "consulbnt ,, N. Kart

Put Color In Your Ccrll

- Political party bosses are shrewd judges of what attracts voters. They pick . candidates for their warmth and appeal to , the people. They know that a colorless, , lackluster individual is not likely to capture many ballots.

Occasionally something comes along to upset the applecart but mostly it is the candidate with personal appeal who wins elections.

There is an application here for salesmen: The more personality and color you ' bring to your work the higher your earnings will go. Make a real effort to spruce up your style if you want to get the prospect's Yq1s.

In our mass production society your merchandise is competing with hundreds of other products that look and perform the same. Even prices are standard.

So the determining factor could very well be you. T\e impression you make to' gether with your company's reputation is the factor tl-rat often insures an order.

Be llifferent Each Time

Salesmen are prone to be satisfied with their method, particularly if it gets them an order. The idea of adding new sparkle or color to their approach does not occur to them.

They don't realize that the next time they call the buyer he might not think they are as interesting. In fact, he may be bored to the point of saving his business for a competitor.

A salesman courts trouble by coming around with the same old story told in the same old manner. In becoming stale he loses orders that go to men who virtually sell themselves.

Your reply to this may be:

"'Well, what can I do ? I can't change my face, the way I talk or my product." that's true but you can aary yovr presentation. You can contribute new ideas that will help the customer with his adverIEPRINTS FOR SALESMEN this is a condcnscd vc(- doa. Each lesson i8 availablc i! an cxpanded form, il a +pagc brochurc, si?n 8\5xjl, printcd iD 2 colors on whltc llasy papcr and is 3-hola punched to fit any standard 3- rlrS bindcs, Bach 8ubjcct ia thiq oxpasdcd vcrsion is fully tod complctely devcloped i! comprchcnsive dctail and iD_ f;liit?r,. self-€xamination quiz for Salcsmeo. Hccs arc as tising or merchandising. You can give him industry and trade news that will be of interest to him.

Say lt llitferently

One of the simplest ways to vary your approach is to find a new way to say the same thing. There is nothing deceptive about this; it's just good sales practice. And there's an extra dividend in that it will keep you from becoming bored with yourself.

The management of a New York sight seeing bus line decided to check up on their drivers. Company men, posing as tourists, rode the buses to hear the drivers' spiel to the passengers.

After one of the inspectors had taken two trips with one driver he went up to the man and introduced himself.

"There's one thing I'm wondering about," he told the driver. "Each time you gave a different presentation even though you had a different group of tourists."

"Well," the driver responded, "I could give the same speech all year and no one would know the differenceexcept me. I keep my interest in this job by experimenting with different talks. I get a kick out of trying to see the changes I can make in my style and delivery."

Salesmen, that's your cue, You'll add more zest to your living and more money to your bank account by working on new angles for your presentations.

Helping the Proces

The salesman must go beyond the somewhat narrow boundaries of his job to acquire qualities that will make him attrac. tive to prospects and customers.

He can, for example, become highly versed in international diplomacy simply by reading. This would make him a man a customer would want to listen to. Or he could make himself an expert in finance and the stock market. This takes time but it's not impossible. And customers would welcome that kind of knowledse.

The world is full of possibilities for increasing one's knowledge.

I know a doctor who was such a compelling raconteur that his friends gladly gave up important engagements just to hear him talk. One night my wife and I were preparing to go to a hit play to which we had been looking forward for weeks. The phone rang and a friend said he was having the doctor and a few others to his home that night and we were invited. Without a moment's hesitation we gave up the theater to listen to that physician talk. He was that great.

Cary Good Things

If you have had a bad day don't inflict it on the prospect or customer. He is not there to share your burdens. He has plenty of his own. At night you can go home and pour out your woes to your wife but keep them out of sight while you are working.

Be pleasant, courteous and cheerful with receptionists and secretaries as well. You never know when they will be helpful to you. A receptionist once went to bat for me with a tough buyer, who had refused to see all the other salesmen who had appeared that day.

Well, do you think you have the idea of putting color and excitement into your presentation? Do you see the necessity of making yourself interesting?

Here's a measuring device to tell you how you are doing at this point of your career. If you can answer otyes" to at least seven questions, you are indeed sparkling: l. Do you try to make yourself interesting to the buyer? Yes n No ,[

2. Do you feel it is as important to give as to get? Yes ,E No D

3. Do you try to put something different into each call? Yes E No I

4. Do you try and educate yourself to be interesting to buyers? Yes ,E No,D

5. Are you a good listener? Yes iE No D

6. Do you make it a point to listen when a buyer obviously wants to talk? Yes E No E

7. Do you work at changing around a presentation so it sounds new? Yes ,tr No E

8. Do you keep your problems t,i[:S hyfl

9. Do buyers remember you when you call the second time? Yes E No !

10. Are you asked back by buyers? Yes E No D

He sells how much each time?

An average of. $837.22 worth of forest products was sold during 1969 every time a NAWLA wholesaler made a contact in regard to sales. This astounding statistic was derived from the recently completed National-American \[holesale Lumber Association's 1969 Sales Survey.

Corcsronn: Not every sales call results in a transaction. Not every mill inquiry results in a procurement of material. Buying and selling involves at least two contacts. Change orders require a further contact. Routing changes involve more contacts. Problems with shipments can result in numerous calls.

These and many other reasons for a sales contact point up the dramatic results achieved by sales representatives of the 325 NAWLA wholesale firms last year.

The comprehensive survey revealed that over 2 million telephone calls and approximately 654,000 personal contacts were made by IfAWLA personnel last year in marketing forest products for the industry. This activity resulted in a sales volume of over 82,222,000,000. It was a I0/o increase over 1968 figures.

Though unit prices declined substantially in the latter half ol 1969, early-year price indexes were high. Coupled with an expanding National-American membership, the dollar increase in sales is under-

5.F. Club Treols the Brqss

Feature of a recent meeting of San Francisco Hoo-Hoo Club f9 was a special film, "The Working Forest," by the Union Pacific Railroad, an answer to those who regard the forest products industry as a destroyer of the ecological bal- standable. Exec vp. J. J. Mulrooney comments that, "W-hile we show a substantial increase in dollar volume for 1969, we would rather point up the fact that NAWLA is an expanding entity and that our members were out there pitching, right in the face of a demand-supply turnaround. This is our function for the producers and buyers, and we did it extremely well last year."

Guest of honor was Clyde Haas, treasurer of International Hoo-Hoo" who was en route to the plaque dedication in the Hoo-Hoo Grove north of Eureka.

The decline in 4th quarter sales also shows up in the NAWLA survey by a study of accouhts receivable figures. fn 1968, National-American members had a daily commitment of receivables totaling 214 million dollars. ln 1969, this figure dropped to 165 million doUars on a daily basis. to more ond more Colifornio deolers ond distributors. For yeor oround supplies of dimension lumber ond precision-trimmed studs, depend on D & R.

Mulrooney reports that receivables at the end of the calendar year were verv low. "Additionally," concluded the markeiing executive, "the high cost of money made wholesalers much more selective in their accounts as the year progressed."

Another important segment of the sur. vey was a breakdown in sales to different classes of trade. Renil d,ealers continue to be the Largest custont)er ol NAWLA marketers. Sixty percent, or $1,344,000,000, of total sales went to dealers in 1969.

4 + A

Otd Growth Fir Dimension from F.S.P. Lumber Co., Port Orford, Oregon

Hemlock Studs from Wsrrenton Lumber Co., Worrenton, Oregon

Hemlock Dimension from Westport Lumber Co., Westport, Oregon