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Abstract
This article shows that innovation in sales management at a West Midlands SME in the early twentieth century matched contemporary best practices, and that it occurred in parallel with significant developments in sales education at both the University of Birmingham and the region’s colleges. In looking not only at a smaller company than those examined previously by historians of selling but also at what is referred to as the surrounding sales ecosystem, the article contributes to our understanding of a more dynamic sales environment, supported by a more purposeful educational provision, than has hitherto been understood to have existed.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to the staff of Birmingham City University Archives, the Chartered Institute of Marketing Library and Archives, the Cadbury Research Library at the University of Birmingham, the Modern Records Centre, and particularly to all at Sandwell Archives; to Hugh Jefferson, Ivan Walker, and Jeremy Plimmer, all formerly of Kenrick & Jefferson Ltd; to Neil Rollings, John Wilson, and Lucy Newton who all commented on earlier versions, and to Mike French who kindly provided me with a copy of his 2014 article; to colleagues at Coventry University; and especially to Martin Daunton.
Notes
1. Friedman, “Salesmen in Comparative Perspective,” 212.
2. Rossfeld, “Suchard,” 738.
3. Chandler and Hikino, Scale and Scope, 286, ch.7 passim.
4. For example, Jones, “Nettlefolds”; Godley, “Singer”; and from an earlier era, McKendrick, “Josiah Wedgwood.”
5. Church, “Transformation of Selling.”
6. Scott, “Managing Door-to-Door Sales.”
7. French, “On the Road.”
8. Hosgood, “Knights of the Road.”
9. Popp and French, “Uniform of the Tribe.”
10. Popp and French, “Ambassadors of Commerce.”
11. A claim reinforced by an impressive, if perhaps selective, collection of laudatory correspondence from international customers in Kenrick & Jefferson (K&J), “What Others Think of Us”; K&J, “Keep It Flying.”
12. Alford, “Business Enterprise,” 9.
13. K&J, “Accounts 1910.”
14. Alford, “Business Enterprise,” 11.
15. K&J “Accounts 1913”; “Balance Sheet 1920.”
16. Florence, British and American Industry, 24, Table Id.
17. French, “Slowly Becoming,” 40.
18. Cf. French’s work on confectionery businesses, e.g. “Commercials, Careers, and Culture”; Rossfeld, “Suchard.”
19. Colli and Rose, “Families and Firm,” 36–7).
20. Anon, “Accounts of the Free Press Co.”
21. K&J, “Memorandum of Association”; “Public Companies,” Birmingham Daily Post, January 11, 1900.
22. K&J, “Articles of Association.”
23. K&J, “Special Resolution of 23 May 1908.”
24. Jackson, “The Founders of K&J.”
25. Christensen, Management Succession, 180–85.
26. K&J, “Special Resolution of 18 July 1913.”
27. Anon, “Draft Proposal for Employee Share Option Scheme.”
28. Church, Kenricks in Hardware, 145.
29. K&J, “Their Work Shall Endure”; “Mr. J. A. Kenrick,” The Times, April 28, 1926, 18.
30. K&J, “Their Work Shall Endure”; Jackson, “Founders.”
31. Anon, “Accounts of the ‘Free Press Co.’.”
32. See for example “Britannic Assurance Company, Ltd: Extracts,” The Times, February 29, 1912, 19.
33. Jefferson and Kenrick, “Correspondence.”
34. Jefferson left £209,744: “Probate Announcement ‒ F.T. Jefferson, 1921”; Kenrick left £101,775: “Probate Announcement ‒ J. Arthur Kenrick, 1926.”
35. “Descendants of Archibald Kenrick (Nov 1760 – 16 Oct 1835)”; K&J, “Family Tree of F.T. Jefferson.”
36. Daunton, “Inheritance and Succession,” 275, 278.
37. Failings which, if still largely absent from K&J, were at this time being epitomised at Kenricks. See Church, Kenricks, especially 211.
