Show DOLLAR MAKERS Telephone Ads Make Excellent sales combine by GEORGE T EAGER THE HE essence of good salesmanship is to make it easy for customers to buy but despite the fact that the number of telephone calls made each day exceeds the number of letters written each day many business men who advertise their goods or services fail to list their telephone number in advertisements circulars and letters A few days before last new years day the sales manager of an important book publishing company noticed a large display advertisement verti of a restaurant in the local newspaper of a small town in pennsylvania although most of the space was used to urge customers to telephone tele p hone their reservations for new years eve the restaurant failed to publish the very telephone number that customers were expected to call the sales manager had a good time showing the advertisement to business friends and commenting on the inefficiency of small town business bubines s men m e n his own duties involved the advertising of a set of reference books selling for several hundred dollars a set and directing a sales force of 80 salesmen to follow up the written requests for booklets describing the set s many of these inquiries came from children who could not buy and were therefore a constant cause of annoyance and wasted effort in the midst of his scoffing at the restaurant advertisement that carried no telephone number he suddenly realized that his own advertisements ti circulars and letters did not feature the telephone number of his own local office it was immediately added to his advertising he discovered that telephone inquiries about the reference books came only from interested people and resulted in a high percentage of sales he also found that although children may write for booklets they do not telephone tor for them A cause of wasted effort and expense was thus eliminated by featuring the telephone number bell syndicate service |