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awarded at each place of business in special ceremonies to the employees— with commendation to each chapter chairman and his committee for their work.
But was Reno through? Indeed not. He pointed out the necessity of giving all new employees the oppor' tunity to sign United Fund pledge cards at the time of their employment. The campaign itself might be over — but the work of fund-raising continues — all year! As a mail-order man, trained in the mail-order school of merchandising, Reno sent each firm a postal order blank for use in requesting additional pledge cards to be given each new employee. The new employees get a choice of pledge cards, too: they can pay in a lump sum, quarterly, weekly, or semimonthly.
It's the Reno follow-through — the follow'up!
TRIUMPHANT execution of campaigns such as the United Funds drive is no new experience for the 5 2 -year-old general manager of Sears, Roebuck and Company's Kansas City organization. In his 26-year business career with Sears he has repeatedly tackled projects that had never been undertaken before — and he succeeded with them! That's why General R. E. Wood, chairman of the Sears board, says of Reno: "I consider him one of the best executives in this vast company. He entered our service when the Kansas City plant was founded in 1926, at a small salary and at a very humble job. His progress has been steady because he showed the qualities of imagination, resourcefulness, initiative and great administra
^ February, 1932
tive abihty. He came to my attention at a relatively early age and I have watched his progress closely. He has that rare quality — a truly creative mind. He deserves all the honors that have been given to him."
Reno's creativeness has been exemplified in two major achievements at Sears . . . one, an achievement in salesmanship; the other, a revolutionary improvement in the method of handling mail orders. Both plans, as conceived and first tested by Reno here in the Kansas City plant, proved to be of such great value that Sears adopted them all for plants.
First comes salesmanship: the frequency with which Sears "calls" on its mail-order customers. Tradition in the mail-order business (as developed by Sears, Ward's, Bellas-Hess and other mail-order houses), had evolved the publication of two big general catalogs each year — one for spring and summer, one for fall and winter. Plus a mid-winter "flyer" (a smaller catalog) for a January-February sale; and a mid-summer flyer for mid-season selling.
Reno felt that calling on his mail order customers four times a year was not enough. Therefore, he began experiments with locally produced circular booklets — to achieve faster "pace" in merchandising; to level peaks and valleys in sales; to make the mail order house as mobile, as flexible, as a retail store. He knew Sears' customers are bargain hunters, and felt they would respond to special sale appeals. And they do! Now the Sears' pattern nationally is to mail seven catalogs a year to all regular, proved, mail order customers — with