New St. Andrews College just participated in a clean up of downtown Moscow. Here's a silly poem about it:
Down the dusty sidewalk, carry we the
Bags, the black unsated bags with gaping
Lips, free, flapping in the wind that gather
Trash and every item out of station:
Cigarettes and wrappers, drinking straws and
Plastic sacks that cling to muddy corners,
All yield, to human tentacles, zealous
Fleshy fingers feeding laughing caverns.
Trowels fall and scrape the cracks where Dandy
Lions creep, a sword against unwieldy
Stems, wielded not in vain, for wilderness
Flees before us down beneath the pavement.
"What's the group you guys are with?" "St. Andrews
College...Your welcome!" That's our building there."
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Thursday, April 21, 2005
On Church Culture
This Sunday I will get to participate in "student hospitality lunches" here at Christ Church. Trinity Reformed Church is also involved, of course. And Collegiate Reformed Fellowship (CRF) plans the whole thing.
It struck me, why don't all churches do this, even if they are not in college towns. The connection between the youth and the adults of most churches is a little odd at best. Youth are delt with as a gaggle, rather than as individuals. They are hurded to Christian rock concerts or rallies where they are given pep talks. But why not have them meet a wide variety of adults in the church that are not their parents? What else could open up a young persons mind than to meet adults all serving the Lord in a variety of different lay occupations? What else could build a warmness of feeling between the generations?
Of course, if a town is not a college town, young people will likely be living at home, in which case whole families can simply invite over whole families. I guess the point is that parents need to be youth pastors, reaching out to the youth of other families in the church. That's the lesson I've learned from generous people in Moscow.
I wonder, what are the other distinctive aspects of our church's culture here in Moscow that you've thought of that you would like to export?
It struck me, why don't all churches do this, even if they are not in college towns. The connection between the youth and the adults of most churches is a little odd at best. Youth are delt with as a gaggle, rather than as individuals. They are hurded to Christian rock concerts or rallies where they are given pep talks. But why not have them meet a wide variety of adults in the church that are not their parents? What else could open up a young persons mind than to meet adults all serving the Lord in a variety of different lay occupations? What else could build a warmness of feeling between the generations?
Of course, if a town is not a college town, young people will likely be living at home, in which case whole families can simply invite over whole families. I guess the point is that parents need to be youth pastors, reaching out to the youth of other families in the church. That's the lesson I've learned from generous people in Moscow.
I wonder, what are the other distinctive aspects of our church's culture here in Moscow that you've thought of that you would like to export?
Being the Bug Guy - Part II
As Joe pointed out, my last post didn't have much about the actual art of selling pest control, because I was trying to start from the beginning and beginnings don't always seem much related to the point. They are, nevertheless, intimately related. The beginning of our discussion was the assertion that a pest control salesman, should not first ask, “How may I be successful,” but “what is my role as a pest control salesman.” In other words, there are any number of shameless and dishonest ways to make sales, but the salesman’s goal should be more than making sales. The salesman should be conscious of the role that they play in society and how their work is beneficial in God’s great scheme of human relationships. (Perhaps that seems rather impractical, but there is a practical reason to be thinking about such “great schemes.” Salesmen need confidence and the best way to be confident is to know that you are doing something right and good.)
But before we get to all that we shall consider the related question of “Why pest control is particularly suited to personal selling door-to-door?” The main reason for this and the reason which you keep in the back of your mind as you talk to customers is that it’s convenient for the company and therefore it saves money for both the company and the customer. I always say something like this:
“We’ll we’re going to be here tomorrow treating some of the neighbors homes and we can do you home at the same time.”
Notice that I don’t even need to say, at first, that they will save money; just the fact that it’s convenient for the company is a good enough excuse at first. Moreover, this is a true statement. It really is much more convenient for the company to sign up as many people as possible in the same area and the same time. And the only way to do this is with door-to-door salesmen. The unique marketing strategy is suited to the uniqueness of the pest control service.
