Business Marketing Advertising

A well-known sales manager tells a story about a boy who walked into a drug store near his home and asked the druggist if he could use the phone. This is what the druggist heard:

“Hello, is dis Mistah Johnson’s residence?” ? “Is Mistah Johnson theh?” ? “Mr. Johnson, Ah heahs as how you is needin’ a boy to look after yo yand and drive yo cyar?” ? “Yo say yo ahready has a boy?” ? “Is de boy givin’ yo satisfaction?” ? “You say he am givin’ you puffect satisfaction? All right, Mistah Johnson, good-by.”

The boy hung up and the druggist said to him: “Boy, are you looking for work? I am looking for a boy to help in the store.”

“No sub, I’se not lookin’ fo’ wuk. I wuks fo’ Mis?tah Johnson; I’se jest been checkin’ mahself up.”

Probably you have heard this story before, but it illustrates a very important point in sales work ? we should all take a leaf from the experience of this boy and check up ourselves periodically to find out how we stand. Are we growing or are we standing still?

How do you stand in regard to getting more business from old customers? Are you steadily increasing your volume from each, or are you just drifting with the tide?

How do you stand with regard to weak spots in your territory? Are you getting business uniformly over your territory, or are there barren spots from which you are only getting a fraction of the business you should be getting?

How do you stand in regard to knowledge of what you are selling? Have you made any progress along those lines? Are you following through a systematic plan for steadily adding to your knowledge so that you will become more and more of an authority?

How do you stand in your relations with your customers? Are you steadily gaining their good will, and making more and better friends? Or don’t you notice any difference in the way they regard you to?day as compared to the way they regarded you a year ago?

And finally, how do you stand with your company? Is it evident that you are more highly thought of each succeeding month? Does the management attach more importance to your opinions? Are you adding to your friends in every department of the home office-organization?