The following article is the third of a series written for the Crimson by W. W. Daly '14, Secretary for Student Employment, on the various fields of endeavor in business open to college graduates.

(Copyright by W. W. Daly)

The second main division of business may be covered under the general heading of distribution. This would include selling, in its broadest sense, and advertising. We may define it as "getting rid of the goods". Most products go through the hands of several salesmen, first perhaps the wholesaler, then the jobber, then the retailer. In the automobile business they go through that part of the organization which has to do with the supervision of agencies, then through the agency itself, and from the salesman to the consumer. In the case of businesses which manufacture paper, dye stuffs, and other materials the goods go through the hands of at least one sales representative. The general field of salesmanship has shown many changes in the last forty or fifty years. Originally there was the drummer whose chief function was simply to unload; then came the salesman who again tried more or less to unload the product, but who usually sought to do a more intelligent job than had previously been done. As business has developed the purchasing agent has come into being, the service element has been stressed, sales methods developed for the benefit of the retailer, until now the term "travelling representative" is much more fact than fiction. Manufacturers today seek to keep the good will of the purchaser, and try in every way to keep him satisfied.

Terrific Line Not Needed

In the old days it was felt that a "terrific line" was essential for success in salesmanship. Today, there are two requirements for success in salesmanship. First, a man should have a clear, alert, open mind, and be honest, both commercially and intellectually. Second, he should have a capacity for sustained, hard work. Under the first heading he should be able to meet his prospect on even ground and discuss his problems intelligently. Under the second heading he must be able to ring door bells, either metaphorically or literally, day after day, always having in mind that the way to get new customers is to go out and get them, and that no amount of advertising, leads, or other help from the home office will ever take the place of getting face to face with just as many customers as is humanly possible.

"Ringing door bells" may, in the case of the Fuller Brush salesman, or the automobile salesman, consist actually of ringing door bells and asking people if they will buy; in the case of the salesman of dye stuffs it will consist of calling on the purchasing agents, shop superintendents, and others who are using and buying dye stuffs. In the case of the salesman of suspension bridges it will mean carefully examining the map of the territory for possible business and calling on the county and state commissioners. Much has been said of that indefinable personality which a salesman should have. Here I think, however, we have again done some debunking. The only personality requirement for successful sales work is that a man be an adequate representative of his concern and that he be socially acceptable to the class of customers on whom he calls.

The requirements for sales work as I have noted are few in number but considerable in their importance. Above all the salesman being in the field must have a human point of view. No matter what he is selling he will find that the demands on his time and energy are great, and if he is travelling on the road he will find that physical weariness is not an uncommon companion. If, however, a college man undertakes sales work and stays by it, building all the time the human contacts which are so essential to success, financial rewards will be adequate to offset any hardship he may have undergone.

It is probably easier for a man to demonstrate his worth in sales work than any where else, because he actually brings in business to his company, and to the man who brings in business and makes money, the salary increases are apt to come with more frequency than to the man whose ability as a profit maker is not so obvious.