Document 2JDO8M277ErVLkBRraEgxJ5DN

ANSER-'EM CONTEST! On the pages that follow you will find the answers to the twelve questions of the Anser- Era. Contest. In the preparation of the portfolio there is embodied those answers that received the highest rating as each problem was judged. You are given the replies of the five winners of cash awards and the five who received honorable mention. We want to take this opportunity to commend the winners for the excellent answers that wrere submitted and particularly those representatives whose names were prominent among the winners not once, but several times. Every person involved in the selling of Time-Tested Products right from our Regional Directors and Sales Managers through the entire Stores Organization down to those at the Order Desks will be benefited if they will give these answers the time and study they justify. Don't just read them but study each one so that the excel lent sales points that have been brought out here will become firmly embedded in your mind. Why not sit down and write a composite letter embodying the strong points of each answer for yourself. The Glidden Company has a substantial investment in this Contest, still it is the feeling of our executives that this will be time and money well spent if you are benefited by these letters which portray the experiences of fellow salesmen. We urge you to guard this portfolio carefully, refer to it continually and study it carefully. If you have met an obstacle in closing a prized prospect these letters may be a clew to the reason for your failure and suggest a new approach and bring about better success on your next visit. Your agency record in 1943 wiil indicate how helpful the Answer'Em Contest has been to you and how successful to your Company. THE JUDGES: Dwight I*. Joyce, Vice-President P. L. Lotz, Advertising Manager J. M. S tadter. Purchasing Agent T. J. Wiegand Director Trade Sales L. A. RadlofT, Specialty Sales Dept. Meldrum & Fewsmith, Inc. Advertising Counsellors Barclay Melt, rum Jos. Fewsmith E. T. Morris ^latUfh ScUei PnoMiem A/a. 9 The account is a strong hardware, implement and building material outlet in a small (1500) town and says, "Oh, I can't get enough paint business to make it pay anymore to go through the trouble of changing lines. The farmers, my best customers, patronize the mail-order houses, and there are only a couple of house painters in town and they claim they only use White Lead. It just ain't in the cards here to do a good paint business even tho' I do swell on everything else." CL 03 7036 9A Glidden cooperation. asking you questions about redecorating, I Dr. Dealer, you are missing a good bet. and Glidden has the complete set-up to answer all questions. I can see that you are not doing a good paint business, mainly because your paint As for the farmers, you know most of I source is not explaining all the selling points to you. You can put m my line and make money. It's as easy as A B C. them personally, and if you will tell them what you have, you can get all of that business, just through friendship alone. We have the materials to meet the com I will get acquainted with your paint petitive mail order houses, and you know ers and show them how they can make that through your relations, that you more money by using the latest in paints. have the first shot in selling them their We will give you some attractive store I and newspaper advertising to reach the consumer. We will set up counter dis plays to attract your store traffic. VVe will offer you our "Color for America Book and that alone will set you up as I a color authority on interior and exterior decorating. material. Then, you can count on me to give you full cooperation. If at any time, that I can assist you, I can make your calls and get the business. In this way you have an extra employee, and it will not cost you one cent. We have the materials and I know that you and I can get the By displaying your paints, you can business. Let's get after this business have the women in the city coming in and now. I NOTES: 9-B The Glidden line is your solution. As long as your farmer customers are coming in to buy hardware, implements, and building materials, you can easily divert their business from the mail order houses with the right kind and the right amount of advertising and merchandising helps. In one respect farmers are no different from any other consumers. They like to see what they are buying before they "lay their money on the line." So with the aid of the proper customer guidance you can readily take advantage of the fact that they are already in your store to sell them their paint needs. In addition to this, the farmer of today is not the isolated worker he used to be. Today Mr and Mrs. Farmer have access to magazines and journals other than mail order catalogues and to towns and cities of considerable size. These facts have played a great part in making the farmer and his family style and color conscious. t The Glidden Company, more than any other paint company, has the facilities to help you to work with Mr. and Mrs. Farmer on their painting and decorating problems. The Glidden "Color for America'' Book has a wide variety of color schemes and decor ating plans to solve