TRANSPORT TIPS FOR TRADESMEN.
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Particularly Addressed to Those Who are Replacing Horsed Vehicles by Motors, or Contemplating So Doing.
E. 'VERY TRADER who runs motor vehicles, or has over contemplated doing sa, should make a point of visiting.the forthcoming commercial vehicle exhibition at Olympia,
On Visitimg the Show.
From it he may learn a great deal which will be of value to him. He can increase his knowledge not only of the mechanical features of• the vehicles, the tendencies of design and so on, but, perhaps, even more by conversation with men who have placed numerous vehicles and whose advice on selection and operation when properly sifted and compared, may he expected to be very sound. It is useless to seek such advice unless one is prepared with sufficient information to enable sound advice: to be given. The answer of any salesman who is merely asked whether he thinks the use of motor vehicles would be justified in a certain trade, is a foregone conclusion. What is wanted is to "get down to brass tacks " and to find out just what type of vehicle is wanted in one's own particular business. The businesses of all members of a given trade are not identical. To get useful advice we must be able to state the approximate number of deliveries and the average weight of deliveries and the size of the area over which they axe to be effected.
Bargaining for Cut Prices.
We must warn traders in advance on one point. Anyone who goes to the Show under the impression that the list, prices of well-known machines arc fanciful and provide for exorbitant profits and that, by astute bargaining, it is possible to cut them almost indefinitely is likely to be badly disapponted. As the commercial motor industry develops, it becomes more and more necessary for manufacturers to do their business largely through accredited agents. The agent is not merely there as a middleman, taking an intermediate profit which could easily be cut out; he is there because, when the vehicle is in use, he will be in a. position to give service and to help towards. ensuring its success. It is mainly for this 'potential service that the manufacturer is willing to allow him discount.
Suppose that the manufacturer, in effecting direct sales, offers the: buyer an equal or even larger discount, then it is impossible, for the agent to do business in his vehicles at any profit to himself. This means that the agent will not deal in this particular manufacturer's goods and the manufacturer will lose his valuable support then and later. Consequently, whatever terms he, offers to the buyer, he must still provide that his agent shall be properly remunerated and protected against -unfair competition. If list prices are such as to provide for an adequate discount to the agent and a big additional rebate to the buyer, :then the prices. quoted must be so extortionate that most traders will be entirely alienated and Will, quite properly, go to manufacturers who, by doing straight business with moderate discounts and with proper protection to. their agents, are able to put their quoted. prices lower and,prabably, on that account, to produce and sell' mush larger quantities.
There may he firms that will give fancy discounts to direct buyers, but, if that proves to be the Case, the buyers. should not assume that they are necessarily being offered exceptional bargains better than thoseobtainable elsewhere. The desire to do business on almost any terms would be far more likely to
indicate that the goods of that particular manufacturer are not selling well, either because they are inferior to others, or because they are listed at inflated prices. It is better to pay the price asked for a first-class article sold on straight commercial lines than to pay list price less 25 per cent, for an inferior article, the list price of which.has only been settled with a view to this sort of transaction.
Design of Bodies.
Visitors at exhibitions are sometimes led to place their orders in the -wrong quarters byheing specially attracted by the suitability of some particular vehicle body shown. It is certainly important that the body of the trade vehicle should be right: fromthe point of view of the trader, but the point to remember is that any desired type of body with any set of fittings can be had on any make of chassis. It is. impossible for a manufacturer to show all varieties. at an exhibitiOn. The mere fact that. one niartufantures shows a vehicle with a body suitable to a particular trade is not proof that he has given more than usual attention to the requirements of that trade, or that his chassis is in any respect more suitablefor the purposes of that trade than are a score of others shown, or more suitable to that trade than to all
other trades. •
Sometimes an-attempt is made to create a market for inferior chassis by fitting these for show purposes with particularly attractive and ingeniously equipped bodies. We know that heaps of private CRT's are sold for their bodies to people who can appreciate beauty and comfort but know nothing about machinery. The trader cannot afford this kind of extravagance. He should regard the complete vehicle as consisting of two distinct parts; the chassis and the body, and he should see that he gets the best of each for his money.
Selling Points.
Another point to. be remembered is that. the merits of a chassis cannot necessarily be gauged by the number of obvious " selling points" comprised in its design. A straightforward simple chassis, well made of good material, often has very few points lending themselves to detailed description and, therefore, calculated to draw public attention. As often as not a good "talking point' means some novel leatnre that has, perhaps, not been very thoroughly teSted out in service. A chassis which bristles with such points is probably more or less of an experiment. It may prove peculiarly successful on the other hand, it may prove verY troublesome. A trader inexperienced in-motor vehicles, 'who wishes to ho on the safe side, will select a straightforward chassis, preferably of some make that has proved itself time and again in prolonged service. The, motorist who drives his own car and who is an enthusiastic amateur mechanic may Took at things differently. He may be prepared to run the risk of trouble in return for the interest of gauging for himself the success of numerousnew ideas. On the other hand, traders who must give regular service to their clients are better advised to leave. this experimental work to others and to aim at getting something strictly reliable, even if it presents no obvious appearance of peculiar ingenuity or progress.