"LET'S SELL" 1950s SOCONY-VACUUM OIL COMPANY SALESMAN TRAINING FILM GAS STATION ATTENDANT 99364

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This late 1940s / early 1950s film was produced by Caravel Films, Inc. as part of an effort to create training materials for salesmen within the automobile and oil industry. In black and white, the film opens with a shot of a Mobilgas Socony-Vacuum banner before panning to a pair of men having a conversation (0:08-0:20). The first man in uniform appears to be cheerfully describing the Mobilgas brand product to a businessman at 0:21 and the introductory words "Let's Sell" is shown as the camera zooms in to a confident Mobilgas representative (0:28). Mobilgas was previously known as a part of the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company. The oil company was one of several that had major success starting in the 1940s. The instructional film describes the important factors that affect the retail business fluctuations in buyer and seller markets, especially before and after wartime periods (0:45-1:00). This film highlights the idea that a post-war economy had drastically changed over the decades, and the narrator emphasizes actively selling to consumers, rather than passively expecting business to thrive without any effort from salesmen in the process. Many examples of sales interactions are shown throughout the film to illustrate missed sales opportunities due to lack of effort, knowledge, or motivation from retail professionals. The film is a "how-to" guide for auto industry professionals and other general retail salesmen for Mobilgas to learn techniques for upselling and predicting customer needs.
Vacuum Oil Company was an American oil company known for its Gargoyle 600-W Steam Cylinder Oil. Vacuum Oil and Standard Oil of New York (Socony) merged in 1931, after the government gave up attempts to prevent it. The newly-combined entity, Socony-Vacuum Corp., was the world's third-largest oil company. In 1955, the company became Socony Mobil Oil Company. In 1966, it was renamed Mobil Oil Corporation, later shortened to Mobil Corporation. It is now a part of ExxonMobil.
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[@rick6582CNCMedicalParts]

My Grandfather was oil tankers Captain socony oil new york 40s 50s born Oslo Norway past away 1955 a yr before I was born age 54 my dad always told me rough job at sea & never saw him much my Grandmother lived till 90 great Norwegian cook ...Good Video...

[@oldpanamacitybeach]

Damn those hidden cameras!

[@allenjones3130]

Socony/Vacuum was the original name for the Mobil Oil Corporation.

[@luisreyes1963]

What's the meaning behind the "VACUUM" in the company name? 🤔

[@straightpipediesel]

@@luisreyes1963 Vacuum distillation, a process in refining. The crude oil is heated in a column under a moderate vacuum. This lowers boiling points, so it allows the oil to be separated at lower temperatures. The lower temperatures prevent the molecules from breaking apart, altering the properties. The original Vacuum Oil Company used this process to distill a lubrication oil.

[@OutyMan]

70 years later. Still very applicable. I don't believe in selling people stuff they don't need, but I do agree with making sure someone knows about everything they need, or might want, and then they can decide if they agree with that suggestion, or pass. A good example of upselling I agree with: Someone is buying a blu-ray player, but that particular one doesn't come with an HDMI cable which they might need; Only a Display Port cable. Mentioning this, and pointing out HDMI cords available isn't slimy at all; It's helpful.

[@randybock82]

I love these videos where the narrator sounds like he has emphysema 😆

[@Trump985]

I felt the same way when I went to a car dealership to buy a car. There were a bunch of salesmen there not doing anything. While I appreciated not being attacked by a gang of salesman the second I walked in, when I walked up to one of them and inquired about a new car he didn’t know pricing or anything about it. I told him what I wanted he looked in his computer and told me they don’t make them! I asked when they were discontinued he said they are still made but we don’t get them! He never asked if I wanted to order one! I had to ask him if he could order one! He didn’t seem to enthusiastic and then tried to sell me a lower trim level with an automatic transmission they had on the lot! This is after I specifically told him I wanted a fully loaded model with a manual transmission. Needless to say he didn’t make a sale. I went to several other dealers and got the same lack of interest from most of the salesman. They either didn’t want to sell me anything or wanted to sell something I don’t want. I finally found a halfway decent salesman at the 5th dealership I tried and ordered a new car the one I wanted. I can only assume they all took one look at me and assumed I wasn’t going to buy anything as I work in construction and was on my way home from work.

