New Times New Methods.
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The effects of production by means of modern tools are making themselves felt on all hands. Methods of manufacture which, a few years ago, were considered up-to-date, have fallen into disrepute, and new systems, in which speed and greater output are the two main considerations, have taken their place. Not only is this true of manufacturing methods, but of that indispensable partner of the manufacturer, the salesman, who has, with fresh sinews of war, in the shape of new apparatus for the conduct of his business, been forced to follow his lead. Modern sales methods have been obviously affected, amongst other things, by the coming, of the motor, and a striking example of a businesslike method of employ the power car has recently come to our notice.
The instance which we are about to record is to be placed to the credit of the National Cash Register Company, Limited, of 225-226, Tottenham Court Road, W. ..lhe sale of the instruments manufactured by this company has been progressing apace in this country, and much of this advance is due no doubt to the clever methods of advertising, windowdressing, etc., which have been adopted for the purpose of pushing the sales. The most recent innovation at the premises of the company is the building of a series of model shops, which have been fitted up with the goods and accessories of a number of different trades. These include replicas, amongst many others, of chemists', grocers', butchers' and drapers' shops, together with a realistic representation of a public-house. In each shop is placed a cash register suitable for the particular business represented, and prospective customers are invited to take their places behind the counters, and, with the help of the company's salesmen, to " play at shop," meanwhile operating the particular cash register which is under diseuGsion. In this way, such a good idea is obtained of the capabilities of the machine for the particle. lar business, that, we are informed, the sales of these instruments have shown a distinct increase.
Such an excellent system, however, it should be noticed, depends entirely upon one thing—Mahomet must go to the mountain ; the place of clemonstration, it will be obvious, cannot be taken to the door of the customer. It is at this point that the unique qualities of the motorcar become evident. The National Cash Register Company was the owner of some dozen horse-broughams, which were used for the transport of various models of registers to likely purchasers, and, even at the present date, half a dozen are still kept for this work. The new necessity which has arisen, however, for the rapid and convenient transport of likely clients from their places of business to the showrooms at Tottenham Court Road, was one that could not be solved by the use of horsedrawn vehicles. Should the trader to whom it was desired to demonstrate the virtues of the cash register be resident, say, to or 12 miles from the company's, depot, it was naturally impossible to expect him to give up the large amount of time necessary to do the journey, to and from the demonstration rooms and hack, by a horse-vehicle. It was for this reason that the company decided to purchase a number of selfpropelled ears, and it possesses, at the time of writing, five. These consist of an 8h.p., a toh.p., two 12h.p. De Dion vehicles, and a 3o-3511.p. Metallurgique car ; at least one or two inoro will be added to this fleet within a short time. Few of our traders in London can resist the seduction of an outing of an hour or two in a motorcar, and, by means of this easy and pleasant mode of transport, many clients have been transported to the company's showrooms : the results in the shape of sales are, needless to say, most satisfactory.
The five car,; employed are at work from 9 o'clock every morning until an indefinite hour at night, and run an average of at least 25 miles a day for six days in the week. It will be obvious, of course, that a large amount of time is spent by the cars outside the doors of the company and of customers, but, in order that the long hours often necessitated shall not weigh too heavily upon the drivers of the cars, two extra men are kept in reserve, and these are available to replace any man who has had an over-long day. This system not only benefits the men, but it helps to reduce the upkeep of the cars, as necessary adjustments are more likely to be made by men who are not tired out at the end of the day, than by those who have done overtime at the wheel.
The success which this departure in sales methods has met with in this case points a moral which we would commend to those of our readers who are engaged in selling goods or produce of any description. A customer in these latter days is generally a shy creature, and to be approached with caution. To go out into the highways and bring them within one's doors is substituting a certainty for the possible fortuitous arrival on a customer's part in a quarter of the town in which one's place of business is situated. The system carried out by the National Cash Register Company, by means of these motorcars, is one which, there is no doubt, can be applied to the advantage of many other businesses,although the day is yet distant when customers will be picked up from the roadside by means of a motorbus and carried off to purchase a yard of something or a packet of pins.