The Harvester World: Volume 4, number 11, November 1913

              The General Agent's Desk
M. E.

THE ENGINE TRADE

By M. E. McCui-i.ouGH, General Agent, Albany, N. Y.
We notice in a recent issue of The Harvester World that the Albau}-, N. Y., general agency found a place on the map by ocoupj'ing the tenth place on the honor roll for the gasoline engine trade of 1912.    When
we consider that we were competing with about 106 general agencies, each one with as good a show of getting engine business as ourselves, we feel that we have done fairly well. There is one reason why we feel as if we had even (lone better than that, be¬ cause from the time when liarvesting machines were first made in this eastern territory bordering on New England, the majority of local dealers have been local agents, and they do not always devote their entire time to the imple¬ ment business.    Many of
„ „ ,,    ^,. them  are   stirring,  up-to-
, McCuUough J  ,     ,      ,, .,?      r
date  hustlers with a keen
eye for a sale, but their regular business occupies so much of their time that they cannot always do as they would like to with their side lines. This condition, however, is being modified, as the farm implement business has reached proportions where well-known local merchants are reaching out for contracts — very similar to the conditions which exist in the western and middle western states where the local implement dealer is gen¬ erally the biggest man in the town.
It might be interesting to know some of the methods we use in securing our engine business. We are firm believers in special men, and have our special engine salesmen working tooth and nail with the blockmen aud dealers who handle carload lots. We have found that it is a more profitable proposition for the dealer to handle his engine trade by the carload, and we believe further that it is for their interest as well as ours to exert every effort on our part to see that they dispose of them promptly and with a good margin of profit. At times we find a conservative dealer who does not always see just where the demand would come in his communi¬ ty for as many engines as this, even if he does make a larger profit in getting them this way, and in instances of this kind we make it a point to send a special engine man to help him canvass, thus making it easy for him to dispose of the balance of his carload. Local agents are fast becoming convinced that the more business they do the more business naturally gravitates towards them, and we find that this plan of co-operation works satisfactorily, and has been the means, not only of get¬ ting a good  number of  local  men interested in the
engine business at a good profit to themselves, but it has spread the wider use of engines as a farm power.
After we have planned with a local agent for a local campaign, we get, through him, a list of names of prominent farmers whom he thinks might be in the market for engines. Then we have our advertising department mail these possible prospects the proper literature. This almost invariably creates a demand, and when the time is ripe our dealer calls on us for canvassing assistance to work with him in following up the demand. Our dealers also are in the habit of giv¬ ing our blockmen the names of good prospects for engines, and our blockmen immediately notify the central offices at Albany, so that we may route our special engine salesmen from the general agency each week into those localities where the prospects are warmer and thicker. We are satisfied that we have as strong competition in this territory as there is any¬ where in this line, but we have been so firmly con¬ vinced of the superiority of our engines that it does not seem as difficult a task to sell them as one would think. The farmers in this territory are intelligent, and, as a rule, they wish to purchase the best. Our engines have proved successful and efficient in every section where they have been used, and this is one of our best advertisements.
Whatever success we have had in the way of selling engines, the great share of the credit is due our travel¬ ers, for no general agent or assistant could accomplish any great results without the hearty co-operation of the men who come in contact with the local agents and the farmers. It requires the best efforts of every man in the organization to produce the desired results. We are pleased to state that we believe our travelers are working with this one object in view. They all seem to be enthusiastic, and we feel confident that we will show a nice engine trade for the season of 1913.
®    (8
HOW TO CONDUCT A CANVASS
By W. G. Criswell, General Agent, Springfield, Mo.
I believe it will be interesting to you to know the results of a three days' canvass on spreader sales, made by our blockman, J. F. Skidmore, last week, at Areola, Mo. Our agent, I. A. Young, had seventeen prospects for spreaders, when he and Mr. Skidmore started on their canvass. They succeeded in selling thirteen of these, and also sold an additional one to a man not on their list. These sales were made in the dryest section of our territory, and are for immediate delivery.
Mr. Skidmore has furnished us with a report, showing the acres of land each one of the fourteen men own. The average is 290 acres, the highest being 600, and the lowest being 128 acres.
The above results show what a good salesman can ac¬ complish, even in spite of adverse weather conditions, when he makes up his mind that he is going to get results. Mr. Skidmore is very proud of this showing, and he is going to try to do the same thing at other points in his territory.