SALES RECORDS
Regardless of the nature of the business, whether sales are made through the mail, by traveling salesmen, or resident agents, summaries of sales from day to day, supply much valuable information to the sales manager. Sales summaries which show the amount of sales each day and month, are the working charts of the sales manager.
It should be remembered that these statistics are chiefly valuable for comparative purposes, but to insure comparisons of value, the statistics must be compiled in proper form. It should be possible to compare, not alone total sales, but the sales of each man in different periods, the sales of one man with those of another, the sales in different territories, the sales of different departments, the sales by mail with those of personal salesmen.
Fig. 38. Traveler's Weekly Statement of Expenses
Daily Sales Records. The daily record of sales should show the sales of each department, the source of the sales, and the proportion of cash and credit sales. These should also be divided as to wholesale and retail.
A convenient form is shown in Fig. 39. This is a sheet punched for a loose-leaf book, and there should be as many copies as there are men in the organization who are directly interested. Besides the sales manager, the general manager, the advertising manager, and the comptroller are all directly interested. By using carbon paper as many copies as needed can be made at one writing.
Fig. 39. Daily Tabulation of Sales by Departments
Fig. 40. Monthly Recapitulation of Daily Sales Reports
EXECUTIVE BUILDING OF THE LEWIS PUBLISHING CO., UNIVERSITY CITY, ST. LOUIS, MO.
Monthly Sales Records. Fig. 40 represents a sales sheet arranged for a monthly summary, the statistics being obtained from the daily records. The monthly summary follows the same lines as the daily record, except that sales are not divided by departments.
Where the business is divided into several departments one of these monthly summary sheets can be used for each department.
Fig. 41. Daily and Monthly Record
of a Salesman
These daily and monthly summaries provide for a comparison of wholesale with retail, mail order with personal salesmen, and departments. If there is a gain in one department and a loss in another, or a fluctuation in total sales, these summaries point out the source, showing where greater efforts are needed and where praise is deserved.
Salesmen's Records. While the sale summaries described afford many valuable comparisons, they do not provide a classification that will indicate the value of each salesman. There should be a record showing the volume of business of each man. The form shown in Fig. 41 shows a card used for a daily and monthly record of one salesman. The form might be elaborated to show cost of goods, salary, expenses, gross and net profits; but the tabulating of this information is more properly the work of the statistical department.
These cards should be filed alphabetically by name of the salesman, and divided according to states. They will then show the sales of each man and in each territory.
For a business in which goods are sold by resident agents, a card similar to the one shown in Fig. 42 should be used. The upper half of the card provides for the recording of certain essential information, while the lower half is used to record sales.
Fig. 42. Record of Sales by an Agent or Dealer
THE CREDIT DEPARTMENT OF THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK, CHICAGO, ILL.