"COMBINATION" BRANCH OFFICES 279 not having to wait for delivery, the taking of immediate possession of the goods being made possible. "Combination" Branch Offices. A number of manufacturers may combine for the purpose of maintaining joint branch offices in foreign countries. The main advantage of such combination branches lies in the saving of expenses which they afford; from this standpoint joint branches are highly desirable. However, there are practical difficulties which stand in the way of their successful operation; one of these is the selection of the right man to be placed at the head of the branch office. He should be a man capable of representing with an equal degree of success the interests of each of the participating manufacturers. Friction between manufacturers often develops because some members of the joint branch suspect that their interests are neglected. Such suspicion may or may not be justified; it is often the case that some lines of goods sell more readily than others, irrespective of the selling organization's efforts. The apportionment of expenses also gives rise to disagreements as to its basis and application. However, this can usually be satisfactorily arranged. REFERENCES DUDENEY, F. M. Exporter's Handbook and Glossary, Chaps. IX and XII. EDER, P. J. Foreign and Home Law. Course in Foreign Trade. Vol. X, Chaps. V and VI. FILSINGER, E. B. Exporting to Latin America, Chap. VI. HOUGH, O. B. Practical Exporting, Chap. IX. SNIDER, A. E. (Editor). Selling in Foreign Markets. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Miscellaneous Series, No. 81, Chap. V. TOSDAL, H. R. Problems in Export Sales Management, Chap. IX. WOLFE, A. J. WYMAN, W. F. Theory and Practice of International Trade, Chap. XVIII. CHAPTER XIX EXPORT SALESMEN The employment of traveling salesmen is one of the most effective but also one of the most expensive methods of promoting sales in distant markets. A salesman should not be sent into foreign territory which has not been carefully investigated as to its active and potential demand for the goods to be offered by the salesman. While some commercial travelers can accomplish more than others, there is a limit to the ability of even the best of them. Opportunities for selling certain products in some markets may be so small as not to warrant the cost of cultivating them through salesmen. A good export manager should be able to foresee this with a fair degree of accuracy. Qualifications. In selecting men for foreign salesmanship one should be mindful of the fact that, in most instances, it is the traveling salesman alone who comes into personal contact with foreign buyers. The salesman's personal appearance, manners, and business methods have a great deal to do with making or marring the reputation of the firm which he represents. To eradicate the harm done by a tactless, inefficient salesman may often take long and persistent effort. Foreign commercial travelers should not only possess all those characteristics which make for good domestic salesmanship but they should be endowed with even greater powers of adaptability and resistance; conditions abroad are often so different from those which surround one at home, and it is so much easier to succumb to temptations, when one is away from the restraining influence of domestic environment. A salesman should be a man of pleasing but forceful personality, a man who by his straightforwardness, and his ability to see the buyer's point of view can win confidence and command respect. He must be enthusiastic; he must believe in the goods which he sells, and in the firm which he represents; and this belief must be so strong that people who come in contact with him feel it and are influenced by it. However, as his mission is to sell goods, and as the persons with whom he deals are business men who in their intercourse with him do not seek inspiration but opportunities for buying resalable commodities, his enthusiasm must be based upon knowledge-knowledge of commodities, their quality and serviceability, their difference from and superiority to other similar goods which are on the market. A firm sending out salesmen who are not thoroughly acquainted with the products which they are expected to sell is courting failure; only extreme courtesy can call a man a salesman if he undertakes the work of selling without being equipped with such knowledge. Knowledge of manufactured commodities can best be acquired by spending some time in a factory watching the transformation of raw materials into a finished product. There the salesman soon learns all that is necessary in order to be able to talk to prospective buyers intelligently and convincingly about the nature of the goods, their workmanship, their fitness for the purpose in view. It is in the factory that the salesman learns about the plant's capacity for filling orders, about the possibilities, or the lack of them, for making changes to meet local demands, about the cost of production, etc. In addition to knowing the goods the salesman should know the house for which he works, its ability to grant credits and its attitude toward credit granting, its financial strength, its willingness to give service, its power for expansion. While a commercial traveler should know the language of the country which he visits, such knowledge is not a guarantee of commercial success. Far better is a salesman who speaks a foreign language imperfectly, but who is otherwise well qualified for the post than is a man able to converse fluently in a foreign tongue but lacking other essentials. In many countries, social and business intercourse are more closely related than they are in the United States; this is particularly the case in Latin America and in South Africa. A traveling salesman who is devoid of social amenities, who can not wear a frockcoat and evening clothes with dignity, and who can not be pleasingly entertaining when the occasion demands it, is out of place in such cities as Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires or Capstadt. Business men in Latin America and South Africa form their opinions of traveling men not only in their offices, but in clubs and restaurants, at dinner parties, and at other social functions; they are more willing to discuss business matters with those men who by their polite and easy manners and their conversational ability produce upon them a favorable impression. A salesman should know the countries which he intends to visit, and the greater this knowledge the more likely he is to succeed. Knowledge of geography, of history, of literature, of customs and beliefs, of transportation and banking facilities, of tariff and other regulations, all help toward an intelligent planning of the trip. Such knowledge makes the commercial traveler more sure of his ground, it gives him an insight into the best ways of approaching prospective clients, it prevents him from committing blunders, which are often costly. It is well to prepare an itinerary before leaving home, but such an itinerary should be flexible, as various contingencies may arise which make it necessary to stay in a place longer than originally intended; routes and sailing charts may have to be changed. Successful traveling salesmen are genuinely interested not only in the house which they represent but also in their customers; they do not use the power of persuasion in order to unload goods which they know the buyers will not be able to resell; they realize that it is not the immediate sale that counts, but the building up of a satisfied clientele. A salesman's success depends upon the welfare of those with whom he deals, and a good commercial traveler seeks to further the welfare of his clients by all the means at his disposal. In order to be of service to his patrons, he must be acquainted with their business and with local economic conditions; such knowledge permits him to offer valuable suggestions as to what the buyer should purchase and in what quantities, what efforts he should make in order to increase his turnover and to move seemingly dead stock. Thus, good will is created, and customers once acquired are kept. Incidentally, the knowledge of the buyer's business allows the salesman to guard his own firm against incurring unnecessary risks. Foreign salesmen should be in possession of reliable credit information regarding their prospective clients and their regular customers; they should be good judges of credit risks. Close cooperation between salesmen and the credit man of the house is highly desirable in domestic business; such cooperation is indispensable in foreign trade, where the burden of concluding transactions falls largely upon salesmen; foreign buyers usually take it for granted that their acceptance of a salesman's offer constitutes a binding contract on both parties, upon exporters to ship the goods as well as upon buyers to receive the commodities and to pay the purchase price. The placing of such an interpretation upon orders given as a result of solicitations by traveling salesmen is justifiable in the case of overseas buyers, as their interests are often most vitally jeopardized by the refusal of the exporter's credit department to pass favorably upon the transaction. Conditions differ materially from those prevailing in the domestic market. At home, decisions reach buyers quickly and they can either modify terms of purchase or order goods from other firms; in foreign trade it necessarily takes much more time |