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Problems of the

12th January 1932
Page 64
Page 65
Page 64, 12th January 1932 — Problems of the
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

HAULIER

and

CARRIER

Making a Business Known to Potential Customers. Methods Suitable for Use by Different Classes of Haulier

NEW readers should note that this is the third instalment of a short series of articles on elementary advertising and publicity methods adapted to the needs of the haulier and carrier. I have already emphasized the value of a smart turnout, comprising an attractively painted vehicle and a uniformed driver, be that uniform as modest as it may. I have also pointed out that this initial attractiveness and smartness must be perpetually maintained.

Further, I have discussed problems of advertising in the local Press, which obviously must be strictly limited in its utility to the haulier and, in some cases, may not be worth his while. Now I come to the question of circularizing and the use of small handbills.

It is here that I reach a fork in the road, a point where my treatment of the subject must differ according to whether I am considering the case of a man new to the business (one, in fact, who is only about to start as a haulier and carrier), or whether I am considering the procedure, in this matter, of a man who is already well established but who thinks that there is more business to be obtained if he can devise some !means for getting it. Readers will readily agree that some difference in method is essential.

Let us first take the case of a beginner. Novices again fall into two classes. Most of those who write to me stating that they are going to start in business as haulers and carriers, want to know only what I think of their chances and how I would advise them to set about obtaining work. In that class are included those who write to tell me that they are "eagerly expecting _ B46 delivery" of a new vehicle and, like those men just mentioned, want to know how they may find something for that vehicle to do.'

The other class of beginner, not so numerous, comprises those who take delivery of a vehicle and write to me in a strain similar to that of the novices mentioned above. These hauliers usually have a small contract in prospect sufficient to justify them in embarking upon this enterprise and in purchasing a vehicle. What they want to know is how to supplement that contract with other work, so as to keep the machine fully occupied.

To absolute beginners there is, to my mind, only one piece of advice to be offered. They must obtain work by personal canvass. Generally they start in their own home towns, where they are known, understanding the potentialities of the places. They can, in the course of a week's hard canvassing, obtain a fairly clear idea as to their prospects.

In a matter of that kind, the man who has already obtained his vehicle is at a tremendous advantage over those who must first ascertain the prospects of work before they take the risk of investing what capital they have in the purchasing of a machine. With the vehicle already there, new and smartly finished, the haulier is in a position not merely to say what he can do, but to demonstrate his capabilities.

As to the methods of carrying out the canvass, no rdes can be laid down. If it has to be done without the vehicle the canvasser must apply the same rules respecting smartness in attire and in mien as have already been recommended as advisable in relation to vehicle and driver. Ile will need some ideas of the prices that he is going to charge. To ascertain those he can have no better guide than The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs.

In using those he must be discreet in his application of the figures for establishment charges and profit, but should not adopt the principle of giving away his profit merely as a means for obtaining work in the first instance. If there be one thing more difficult than obtaining work in the first place, it is getting a better price for that work from an established customer, and if a man starts in business, working for no profit, there is every prospect of his continuing to do so. It is far better for a man to stay at home with his feet on the mantelpiece than to work for no profit.

If he finds that he is confronted with competition in prices he should use as his sales arguments some special services which he is able to offer.

It will be necessary to follow up personal calls by letter,. and in this respect the advice already given in a previous article applies with equal force. That is to say, the haulier should be careful in his selection of notepaper and in the design and printing of the heading.

Alternatively, It is sometimes a good plan to prepare a forceful preliminary circular letter, following it up by a call. In that circular letter the special features and advantages of the haulier's service should be enumerated as briefly as possible. A primary essential is that he must offer only that which he is definitely prepared to give. He must promise nothing that he cannot perform and does not fully intend to perform.

Here, again, the methods followed must depend to some extent upon the class of work. If it be the haulage of road-making and buirding materials, then clearly the number of potential customers will be small, and the best procedure will be to send a personal letter to each, followed by a call and, after that, by further correspondence, as circumstances make advisable.

In the ease of a parcels-transport contractor, however, where there may be a large number of customers, where, perhaps, every shop in the town, as well as a good many residents in the suburbs and outer areas, may be able to make use of his services, more extensive publicity is advisable. It should comprise a regular small advertisement in the local paper, a circular letter and handbills designed so that they can either be sent through the post or delivered by hand.

I will now consider the case of the man who is already established and who wants to increase his business. There are two lines of attack and the individual haulier may want to follow either or both, according to the conditions. He may. wish to adapt his procedure so that he can, if possible, obtain a greater share of the business already available, some of which may be going to his competitors. On the other hand, he may think it is possible to create new business by suggesting the use of mechanical transport to customers who have not hitherto considered it to be of service to them.

In the former case a haulier may best begin by considering the work he already has, to see if by some reorganization, including, possibly, a shuffling of customers and the work he does for them, be can cut out lost time and waste mileage. In going into that question it is more than likely that he will find the best way of achieving that end would be to do a little more for certain customers and, perhaps, obtain work from other potential customers located in a given district.

He will probably discover that if he were to be successful in this reshuffling of his organization, and if he could obtain the additional custom which that reshuffling shows to be advisable, his weekly mileage would be increased. In that case, of course, his cost per mile would diminish and he would be able, whilst still increasing his weekly profit, slightly to reduce his rates.

In that event, a carefully-thought-out letter to his existing customers and another, equally well considered, to the new customers he is approaching, drawing attention to the fact that he is increasing his business and, as an outcome, hopes to offer special terms for a firm contract, will probably have the desired effect. It should, if possible, be supplemented by a personal call. It is essential here that I should differentiate and that readers should appreciate that I am not advocating the cutting of rates in the iniquitous sense of that term. Rate-cutting amongst hauliers, as I see it, becomes folly only when it involves the loss of legitimate and reasonable profits. If it be the outcome of reorganization and more efficient business methods, then it is justified. Indeed, it is more than justified; it is sound policy, because, broadly speaking, it increases the popularity of road transport. The aim is to supply efficient transport at the lowest economic rate.

Of course, the foregoing procedure is not open to every haulage contractor. There are many cases where it would not be applicable. The man whose business is more or less covered by the term "jobbing," working from day to day, according to the amount of business that he can find, must adopt different methods. His system of obtaining new business is almost exclusively that of personal canvass. It should be supplemented or helped by keeping a careful watch on local trade, so that the carrier can be aware of any possible additional haulage needs and be first in his canvass for any work that may be going. If his speciality be long-distance haulage, he should also he on the qui vive for similar news concerning the towns to which he is in the habit

of making deliveries. S.T.R.

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