Just as a retail merchant should consult with his clerks about what he
should buy, so, likewise, should the head of the wholesale house find
out from his men on the road what they think will sell best. The
salesman rubs up against the consumer and knows at first hand what the
customer actually wants.

When the head of a house has a man to hire, the first man he looks for
is one who has an established trade in the territory to be covered--a
trade in his line of business. A house I have in mind which, ten years
ago, was one of the top notchers in this country, has gone almost to
the foot of the class because the "old man" who hired and handled the
salesmen in that house died and was succeeded by younger heads not
nearly so wise.

The _still hunt_ was the old man's method. When he needed a salesman
for a territory he would go out somewhere in that territory himself
and feel about for a man. He would usually make friends with the
merchants and find out from them the names of the best men on the
road and his chances for getting one of them. The merchants, you know,
can always spot the bright salesmen. When they rub up against them a
few times they know the sort of mettle they are made of. The merchant
appreciates the bright salesman whether he does business with him or
not and the salesman who is a man will always find welcome under the
merchant's roof. Salesmen are the teachers of the merchant, and the
merchant knows this. Whenever he is planning to change locations,
build a new store, move to some other town, put in a new department,
or make any business change whatsoever, it is with traveling men that
he consults. They can tell him whether or not the new location will be
a good one and they can tell him if the new department which he is
figuring on starting is proving profitable over the country in