___
The summer of 1928 was one for Watchtower’s history books! Its business had just suffered a devastating 80% drop in associates.[1] It had to do something, and do it right away! All stops were pulled to rebuild the business.
● Watchtower shucked its centralized pastoral program and replaced it with businessmen training and supervising the selling of Watchtower’s products.[2]
● Watchtower laid the gauntlet out for its remaining 20% to stop messing around and sell books![1]
Then, in a move that by contemporary standards is all but expected of any struggling business trying to save itself, the Watchtower organization began encouraging its associates to sell its top executive officer, Watchtower’s president Joseph Rutherford. It looked like this[3]:
The summer of 1928 was one for Watchtower’s history books! Its business had just suffered a devastating 80% drop in associates.[1] It had to do something, and do it right away! All stops were pulled to rebuild the business.
● Watchtower shucked its centralized pastoral program and replaced it with businessmen training and supervising the selling of Watchtower’s products.[2]
● Watchtower laid the gauntlet out for its remaining 20% to stop messing around and sell books![1]
Then, in a move that by contemporary standards is all but expected of any struggling business trying to save itself, the Watchtower organization began encouraging its associates to sell its top executive officer, Watchtower’s president Joseph Rutherford. It looked like this[3]:
Watchtower was desperately trying to salvage what it had with a result of switching its business activity to full-throttle. Like General Motors of today, Watchtower rolled out its president. Then Watchtower advised its associates to sell him. This was admittedly done to leverage the human tendency of men wanting to follow men. So Watchtower gave them what would sell. Watchtower gave them a man to follow.
“Sell books!” said Watchtower.[1]
‘Sell Rutherford to sell books!’ said Watchtower!
Watchtower was going all out to save the business.
Marvin Shilmer
______________
References
1. Watchtower — emergence of the business end
2. Watchtower — Rise of the Service Department
3. The Messenger, published by Watchtower, August 1, 1928, p. 7.
___
0 comments:
Post a Comment