A pest control company that wants to expand is confronted with a unique set of obstacles. Firstly, pest control companies have to employ technicians to do the actual work of spraying houses and brushing down spider webs. Pest control is a service and so what you actually sell is the time of your technicians divided up into chunks. Therefore in order to be profitable you need a steady stream of customers available at multiple times of the day to purchase these time slots. A second problem is transportation. Customers are spread out all over the place, but pest control guys do not get paid for traveling. If a pest control company was to advertise, not only would requests come at an unpredictable rate, but they would come in from all over the city, spreading their technicians out too far. Lastly, not all customers are actually profitable to have. Some don’t have very much money and default on their bills and yet they have lots of bug problems and are liable to take a lot of the technician’s time and materials. Hence the advantages of the door-to-door pest control salesman:
· We produce a steady stream of customers to fill time slots. It’s as simple as hiring about 2.5 salesmen for every technician.
· We produce customers within the limited area of wherever we are working, to minimize the technician’s drive time.
· Finally, we are able to target consumers in the right income bracket. People who have nice homes that they are trying to protect from bugs, rather than people who already have ant infested walls.
Now, do the customers need to know all this? No. But the salesman does need to know it, because, as we saw above, it becomes the basis for your pitch. It is the excuse for why you are in the neighborhood: “We’re just trying to treat as many of the neighborhood homes as we can while we’re here.” People understand that. In other words, not only does this selling strategy make sense to the company, it makes sense to the consumer. And that enables you to get a lot further with the intelligent, affluent customers, whom you are targeting.
Now to take a closer look at the sales pitch, in light of the above explanation for door-to-door sales in the pest control industry: The first thing out of your mouth, when someone opens the door to you and stares blank-faced in your direction, is a sort of excuse:
"Hi, I'm the bug guy."
There is an ingenious subtlety in that statement. Firstly, it’s an introduction and a modest one. You wouldn’t want to say, for example, “Hello, my name is Marty Becktell, I’m trying to pay for college and so I’m working for Safeguard pest control.” People do not care about your name when they first see you on their doorstep and they do not want to here first off that you’re basically looking for a handout. “Hi, I’m the bug guy,” tells them exactly who you are, and—this is the subtlety—it places you in a social class that’s lower than the person in the doorway, which makes them feel important, and yet it’s a confident assertion, like saying, “Hi, I’m superman.” You’re there to serve them and solve their problems. Most importantly, it offers an excuse as to why you’re knocking on their door; bug guys work in neighborhoods. (Admittedly, you, the salesman, are not a technitian, and most people know that from the start, but I still think its honest to say that you are “the bug guy” for these reasons: You work for and represent the pest control company; and, if you’re like me, you’ve tried your hand at the technitians job for a couple of days, so you know how to perform the service. You are a bug guy who sells.)
Typically, after you say, “Hi, I’m the bug guy,” you follow with, “Are you the homeowner?” To which they will either say “Yes” or they will go get the homeowner for you. It’s not very common for people to turn you down at this point.
After those introductions, I always begin my pitch with a question:
“Have you seen our trucks working in the neighborhood?”
This let’s them know that you are not just interested in spouting off, you’re going to carry on a conversation and they will have to be active in this conversation. But interestingly, this is also a sort of excuse: “I’m here because my trucks have been working in the neighborhood” is essentially what you’re saying. (Now, of course trucks don’t work themselves, the pest technician in the truck works, but I am being economical with my words and people usually notice trucks. Often they will turn their eyes to one side and try to think if they’ve seen our trucks.)
After they tell me whether they’ve seen our trucks or not, I tell them:
“We’ll we’re going to be here tomorrow treating some of the neighbors homes and we can do you home at the same time.”
Again, this sentence, is another subtle excuse for why I’m on their doorstep. I’m trying to save time. I’m efficient. I already do some of their neighbors homes. It’s really a very straightforward and simple pitch. That’s why it works for me!
Well, that’s enough for now. I’ve made the point that pest control service is a particularly logical product to sell door-to-door. Door-to-door is simply the quickest and surest way to build a customer base of qualified customers. Secondly understanding the corporate strategy behind this sales method helps you to be confident on the doors. There’s a good reason why you are in the neighborhood and you must subtly suggest this to your listeners. The whole first part of the sales pitch (in addition to being an honest straightforward explanation of what you are doing) is essentially offering the customer an excuse for why you’re knocking on their door.