[@Randy.E.R]

This is great. One of my very first jobs was at a Shell gas station in the late 1970s which was also during a time when gasoline supplies were hit and miss. There were "odd/even" days when customers were only allowed to buy gas depending on the last number in their license plate. If it was an odd number, they could only purchase gas on odd numbered days, and vice versa. Shell also expected their attendants to sell belts, hoses, fluids, and headlights, plus any other service a motorist might need. We had training books and videos on how to upsell services on the fuel island because that was where the money is. This was before gas stations became convenience stores. And this was also when full service was still the norm. Customers only got out of the car to use the restroom which was also expected to be hospital clean. All of that training is fine and dandy if that was the real world. The real world and training books are nothing alike. The gas station I worked at was in the middle of the Mojave desert where two highways meet. Needless to say, it was a very busy gas station at times. Selling belts, hoses, and fluids would be easy if there was only one customer at a time coming into the station. But that was never the case at a gas station with nine gas pumps. While I am busy filling one car, another pulls in at the furthest pump away. While I am dealing with those two customers, another might come in wanting a flat tire repaired. At the same time, another customer pulls in and starts laying on the horn because he is in a hurry. And let's not forget the guy that pulls in wanting a road map to a city that I never heard of. In between all that, I need to make sure the bathrooms are spotless. Yeah. That's the real world at a full service gas station. The late 1970s brought an end to full service gas stations and garages. With the profits on gasoline sales becoming narrow, gas station owners began laying off their attendants and switching to self service. A lot of them also shuddered their garages and replaced them with convenience stores as a means to earn a profit. It was kind of an end to an era. I still occasionally see gas stations that still have garages, mostly in some larger cities. Here in the California desert most gas stations are now convenience stores where a person can pay for their gas at the fuel pumps. One of the best things I gained from working at a full service gas station was the ability to make change in my head. There was no digital cash register or even a calculator. Very few customers paid with a credit card. I had a coin dispenser worn on my belt, and a pocket full of cash. When a customer paid, I had to figure out the change the old fashioned way in my head. And I had to count the change back to the customer the right way. Simple mathematics. I noticed that most employees in a sales position simply count back the change they are giving to you.

[@steveb9151]

9:24 Ladies and gentlemen....one of the world's last great method actors. What a range of emotions!

[@wilobrien9731]

These types of videos are great! I like the old Mobil logo with the flying horse (Pegasus). Far more creative and attractive than what's used today.

[@danny-li6io]

Those first salesmen, used to demonstrate horrible customer service are better than 99% of the jerk-offs I encounter in stores today.

[@dave1956]

This sounds like today. When I have a pleasant buying experience regardless whether it’s a new car or lunch at McDonalds, I am surprised. People working in sales capacities rarely make you feel like you want to buy. I worked in retail sales for 45 years.

[@Red_Twizzler]

Salesman are terrible humans

[@papabits5721]

The guy waiting for the battery information needs weed STAT!

[@kerrypinkstaff8532]

The hidden camera? The OG version of clerks ❤

[@matt91001]

Great video

[@coffeeisgood102]

There is a fine line between the “helpful” salesman and the “pushy” salesman. The narrator leans towards the latter.

[@BritonAD]

True! Sometimes it's best to do only what they ask.

[@nickmad887]

thank you

[@PeriscopeFilm]

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[@thecapone45]

Very sobering video to throw cold water on the other vintage videos that led people to believe that service at gas stations was always top Notch and you always got offered what you needed.

[@crushingvanessa3277]

If a service person suggests anything now, we think they are out to screw us.

[@javaking1000]

That's often because he is!

[@crushingvanessa3277]

@@javaking1000 Usually.

[@googleusergp]

@@crushingvanessa3277 Or they get commission on what they sell, so that makes it more apt for them to "suggest" what is needed.

[@crushingvanessa3277]

@@googleusergp Guess that's how the game is played.

[@thecapone45]

That’s a good point and it’s also the through that ran through my mind. I appreciate mechanics and such, but what ticks me off is the sentiment that we should ALWAYS listen to mechanics and give them the benefit of the doubt. The reality is, I’ve been screwed over or almost screwed over too many times by service people to turn a blind eye.

[@calbob750]

I missed the part in the training film where they show how to “short stick “ when checking oil so the attendant could sell another quart of oil. Don’t forget to pump enough gas to show an even dollar amount on the gas pump. Easier to make change. Ignore the smell of gas spilled. The good old days of a full service gas station.

[@jazzbo13]

Don't forget the old cut the fan belt trick.

[@itsthehumidityyall8303]

Where did you live? Wasn’t like that around my area..

[@wilobrien9731]

@@itsthehumidityyall8303 To the best of my knowledge, these things didn't happen in my area either. No doubt that these practices of "automotive sabotage" happened then (as they do today), but I would think they were relatively uncommon at neighborhood service stations. With a predominantly local customer base, these local stations would quickly lose customers if word got out that they were engaging in such practices.

