INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this book is to teach neither the art of advertising nor the science of salesmanship, but rather to set forth some of the principles that must be applied in the organization of the advertising and sales department; in particular, to discuss the machinery of the department—its record-keeping systems.
Opinions differ as to the proper place in a business organization of advertising and sales—whether they should be handled by, and considered as, two separate and distinct departmental organizations, or one. Both plans have their champions.
Whether we call it an advertising or a sales department, the results sought—the reasons for the existence of the department—are the same. To sell goods is the aim of the organization, be its head an advertising manager or a sales manager.
Advertising has been defined to be printed salesmanship; yet there is a well-defined dividing line between the work of the advertising man and the salesman. The advertising man seeks to impress the name of the house and the name and quality of its product, on the public mind; to create interest; to arouse curiosity; to stimulate desire; to attract people to the store—in a mercantile business. The salesman seeks to turn that interest, curiosity, desire, into action—the action of purchase.
The advertising man introduces the possible customer; the salesman makes the sale. But in some businesses, the advertising man goes one step farther and actually makes the sale—as in advertising intended to secure direct orders, by mail. Also, the salesman, when the customer has been introduced, makes use of other forms of advertising, to further stimulate desire and assist in making the sale.
No matter at what angle the subject is viewed, it is seen that the advertising man and the salesman are very dependent on each other. We prefer, therefore, to consider the sales and advertising departments as of equal importance; both subordinate parts of the sales division but working in perfect harmony.
The salesman knows his goods, their strong and weak points, the classes of people to whom they will appeal. He should know, also, all about his competitor's goods, and in what respects they are excelled by his own. In short, he is the one who can give the best selling points to the advertising man.
The advertising man is expected to be a master of expression. The unpolished selling points of the salesman are worked over by the advertising man into clear, pointed, convincing English—printed salesmanship. His experience tells him how best to reach a given class; what methods of advertising are best suited for a particular class of goods.
When a selling campaign is contemplated, the plans should be worked out by the salesman and the advertising man. The two must work together and neither should undertake a new campaign, without first consulting the other.
The claim is sometimes made that the function of advertising is fulfilled when the inquiry has been received; that it is then a question of salesmanship—but where does advertising end and salesmanship begin? If sales are made by mail, the salesman supplements his salesmanship with catalogs, booklets, circulars, letters—all as surely advertising as salesmanship; in the store, he displays his goods attractively, which is a most effective form of advertising. And so, in the battle for business, victories are won by supplementing advertising with salesmanship, and salesmanship with advertising—combining the two for results.
Occasionally, a man is found who combines the creative ability of the advertising man with the executive ability of the sales manager. When such a man is found, it is safe to place him in charge of the sales division, giving him full control of both advertising and sales. He probably will require the services of a man to attend to the details of the advertising department, but such an arrangement makes the sales manager alone responsible.
Most large enterprises, however, require the services of one man to handle the advertising. For this reason the head of this department is referred to as the advertising manager, and the department as an advertising department.