But before we get to all that we shall consider the related question of “Why pest control is particularly suited to personal selling door-to-door?” The main reason for this and the reason which you keep in the back of your mind as you talk to customers is that it’s convenient for the company and therefore it saves money for both the company and the customer. I always say something like this:
“We’ll we’re going to be here tomorrow treating some of the neighbors homes and we can do you home at the same time.”
Notice that I don’t even need to say, at first, that they will save money; just the fact that it’s convenient for the company is a good enough excuse at first. Moreover, this is a true statement. It really is much more convenient for the company to sign up as many people as possible in the same area and the same time. And the only way to do this is with door-to-door salesmen. The unique marketing strategy is suited to the uniqueness of the pest control service.
A pest control company that wants to expand is confronted with a unique set of obstacles. Firstly, pest control companies have to employ technicians to do the actual work of spraying houses and brushing down spider webs. Pest control is a service and so what you actually sell is the time of your technicians divided up into chunks. Therefore in order to be profitable you need a steady stream of customers available at multiple times of the day to purchase these time slots. A second problem is transportation. Customers are spread out all over the place, but pest control guys do not get paid for traveling. If a pest control company was to advertise, not only would requests come at an unpredictable rate, but they would come in from all over the city, spreading their technicians out too far. Lastly, not all customers are actually profitable to have. Some don’t have very much money and default on their bills and yet they have lots of bug problems and are liable to take a lot of the technician’s time and materials. Hence the advantages of the door-to-door pest control salesman:
· We produce a steady stream of customers to fill time slots. It’s as simple as hiring about 2.5 salesmen for every technician.
· We produce customers within the limited area of wherever we are working, to minimize the technician’s drive time.
· Finally, we are able to target consumers in the right income bracket. People who have nice homes that they are trying to protect from bugs, rather than people who already have ant infested walls.
Now, do the customers need to know all this? No. But the salesman does need to know it, because, as we saw above, it becomes the basis for your pitch. It is the excuse for why you are in the neighborhood: “We’re just trying to treat as many of the neighborhood homes as we can while we’re here.” People understand that. In other words, not only does this selling strategy make sense to the company, it makes sense to the consumer. And that enables you to get a lot further with the intelligent, affluent customers, whom you are targeting.
Now to take a closer look at the sales pitch, in light of the above explanation for door-to-door sales in the pest control industry: The first thing out of your mouth, when someone opens the door to you and stares blank-faced in your direction, is a sort of excuse:
"Hi, I'm the bug guy."
There is an ingenious subtlety in that statement. Firstly, it’s an introduction and a modest one. You wouldn’t want to say, for example, “Hello, my name is Marty Becktell, I’m trying to pay for college and so I’m working for Safeguard pest control.” People do not care about your name when they first see you on their doorstep and they do not want to here first off that you’re basically looking for a handout. “Hi, I’m the bug guy,” tells them exactly who you are, and—this is the subtlety—it places you in a social class that’s lower than the person in the doorway, which makes them feel important, and yet it’s a confident assertion, like saying, “Hi, I’m superman.” You’re there to serve them and solve their problems. Most importantly, it offers an excuse as to why you’re knocking on their door; bug guys work in neighborhoods. (Admittedly, you, the salesman, are not a technitian, and most people know that from the start, but I still think its honest to say that you are “the bug guy” for these reasons: You work for and represent the pest control company; and, if you’re like me, you’ve tried your hand at the technitians job for a couple of days, so you know how to perform the service. You are a bug guy who sells.)
Typically, after you say, “Hi, I’m the bug guy,” you follow with, “Are you the homeowner?” To which they will either say “Yes” or they will go get the homeowner for you. It’s not very common for people to turn you down at this point.
After those introductions, I always begin my pitch with a question:
“Have you seen our trucks working in the neighborhood?”
This let’s them know that you are not just interested in spouting off, you’re going to carry on a conversation and they will have to be active in this conversation. But interestingly, this is also a sort of excuse: “I’m here because my trucks have been working in the neighborhood” is essentially what you’re saying. (Now, of course trucks don’t work themselves, the pest technician in the truck works, but I am being economical with my words and people usually notice trucks. Often they will turn their eyes to one side and try to think if they’ve seen our trucks.)
