Sales Technique Needs Rallying
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A CROWDED meeting of members PA of the Institute of the Motor Trade in Southampton and district heard S.T.R. (The Commercial Motor costs expert), at the Cowherd Inn, Southampton, last week, when he gave an address on the technique of commercialvehicle salesmanship. Starting with a blunt statement that salesmanship in this market is not what it should be and that good salesmen, having the specialized knowledge necessary, are few and far between, he went on to suggest reasons for that lack and to indicate means whereby it could be made good.
In particular, he insisted that a commercial-vehicle salesman must be well acquainted with current legislation affecting the use of commercial vehicles, with the economics of their use and operation, and with the specific needs of a variety of individual trades. This was something, he said, which would not be acquired in the course of ordinary contact with customers; not only would that process take too long bat, in general, it was the customer who required assistance, so that if the salesman was not in a position to give him proper advice on these matters, he would fail to make close contact.
In the ensuing discussion, shepherded by the chairman, Mr. S. S. Dawes, it was made quite clear that the principal concern of commercial vehicle agents is price maintenance. It almost seems as though commercial-vehicle sales are made solely on the basis of price, the concern which can offer the biggest discounts getting the business. Since no potential buyer believes that he can get the best terms without seeing a principal of the selling concern, it follows that salesmanship on the part of the employee is at a discount.
Throughout the discussion, however, a vein of optimism ran, due to the fact that negotiations are proceeding between manufacturers and agents, with a view to establishing some satisfactory scheme of price maintenance A point made by S.T.R. in his address, and emphasized during the discussion, was that if the commercialvehicle sales industry is to acquire good salesmen, it will have to revise rates of salaries paid for such worlc.