Post-war Renewals Will Offer New Sales Chances
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An American Company Devises a Unique Sales-promotion Plan Directly Related in its Purpose with the Purchase of New Vehicles
I N •days when the expansion ofsales was the ultimate objective of all retail effort, -not every company that replaced obsolete -delivery vehicles with new models took full advantage of the opportunities offered. Very often they saw only the immediate cost-saving benefits on fuel and maintenance, and they did little on the business-biiildiieg, side of the account.
That did not mean their purchases were unjustified in any way, but, nevertheless, they failed to see the complete picture and did -not plan to get all they could out of their new fleets. Many operators continued to follow the old rounds and schedules after the purchase of new machines that actually effected a saving of time, which should have allowed the drivers to cover longer rounds or -to concentrate more of their energies on selling. • Whilst there are no opportunities just now for retaders to encourage drivers' salesinanship, post-war renewals will offer definite openings in this direction. In the meantime, it may be interesting to study the plan adopted by the Cloverleaf Dairy, of Salt Lake City, a live organization which linked the purchase of new vans with a definite programme of business expansion. The allocation of these new vehicles formed the basis of a successful contest, which resulted in the sales graph taking a healthy upwards turn.
When the executives considered the new purchases the company's drivers were given the test machines to try out; and eventually it was found that every man thought that he should be among those favoured with a new model ! natural rivalry suggested the answer—a contest would decide the issue, and the best men would get the new machines for permanent use.
The competition was held over a period of two months early this year, and really the primary object, was to
increase the' sale of Cloverleaf products. -Average daily milk sales for each driver during the, preceding period were taken as a basis, and each quart above that amount counted as a unit. An average increase of 10 units per daSr was necessary to 'qualify in the first half, but an increase of 15 units was required for the full contest, so that the latter stages demanded extra effort, unless the driver had done mitstandingfy well at the beginning, . As a reward, the leading 10 men were promised the allotment of new models. Increases ambng the winners ranged from 540 quarts per month' to 1710 quarts per month. In this way the new models' possibilities were impressed on the drivers, and sales have continued to grow: Since the contest the company has, found it worth while' adding still more new vehicles. Alert management, which did not stop at reviewing costs, can be given credit also for devising a sound business-building programme.
Whenever new vehicles are available under anything like, normal conditions similar schemes will prove invaluable.