After they tell me whether they’ve seen our trucks or not, I tell them:
“We’ll we’re going to be here tomorrow treating some of the neighbors homes and we can do you home at the same time.”
Again, this sentence, is another subtle excuse for why I’m on their doorstep. I’m trying to save time. I’m efficient. I already do some of their neighbors homes. It’s really a very straightforward and simple pitch. That’s why it works for me!
Well, that’s enough for now. I’ve made the point that pest control service is a particularly logical product to sell door-to-door. Door-to-door is simply the quickest and surest way to build a customer base of qualified customers. Secondly understanding the corporate strategy behind this sales method helps you to be confident on the doors. There’s a good reason why you are in the neighborhood and you must subtly suggest this to your listeners. The whole first part of the sales pitch (in addition to being an honest straightforward explanation of what you are doing) is essentially offering the customer an excuse for why you’re knocking on their door.
Friday, April 15, 2005
Hey Cousins!
I just sent out the link to my Herbert W. Butt paper to your parents and hopefully they sent it on to you guys, so I'm courious to know what your reactions are. Anyway, if you have any, feel free to put them here in the comments or write to me, my email address is in the side bar. Thanks!
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Worthwhile movie: Hotel Rwanda
The guy on the left is Paul Rusesabagina, whose harrowing escape from Rwanda during the genocide is told in the movie Hotel Rwanda. On the right is director Terry George.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Spiritual and Physical Things
Joshua Apple, the NSA teacher currently in charge of the sophomore class declamation, required us to prepare a presentation on what fascinates us most. Not surprisingly, what interests me is partly derived from my father's personality. My dad is a great guy and so it is my hope that the following will honor him.
My father is a skilled engineer. For example, he was influential in developing a new kind of water cooling system for plastic injection molds. He designs the kind of plastic parts that you and I use every day, like the keyboards you type on or the plastic cup you drink from. He is not a reader of literature, which is why I was interested the other day to look in the storage closet, where he keeps his hunting gear and plethora of rugged old coats and vests, and wool pants and boots, and to see nine novels by Louis L'Amor. So I read one of those novels about Barnabus Sackett, who came to America and made a new life for himself, and I realized that this man is my father. He is the hero of the Louis L'Amor novels, the man who can handle ever situation, who can get himself out of tight fixes and do things with his hands and make things work. My dad knows how to do things that I may never do. He built our 3000 square foot house and he bought a bright red 1974 Ford Pickup and took the engine completely apart and laid every part on the driveway on a big tarp in an orderly fashion, like an expanded puzzle, every gasket and bolt and piston and piston rod, every washer and filter and belt and hose, and then he put it back together again and it worked and it still works.
There was one other book that I found on my Father's shelf, and which contained within that topic that I am very interested in, a topic that you might not suspect would be in a book like this. The book is See Without Glasses by Ralph J. MacFadyen, written in 1958. And the topic is the intimate relation between spiritual and physical things. (Now, my intention is not to discuss the merit of the claim that one can see without glasses, but I found the book philosophically interesting. Neither do I think that the book is representative of the views of my father, who is a Christian and not inclined to believe silly popular gospels--except my father is a problem solver and he must have bought this book with a mind to see better. And I think there is something to be learned from that.)
MacFadyen is a modernist, a materialist, who no longer believes in transcendent salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet he still believes in redemption. His life is irreversibly impacted by the story of the gospel, although not Christ Himself. He presents the optometrist's gospel:
And yet I believe that this silly little self improvement book contains some valuable information about mortifying the flesh, about disciplining our eyes. There is a reason that the Bible speaks of Salvation in terms of seeing and hearing. At NSA, we like metaphors. Well then, if it is true that seeing is a metaphor for seeing God, then disciplining your sight is a way of drawing closer to God. And helping others to see physically, as an optometrist, for example, is a great service to God. And this all goes to show the intimate relation between physical and spiritual things. A relationship, which should give us no cause for concern, because Christ has descended to earth to eat with men and heal our diseases. We are all priests in Christ Jesus. And the engineer, who works with the material world, is no less a servant of Christ than the man of liberal arts, who works with ideas and lesson plans. In fact, we all need to become engineers in the sense that we eagerly engage with the material surroundings that God has given us.