the farmer's problems from the interior and exterior of his house right down to his smallest piece of equipment, including implements, all of his barns * and out buildings. Put a fresh stock of Glidden Paint on your shelves and keep it fresh in the custom er's mind with Glidden's fresh merchandising ideas. This "fresh" combination is unbeatable. $ Today, as never before, the farmer must paint because he cannot replace, so let your store "ask him in" with a modem Glidden Paint Sign and a cheerful, bright Glidden window display; then let your store "ask him to bay" with the wise use of Glidden's store merchandising novelties and display features. And don't forget that good stock of Euston White Lead to capture the painter business. NOTES: ___ CL 03303 9-C Mr. Dealer, the farmer market has always been a good one and at present it is a splendid one for, as you know, the farmer has more money than he has ever had before. Many farmers, now that they have money available, will arrange to paint these buildings that have been hun gry for protection and beauty for years. I am told you dominate the market in this area and perhaps you may not real ize that in this town of 1500 you actually have in exeess of a $6,000 volume--this is based on a per capita figure of $4.00-- a very conservative figure, too, at this time--for paint consumption. Much of this business we can help you obtain. From a profit standpoint paint carries a very handsome return and at this time will give you a product that we can de liver to offset some other items you can not obtain during the duration of this war. And look at this interesting anti very colorful business getting Rural Electrifi cation Folders that will command atten tion and bring your customers in. Paint should be a most solid and desir able line for you. It never reaches the saturation point and should grow year after year. Selling paint calls for a good practical knoweldge of it and we can assure you that we can very quickly show your boys a far more effective way to sell it than any mail order house can hope to. Certain surfaces call for spi i\ treatment and only those that art ;n contact with the ultimate user can hope to offer proper help. If your painters insist on White Lead, our own Euston Lead will give them a whiter job, as well as more gallons to the hundred pounds. NOTES: ---------------------------------------------- v 9-D In the first place, it won't be too much trouble to change over to Glidden because we have a plan which will move your present stock at a profit, and in the second place you can get enough paint business to pay you a handsome profit with our proposition. Why do the farmers buy paint from the mail order houses when you admit they are your best customers for other merchandise? They can buy this other merchandise from the mail-order houses, too, so there must 'be some reasons for your lack of paint business and here they are-- 1. They think they can buy cheaper, or 2. You don't carry an adequate stock of paint to service them promptly. The mail-order houses having nothing to offer your customers besides service on deliveries and advertising low prices on "lead" items. We can show you by comparing their entire price list against ours that we are as low or lower--everything being considered--on 75c/c of our items. The mail-order houses can't offer the services we do, "Color for America" Book and circulars. National advertising in magazines with a circulation of twenty-eight millions, local advertising, road signs, direct mail, persona] solicitation, local meetings, etc., and you, as our agent, are right here to handle any situation which may develop knowing the Glidden is behind you 100%. We can get the painter trade, too. We have the finest White Lead on the market and can prove to them, by actual demonstration, that by using our Master Fainter line, they can save time and money. Our Tailor-Made plan will fit your needs like a glove and will bring in customers. Glidden offers you first quality merchandise, consumer acceptance and the finest merchandising plan in the industry, a plan which is making money for thousands of dealers like yourself. NOTES: _____ GL D3?C^0 9-E Let me analyze your present paint market for you. Your town has a popu lation of 1500--average five to a family --or 300 homes. Your trading area has at least twice as many homes or a con servative total of 900 of Town and Farm homes. You agree I am about right? From figures given us by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce we know the av erage American family of five people purchase $25.00 a year in paint products. Accordingly your paint market in the past should have exceeded $20,000 yearly. Today they cannot buy many things such as autos, radios, washing machines, trucks--even wire fencing, in fact, there are only a few things they can buy to improve their farms. Paints are out standing in what they can and will buy. Your paint sales to farmers should be four to five times greater than they have ever been. They all need paint for every purpose. We realize this and are extend ing ourselves as I explained in all our National and Local advertising to get this Farmer business for our Glidden Agents. You say a good portion of your busi ness is