The Virginia enterprise., 1908-05-29
BUILDING UP TRADE
REGULAR CUSTOMERS THE BEST
FOR THE MERCHANT.
SOME SOUND TRADE HINTS
Reasons Why Merchants Should
Strive to Make Friends Of Their
Patrons, and Treat Them with
Due Consideration.

A good many retailers seem to be
so absorbed in the search for new
customers that they don't have time
to take the right kind of care of the
old ones, and in this way they are
driving business to the mail-order
houses faster with one hand than they
are taking it away with the other,
says one man who has carefully
studied trade matters. We do not
mean that a retailer should not al
ways be trying to enlarge his list Of
customers. That is exactly what he
should do, but he must give even
greater care to holding the old than
to getting the new. The regular Gus
toner is the life of almost every busi-
ness. He is the fellow you should
have In mind when you are buying.
He is the fellow you should decorate
your store to please. He is the fel-
low you should try in every way to-
accommodate, for he comes to see you
regularly and it is his money you de-
pend upon to pay your bills.
Your show windows and advertising
can be largely aimed at the customer
you are trying to get, but they must
also give much information to the
regular" If you would make them
effective; and you must never forget
that your strife for the new customer
is not with the object of making a
single sale, but to add him to the
regular" list. It is this regular"
list which you want to grow, for it's
growth means your business growth,
and for this reason you must not be
satisfied with just adding to the list
Keep them on the list. Give just as
much attention to holding the "regu-
lar" already in stock as you do to add
ing to the stock" and you are a good
ways further on your road to sue
cess. City retailers cannot generally
be criticised so much on this score,
although some of them depend too
much on landing the new sucker"
that is supposed to be born every
minute, but country merchants, who
have very few opportunities to land
suckers" and should be extremely
careful of their regulars" seem to
be most neglectful of them.
Very few of them take the trouble
to thank a regular customer for his
trade and invite him back again. They
take it for granted that he knows his
business is appreciated and that he
is always a welcome visitor. 1t does
not cost much to tell him so each
time he is in the store, however, and
do 1t in a manner which will leave no
doubt of the welcome. That is what
makes his blood flow warmer, and
causes big lump to swell up in the
corner of his heart for you and your
store, and the first time you make
some little mistake this bump comes
to your aid and tells him, so he comes
back to you and explains things in
stead Of taking down the mail-order
catalogue and sending away for his
next order. Then, when you see the
bump" has done this good work for
you, be man enough to make the
wrong right in such a hearty manner
that when he leaves your store
again the bump" will have grown
considerably. The retailer who is able
to make every customer feel that he
Is a personal friend is not likely to
feel hard times, and If he has the
other points of good merchant equal
ly we'll developed, he cannot help be.
ing success.