PRINTERS' INK Begistered U. & Patent Office A JOURNAL FOR ADVERTISERS ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS Matter at the New York, N. Y., POST OFFICE, JUNE 29, 1893 No. 2 Making the Sales Convention Yield Profits for the Year After A What to Do and Why to Do It By Charles W. Hoyt FTER a man has attended the sales conventions of a dozen or more firms, he is apt to become somewhat critical. He cannot help but make comparisons. He quickly sees the weak points and faults. This has been my experience. In the numerous sales conventions that I have attended I have noticed much room for improvement. On the other hand, I have never attended the sales convention of a business organization without obtaining a great deal of benefit myself and seeing a great deal of good in each convention. In this article it is my intention to mention, not only some of the good points, but some of the deficiencies as well. Dealing in negatives is not generally considered a profitable line of thought, but there are many things which might be labeled "Don'ts for Conventions" that are worthy of attention. A most glaring fault of conventions which have come under my observation is that of dragging. You should not permit the sessions of a sales convention to drag. Keep this idea carefully in mind, act on it, and your convention will double in productiveness. Do not set nine o'clock for the hour of the convention, and then keep the crowd waiting while certain executives remain at their desks attending to local matters which appear to them to be important. which were delayed from one-half to an hour, simply because the executives had not appeared. This is wrong. It costs a company a large amount of money for the time of the men present. The importance of the convention and of the time employed for it is diminished, in the eyes of those attending, by these delays. No executive ought to delay the opening of a convention for one min ute. Often I have attended conventions where the executives permitted interruptions during the sessions, and where the entire meeting halted while such executives attended to something else. I have seen telephone messages come into a convention hall and delay the proceedings of a body of fifty men, while some executive talked on the phone. It may be a good thing to have a telephone in the convention hall; but I doubt if the advantages are offset by the disadvantages. Telephone messages to one man ought not to interrupt the session in which fifty men are participating. When a discussion is being held on the floor of a convention, do not permit matters to drag, while two or three executives, seated at the front of the hall, discuss the matter at length between themselves. I have seen this happen several times. If the executive who is presiding is called from the hall he should provide, in some way, so that the programme goes along instead of having it wait while he Table of Contents on page 110 Time and time again I have attended sessions of salesmen's conventions, called for a certain hour, is absent. On the other hand, it is quite proper that a recess should be declared, at least once in the morning and at least once in the afternoon, at which time everybody is allowed to leave the room, or to move about. The convention should have a carefully laid out programme, so that matters are taken up in orIder and in regular routine. Of course this is done by firms who are accustomed to holding conventions; but I have attended many conventions where there was not a set programme. As a re sult, the presiding officer has allowed useless discussions to drag along for hours, just because it appeared, in lieu of any set order of topics, that there was nothing else to do. Debates should not be continued indefinitely. Everybody up to a certain degree should be allowed to express his opinion. It is not fair to a body of men to permit two or three men to talk several times on the same subject, and particularly on a subject which is not of interest to all. The proper sort of a presiding officer will not permit discussions between members on the floor. Remarks should be addressed to the Chair, and to the body, rather than to an individual. I have seen two or three salesmen stand up on the floor of a convention and indulge in a conversation between themselves while the others were wasting their time because what they said was not of interest to the general body. When a firm desires to hold a convention of salesmen, it is well to delegate the various duties to different committees, or to different individuals. It is a mistake for any one man to attempt to plan and carry on the convention. There are plenty of men in an organization who are quite competent to arrange for the different things. Put the responsibility for such a detail as the annual banquet, or the seating arrangement of the hall, onto some young man or group of young men, and you will be surprised at the results they will give you. You will see some man display talent that you didn't know he possessed. If you are the sales manager or the president of a company, do not try to do all the work yourself. Both the sales manager and the president, or the general manager, should be absolutely free of duties during the time that the convention is in session. To one man, or committee, should be delegated the matter of hotel accommodations. If transportation is needed between the hotel and the place of the convention, a committee, or man, should attend to that. This