with farmers. I agree they haven't been buying paint for several years. They didn't have the money. Analyze your farmers market now. Their farms and properties certainly need paint. Farmers are getting more money for their products and will have more money to spend this year than they have had since the last world war. In addition farmers are going to save their autos and tires and not drive to larger cities to do their buying as in the past. Your business will gTeatly improve as a result. Let us help you to get more than your share of this profitable paint business. Don't delay. Now is the time to put in a stock of Glidden Time-Tested Quality Paints. NOTES: 9-F What you say no doubt is true, but did you ever try to sit back and analyze the cause of your not getting the paint business ? It is true mail order houses handle nearly everything you do, yet you are doing well in the other lines. Do you think it possible you have lost interest in your paint business? To me that looks like the most likely reason for your lack of sales. You know good ready-mixed paint is better than lead in oil. Have you taken time with these painters along with the paint traveler and made definite explanations and tests ? You know it, yet you will not take time to explain it to your best possible customers. When you have a change in implements, don't you immediately circularize the farmers and then explain to your good prospects the advantage of them getting new equipment. Sure you do. Well then, why not paint? There is such a good reason for your losing interest. It is because your source of supply has allowed you to get that mental attitude. With us, each year our full line accounts have to increase their purchases. If they don't, then the traveler has to explain the reason, and believe me it has to be good. We have taken accounts such as yours and have built them into real accounts with proper co-operation. Mai! order houses are no opposition because you know the people and can sell as cheaply as they can. I have shown you that. It is a known fact people would rather buy at home. Why not let us help you ? Therefore, it all comes back to the real problem, getting paint minded by associat ing yourself with our company and building a real paint business. We know it can be done. It means more money to you on your money already invested in paint. Let's help you--we have the equipment to do it. That is proven by our growrth--two million in 1916 to sixty-eight million in 1941. A firm, like people, catches the enthusiasm of those they associate with. Let's go. NOTES: 9- G Mr. Dealer, let me illustrate to you what we accomplished for Bill Smith, who was confronted with the same situation and operates exactly the same type of business that you do in the next town just twenty miles away. After Bill had received his opening order, we arranged a very attractive Glidden window display. A thorough dis tribution was made with a large news paper type of handbill that we furnish announcing the change in paint lines and offering all other stocks of paint ma terials at attractive prices. We also used the weekly newspaper and our ad tied up with our handbill. We not only cleaned up most of the old paint stock but sold quite a bit of Glidden products that had been put on sale at attractive prices to acquaint his trade with the high quality and beautiful effects easily secured with Glidden products. Bill Smith talked Glidden paint to each farmer that came into his store. Bill Smith assisted these customers in select ing the correct colors and mainly the correct type of material to do the job. He found that many of these c- omers wanted to put correct color harm ly into their homes and when he showed them this beautiful well planned "Color for America" book, explained the free dec orating service, the color schemes to make rooms beautiful without changing the furniture, in other words making a lovely home without expensive remodel- ing. He very soon changed their habits of patronizing the mail order houses. Bill Smith also worked with the Paint ers. He kept them busy estimating and working on jobs that he had closed and pretty soon these painters realized the economy of using Glidden's Prepared Paints. Color schemes were recommend ed and the exact type of finish and color could be secured already mixed. These same painters are now Bill Smith's best boosters, and believe me, they are going to town with their paint business. Yes Sir, we did it under the same cir cumstances in the next town just a few miles from here with exactly the same type of trade and we can do it for you. NOTES:-------------------------------------------------- * 9-H Your general building material business is going to suffer this year, due to the shortages of many of the essential materials used in new construction. The same is true of your general hardware lines, there being a definite shortage of many of the best selling items in your hardware stock. You say the farmers are your best customers, and that certainly will be true this year, as the farmers are in much better shape financial condition now than they have been for some time, and will buy a great deal more in your Farm Machinery line, and with the Automobiles and Tires and many of the other