St. Tammany farmer., 1906-10-27

4 V1IlIdmS came pTeLLy near TQlQluS 81
the clerks had at that time. He go
them nearly all SO that they wanted t
do the same things that he did.
raised my bristles one Saturday nigh
and told all Of my men that the!
would have to get down at half pas
seven and that each man must ,sweel
his department. I said to them, Boys
I'll be here with you myself at tha
time and will sweep out the Office
that's my department.
Williams rather mumbled some
thing about not wanting to sweep ou
which gave me just the chance wa'
looking for and I let him have hi:
walking papers right there. Since tha
time I have had better discipline II
my store" -
"It's easy enough for you to have
discipline in your store" remarked
Watkins, the travelling man, "and It h
easy enough for you. to have you'
clerks take an interest in your bust
ness, but 1t is q different problem
when it comes to running a large re
tail establishment.
Takes Interest In Employees.
II know of two heads of large retail
houses that get more out of their
clerks. believe, than any two con
Germs on earth. They got at it in en-
tirely different ways. There is large
retail dry goods house which has at
its head one of the best men breath.
ing In the first place, this firm car.
ries reputable merchandise. The old
gentleman who is at the head Of the
sales department does not stay shut
up in q little Office. but spends most
of the time on the floor. He is dig
nified old gentleman, but he's not one
of those proud old fellows who is al
ways sticking his thumbs under his
arms, frowning, as though saying:
Look at me; I'm the boss
"This man has organized in his own
store what you might call salesman's
college, of which he himself is the
president The professors in this col
lege are the heads Of the departments.
The students are the clerks. The old
gentleman turns the dining-room of
this department store into a lecture
hall. Everyone in his employ spends
one hour each week, or longer il the
discussion becomes interesting, in
study. The head OF a certain depart
ment will call together all of those
under him and he himself will either
make a talk to them, have some one
else do SO. or else call upon one or
more Of the clerks themselves to dis
cuss certain point. On the evening
of this school session, the firm gives
to each employe 50 cents in supper
money. They go out after the store
closes and return promptly at seven
and at eight, If they wish, they are
free. The old gentleman himself does
not attend all of these sessions, but,
like those who are under him, he gives
one hour each week to this work.
One week he will give an hour to the
dress goods department, another to
notions, etc. The clerks of this estab-
lishment have become in this way SO
we'll drilled that anyone who has
worked for this firm for year or
more can easily find position in any
other store in the city; but one who is
employed by this firm seldom leaves
it except to take some position higher.
Getting Good Work.
"This man gets good work out Of
his clerks by taking personal inter
est in them. He is very kind-hearted,
too. Many time, so one OF his men
once told me, If a rainstorm came up
suddenly as one of his salesladies was
starting out without an umbrella, the
old gentleman would take one out Of
stock and make her present Of 1t.
"The head of the other store of
which speak goes at getting good
work out of the clerks in this way.
He figures that If you drop one penny
into mans purse, he will try himself
to put another in. He pays his clerks
small salaries and then gives to each
one q commission upon sales. This
idea came to that man several years
ago. He first tried it in the silk de-
partment. That store to-day does the
best silk business in It's city. which is
a metropolitan one. It does not stand
exactly as the leading store there, but
it has the leading business in silks.
One young woman, on the day before
Christmas, last year, made commits
sions amounting, that day alone. to
over. $18.
x want to tell you, gentlemen, that
the one way for clerk to deal with
customer is the fair, square, straight
way. Whenever a clerk is working
for little ten cents or . little two bits
or little half dollar for his own pock-
ct, and is considering himself instead
Of the customer. he is doing an injury
to the business. IknOw that this spin |
system prevails all over the country,
but don't believe in it, as said, be-
cause 1t makes q clerk dishonest. A |
corps Of clerks who do not treat = !
mans customers right will soon tear
down his business; a corps that |
treat customers fairly will build a |
business.
Commission System.
'No, sir; no more OF this spin sys-
TEN for me! OF course, I can see
where the commission system is bet
is, II you give the same per-
centage of commissions on all sales
That would enable the clerk still to
be honest with the customer and at |
n. 4. =