My father is a skilled engineer. For example, he was influential in developing a new kind of water cooling system for plastic injection molds. He designs the kind of plastic parts that you and I use every day, like the keyboards you type on or the plastic cup you drink from. He is not a reader of literature, which is why I was interested the other day to look in the storage closet, where he keeps his hunting gear and plethora of rugged old coats and vests, and wool pants and boots, and to see nine novels by Louis L'Amor. So I read one of those novels about Barnabus Sackett, who came to America and made a new life for himself, and I realized that this man is my father. He is the hero of the Louis L'Amor novels, the man who can handle ever situation, who can get himself out of tight fixes and do things with his hands and make things work. My dad knows how to do things that I may never do. He built our 3000 square foot house and he bought a bright red 1974 Ford Pickup and took the engine completely apart and laid every part on the driveway on a big tarp in an orderly fashion, like an expanded puzzle, every gasket and bolt and piston and piston rod, every washer and filter and belt and hose, and then he put it back together again and it worked and it still works.
There was one other book that I found on my Father's shelf, and which contained within that topic that I am very interested in, a topic that you might not suspect would be in a book like this. The book is See Without Glasses by Ralph J. MacFadyen, written in 1958. And the topic is the intimate relation between spiritual and physical things. (Now, my intention is not to discuss the merit of the claim that one can see without glasses, but I found the book philosophically interesting. Neither do I think that the book is representative of the views of my father, who is a Christian and not inclined to believe silly popular gospels--except my father is a problem solver and he must have bought this book with a mind to see better. And I think there is something to be learned from that.)
MacFadyen is a modernist, a materialist, who no longer believes in transcendent salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet he still believes in redemption. His life is irreversibly impacted by the story of the gospel, although not Christ Himself. He presents the optometrist's gospel:
It is interesting to observe the effect of the eyes on the personality. The more relaxed the eyes, the more relaxed and likeable a person becomes. Strain and tension are contagious, and the person whose face gives evidence of them creates about him an atmosphere of tension. When you have achieved relaxation of mental strain and when the blood circulates freely through the eyes and head, evidences of facial tension disappear. The eyes open more widely, deepen in color, regain a sparkle, and lose their fixed, staring appearance. Tension vanishes from round your mouth and forehead...MacFadyen's gospel is thus: Get busy seeing or get busy daydreaming. Get busy living or get busy dying. That is the optometrist's gospel: salvation means learning how to see. And it is easy for people to be deceived by this sort of thing, because the Bible, too, is a book about seeing: The Lord spake to Isaiah, "Go and tell this people: Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." But as, Douglas Wilson is fond of saying, there is no virtue in a transitive verb. It does not matter whether we see, but who we see. David writes, And I--in righteousness--I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness" (Psalm 17:15). Only those who see their own sin and salvation in Christ Jesus will be saved.
At the outset you must understand that you are not the victim of your eye condition; the eye condition is a victim of your own mind. The extent of your visual improvement rests primarily with you, with the application and the mental alertness you apply in the course of the [eye] drills, and with the extent of your own inner desire to see.
"But," you protest impatiently, "naturally I want to see."
And yet the daydreamer--and you may be one--is a person who, in his profound heart, prefers not to see reality and substitutes his dreams; and daydreaming results in a lack of focus that is actually harmful to the vision. A dreamer generally fixes his gaze on some immovable object, thus fixing the extrinsic muscles of the eyeball and causing a strain. In other words, he is a great starer. While you do your daydreaming, close your eyes and let them rest.
And yet I believe that this silly little self improvement book contains some valuable information about mortifying the flesh, about disciplining our eyes. There is a reason that the Bible speaks of Salvation in terms of seeing and hearing. At NSA, we like metaphors. Well then, if it is true that seeing is a metaphor for seeing God, then disciplining your sight is a way of drawing closer to God. And helping others to see physically, as an optometrist, for example, is a great service to God. And this all goes to show the intimate relation between physical and spiritual things. A relationship, which should give us no cause for concern, because Christ has descended to earth to eat with men and heal our diseases. We are all priests in Christ Jesus. And the engineer, who works with the material world, is no less a servant of Christ than the man of liberal arts, who works with ideas and lesson plans. In fact, we all need to become engineers in the sense that we eagerly engage with the material surroundings that God has given us.
