He must be a close student of human nature with the capacity for judging men. He must be a salesman in every sense else he is in no position to judge the qualifications of those in his employ. On the other hand, the sales manager should be given full control of his department, until he proves to be incompetent. While other members of the organization will be consulted before a new campaign is launched, when the plans have been approved he should be permitted to _try them out_ without interference. Assuming that he is a competent man in the first place, he will be the first to detect the weak points and set about to find a way to strengthen them. Many a sales manager has had his usefulness impaired by the interference of others before he has had an opportunity to give a selling plan a fair trial. Selling campaigns have been discontinued before the turning point was reached, because someone higher in authority lacked faith; when they would have proved successful, if carried out as originally planned. This is not an argument for a stubborn adherence to plans, regardless of consequence--any sales committee is liable to make errors--but before the campaign is launched the extent to which it shall be tried out should be decided. If the sales manager is given an appropriation of $500.00, or $5,000.00, for a trial, he can work intelligently, but if told to go ahead, and then ordered to stop before his campaign is well under way, he should not be charged with a failure. Another thing that the sales manager should control is the question of salaries paid to the salesmen. We maintain that the amount of salary paid to a salesman is of no moment provided he is a profitable man. A $10,000.00 man who sells goods at a cost of 10% is more profitable than the $5,000.00 man who sells at 10%, or even 9%, because of the greater volumes of his business. The management should gauge the sales department by net costs, not by the amount of individual salaries. BRANCHES OF SALES DEPARTMENT The sales department is logically divided into two branches--mail order and personal salesmanship. The mail order branch is that part of the organization which has to do with the promotion of sales by mail. The personal salesmanship branch is the division which makes sales by personal contact with the customer. The work of the mail order branch is conducted by correspondents--letter salesmen--assisted by clerks to look after the routine of the department. The personal salesmanship branch is conducted, primarily, by salesmen who visit the customers and personally sell goods. In many lines, the personal salesmanship branch is supplemented by agencies, who come in direct contact with the customer.