The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1906-10-13

/
! the son of his boss, who was going
along with him TO pack trunks,
reached Crete. Neb., an hours run
west of Lincoln. at f.30 a. M
This time the young man wrote his
name on the hotel register, John G,
Witherspoon. Before he had writ
ten 81 Charles"
That's a whole lot better, Johnnie. !"
remarked Watkins, patting him On
| the back After few more night
trains and early calls think you'll
get down to the proper level. By the
end Of the trip I think you'll have
it Jno. c., and before the year IS out
| you'll make it as short as you can
]. C., and write it fast at that
For the first month of this trip
Watkins Travelled at a lively pace. 1t
| is early IN the season that the man
on the read goes after the doubtful
customers. He must hurry them,
however, never letting his customers
know that he is hurrying. Often be
| ing even a day late will cost sales
man big bill. The young college
man caught onto his job and made a
really good helper for Watkins. John
@. was a worthy chip Off the old block.
What he needed was what he was
getting-a chance to work.
The fifth Sunday out on the trip
Watkins spent at Kansas City. He
was to be there for three days to wait
on country customers to come in
from surrounding towns. Two or
three of these reached Kansas City
on Sunday evening. They, with John
c., Watkins and some OF his travel
| ing men friends, sat in the lobby of
the Baltimore hotel
Caught the Children.
do you know" said Hoover, one
Of Watkins customers, that I built
my business by paying especial at
tention to children. For the ten
years that I have been in my town
| 7 have always done something TO
! bring them to me. The very first
thing that did when 7 started in new
in my town was to have made thou
sand one-foot rules. On them had
/ printed, Hoover makes it a rule to
wait on the children with as much
care as on grown people. I first
handed these out to a little group of
kids from school who came in. The
news soon spread and all the children
in town came in droves for these
rules. You know the mothers often
send their children out to get some
| little thing and wanted to get them
/ in the habit of going to Hoover's. /
knew that if I had the children on
my side the grown folks would soon
/ fall in line.
We'll, you've made a success out
where you are, too, Hoover" Watkins
remarked
Eyes, I have. You know it won't
do for a merchant to expect TO stay
in a place and build a business, and
mistreat his customers. People be
/ Iieved that if would take care Of
children I would also take good care
of the grown folks. Two Of the most
successful retail business men in
American in the world, for that
4 matter-have built their businesses
by following out the same plan, after
fashion, that did-that is, by
pleasing the customer. They are In
the dry goods business mostly, and
when they started in their customers
were wholly women. Now. one of
these merchants used to have little
store away down in little country
| town in Illinois. When he was a
young man he got it into his head
that he must satisfy his women Gus
I toners. He made his clerks take es-
pecial care to wait on them, and he,
himself, when he was behind his own
| little counter, always made 1t a rule
to please the women. That made him
| the leading merchant of his town.
He was a bright. progressive man,
and moved to Chicago, where he took
little narrow store on State street.
He carried out in the city the same
plan that he had worked IN the coun-
| try. Each year his business grew,
until now he occupies large part OF
block and his business is up in the
| millions, increasing every day.
Pleasing Women Customers.
well, you see, women are more or
less helpless. If you please them they
will become your best friends-if you
do not, they will drive many custom
ers away from you. And this other
man I speak of hit upon this very
idea. He not only gave instructions
that his clerks should please custom
ers in the store, but that if the Gus
toner, after going home, did not like
what she had bought the goods might
be returned and exchanged, or money
back. Just this thing alone helped
this great merchants business more
than any one thing. It gave people
who went to deal at his store conf
dence in that store
Satisfaction guaranteed or your
money back, Is good motto for any
establishment" remarked Watkins
s.But once in q while, though, Wat
kfns," Hoover continued, this ex-
changing goods gives us who do 1t a
great deal of trouble, and the women
folks occasionally carry It to an SIX
IRENE Now, for example, a lady in
fairly good circumstances came to
my store the other day and wanted to
exchange a brown hat that she had
bought from me for q black one-and