Herbert W. Butt
Recently my history teacher here at New St. Andrews College assigned an “oral history project,” which required us students to interview our grandparents and collect articles contemporary to events in their lives. The following paper on Herbert W. Butt is the result of my research.
http://free.hostdepartment.com/m/martinbecktell/index.htm
Herbert is my mom’s dad. He was pastor of Reformed persuasion. In fact, his theology is very similar to what I have come to imbibe here at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. He had ten kids and loved mountains and sacred music and the Word of God. I wish I could have met him! Thanks to all my Aunts and Uncles for your recollections. I hope that this paper will be of service to all Herbert’s descendents and I invite your feedback.
http://free.hostdepartment.com/m/martinbecktell/index.htm
Herbert is my mom’s dad. He was pastor of Reformed persuasion. In fact, his theology is very similar to what I have come to imbibe here at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. He had ten kids and loved mountains and sacred music and the Word of God. I wish I could have met him! Thanks to all my Aunts and Uncles for your recollections. I hope that this paper will be of service to all Herbert’s descendents and I invite your feedback.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Easter Vigil
I recently went to an Episcopal Easter service at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Voices were hushed as we entered and the only light came from the rich blues and reds of the stain-glass windows. Finally a procession came in with a candle, which lit all the other candles and finally the lights of the church were turned up all the way as we sang songs about the risen Lord. Prudentious, a poet who lived at the beginning of the 5th century, mentions the custom of the Easter Vigil in the fifth poem of his Liber Cathemarinon. This is the translation of my Latin teacher, Miss Miller:
We prolong the night with pious joys in ourIt was good to experience such an ancient tradition. I also met Bishop James E. Waggoner, who is bishop of the area extending from the cascades in Washington and including Northern Idaho and part of Montana as well. When I asked him for a doctrinal statement, he gave me a 1977 Book of Common Prayer. He was very hospitable to all of us visitors from NSA and Christ Church, who comprised no small portion of the people in attendance that night.
Festal gatherings, and earnestly heap up
Propitious requests with vigilant prayer,
And present libations on the lofty altar.
Being the Bug Guy - Part I
It has been my intention for quite some time to offer some written advice about the art of selling pest control. Calling it "art" strikes me as a bit funny, since it most often feels like mere work—and grueling work at that; However, considering that we are all God's artwork and reflect his glory, the pest control salesman, like an architect or the church organist must live up to his role in the design of God. This is a Christian way of approaching this topic: The aspiring pest control salesman, or any salesman, should not first ask, "How may I be successful?" but instead, "what is my role as a pest control salesman?"
Firstly, to consider that role broadly, the pest control salesman is engaged in a division of marketing called "personal selling." Personal selling has many advantages over advertising and is suited to particular products and services. For example, the business my father works for, Altec Machining and Molds, is not likely to pay for television space to advertise their newest liquid-cooled molding service for making plastic parts. There are at least a couple reasons for this: They would be telling far more people about the molds than who actually want to know about them. The masses of consumers are interested in buying various plastic products, not in making plastic things themselves. So the audience of the add is too broad. Secondly, a television add, or even an add in the paper is not capable of delivering all the details of such a complicated service. For these two reasons alone, personal selling is essential in the plastic-injection molding business. Actual people are needed to go make relationships with other business people and explain Altec's products and services.
But while intra-business personal selling is accepted as normal, personal selling to individual consumers is looked upon with more suspicion. And I think there are good reasons for this. In our age of mechanized, mass production, whatever products we need for comfortable living are available at whichever retail chain is in ascendancy--and at a very low price, compared to what the same product would cost if made in a pre-industrial society. Therefore, the peddler of wares for the home must convince people that his product is either so unique that it can't be found in stores, or that it is of such quality, that it would be too expensive if sold in stores. The peddler’s argument is essentially that (1) ordinary people aren't educated enough to know that they need this product or (2) ordinary people aren't educated enough to know that they need a product of this quality.