[@jackeldogo3952]

@@wilobrien9731 Back when I was young and used to travel by road a lot, I learned quickly to avoid the interstate exits in the middle of nowhere with a single service station. Always trying to get you to think your car was 10 seconds from exploding on the roadway. I remember one guy telling me brakes "smelled bad" when I drove in and I should get them fixed IMMEDIATELY and HE didn't feel right letting me go on my way--yeah, those same brakes I just had done before my roadtrip... I am sure once my car went on the lift, there was going to be about 17 other problems.

[@patdossenko1820]

awesome

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

Try this at a Detroit 7-Eleven.

[@itsthehumidityyall8303]

Hidden camera. Right.

[@fredmarshawoods]

Hey! Before PAT HINGLE joined Clint Eastwood in later films, isn't this a young Pat. H. @ 11:25, the attendant putting air in the guy's tire?

[@rodneybrand8521]

...lol..it is him..wow..he was young..he's also a good actor..they don't make em like that anymore..

[@fredmarshawoods]

@Dogdaze Thanks for posting, I thought it was her also, a few years before Andy G. show.

[@Aengus42]

If that's a "hidden camera" I'll eat *ALL* their hats!

[@SuperIliad]

It isn't supposed to be a hiddden camera; just a name for the style of story telling.

[@steveb9151]

4:13 I guess this wasn't an after-school special for the kiddies.

[@DMBall]

Unfortunately, the "Let's Sell" attitude sometimes overstepped its bounds and led to "Unnecessary Sell" and "Sabotage" by service station personnel. Probably a big reason self-service took over.

[@jimhaines8370]

Self service took over after the first arab oil embargo more and more to get rid of employee's, I E many pump and one cashier in a booth

[@googleusergp]

Lots of reasons I would say. As noted, the oil embargos/gas crisis of 1973 and 1979, complexity of vehicles as the years went on, meaning that vehicles went to dealers and specialty shops as time drew on. It took many years, and yes there are still good shops that are plenty busy today, but back in the day, there would be multiple shops in a block's length. Of course there are exceptions and things didn't always play out that way, but over time, people did less maintenance to their cars (as fuel injection and other engine improvements took hold as being standard equipment).

[@timwoods3171]

Is this actress checking out the men's shirts Clara Johnson from "The Andy Griffith Show" -- Hope something-or-other???

[@tomservo56954]

Hope Emerson

[@calescapee9642]

Hope Summers

[@joegoldman3065]

To me the difference in our culture between 1955 in other words the time of this clip and 1965 is staggering whether it's Fashions automobile designs even the general values of the country. this clip would have been an absolute hoot in 1965 even if done with those clothing styles and those automobiles, so masdively had our culture Changed by the mid-60s.

[@1955gaylord]

Its pleather !!!

[@Richard_K1630]

9:16 Put down that girly magazine and sell me a battery.

[@urbexandbrokenthings4806]

im really wanting to live in the post war no up sell environment

[@scotttiger8905]

Thats how upsale started.

[@papabits5721]

It’s hard to get good help

[@mickeybitsko1676]

Voice over sounds like sgt friday partner

[@erickrobertson7089]

Oh my gosh... I know how every "customer" felt during their experience. New car salesmen who don't know their stock... Repairman who forget about your job until you remind them, maybe more than once... Waiting on the phone to finally speak to someone only to be passed onto someone else and wait again... Merchants who would rather sell you a warranty rather than a good product and then stand behind it... The list could go on. A decent film on missed opportunities to sell satisfaction or upsell to a customers needs.

[@steveb9151]

0:30 What's with the welder's gloves, lady?

[@tomservo5007]

lol, hidden camera? What about the hidden boom mike ?

[@tomservo5007]

and as wages go down, the problem gets worse

[@erickrobertson7089]

You do get what you pay for in labor or goods. Wages have not kept up with the cost of living and haven't for years and we pay so much for things made overseas that we used to pay people to make here. We seem to be in a rush to put ourselves or our neighbors out of work.

[@crushingvanessa3277]

@@erickrobertson7089 So true, well said.

[@fromthesidelines]

Originally seen in 1954.

[@bansheemania1692]

30yrs before me

[@Aengus42]

... & 10 years before me. Eeeeek! (Takes pulse) I'm ok. But jeeez! I'm old!

[@albear972]

Thank you captain *OBVIOUS!*

[@triple6758]

Moar sales! LOL

[@mang1953]

Aim to please...

[@leegraves8878]

Well the tire guy should have tried to sell after the customer said something about the tire. I can tell you even now it could be bald and people will say oh it's fine I don't need a new tire.

[@bansheemania1692]

Nee tire, balanced, Oil change. Used to sling at Sears automotive Haha

[@aarond23]

H E Double Hockey Sticks....edgy

[@pagedown4195]

Nobody talks like that anymore.

[@Grungydan]

Can we go back to not being sold a billion tons of bullshit we don't need?