Insurance is not issued on sickly persons, weak buildings nor on inferior vehicles. It is because our vehicles are so well made that insurance is permitted."
This makes a convincing talking point, particularly to the man who is not familiar with accident indemnity, and to the young man who is about to buy a "rig" in which he may attempt to demonstrate that no other man can pass him on the road.
When it comes to framing up a campaign there are many points, minor in themselves, but each having its significance, that it is well to consider. It frequently happens that not enough attention is paid to the stationery that is used for farmers, but all these things have their influence in prejudicing the recipient for or against a new house.
"It is a good rule in writing the farmer to diversify your stationery," says a mail-order man who has sold a wide range of specialties. "The reason for this lies in the fact that when a farmer has been drummed about so much he may grow resentful at the persistence. We aim, not only to present the proposition very differently each time, but we use different size envelopes, different letterheads and markedly different enclosures in each follow-up.
"Particularly along rural routes, where the men folks are in the field when the carrier comes, I aim to change envelopes and letterheads. I never want the housewife to be able to say to the man of the house when he asks what mail came, that 'There's another letter from the firm that's trying to sell you a cream separator'."
To make ordering easier and to get the farmer to "act now" a coupon or an enclosed postal card, good for a limited number of days is widely used. This makes it easier to send for catalogue or a free trial or whatever is advertised. It is a spur to action and results in adding to the mailing list, names of many persons who might never respond if they had to wait until they found pen or pencil and paper--and a convenient opportunity.
A rebate check is another popular scheme for inducing the customer to order. An old mail-order house calls attention in the first form letter sent out with a catalogue to the fact that accompanying it is a check for one dollar to apply on the first order.
This order is made out in the form of a personal check, filled in with the prospect's name. It is, to all intents and purposes, a personal check, only payable in goods instead of cash.
Similar use of the check method of exciting interest is also used by a Detroit incubator manufacturer, who finds that many who have resisted other appeals answer to the chance to convert a check into a saving.
This same firm also adds as a clincher an offer to pay the freight on certain lines of goods, so that the catalogue price becomes actual cost instead of cost plus freight charges. Such inducements come home to the farmer; anything on the "something-for-nothing"
order appeals to him.
Aside from the nature of the proposition and the way it is presented, there is the all-important element of seasonableness. The man who has always lived in the city might understand the general principles of mail-order selling and have a good proposition, but his success would be indifferent unless he understood the meaning of timeliness in reaching the farmer. If your letter or advertisement catches the eye of the farmer he will in all probability put it away in the shoe box back of the chimney until ready to buy; it would be almost impossible to train enough guns on him during the rush season to force his interest. It is a common experience with mail-order houses to receive replies to letters or advertisements six months or a year after they are sent out--sometimes years afterwards. The message was timely; it wormed its way into the farmer's "mental want list" and blossomed forth when he felt that he could afford the article.
Only a carefully kept record-of-returns sheet or book will show when sales can best be made on a particular item, and the shrewd manager will test out different items at different seasons before launching a big campaign which may be ill-timed.
"The winter months are the best time for comprehensive information to soak in--but the letter generally is not the place for this. Put personality in the letter--specifications in the circular." This is the advice of an experienced correspondent whose length of service enables him to speak authoritatively.
"A winter letter may be long, verbose and full of interesting information; the farmer will read it carefully. This is the time to get in specifications, estimates, complicated diagrams and long arguments which require study. Letters for the work months need to be short and snappy, both to insure reading and to act on a tired mind."
And then finally the proposition must be made so plain that there is no possibility of its being misinterpreted. What a city man who is a wide reader gets at a glance, the ordinary farm owner or farmer's boy--often with only a rudimentary knowledge of English--must study over.
"So needful is the observance of this principle in our business,"
says this manager, "that our sales letters have come to be almost a formula. First we state our proposition. We then proceed to take up each element of the offer and make it as plain and plausible as possible."
In this case the elements are:
1. The thing offered.
2. Time of trial.
3. Freight paid.
4. Return privilege.
"All the letter is a plain exposition of 1, 2, 3, 4--the preceding paragraphs are summarized and connected. For instance, after the item offered has been treated and the length of trial made clear, the two are summarized thus:
"The _separator_ we offer is not only the best that money can buy but it is _just what you need_--no wonder we are willing to give you 30 days in which to try it.
"But what about freight?"
"Just this."
"Then we explain freight paid and return privilege. This gives a continuous and increasing summary straight through the letter, which closes with a recapitulation of the proposition.
"The aim of putting several summaries of the proposition in all sales matter is so that there can be no possible mistake about the proposition, for thousands of propositions are turned down by people on farms simply because the reader does not quite understand everything."
The farmer is in constant dread of "being caught" and there is little likelihood of his taking advantage of any offer that is not absolutely clear in his mind. The letter writer must realize what a point this is with the average farmer. What a city man does he can keep to himself; if he buys a gold brick he gets rid of it and forgets the transaction just as quickly as possible. But what the farmer does is neighborhood gossip. If one of those "slick city fellers" sells him something he can't use, every one knows it.
Make the proposition clear--so clear that every one in the family can understand it, for usually purchases are talked over for days before an order is finally sent out. Take into account the farmer's suspicious nature and bear down heavily on the utility of the article. There is no hidden mystery in reaching the rural prospects but they must be handled with discretion and with an understanding of the prejudices, characteristics and viewpoints of the farmer.