If You Only Knew

By Jack Dionne

There are myriads of lumber dealers in this country today who are spending a lot of good thinking energy wondering what sort of a fall business they are going to have.

They arc most interestedly curious to know who is going to build, and whcn, and of what, and whcther or not thesc prospective builders will give *rese wondering dealers a shot at their bill when they get it ready, and yet- ihey are mide up of the folks who need an additional bath in the house;_or a modern-bath to replace thi old-fashioned one; or who feel thc need of a bath and toilet downstairs as an additional comiort in the home; who havi discovered how inadequate their closet space in the house is, and wonder how they may enlarge and improve it; who have discovered that the growing family b4ve made the sleeping-roonis morJ and mce inadequate, and wonder how they may solve the problem; or who havin'ia full length mirror in the house (there are thousands of these ever5rwhere) and mother and the growing girls feel the need keenly; or folks who have worked over the old floors hundreds of times with mop and polish, and haven't quite discovered that beautiful nsn floors could be taid right over them quickly, easily, and at reasonable total expense; or people who fight the moth and roach cvil in their closets and would be deligfrted if someone told them what cedar lin. ing could be placed in those closets for; or maybe they are people who built the old kind of porch years ago, that could be delighdully transformed into a modern porch by someone that had the ideas and the material; or it may be the folks who continually feel the need of a guest room, but haven't the faintest idea how to go at the work of creating one out of the space and opportunity they have; perhaps the old folding or sliding doors into the dining room are antiquated, and should bc replaced with a simple archway; a sun parlor, glassed in, might do wonders to this house or that, and stuck onto somc side or end or angle of the old home in an attractive as well as practical manner; or-but why try to list them?

If these same dealers-not SOME of thern, but EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM<nly knew the numbcr of people in THEIR respective selling districts who actually NEED some of the materials and thc building service and building assistance that they have to offer, that knowledge alone would mean prosperity to the dealer for this fall season.

If they only knewl But usually they don't Usually these numerous needs, big and little, great and small, but all of them actual needs that may easily be ranslated into building THINGS, go from the fall into winter in their original stat+unfulfilled needs.

It doesn't make any difference where the place is, or what the conditions are in that place, there are ALWAYS numerous-often innumerabl+places where people NEED building material and building SERVICE.

- They are NOT the kind of prospects that the dealer has in mind when he says to himself: "I wonder -who will build this fall?" They do NOT include the fcllow who is planning a home, or a barn, or doubling the size of his house, or building an apartment, or things of that ki!d.

There isn't a home in the land--+xcept possibly those just completed-that don't actudly NEED YOU, Mr. Building Merchant.

Thcy need you this fall, and they will need you in the winter. In the spring it will be no different.

That is, they need someone to do their building T'HINKING for them. Is that YOU, or isn't it?

The above list of suggestions is only a f6y gsade at random. Every home will furnish many othcrs. Every dealcr can add a hundred to that list.

And every dealer will freely admit that if he ONLY KNEW a list of that sort of needs in his town, hc would get rich supplying them.

Then, since there is evidently a business gold mine at your door, it would seem that the way to make business good is to go about discovcring ways and means for locating and supplying these prospects.

How? That question has been answered from various angles, in a multitude of ways, ever since this paper has been in existence. No one can lay dlwn a set of rules that apply to each town, and to cach dealer. THAT is what GOD gave you your brains for.

If all you have to do as a building rnerchant is keep a stock of materials, and dole them out to those who come asking for bids, prices and assistance, then God needn't have wasted human intelligence on yorl.

A monkey could do that sort of work about as well as a manl

-B"t-ih;;e"ti"" s*i"r i;rorigr to -;;tt -;;e li iou h";;t put it to work !n YouR business it is high time YOU began EVOLUTING.

How? Why, in every way at your oommand. By eternal vigilance. By a never-sleeping brain. By an ever-active notebook. By asking questions galore, and asking them intelligently. By a figuring pencil that gets somewherc. By a displayed interest in the other fellow that will win his confidence and admiration if properly presented to him. By advertising, soliciting, displaying, discerning, distributing, disposing of your goods and service.

You will never do it if you sit in your yard bl the side of a road and wait for a chance to sell something, You havc got to take your tow'n under your business wing, and nursc and nurture it. You have got to establish yoursclf as the building specialist of that district whose stewardship is of so useful and splendid a character that people will be delighted to have you pry into their afrairs because they will undcrstand that your prying is for their benefit primarily.

You can ask anything, suggest anything, try to sell anything on earth to the man who knows your intcrest aims at HIS bctterment.

I know a firm that in the past year tried house-to-house selling of building materials. The solicitors made money for the firm and money for themselves, but the manager of the firm declared to me that the prospect list, with detailed information which those solicitors have created, is worth more than the entire sum paid out to them for their efforts.

I have hcard the same thing before.

House-to-house canvassirtg isn't suitable to all men and places and conditions. I merely refer to it in this instance. But the average lumber dealer ought to be doing several times as much EXPLORING FOR BUSINESS as he does.

That kind of exploring always pays.

If you only knew what a wonderful thing it would be to your business, you would begin your fall campaign to line ug discover, segregate and sell all these PASSM prospects we have been discussmg.

For PASSIVE PROSPECTS will bring POSITM PROSPERITY.