Masonry Magazine March 1970 Page. 10
SMOOTH SELLING
by George N. Kahn, Marketing Consultant
USE MORE THAN 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 Foll
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 $60,000 the following week. Charlie was in the clouds. The two gave 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 got still another big one this one for $100,000. 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 that had its own supplier. "Sorry, Charlie," the purchasing agent told him, "but that's the way it is."
Two months 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 1567 George N. Kaku three months he had lost almost 80 percent of his business. There was only one thing to do. He had to go back to his old "$300" customers and try to win back their support.
The reception he got was less than enthusiastic.
"Sorry," one buyer told him, "but we've réplaced your line. When you stopped coming around we figured you weren't interested."
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. Every salesman should have a solid base of small but steady 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 they are the mainstay of his income and should 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 four years. The loss in time, worry and income sometimes isn't worth the effort. I'm not suggesting that you never try for big accounts but don't look at it as the end-all. I know some mighty successful salesmen who never write an order above $15,000 and are not concerned about it.
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.
REPRINTS FOR YOUR SALESMEN
this is a condensed version. Each lesson is available in an expanded form, in a 4-page brochure. size sxil, printed in 2 colors on white glossy razer and is 3-hole punched to it any standard 3-ring binder. Each subject in this expanded version is fully and completely developed in comprehensive detail and Includes a self-examination quis for Salesmen. Prices are as follows:
1 to 9 copies (of each article) ...50 cents each
10 to 19 copies (of each article) 37% cents each
50 to 99 copies (of each article) 20 cents each
100 or more copies (of cach article) 23 cents each
The entire series may be pre-ordered or individual articles may be ordered by number address orders to the George N. Kahn Co., Marketin Consultants. Sales Training Division, Department TP, 212 Fifth Avenue. New York, N.Υ. 10010.
Listed here are the tites of the first 24 lessons in the "Smooth Selling" Sales Training Course,
1. The Salesman is a V.I.P.
2. Are You A Salesman?
3. Get Acquainted With Your Company
4. You're On Stage
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 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 it 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.
1. Do you cultivate small accounts?
Yes No
2. Do you continue to service them even after getting a big order?
Yes No
3. Do you help small buyers with their prob
Yes No
lems?
4. Do you actively seek small accounts?
Yes No
5. Do you stay with a large account even though you lost it? Yes No
6. Do you give small accounts enough of your
Yes No
time?
7. Do you have a number of small accounts?
Yes No
Yes No
8. Are they dependable?
9. Do you get along with them? Yes No
10. Do you have bath large and small accounts?
Yes No
5. You Can't Fire Without
6.
Ammunition
You Are A Goodwill
Salesman, Tos
7. Closing The Sale
5. How To Set Up An Interview
9. Resting Between Hounds
10. The Competition
11. Taking A Risk
12. Playing The Short Game
17. The Unexpected Letter
15. Prospect or Perish
19. How To Dislodge A
Prospect From An
Existing Supplier
20. Making Salesmen of
Customers
21. Repeat Orders Are Not
Accidental
22. Room At The Top
21. You Must Give More To
13. Selling An Idea
14. Buying Committees Are
Here To Stay
15. The Automated Salesman
16. Samples Can't Talk
Get More
24. Running Into The Rude
Buyer
When ordering, please mention the name of this publication.