“_To Err is Human_”
The Bill-Poster is just as prone to errors, both of omission and
commission, as men in any other business, and while in the case of
Associated Bill-Posters service is guaranteed, it is advisable even with
them to check wherever possible so as to make sure that service has been
actually rendered as guaranteed.
The importance of this is illustrated in the writer’s own experience with
every showing that goes up. The following are but a few of the “errors”
that were discovered by check, even in large towns where the bill-posting
plants are supposedly at their best. Posters have been found put up on
the leaves of a double gate which stood open all day. Posters have been
put up on walls covering windows, and the paper was punched through to
let in the light. Occasionally posters are put up with a sheet blank;
one section of the poster was probably left out by the lithographer
in collating, and the bill-poster made no effort to replace it. Other
posters have been found on fences not high enough to accommodate the
whole poster and strips have been torn off at the top or bottom. Showings
have been billed that our checker found never went up. Paper has been
covered at the end of two or three weeks and never replaced. Once in
a while checkers run across a town where a strike is on among the
bill-posters, and the paper disfigured by big smudges of lamp black.
The best time to make this check is open to some difference of opinion.
Some advertisers prefer to check just as soon as the paper goes on the
boards so that complaints may be adjusted early in the life of the
showing. Others prefer to check toward the end of the service so they may
satisfy themselves that the paper has been kept in good condition, and
that none of the stands has been covered by other paper. The advertiser
who is posting generally will, however, be glad if he can have check made
any time during the life of the posting, especially in towns where he has
no local representative.
The main difficulty on a general showing is to secure people to make
the check. In towns where you have branch houses, local salesmen, or
exclusive dealers, check lists may be forwarded to these. Otherwise it
is necessary to depend on your traveling salesman covering the towns in
his territory during the life of the posting, or else send the check
lists to some local dealer, with a request that he look over and report
on the showing for you. Arrangements for checking can also be made, we
understand, through the telegraph companies who would have the work done
by one of their messengers.
Four things are necessary to watch in checking the showing, viz.,
Position of the boards on which your paper is posted; position on the
boards; condition of the paper; and contiguity to your own posters or
those advertising competitive products.
In regard to the first you will of course want a fair share of the
paper to go on boards in the center of the town, on the most traveled
thoroughfares. You do not want the paper all on the outskirts of the
town, or posted in alleys and other inconspicuous places. In regard to
the position on the board, the ends of the board are of course preferred
positions, and the more posters you can get on corners the stronger the
showing will be. In regard to the condition of paper, a glance will be
sufficient to satisfy your checker whether the paper is in good order, or
whether it needs renewing.
It is also desirable that no two of your own posters be posted too close
together on the same board (as a matter of fact it is best to put up each
poster on a separate board) and of course it is decidedly objectionable
to have paper advertising competitive products put up next to your
posters.
The following are illustrations of forms used in checking.
[Illustration: Specimen Check List as Furnished by the Bill-Poster.]
[Illustration: Sample of Checking Form Attached to Check List To be
Forwarded to Salesman or Local Representative.]
It is important to remember in this connection that complaints should be
filed promptly with the bill-poster, and, wherever possible, the checker
himself should call on the bill-poster and arrange for the adjustment of
complaints while he is on the ground. Where adjustment cannot be made by
the checker on the spot, and correspondence is necessary, complaints must
be made within ten days from the date of expiration of service.
[Illustration: Specimen Letter Sent to Dealer when Check List has been
Returned by Salesman Unchecked. A Blank Leaf is Provided For Reply, also
Addressed Stamped Envelope.]