man, who looks after transportation, ought to make all arrangements for those attending conventions for their trip home. Take care of such things for men and it will impress them. The proper committee or man will arrange so that on arrival at the hotel a room is ready for each man. This committee will so arrange that there need be no delay. Each man, on arrival, will receive his room key and be made comfortable at once. The proper committee will provide sleepers, chair cars, transportation, etc., for the trip home, and will arrange to pay all hotel bills. This Committee on Transportation and Hotel Accommodations can make a great impression on the men. LITTLE INCIDENTALS THAT COUNT If there is to be any sort of a dinner or banquet, a committee or one man should be assigned to this work with instructions and power to attend to everything, including the ordering of the dinner, the printing of the menus, and possibly the making up of the list of speakers. If this work is given to the right sort of a man, you will have a successful dinner. There are little things that a man of taste and judgment can provide which will very largely add to the pleasure of such a dinner. It doesn't cost much to provide such favors as paper caps, toy whistles, etc., but they liven up a dinner considerably. At many such dinners that I have attended, the company has provided some sort of a souvenir like a leather cigar case, a leathercovered memorandum book, etc. Completely Classified Customers Something good to offer-then, who = Because of the huge development of The Christian Herald is already CHRISTIAN HERALD Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Bible House New York These things ought to be in the hands of the Dinner Committee. An important thing in connection with a convention is the programme of the business sessions. Careful attention and thought should be given by those at home to the consideration of the questions which are to be discussed at the convention. It is an excellent thing to mail these questions out, in advance, to the salesmen. If there are points on which you want the salesmen's opinion it is very well to ask them (provided you wish to secure unbiased opinions) to mail in their answers beforehand. Otherwise, after two or three have expressed their opinions in open meeting, the others will all be influenced by these early speakers. Suppose, for instance, there is to be consideration of the discontinuance of some product, or of some style of a product. Instead of relying on securing the information on the floor of the convention, submit this question by mail to each salesman, asking him to send in his opinion or thought beforehand. Then the presiding officer can present the question to the convention and can tell the tabulation of the opinions or votes received. Then there can be an open discussion and the decision announced by the executives, if they are to make a decision, or a vote taken if it is to be done by a vote of those attending. This is also true where the compiling of material for a sales manual is to be discussed at a convention. It is much better to obtain, by mail first, the list of objections which the salesmen meet. Later, after editing these objections, ask the salesmen for their ideas as to the proper answers. Then, at the convention, the list of the objections may be read. Then the best answers may be read and discussed. Furthermore, different answers will occur to those who are speaking, and, either at the business session, or later, decisions can be made as to what are the best answers, and which of them are to be placed in the sales manual. It is not always well to have the decisions made or voted upon by those who are attending the convention. One of the best conducted conventions that I attend puts questions as to product, discontinuance of product, etc., up to the salesmen beforehand. They then permit a discussion at the convention by those who attend. After the discussion, if it is a matter of product, the president confers with the superintendent and announces the decision from.. the platform. If the question under discussion is a matter of accounting or credits, then the chief accountant or credit man being present, is asked for advice, and the president announces the decision, provided one can be made at that time. Situations come up where it is unwise to make a decision at once, in which case the president announces that the decisions will be announced a little later by mail. PROGRAM ME COMMITTEE MAY MAKE OR BREAK CONVENTION The programme committee has a great deal of importance to do. Trivial subjects should not be permitted to be brought before the convention. Matters of genuine interest only should be placed upon the programme. The committee should consider also the attractiveness of its programme. Any set addresses or speeches should be made, so far as possible, by those who have something of interest to say and can say it in an interesting way. One of the conventions which I have attended this year was run by a sales manager during the first three or four days-the president being present some of the time. On the last afternoon of the session, however, there were some very inspiring addresses made. At this session the president delivered a message which sent the men away with renewed spirit and enthusiasm. Contrary to this, I have attended conventions which gradually petered out and collapsed in about the way a balloon does when pricked. The programme committee ought to so |