Sales Team Urged For Overseas Produce Markets

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28973, 14 August 1959, Page 13

Sales Team Urged For Overseas Produce Markets

A highly-trained team of “topline” salesmen to undertake detailed selling of New Zealand’s primary produce at pdints of sale where the market was big enough to warrant it, was advocated by Mr J. R. Maddren, president of the Canterbury Manufacturers' Association, when he emphasised in his address to the annual meeting last evening that New Zealand could not continue to expand industry with rising imports if exports failed to rise correspondingly. The export income of the country was comparatively static at £280.000,000 to £290,000,000, said Mr Maddren. That was of vital concern to manufacturers, because the rapidly-rising population meant industrial expansion, which, in turn, meant more imported raw material. An “absolutely fantastic” amount had been reached on production of primary goods, he said. Farmers were becoming more mechanised and their production would parallel that of industry more and more.

"That is as it should be, but what about the selling of our exports? Would we, as manufacturers, after spending as much on research and capitalisation of equipment and production, set out to sell our products as they are being sold today? I venture to say, Emphatically no.’ ” Displays Overseas

Up to the point serviced by the trade commissioners, New Zealand’s selling, he felt sure, could not be improved. Advocating a team of salesmen, Mr Maddren said they should be on the job to see that every chain store, supermarket and retailer had proper fixtures for the displays of New Zealand’s primary produce and that the fixtures were kept full.

He had yet to be convinced that price was the only factor in the Successful marketing of primary exports, he said. If price was the only factor in selling, all could sit down and determine which factory and which retailer would do all the business next year. Price coupled with good merchandising ensured maximum demand and turnover, which New Zealand had to get out and go after.

Consumers had to be convinced that New Zealand’s produce was the best. Rapidly-improving transport would place products on the United Kingdom and Continental markets in an absolute minimum of time.

“Now is the time to get geared up and organised,” he said.

Manufacturers were becoming increasingly more export-minded. The development of an export trade in. industrial products was equally as essential as primary produce trade for the expanding economy.