38. K&J, Engineering Organisation, 3.
39. Colli, History of Family Business, 75–6, utilising the terminology of Casson, Enterprise and Leadership.
40. Church, Kenricks, 211–12; Bemrose, The House of Bemrose.
41. See Foreman-Peck and Hannah “Some Consequences,” 547.
42. K&J, “Special Resolution dated 19 November 1964.”
43. Coleman, “Gentlemen and Players,” 113.
44. London sales manager E.B.P. Jackson left an estate of £2042 in 1949; Reid Adam £3646 in 1951; Edward Jefferson £232,145 in 1955. “Probate Announcement ‒ EBP Jackson, 1949”; “Probate Announcement ‒ J. Reid Adam, 1951”; “Probate Announcement ‒ E. Jefferson, 1955.”
45. Letter from F. Jefferson to R. Gifford, January 21, 1926.
46. Penrose, Growth of the Firm, 29–30.
47. K&J, “The K&J Direct Advertising Service.”
48. Litvine, “Space and Time,” 316.
49. Jones, “Marketing,” 145.
50. Jackson, “Founders.”
51. Interview with K. Hugh Jefferson, former director of K&J and great-grandson of its founder, July 9, 2013.
52. K&J, “Untitled Manuscript Record Book.”
53. As recalled by London sales manager E.B.P. Jackson, who was a participant: Jackson, July 30, 1948.
54. “Payroll 2002” in K&J, “Salaries and Commissions Book.”
55. K&J, “Salaries and Commissions Book.”
56. French, “Commercials, Careers, and Culture,” 355 ff.; Alford, Wills, 214.
57. A randomly selected sample of 10 men drawn from Sandwell, BS/KJ2/3/1, compared with Feinstein, National Income, 173, Table 7.18 “Number and Incomes of Salary Earners in 1911.”
58. Fitzgerald, “Marketing Management in Britain,” 9, 12.
59. Usui, Marketing Management, 33–6.
60. Hoyt, Scientific Sales Management, 10.
61. Tadajewski, “Correspondence Sales Education,” 1137.
62. Ashley, Commercial Education, 163–4.
63. F. Jackson, “Tribute to Bill Blake and Mr. Pieters.”
64. French, “Slowly Becoming,” 47.
65. K&J, “Career of a Business Builder.”
66. “Deaths Registered in January, February and March 1951 ACK-ADA.”
67. K&J, “Career of a Business Builder.”
68. Daunton, Wealth and Welfare, 179.
69. Cartwright, The House of K&J.
70. K&J, “Marketing Leaflet: ‘Into the Tray, Out of the Way’.”
71. Reid Adam, “Customer Letter Re Security Dockets,” March 18, 1925.
72. K&J, “Marketing Leaflet for Calendars.”
73. “Death of Fredk T Jefferson JP. End of a Great Career,” 18.
74. K&J, “Manufacturing & Trading Account at 30 June 1920”; “Manufacturing & Trading Account at 30 June 1925.” Headcount totals are not recorded in the archive. For an overview of the economic challenges of the time, see Arnold, “Profitability and Capital Accumulation.”
75. Reid Adam, “The Strength of Striving,” 1922.
76. Hosgood, “Knights.”
77. K&J, “Sales Bulletin 13,” 3.
78. Ibid., 8.
79. Ibid., 22.
80. K&J, “Sales Bulletin 14,” 2 (italics in the original).
81. Ibid., 53.
82. Hoyt, Scientific Sales Management, 27, 30–48, 78–82, 89–90.
83. French, “Commercials, Careers, and Culture,” 254.
84. Hosgood, “Knights,” 524.
85. Orwell, Coming Up For Air, 12, 149. See also references to Coming Up For Air in Popp and French , “Ambassadors of Commerce.”
86. K&J, “The Men You Deal With.”
87. Orwell, Coming Up For Air, 19.
88. K&J, “The Men You Deal With.”
89. Cartwright, House of K&J.
90. French, “Commercials, Careers, and Culture,” 47.
91. K&J, “Portrait of a Representative.”
92. Spears, 100 Years, 221.
93. “Reminiscences of K&J Celebrities” in K&J, “Sales Bulletin 14,” 5.
94. K&J, “Letter to Potential Clients.”
95. K&J, “Engineering Organisation.”
96. In Hugh Jefferson’s view, the elder Fred would have been the entrepreneur who founded Sage (‘a leading global provider of business software to small and medium sized companies’, http://www.sage.co.uk) if he had been born a century later. “Interview with K. Hugh Jefferson,” 2013.
