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A Collection of 333 Successful Ways of Getting Business:

Selling by Mail

The opportunities for extending trade offered by a mail order department are so great that it is surprising that more stores do not sell goods by correspondence. The cost of adding and maintaining a mail order department is small, and if managed properly the returns are sure, but in spite of the fact that there is so little to risk and so much to gain, not one merchant out of a dozen attempts to sell goods by mail. One reason for this is because people have been accustomed to associating mail order houses with large cities. The average merchant doing business in a city of moderate size has got the impression that a successful mail order business is possible only in one of the big centers like New York, Chicago or Philadelphia. Others think that it is useless to attempt a mail order business because of the nearness of some large city. Both of these views are erroneous. The following article, describing the mail order department of H. S. Norwell Co.'s store, in Nashua, N. H., is of unusual interest because this store has developed a splendid mail business in the face of what would appear to be most adverse circumstances. 40. A Mail Order Department Nashua, with a population of only about 25,000, is so situated with reference to much larger cities that at first glance it would seem that a store located there would have but a slim chance to sell goods by mail. Boston, with its big stores, is only 40 miles away, and within a radius of 15 miles are Lowell, Mass., 100,000; Lawrence, Mass., 65,000; and Manchester, N. H., 60,000. All of these big cities have many good stores that are hustling for business and are helped by low fares and numerous trains on railroads and trolley lines, yet the Norwell store is more than holding its own. Mr. R. E. Steed, superintendent of the store, tells of the mail order business as follows: Our mail order department was started about two years ago with less than fifty names on our books. Now, hardly a week passes that we do not send out from 1,500 to 1,800 letters, trade bulletins or similar matter, with samples either from one department or another, of some great leader. It is very exceptional when we do not get good results from the same. The number of letters with orders we have received during last year has been phenomenal considering the size and population of the small towns that surround us and the fact that we are only 40 miles from Boston. In getting names of profitable people as our correspondents, we have tried a number of different methods, and find that a system of follow-up letters is the only means we can use where the benefits derived are in our favor. We have had splendid results from the careful use of personal letters. We use trade bulletins to a considerable extent, but few form letters. Almost invariably we send personal letters. These, whenever it is possible, are signed by some salesperson who has an acquaintance with the person addressed. We believe that this gives to the letter a personal quality which has a great deal of weight with the trade. We began by sending letters to the very few people whose names appeared on our books. To these we sent samples of merchandise that were cither better goods for the same money, or the same goods for less money than they could buy elsewhere. This one thing alone has been a great help to us. We also enclose with every piece of mail sent out the slip which is reproduced here. This slip, which is folded once, is about the size of a sheet of note paper. The first page has instructions for ordering, etc., and blanks for name and address. The second page is an order blank and the third has a number of lines that customers are requested to fill in with new names. On the back is a list of the various departments of the store. These forms have been a great help in building up our mail order department. Through them a great many desirable new names have been added to the mailing list, for a customer will frequently send in the names of several friends. Another means we have of getting new names is to send return postcards to some of our best customers requesting that they send in the names of a few of their friends whose names they would like to have placed on our mailing list. Or follow up system is very simple and it does not take long to tell whether they are going to be profitable or not. When we send out samples either to a new name or in response to a request for them, we wait for a week or ten days for a reply. If none comes, we write a letter to the person asking her to give us reasons why we have not received an order. In many cases we make apologies for ourselves, perhaps thinking the goods may not be right, or the prices or something of that kind. In all instances we ask for criticisms. Usually we write to these people three or four times. If we get no reply their names are dropped from our mailing list and others are put on in their place. A good stenographer is essential in this work. When mail orders are received the time of their receipt is stamped in one corner with a time stamp and the time that they are filled is stamped in another corner. Before we go any further the young lady in charge of the mail order department takes the letters directly to the heads of departments who fill the orders to the best of satisfaction. Of course the heads of departments give their best attention to mail orders, as they are selling their own goods and hope to benefit their departments. In addition to the mail orders they bring in, the letters sent out also bring a great many people to the store. Special sales and important events of all kinds are advertised in this way in addition to liberal newspaper advertising. The advertisement reproduced here is typical of the Norwell store. It is reduced from a full newspaper page that was used on the occasion of an annual silk sale in January. This advertisement with a lot of letters sent out by the mail order department resulted in the largest day without exception that the store has ever known in a silk sale. One of the letters sent out at this time is among those which follow. Small catalogues are also used on special occasions such as Christmas. A very good one was used two years ago to advertise toys, etc. The letters and "Trade Bulletins" that follow are fair specimens of those sent out by this store. They are interesting for several reasons. In the first place they are remarkably good letters—decidedly well written and convincing. They show the kind of goods that are pushed and when they are pushed. The dates cover all season of the year. Almost all of them were accompanied by samples as is indicated by the text. Every one of these letters is in itself a first class advertisement. The letters reproduced here are not intended to show the follow-up system, but merely to illustrate the kinds used for various occasions. Extracted from "A Collection of 333 Successful Ways of Getting Business". Download the complete ebook from SuccessEsource.com for $5 (PDF format).

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