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Richard tackled sales. The infrequent office visits by Dixon Hadaway, their Northern traveller, made a vivid impression on the staff. “It was a red letter day,” said one office worker. “It was real fun to listen to his
broad Scotch, as we could only understand a sentence here and there.” Hadaway loved his worn Scotch tweed coat, which he had worn since the Crimean War, “and I can still remember him extolling the beauties of the cloth and its wearing qualities.” Richard joined Hadaway and frequently took out the pony and trap to drum up business. He also hired additional full-time travellers. Samuel Gordon was to target Liverpool and Manchester. John Clark, recommended through a Quaker cousin, was hired to take on the whole of England south of Birmingham. Richard sent him first to London, but in a matter of weeks, Clark found business there so bad he begged to be transferred back to Birmingham. He feared he was wasting both his and the firm’s time. A letter survives from Richard, urging Clark not to give up on London and its suburbs:
    We do particularly wish this well worked , as we believe it will ultimately repay both us and thyself to do so, and thou may depend if thou dost thoroughly work it, we will see nothing is lost to thee whether with or with out success. . . . [Richard’s italics] It is important for us both to pull together for we have so much to do to conquer reserve and prejudice, and thou may be assured we will do our part in this in the way of improvements in style and quality of our goods.
    To cover more ground, George also began to travel, and letters from Richard’s young wife show that his journeys away from home became more frequent. “We have come nearly to the end of another day and think of thee as that much nearer returning,” Elizabeth wrote to her husband in Glasgow a year after their marriage in July 1862. “We shall all be happy together if thou hast had a prosperous time.” In his enthusiasm to increase turnover, Richard himself would go into the warehouse to package the orders, “not only in the early days when hands were few, but even in his later years.”
    During 1862, since both brothers were often away, they hired more office staff. One young worker who showed great promise was William Tallis. Orphaned as a child, he had had very little education but impressed everyone with his ability and enthusiasm. They
also employed their first clerk, George Truman, who recalls “working, as did Mr. George, till eight or nine every night, Saturdays included.” George Truman evidently also tried his hand at selling to the shops in Birmingham. A novice salesman, he generously offered samples for customers to try. The free chocolate goodies proved popular. He soon ran out and returned “in great distress” because “one customer had eaten half his samples!” He was reassured when “Mr. George said he could have as many samples as he wanted and he went out the next day quite happy.”
    To address the problem of the product getting eaten before it left the factory, a system known as “Pledge Money” was put into effect. At the end of each day, a penny was awarded to any worker who successfully managed not to succumb to temptation. Every three months the pledge money was paid out, and one particularly abstemious employee remembers he accumulated so much that he was able to buy a pair of boots. Workers were also rewarded for punctuality. For those who arrived promptly at 6:00 AM, there was a breakfast of hot coffee or milk, bread, and buns.
    Despite long sales trips away from home, the brothers soon found a lack of public enthusiasm for Iceland Moss, the product in which they had invested their early hopes. They continued to develop new lines of higher quality. They introduced a superior Breakfast Cocoa, as shown in their detailed sales brochure of 1862. This was followed a year later by Pearl Cocoa and then Chocolate du Mexique, a spiced vanilla-flavored cake chocolate. They