ScientificAdvertising.com Chapter 16 Leaning On Dealers
We cannot depend much in most lines on the active help of jobbers or of dealers. They are busy. They have many lines to consider. The profit on advertised lines is not generally large. And an advertised article is apt to be sold at cut prices. The average dealer does what you would do. He exerts himself on brands of his own, if at all. Not on another mans brand. The dealers will often try to make you think otherwise. He will ask some aid or concession on the ground of extra effort. Advertisers often give extra discounts. Or they make loading offers - perhaps one case free in ten - in the belief that loaded dealers will make extra efforts. This may be so in rare lines, but not generally. And the efforts if made do not usually increase the total sales. They merely swing trade from one store to another. On most lines, making a sale without making a convert does not count for much. Sales made by conviction - by advertising - are likely to bring permanent customers. People who buy through casual recommendations do not often stick. Next time someone else gives other advice. Revenue which belongs to the advertiser is often given away without adequate return. These discounts and gifts could be far better spent in securing new customers. Free goods must be sold, and by your efforts usually. One extra case with ten means that advertising must sell ten percent more to bring you the same return. The dealer would probably buy just as much if you let him buy as convenient. Much money is often frittered away on other forms of dealer help. Perhaps on window or store displays. A window display, acting as a reminder, may bring to one dealer a lions share of the trade. Yet it may not increase your total sales at all.
Powered by FlippingBook