There is both truth and falsehood in these statements. First the truth: I learned when I was in Amway that countless millions of tons of water are needlessly transported from factories to stores, because when ordinary consumers choose a product like laundry detergent, they pick it based on its price and quantity. A concentrated laundry detergent, one with less water in it, just doesn't sell as well, because people have to be educated to know that it's just as good and better for the environment (since it’s easier to ship). It doesn't follow that Amway detergent is the one to buy, but the Amway people have made a good point. Rainbow vacuums are another great example. These water filtering vacuums—speaking of the type of vacuum, not just a brand name—truly function better. They don't let any dust through them at all. And they never need filters. But they will probably never sell well in stores because they're icky to use. A salesman has to take you by the hand and empty the first fuzz-and-hair-filled, muddy mess for you in order for you to get used to the idea. By far the best candidates for personally sold products are health products, like dietary supplements, because of the vast variety of these products and their complicated features. Doctors (whether traditional, chiropractic or naturopathic) are some of the biggest hucksters around. They simply rely on their ethos to sell you drugs and vitamins that you may or may not need. But just because doctors abuse their inflated ethos doesn't mean that they aren't needed as personal sellers of health products.
Now for the falsehood in the peddlers argument: The critique of that argument, that "ordinary people aren't educated enough to know that they need this product," is that most ordinary products are good enough. While it is true that many Wal-Mart products appeal to the lowest-common-denominator consumer, many of them meet a standard quality that is good enough. Suppose it is true that the peddler’s product is better. That doesn't mean that it is worth the price that the peddler is asking. Cutco Cutlery is a good example. When I was selling these knives, both my customers and I were convinced that they were the best knives in the world. Why else would Cutco offer the "Forever Guarantee?" But every once in a while I would meet someone who would look at me in disbelief: Why would I want to buy these knives for $750, he might say, when I can go down to the store and buy a set with similar features (hard, stainless-steel blades and composite, dishwasher-safe handles) for about one fifth the price? "Ah," I would respond knowingly, "but the knives in the store do not have the Double-DTM edge." I resorted to the gimmick and many times this convinced people. (The Double-DTM edge stayed sharp for about seven years on average and then the company would sharpen the knives for free, provided you paid the shipping and handling.) But, again, every once in a while, someone would explain that they didn't need the Double-D edge, because they knew how to sharpen their knives. These people always bugged me. Looking back, I see that it was because they were right. And they finally sold me on the truth: People do have a lot of dull, ugly knives, but they don't need to spend $750 to fix this problem. They merely need to buy a set that is good enough and that has sharpenable, not serrated edges.
So, while there are some products that people need to be educated about, like dietary supplements, which truly fit the bill for something to be sold personally, many others are just gimmicks. In the case of Cutco, people are being educated, but of the wrong thing. They should be shown how to select a decent set of knives and keep them sharp, but there's no money in that!
And now to return to the thesis of this article. A pest control salesmen is a type of personal seller and, as such, he ought to be aware of the legitimate and honest uses of personal selling and the great many gimmicky, dishonest uses of it as well. Salesmen, particularly salesmen who sell to average individual consumers, do not have a good reputation and this is for good reason: Many products, like Cutco Cutlery, sell by virtue of their marketing scheme and not by the virtue of their quality considered in relation to their price. Fortunately, pest control is one of those products that is a logical one to consider selling personally, as opposed to with advertising, and consider it we shall in the next installment of this discussion.
Firstly, to consider that role broadly, the pest control salesman is engaged in a division of marketing called "personal selling." Personal selling has many advantages over advertising and is suited to particular products and services. For example, the business my father works for, Altec Machining and Molds, is not likely to pay for television space to advertise their newest liquid-cooled molding service for making plastic parts. There are at least a couple reasons for this: They would be telling far more people about the molds than who actually want to know about them. The masses of consumers are interested in buying various plastic products, not in making plastic things themselves. So the audience of the add is too broad. Secondly, a television add, or even an add in the paper is not capable of delivering all the details of such a complicated service. For these two reasons alone, personal selling is essential in the plastic-injection molding business. Actual people are needed to go make relationships with other business people and explain Altec's products and services.
