I just bought an interesting auction lot consisting of two oddball items related to Babe Ruth and, of all things, milk!
The first item is a rare 1924 milk salesman’s manual that features Babe Ruth. The manual is loaded with data on milk designed to educate the milk salesman on all he needs to know to master the dairy product for house-to-house selling. For example, did you know that a sheep will return only 2.6 pounds of edible food solids, while a dairy cow returns 18.1 pounds? You get the idea.
The 96-page leather bound 5-inch-by-7-inch publication is in excellent condition.
The second item is milk bottle from the 1930s. It’s a Sunnyhurst Dairy Farms bottle with a picture of “The Babe” and his bat on the bottle proclaiming the brand as “Babe’s Choice.” The condition of the bottle is virtually perfect. And given Babe’s reputation for alcohol consumption, it’s an interesting combination of Ruthian by-products.
In less than 1 minute after I began reading the sales training manual, I realized this 84-year-old manual was right on the money. They were literally teaching milk salesmen how to milk their customers – but in a quality, value-based, truthful and expert way.
The foreword begins, “This book contains the latest information on the most successful method of milk salesmanship. Read and study this book carefully and you will be a better salesman as a result. Do not attempt to read it through at one time. Read only a little at a time, think over carefully what you have read, and go out and apply the principles learned.
“This book should be your constant companion, a ready reference book to consult often. Study the principles laid out in this book and you will be preparing yourself rapidly for a bigger job.”
And here is some additional content from the manual:
Manual for Milk Salesman
Salesmanship consists of three things:
1st – Knowing your merchandise.
2nd – Knowing your customer.
3rd – Knowing yourself.
There are several definitions of salesmanship, any one of which might serve your purpose.
DEFINITION NO. 1
Salesmanship is persuading the customer to get your viewpoint.
DEFINTION NO. 2
(With the seven P’s) Salesmanship is the power to persuade plenty of people to purchase your product at a profit.
DEFINITION NO. 3
Salesmanship is a mental picture – creating power that results in persuasion.
Salesmanship is rapidly growing in importance because the big problem in industry now is not how to produce merchandise, but how to sell and distribute merchandise.
Salesmanship is one of the biggest jobs in the world. The Doctor has to employ salesmanship methods or he doesn’t do much of a business. The Preacher has to employ salesmanship methods or he will soon be talking to empty benches. The school teacher must be a salesman and sell the pupils on the importance of knowledge, and what it means when coupled with character, or he will be a failure and will soon be looking elsewhere for a job.
An attractive business-getting salesman is a combination of three factors:
One – neat, clean attractive dress.
Two – A healthy body.
Three – A combination of certain qualities, such as enthusiasm, honesty, tact, self-command, courtesy, cheerfulness, promptness, memory, sympathy and initiative.
Be enthusiastic.
Be sincere.
Be yourself.
Be honest.
Be cheerful and courteous.
Be prompt.
Believe in yourself.
Cultivate constructive thought.
Put your heart in your work.
In selling, forget yourself. Self-consciousness spoils a man’s manner. Think not of yourself but of the things you’re trying to impress upon the prospect. Cultivate a pleasing personality and an earnest, confident manner. These qualities combined with the proper degree of enthusiasm and forcefulness command attention, create confidence, and hold interest.
Get it? Other than some gender and syntax, this manual could have been written yesterday. And there is more – 95 pages of ideas and nuances to help the milk salesman of his day sell more milk, and retain customers.
They even used third-party endorsements with claims that milk helped make them the success that they were. Babe Ruth (baseball) and Johnny Weismuller (Olympic swimmer, later Tarzan in the movies). They showed kids, dogs and every possible example of why you’ll be healthier and a better achiever WITH milk, and a scrawny failure without it.
It also talks about the importance of service and how it’s tied to success. The manual gives a formula: QUALITY (excellence of service) plus QUANTITY (the amount of service rendered) plus MODE (manner of conduct in rendering service). Try that today.
It always amazes me that old information is pretty much new. Other than the car, the cell phone, the television, the laptop and the Internet, things are pretty much the same.
Want more? The manual lists the 15 reasons that salesmen fail, and there’s a small page that sends a tribute to the working salesperson – regardless of gender or affiliation. To get the list, go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and enter the word “milk” in the GitBit box. •
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book of Selling. President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service at www.trainone.com. He can be reached at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com