97. K&J, “Engineering Organisation.”
98. Hanan, Consultative Selling, 23.
99. K&J, “Leaflet for ‘Postindex’.”
100. K&J, “Brochure for ‘K&J Card Indexes’.”
101. K&J, “American Magazine Features British Sales Methods.”
102. Church, “Salesmen,” 713.
103. Confirmed in a speech by Lord Leverhulme, “The President’s Address.”
104. Spears, “100 Years,” 205ff.
105. Chandler, The Visible Hand, 308–9.
106. Spears, “100 Years,” 193–4.
107. Chapman, Merchant Enterprise, 176.
108. French, “On the Road,” 15–16; Church, “Salesmen,” 712.
109. French, “On the Road,” 9–10.
110. K&J, “American Magazine Features British Sales Methods,” 3–4.
111. Neslin, “Customer Relationship Management,” 289.
112. Reid Adam, “Mailing Lists and K&J Advertising.”
113. Reid Adam, “London Direct Mail Department”; “Too Many of Our Salesmen”; “On the Warpath.”
114. K&J, “K&J Celebrities.”
115. Henry Bessemer & Co. Ltd, “Letter,.”
116. Price Bros., “Untitled Letter of Thanks.”
117. Donald Macpherson & Co. Ltd, “Untitled Letter of Thanks.”
118. Rossfeld, “Suchard,” 752.
119. Although there is no list of cars and their drivers, the balance sheet for the half-year to 31 December 1937 shows motor vehicles valued at £9248: K&J, “Balance Sheet for the Half-Year to 31/12/1937”; it is stated that salesmen’s cars accounted for 89% of total vehicle depreciation in K&J, “Notes to the Accounts, 31/12/1937,” suggesting a sales car fleet value of at least £9000 (allowing for different original purchase dates) or perhaps 40–50 cars at contemporary prices. K&J’s Chief Engineer refers to ‘some 60 cars and Transport Vehicles’ in “Letter to Managing Director,” March 16, 1929.
120. French, “On the Road,” 14.
121. According to a 47-year K&J veteran, who joined in 1933: Interview with Ivan Walker, former production supervisor K&J, 2013.
122. K&J, “American Magazine Features British Sales Methods,” 5–6.
123. Reid Adam, “Unnecessary Proofs”
124. Reid Adam, “The Fifty Thousand Habit,” 1934.
125. Church, Kenricks, 222–3, 96–112, 209–13.
126. French, “From Commercial Travellers to Sales Representatives,” 10–11.
127. Alford, Wills, 199–202, 214–15, 364–7.
128. K&J, “American Magazine Features British Sales Methods,” 7.
129. Hosgood, “Knights,” 522.
130. K&J, “American Magazine Features British Sales Methods,” 7. This sense of all staff being committed to customer service was remembered by a worker who joined K&J in the 1930s: Interview with Ivan Walker.
131. “Letter from Dennison Manufacturing Co., London.”
132. K&J, “American Magazine Features British Sales Methods,” 5.
133. Friedman, Birth of a Salesman, 262–3.
134. Davenport-Hines, “Introduction to Markets and Bagmen,” 10.
135. Walter Lovell of UKCTA, quoted by French, “Commercials, Careers, and Culture,” 52.
136. K&J, “What Others Think of Us,” passim.
137. See for example Bolling, Sales Management; Lewis, Practical Commercial Travelling; Casson, Creative Salesmanship.
138. French, “Slowly Becoming”; and “Commercials, Careers, and Culture,” 370–74.
139. UCTA, “Birmingham Branch Minutes Dec 1919 to Jan 1932.”
140. The Economist, “British Salesmanship,” 1164.
141. “What’s Wrong with British Sales Managers?”
142. Daunton, Wealth and Welfare, 506, 507–10.
143. Wisker, West Bromwich College, 37–55.
144. Quoted in The City of Birmingham Commercial College, Programme for the Session 1928–29.
145. Meeting Held at Central Technical College, Suffolk St, Birmingham, 12 December 1927.
146. Hansard, Committee on Training Salesmanship.
147. French, “Commercials, Careers and Culture,” 54; Williams, The History of UK Business, 4–5. Unfortunately there is little archival material on ISMA beyond the small amount held by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) at Cookham.