But while intra-business personal selling is accepted as normal, personal selling to individual consumers is looked upon with more suspicion. And I think there are good reasons for this. In our age of mechanized, mass production, whatever products we need for comfortable living are available at whichever retail chain is in ascendancy--and at a very low price, compared to what the same product would cost if made in a pre-industrial society. Therefore, the peddler of wares for the home must convince people that his product is either so unique that it can't be found in stores, or that it is of such quality, that it would be too expensive if sold in stores. The peddler’s argument is essentially that (1) ordinary people aren't educated enough to know that they need this product or (2) ordinary people aren't educated enough to know that they need a product of this quality.
There is both truth and falsehood in these statements. First the truth: I learned when I was in Amway that countless millions of tons of water are needlessly transported from factories to stores, because when ordinary consumers choose a product like laundry detergent, they pick it based on its price and quantity. A concentrated laundry detergent, one with less water in it, just doesn't sell as well, because people have to be educated to know that it's just as good and better for the environment (since it’s easier to ship). It doesn't follow that Amway detergent is the one to buy, but the Amway people have made a good point. Rainbow vacuums are another great example. These water filtering vacuums—speaking of the type of vacuum, not just a brand name—truly function better. They don't let any dust through them at all. And they never need filters. But they will probably never sell well in stores because they're icky to use. A salesman has to take you by the hand and empty the first fuzz-and-hair-filled, muddy mess for you in order for you to get used to the idea. By far the best candidates for personally sold products are health products, like dietary supplements, because of the vast variety of these products and their complicated features. Doctors (whether traditional, chiropractic or naturopathic) are some of the biggest hucksters around. They simply rely on their ethos to sell you drugs and vitamins that you may or may not need. But just because doctors abuse their inflated ethos doesn't mean that they aren't needed as personal sellers of health products.
Now for the falsehood in the peddlers argument: The critique of that argument, that "ordinary people aren't educated enough to know that they need this product," is that most ordinary products are good enough. While it is true that many Wal-Mart products appeal to the lowest-common-denominator consumer, many of them meet a standard quality that is good enough. Suppose it is true that the peddler’s product is better. That doesn't mean that it is worth the price that the peddler is asking. Cutco Cutlery is a good example. When I was selling these knives, both my customers and I were convinced that they were the best knives in the world. Why else would Cutco offer the "Forever Guarantee?" But every once in a while I would meet someone who would look at me in disbelief: Why would I want to buy these knives for $750, he might say, when I can go down to the store and buy a set with similar features (hard, stainless-steel blades and composite, dishwasher-safe handles) for about one fifth the price? "Ah," I would respond knowingly, "but the knives in the store do not have the Double-DTM edge." I resorted to the gimmick and many times this convinced people. (The Double-DTM edge stayed sharp for about seven years on average and then the company would sharpen the knives for free, provided you paid the shipping and handling.) But, again, every once in a while, someone would explain that they didn't need the Double-D edge, because they knew how to sharpen their knives. These people always bugged me. Looking back, I see that it was because they were right. And they finally sold me on the truth: People do have a lot of dull, ugly knives, but they don't need to spend $750 to fix this problem. They merely need to buy a set that is good enough and that has sharpenable, not serrated edges.
So, while there are some products that people need to be educated about, like dietary supplements, which truly fit the bill for something to be sold personally, many others are just gimmicks. In the case of Cutco, people are being educated, but of the wrong thing. They should be shown how to select a decent set of knives and keep them sharp, but there's no money in that!
And now to return to the thesis of this article. A pest control salesmen is a type of personal seller and, as such, he ought to be aware of the legitimate and honest uses of personal selling and the great many gimmicky, dishonest uses of it as well. Salesmen, particularly salesmen who sell to average individual consumers, do not have a good reputation and this is for good reason: Many products, like Cutco Cutlery, sell by virtue of their marketing scheme and not by the virtue of their quality considered in relation to their price. Fortunately, pest control is one of those products that is a logical one to consider selling personally, as opposed to with advertising, and consider it we shall in the next installment of this discussion.
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