more suited to the work required for increasing sales. However, unless the supervisor has the secret of knowing at sight the outward signs of a good laundry salesman, he may be but exchanging an experienced route man for an inexperienced one. This risk is not so great as it may appear at first, for during the breaking-in and training period the supervisor can not only find out how well adapted the new man is to selling laundry service, but also can give him some of the knowledge, skill, and attitudes which the supervisor knows are needed to meet the requirements of the territory to which the man is assigned. Putting a man with the right social and selling experience in contact with the type of customers he is best suited to handle, and then providing him with the demonstrations, incentives, and supervision needed to enable him to understand how the laundry business can be sold, enable the supervisor to meet the expectations of all, and to show that the supervisor is a vital factor in increasing sales. Just how the supervisor will proceed in discharging his varied duties can not be discussed here, beyond calling attention to two devices in personnel management. One is an outline of information about route men sought when interviewing applicants. This outline is included to suggest some of the points about which information should be secured before finally employing an applicant. Every item has not been indicated, but it is believed that the main outline will suggest the minor questions which the interviewer will frame according to his particular need and circumstances. The other device is an outline of some of the points to be included in a written statement of standards for route men. A route man's manual aids the supervisor in handling his men as well as in clarifying his own idea of what he expects them to do. While many supervisors want to write out a manual for their drivers to follow, the group method wherein the route men under the leadership of the supervisor agree upon what the manual should contain has been found to be the most satisfactory. Conferences on standards have been found to be very effective in improving the appearance, attitude, and interest, as well as working efficiency of men. In so far as these conferences can accomplish any of these results, they will contribute toward better service and more sales. OUTLINE OF INFORMATION ABOUT ROUTE MAN SOUGHT WHEN INTERVIEWING APPLICANTS 1. Name. Address. Telephone. Single. Married. Age. 2. Nationality. Weight. Height. 3. Education. Amount. Legible writing. Attitude toward school. 4. Physical appearance and condition: Appearance of health, face, body. Appearance of strength, body, posture movements. Size in relation to work; agility of movements. 5. Health History of past illness. Time lost through illness. Vaccinations. Health of family. 6. Financial stability: Buying own home. Savings account. Life insurance. Financial obligations. Size of family. Installment contracts. Ownership of automobile. Money-handling experience. 7. Social contacts-membership in: Church. unions. Extent of interest in church work. Hobbies: Athletic. Music. Fraternal organizations. Labor 8. Ambition: Salary expectation. Kind of work interested in. Relation to present job. Studying now for what purpose. Permanency of connection. 9. Emotional characteristics: Excitable; resentful; cool; worries; stable. 10. Employment experience history: First job, why left. Reaction to work. Second job, why left. 11. Personal traits, as revealed by conduct during interview (general size-up) : 12. Knowledge of work of a laundry route man. The manager's relation to route supervision.-Every manager realizes that handling men is one of his most troublesome, but important, managerial responsibilities. Constant oversight seems necessary to keep the average group of workers doing their best. Supervision through assistants especially qualified for this kind of duty is the answer to the problem for most laundry managers. Efficient route supervisors are necessary to provide the leadership and control necessary for effective work, especially in the laundry industry, where departmental cooperation is so important for increasing sales. Even though the laundry manager may realize the necessity for employing a supervisor, he oftentimes has to decide whether or not the supervisor will be able to bring out such an improvement in the work of the route men as to give a fair return on the cost. Obviously, the cost of supervision should be offset by a higher degree of satisfaction to patrons and greater effectiveness in control over the route men. Before a manager can see whether or not this result will come from the employment of a supervisor, he needs to have a clear idea of what a route supervisor can be expected to accomplish. What the route supervisor is to do and how he is to do it will largely determine the qualification required, just as the supervisor's own personality, temperament, and experience will largely determine what he will try to do and how he will proceed. The manager who studies the part his route supervisor has in increasing sales will probably find that he needs to think in terms of such questions as Is a route supervisor necessary? How can he contribute to increasing sales? What duties does he perform which affect the route men in giving satisfactory service to customers? What duties does he perform which affect the ability of the route men to get more business from present patrons? From new customers? Is the supervisor expected to demonstrate to route men how to collect and deliver laundry? How to make sales talks? How to solicit for special business? How to make suggestions? How to meet objections to buying more laundry service? How to handle minor complaints for which no claim is made? Will he make these demonstrations by calling on patrons with the route men? Is the supervisor expected to assist route men in handling difficulties connected with delivering and collecting laundry? In getting new customers? In getting more business from patrons? How will he give this assistance? Should he be expected to go with the route man to personally handle the difficulty? Is telling the route man what to do all that is required of the supervisor? Should the supervisor be expected to act as a model route man, as an example to his subordinate? Does this apply to his dress and personal appearance? Should the supervisor be expected to act as a demonstrator of salesmanship and instructor in selling for his route men? Is the route supervisor responsible for the appearance of his route men? For the appearance of the trucks? If the supervisor has much clerical work to do should he be provided with a clerical assistant so he can spend more of his time in the territories with his route men? To save time should he be provided with a light car so that he can go from territory to territory, meeting his route men? Which of the supervisor's duties are most important? His routine office duties or his sales management duties? What qualities should the manager have in mind when selecting a route supervisor? Is successful experience as a steady, reliable route man essential for success as a supervisor? Is a record of being a good salesman of laundry service essential for success as a supervisor? Is a supervisor essentially a handler of men? What qualities and experience are needed for this kind of work? Should a supervisor be encouraged to prepare a written manual for route men? Whether written or not, what points should be included in such a manual? How should they be stated. Should the employing official get answers to all the questions given on the outline of information shown in this topic? Topic No. 15. How the Manager Helps Increase Sales The part of the manager in increasing sales.