R.y Saberson \Yrites of Salesmanship An Editorral

Ray Saberson, of St. Paul, lumber merchandiser of renown, writes a page in the Mississippi Valley Lumberman, published weekly in Minneapolis. Plenty of good stufi finds its way into Saberson's column, which we never fail to read and enjoy.

The latest issue to come to this desk brings some thoughts on selling that'are well worth stealing; so we take the liberty of re-printing them for our readers.

First he tells about a letter of sal'esmanship and how it is done in reverse by some industries, in this case the farm tractor industry. He say,s: "Came a letter from an old friend, Don Fox, Pueblo, Colorado, relating his experiences in trying to buy a farm tractor. I was interested because I had been reading how business isn't so good in the farm implement business. Methinks Don's letter may explain a reason for a part of the sagging sales.

"It seems that Don's son-in-law, recently released from military service, needed a farm tractor. So the two of them set out, with checkbook in pocket, to make the purchase. However, it wasn't as easy as expected.

"They soon found themselves in the display room of the company that sold (or is supposed to sell) the tractor they had selected. Here they remained for fully half an hour, with no one giving them the slightest attention. During this futile wait they observed a young man in one of the offices with his head on his arms which were resting on the desk. fle was sound asleep and did not move a muscle during the came into the sal'esroom two or three times but did not speak to the would-be customers. He had a book in his hand and was apparently trying to find the serial number of some part. Two other men were seated in the shade in the rear of the warehouse but showed no interest in what was going on.

"Don and his son-in-law took their departure reluctantly after deciding to purchase another make-their second choice. They had a general idea of the location of the establishment but couldn't find it readily, so they decided upon a third choice, which they purchased-largely on their own power."

And in closing Saberson suggests that those farm machinery folks had better follow the advice of the ant in the following story:

"It seems that there was an ant hill in which 1002 ants were in residence. Unfortunately for the ants their hill was located in the rough of a public golf course. One day a wild tee shot rolled down the hill. The golfer, seeking to improve his lie, moved the ball directly above the ants' home. He took a swing, hit the ball, and killed 642 ants, but the ball moved only an inch or two. Replhcing it on the remnants of the ant hill, he took another swipe which killed 358 ants, but the ball hardly moved. Now there were only two ants left, and when again the golfer placed his ball on top of their home, one ant said to the other: "We'd better get on the ball."

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