148. Goodall, “Goodenough, Sir Francis William.”
149. Goodenough, “Preparing for the Coming Struggle,” 14–15.
150. The City of Birmingham Commercial College, Programme for the Session 1928–29.
151. The City of Birmingham Commercial College, Programme for the Session 1929–30, 6–7, 14–17, 76–7.
152. Meeting Held at the Municipal Technical College Smethwick.
153. ISMA, “The South Staffordshire Branch.”
154. City of Birmingham Commercial College, “General Register, 1930–31.”
155. K&J, “K&J Boys.”
156. “Correspondence between British Association for Commercial & Industrial Education and Iron & Steel Trades Employers’ Association”; “Correspondence between Colonel E.H.W. Bolitho of Barclays Bank Penzance and J.G. Goodenough.”
157. Jones and Tadajewski, “Origins of Marketing Thought.”
158. Ibid., 1020.
159. Ibid., 1033.
160. University of Birmingham, Regulations and Syllabus 1930–31.
161. Ibid., 37–8.
162. University of Birmingham, Regulations and Syllabus 1935–36, 55.
163. Ibid., 64–6.
164. Guild of Graduates, Register of Graduates Up to July 1950; Register of Graduates Up to December 1937; Register of Graduates Up to December 1957, passim.
165. e.g. F.R.C. Smith, B.Sc. Electrical Engineering 1924, Technical Sales Manager of Aluminium Union Ltd, in Guild of Graduates, Register of Graduates Up to December 1957.
166. ISMA, “List of Officers,” November 1930; ISMA, “List of Officers,” May 1930.
167. K&J, “Industrial Art and Overseas Trade”; “Career of a Business Builder.”
168. K&J, “Editorial.”
169. K&J, “Golden Weddings: Ford Vanstone.”
170. The City of Birmingham Commercial College, Programme for the Session 1939–40.
171. Compiled from K&J, “Accounts for the Year to 30/6/1938”; “Accounts for the Year to 30/6/1940,” then compared to Feinstein, National Income, T-71, Table 27; Data normalised to 1930 ‘real price’ index, calculated at ‘http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/relativevalue.php.
172. K&J, “Notes to 1934–35 Accounts.”
173. K&J, “Notes to P&L and Balance Sheet December 1937.”
174. Table compiled by the author from K&J, “Accounts for the Year to 30/6/1935”; “Accounts for the Year to 30/6/1938”; “Accounts for the Year to 30/6/1940.”
175. Scott and Newton, “Advertising, Promotion, and the Rise,” 402, Table ; Scott and Walker, “Interwar British Department Stores”, 1105–28 , Table .
176. See for example “Braithwaite & Co Engineers Ltd,” 2. Other Braithwaite and K&J advertisements are available in The Times Digital Archive.
177. Jackson, Modern Office Appliances.
178. Godley, “Singer,” Table A3, 305–6 and table A4, 308–9.
179. K&J, “Accounts for the Year to 30/6/1945”; contrasted to pre-tax profits from K&J “Accounts for the Year to 30/6/1945”; and adjusted using http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/relativevalue.php.
180. K&J, “A Tribute from the Continent.”
181. K&J, “Retirement of Mr. E.B.P. Jackson.”
182. “Historical Tripos, Part II, 1924,” 1231–2.
183. Teece, Dynamic Capabilities, 4–23, 97–101.
184. “REID-ADAM, Randle.”
185. Wiener, English Culture.
186. Rossfeld, “Suchard,” 743.
187. Guild of Graduates, Register of Graduates Up to July 1950.
188. Pugh, Building IBM, 32–3, 112–14, 175–6.
189. K&J, “A Few Memories.”
190. Cartwright, House of K&J, Appendix.
191. Interview with Jeremy Plimmer, former Business Development Manager, K&J, 2014.
192. UCTA, “Education and Examination Committee Signed Minutes.”
193. City of Birmingham College of Commerce: Business Studies, Management Studies, Session 1965–66; City of Birmingham Commercial College: Courses in Management and Business Studies, Session 1962–63.
194. Chartered Institute of Marketing, Marketing and Sales Fusion.