Radio broadcast .. (1922-30)

CREW MANAGERS COMMISSION RECORD CRKW MANAGER WEEK EVDINf; NAME AND ADDBE89 MAJtE MODE!. NWIA1, N*. . SALESMAN !' A.MT.-8AI.C ' ALLOWANCE : < Ntl SALT. I COMMISSION U B .- i- ~T K ' n <; ' r H'' DAILY REPORT OF NEW INSTALLATIONS CWEW MANAGER _ 4 INFORMATION M«E MODK, SERIAL N* J SALESMAN j! AMT.-S CREW MANAKKK DAILY REPORT OF RETURNS House to House Selling By BAYARD B. PENROSE NOT a Sideline HOUSE-TO-HOUSE selling, in the opinion of R. B. Green, radio sales manager for Parks & Hull, Inc., wholesalers of Baltimore, Maryland, should be done right or it had better not be done at all. In other words, if you do not have the time and inclination to take it in all seriousness and devote real thought and effort to selecting and training men, the profit side of your ledger will probably show a heavier balance if you do not bother with it. Properly handled, the door-to-door man can be made a valuable adjunct to the business. Con- sidered merely as a sideline, he may become a decided detri- ment. Mr. Greens Experiments A survey of radio conditions in Baltimore would indicate that as many and perhaps more sets are sold here per capita by house-to-house methods than in any other city. Much of this activity has been inspired by Mr. Green who has helped dealers to use his home city as something of a "proving ground" for his ideas along this line. That they have proved successful is evinced by the success of individual dealers who have followed suggestions emanating from his office. There are a lot of things for the average dealer to learn about this method of selling. He cannot hope to make a success of it merely by hiring men haphazardly and turning them loose on the assumption that it is costing liim nothing until they actually produce sales. This has been tried frequently with inevitable failure as the result. "A lot of dealers," says Mr. Green, "have literally been stampeded into outside selling. Suddenly realizing that every- thing from shoes to ships and sealing wax is being sold in this manner, they have come to fear for their own futures unless they immediately adopted the method. To many, it looked easy; all they had to do was put in a want advertisement, Don't Do It If You Don't Do It Right Don't Hire Canvassers Haphazardly Weave This Branch of Selling Into Your Business Supervise It Constantly Pay Your Men Well Control Your Stock Carefully Do Fifty Per Cent, of Your Demonstra- tions Result in Sales? Give Crew Manager a Small Salary Plus a Commission select a few men, and turn them loose. I don't have to tell you what usually happened. A few learned from costly experience and finally got into the swing of things when they gave this phase of their business the attention it deserved. Others failed dismally, gave up outside selling in disgust, and continued as before." Greens Service to Dealers With this in mind, one of the first things Mr. Green did was to put a man in charge of an outdoor selling department to be conducted both as an experimental station and as a service to local dealers. Methods were studied and tested through dealers who cooperated. Then, when the time came, leading dealers were "sold" on the proposition and urged to sponsor outdoor selling crews to be selected and trained for them by Parks & Hull. In several cases, these crews remained under supervision of the wholesale house for several weeks after going into operation. Our story, however, deals not so much DECEMBER 1929 • 85