-The fundamental task of the laundry manager is to so organize and control his plant that a continued profit will be earned. In a going concern the manager can usually expect to make a profit or to increase one already being earned by reducing his costs on each unit of work produced or else by increasing his sales without increasing certain costs in proportion. When he directs his efforts toward increasing the business handled at his plant, he serves as a sales manager in planning and directing the sales effort relied upon to obtain a greater volume of business. As a sales manager he helps to increase sales in the same way that a general helps to win battles. He makes the plans for using the resources available and provides the incentives required for stimulating his force to make the effort needed to get more business. While as sales manager he sees the need for a proper balance between the quality of the processing and the selling effort, yet he views the entire plant and organization as agencies for obtaining and holding a larger volume of business. He looks outward rather than inward. The functions of the sales manager.-The sales manager of an organization is responsible for planning and for finding an effective way for getting more business. Whoever acts in this capacity looks at every factor to see its effect on sales volume. Thus, the plant superintendent may be interested in developing a certain type of processing, but the sales manager looks to see if there will be enough sales for that type of processing to be worth the time and effort. Again the plant may be equipped to do only certain kinds of processing, but the sales manager may see a large market for many other kinds of cleaning service, dry cleaning or rug washing, for example. Similarly the laundry manager may think that the price of a certain service should be raised or lowered in response to competition: but the sales manager realizes the importance of price in a sales campaign, and tries to forecast what the effect of a change may be upon the sales of that particular service, as well as upon every other line offered, and so upon his whole selling plan. Thus, the sales manager thinks always in terms of factors influencing sales and of his control of the sales organization. The problems of the sales manager can be glimpsed through a list of a few of the more fundamental questions with which he has to deal: 1. What is the range of cleaning service which can be profitably sold by the organization? 2. What quality of each kind of service will give the greatest volume of sales? 3. At what profitable price can the maximum amount of each and every service be sold? 4. What organization of the selling force will be the most effective? 5. What kind of selling effort will be required of our sales force? 6. How will the selling force be trained? 7. On what basis will the selling force be paid? 8. How can our sales force be stimulated to sell more? 9. Upon what principles and policies will the selling campaign be based? 10. What means can be used to educate the consumer to want more of our service? 11. What will be our attitude toward competition? 12. What service standards are needed to back up the selling campaign? 13. What sales records should be kept? 14. What should be the nature of the sales plan? The product as the sales manager sees it.-The sales manager more than anyone else in the laundry organization realizes what a laundry sells is satisfaction with a cleaning service. Just what is required on the part of the production department to give satisfaction with the processing is not of great interest to the sales manager. He knows there is an almost limitless market for satisfactory cleaning whether it be for linen collars, chiffon ball gowns, oriental rugs, velvet hats, or Breton lace handkerchiefs. He sees no reason why the laundry should not undertake to give a complete cleaning service as extensive as the market demands. Of course, his sales plan is based upon the range of cleaning service being offered at the plant, but his thinking tends to see the market for selling a complete cleaning service. The sales manager looks at the plant's processing and service more as a customer sees them than the other executives of the plant are likely to do. He feels that the plant should produce what the market wants, and is willing to buy. He does not sympathize with those men who think the public should gladly buy the excellent product of the plant, for he realizes that the public will pay for only those things which it wants. He is thus constantly thinking of processing quality and plant service in terms of customer satisfaction. Price in the sales plan.-The sales manager, because of his knowledge of the market, is keenly conscious of the effect of profitable price upon the volume of business. He knows that some laundries are experimenting to see if a large volume of business at a small margin will not be as profitable as a smaller volume at high prices. He knows also that the past buying habits of the people in the community in connection with their present buying power have much to do with the level of prices which can be obtained there for a certain kind of laundry service. The sales manager realizes further that just as some people want to have the reputation for paying the highest price, and as others want to get the utmost in service for the least possible price, in the long run price will have much to do with determining the patronage of the laundry which acquires a price reputation whether high or low. The class of people served by a laundry in any territory determines in turn the quality of the service which must be given to satisfy them. In addition the sales manager when planning for an increase in sales needs to determine just how many of the class of people the laundry is now serving there are in the community, as that limits in some ways the market open to his organization under their price and service policy. If there are not many of that class, the chances for more sales will be small. Thus, to the sales manager, apart from its effect upon profit, price becomes a most important element in this plan. The sales organization.-To the sales manager, the market for the service he sells presents certain resistance which his sales organiza |