items that they have been buying frozen, they naturally are going to buy more paint. Many of the Farm Buildings have needed repainting for years, but the farmers have been spending what little they had for these other items, and letting their building rot down for the want of paint. Many farmers I have talked to in the last few years all admitted their buildings were sadly in need of paint, and that their fences were in bad repair. The Fences have been repaired and the building will be painted this year, so go after this business and as I have shown you The Glidden Co. is really doing a real job in helping you obtain this business, with the strong adver tising we are doing in such magazines as Successful Farming which reaches 43% of all the farms in the country. The Mail Order Houses have been doing a nice paint business for years because they have asked the farmer for this business, and have done a real job of selling. The Glidden Co. are doing everything the Mail Order House is doing to get this business for you, and as for prices the Mail Order House has no advantage over you, with the Glidden line. The Farm Co-operatives have been showing a steady increase in Paint business in the last few years, and are looking for the largest volume this year they have ever enjoyed. They know the farmer is going to buy paint, and are making plans to get this business, and so can you. I really believe paint will be your salvation this year. As for the Painter business he can be sold also, but even if you get none of his business you can enjoy a large volume of profitable paint business by going after this farm business, and with your acquaintance with the farmers you are sitting in the driver's seat. Let us prove that this can be done. NOTES: __ __ Gl r>? ?0 4? H n 9 & I I I I I 9-1 Your customers will continue to buy tiieir paint from the mail oTMer houses just as long as you are willing to let them -- no longer. Numerous surveys which we and other paint manufacturers have conducted will show you that the big jnajority of people when buying paint seek advice and information before male, ing their purchase. They are not familiar enough with paint products and their ap plication just to pick up a catalogue and select their requirements from it and will not do so whenever a local merchant makes this help and information easily available to them on an accepted paint line. Also consider the question of service and delivery. Your customer must wait for some time to receive his paint when he orders through a mail order_ house. You can give him immediate service. Quality for quality and.product for product you can be more than competi tive from a price standpoint with the mail order companies, all factors consid ered, so that is no incentive for him to buy from them. You can sell the few local painters just for the asking, too. They only use white lead ? Alright, sell them the finest lead they can buy, Euston White Lead. You can be competitive with Euston and still make a satisfactory profit. You'll be surprised at all of the additional paint products which they will buy from you when you offer them their principal item, white lead. They can't do complete paint ing jobs with just white lead alone. The very fact that you sell your trade everything else but paint is proof enough that you can overcome your mail order house competition when you set out to do so. Don't forget that the mail order concerns sell all of these other materials too, so why should paint be an exception with you? There is only one answer. You need a strong line like Glidden which your customers know and recognize as tops in quality. Our complete advertis ing and merchandising program will get the story across to them and help estab lish you as their best source of paint supply. How do we know all this? From our experience in selling Glidden Paints in farming communities in every section of the United States. We are offering you a proposition backed by this successful experience. NOTES: 9-J Mr. Dealer: Now that you have told me your problems, I believe that we have enough experience behind us to give you your answers. Jim Jones over in Milltown, Pete Smith in Punkin Center, and John Adams in Centerville, all had those same problems, but by Glidden's cooperation with them and their cooperation with us, alt of them are enjoying a profitable paint business today. I want you to give me two days and a night of your time. We'll go out together during the days and make some calls on those farmers. If they're buying from the mail order houses, we can save them money and give them better quality paint. Here's another thought--when times get tough for the farmer, you're the boy that stakes them, not the mail order house. That service you give should be worth something, shouldn't it? As to the painters, if they're using White Lead, they can't beat Eustons and we'll get together with them one night and 1 can show them how to get more paint out of 100 pounds of Lead as well as have a whiter job when they're finished. These are preliminaries, Mr Dealer. I believe that you can have a good paint business and I am more than willing to spend my time to help you get it. NOTES: _______________________ __________________________________ _____________