SMOOTH SELL'NG

by Georse N. Kohn, Morketins co::"::::",,, N. Kahn

USE MORE TH.AN ONE BASKET

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Small orders may be your only source of income some day. Don't treat them lightly. When you want them they may not be available. That's what happened to Charlie Brainerd.

Rise And Fall

Charlie sold aircraft instruments. and was making a nice living at it. He had a loyal group of customers who fed him a steady stream of orders. All were fairly modest, but they added up to a substantial amount of business.

One day Charlie hit the jackpot. He landed a $75,000 contract. This was followed by another for 960,000 the following week. Charlie was in the clouds. The two €iave him a higher income than all his other orders combined.

Charlie decided he didn't have time anymore for the smaller accounts.

"There's too much work involved for a piddling $200 order," he told his wife.

His decision was reinforced when he eot still another big one-this one for $10b"000. Charlie was really riding high. He forgot his other customers-and they forgot him.

Then Charlie got hit by the landslide.

One of his big accounts switched over to government contracts completely and had no further need for his products.-

Charlie's second major customer merged a few weeks later with another outfit tf,at had its own supplier.

"Sorry, Charlie," the purchasing agent told him, "but that's the way it is."

Two mont}s later Charlie's third account got caught with a too big inventory and cut back production fifty percent. Much of that fifty percent was taken out of Charlie's regular order.

THE WAY BACK

Charlie was in a panic. In less than three months he had lost almost 80 percent of his business. There was only one thing to do. He had to so back to his old oo$300"

REPRINTS

Each lesson is available in an exDanded form. in a 4-page brochure, size SVzxll, printed in-2 colors on-white glossy paper and is 3-hole punched to fit any standard 3- ring binder. Each subject in this expanded version is fully ard completely develop€d in comprehensive detail and includes a self+xamination quiz for Salesmen. Prices re as follows:

! to 9 copie.s (of each article)............._......50 cents each

!q to 49 copies (of each article)........-....-..37rt c€nts each tg to 99 copies (of each article).....-.-............30 c€nts each

I00 or more copies (of each article).....-.--.-..25 c€nts each

Tho ontirc series may be pre-ordered or individual articles

Eay b€ ordered by nurnber , . address orders to the clrs'omers and try to win back port. sup' ooSorry," one buyer told him, "but we've replaced your line. When you stopped coming around we figured you weren't interested."

The reception he got was less than enthusiastic.

He might just as well have said, "where were you when we needed you?"

Charlie's other former customers gave him the same story.

The moral of this story is that even the big ones can be lost, Everv salesman should have a solid base of smail but stea. dy accounts. This protects him from sudden shifts in fortune that can leave him out in the cold.

Go After Small Accounts

Instead of shedding small buyers, the salesman should pursue them. Often thev arg the mainstay of hi. ir,"o-e and shouli be nurtured.

It might be more profitable to go after five or six small accounts every month than to chase a $100,000 one for three or {our years. The loss in time, worry and income sometimes isn't worth the efiort. I'm not suggesting that you never try for big accounts but don't. look at it as the end-all.

Helping Small Accounts

One way to assure yourself of small buyer loyalty is to study his needs and help him do better. Ask permission to make the survey of his problems and then tell him how to improve.

In a retail store this may involve finding out about his sales volume, his credit rating, his financial condition, the amount and nature of his advertising and so forth. When you get the complete picture then you can make concrete suggestions.

This is work for you but it will pay dividends in the future. You will have earned the dealer's gratitude.

Jack Grange, a food products salesman, has made himself an expert in ironing out problems for the independent grocer. He has several big supermarkets as his customers but he never neglects the small grocers who actually provide a hefty slice of his income. One corner market by itself isn't much of an account, but forty or fifty of them add up to a sizable contribution. Added to this is the fact that he has created an enormous amount of goodwill for both himself and his firm.

Coming Back For More

The loss of a big account is disheartening but it isn't the end of the world. In fact, there is a chance you may recover the customer.

A huge machine tool manufacturer retooled and left one of its biggest suppliers high and dry. The salesman's line was not suitable anymore.

However, in a year the salesman's firm changed its product and it was just the thing the machine tool outfit was using. The salesman got back the business, not because his company had restyled its product, but because he had maintained constant contact with the buyer during the dry spell.

To borrow a baseball phrase and apply :l to selling: The game isn't over until the last man is out in the ninth inning.

Are you putting all your eggs in one basket? This quiz will tell you if you are. If you can answer "yes" to at least seven questions you are wisely putting them in a number of baskets.

L Do you cultivate small accounts? Yesn Notr

2. Do you continue to service them even after getting a. big order? n Yes No !

3. Do you help small buyers with therir problems? Yesn NoD

4. Do you actively seek small accounts? Yes! Non

5. Do you stay with a large account even though you lost it? Yes ! Noo n

6. Do you give small accounts enough of your time? Yes I No n

7. Do you have a number of small accounts? Yes ! No tl

8. Are they dependable? Yes ! No f1

9. Do you get along with them? Yes n No []

10. Do you have both large and small accounts? Yesn Non

10. The Competition

11. 13ting A Risk

12. PlayingThe Short Game

13; Se[ing An ldea

14. Buying Committees Are Her€ To Stay

15. The Automated Salesman

16. Samples Can't Talk

17. Thc UnexDectcd lJtter

18. Prospect cir Perish

19. How To Dislodge A Prospect From A! Existing $rpplier

20. Making Salesmen ot Customers

21. Repeat Orders Are Not Accidental

22. Room At The ToD

23, You Must Give Morc To Get Mor€

24. Running Into thc Rudo Buyer