The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-07-08
ALWAYS WELCOME
The TRAVELLING men
THE TIME SPENT WITH THE PER-
soNAL REPRESENTATIVE OF
MANUFACTURER OR JoRRER
CAN USUALLY BE TURNED TO
GOOD ADVANTAGE.

Tom Murray, a very prominent
business man Of Chicago, has the fol-
lowing to say in The Furniture Index
about treating the travelling man right,
and gives some timely and helpful sug-
gestions on the subject of the business
mans relation to the knights of the
grip:
There isn't "lily in the feld"-nor
has there been since Solomon's time
better worth considering than the
travelling salesman who drops in TO
solicit your trade. If he is up to his
job, he's a very meek and unobtrusive
fellow, always ready to wait your con-
yenience and to put up with all sorts
of interruptions and delays. He is
smooth, affable and as plausible as
corporation lawyers argument on the
necessity Of great combinations of cap
ital. His game Is as old as pussy
wants a corner" and is founded on the
same principle-that kissing goes by
favor!
Now why do care to talk with the
travelling salesman whose goods know
do not want? There are a dozen
reasons, but here are few of the most
important of them: These men are
the. itinerant news gatherers of the
merchandising world and often the
trade gossip they hand out in an in
cidental chat is worth more than the
profit on ire goods you might buy IL
you sold them all at a good bargain.
If you want to know what is doing
in your line OF trade, keep in touch
with the travelling statesmen. They are
sure to know all the latest wrinkles in
regard to the new things on the mar i
ket and the ones which are going to
come out a little later. Very often
they themselves, do not realize the
value to you of some particular bit of
news regarding this or that new thing
which is not yet fully launched on the
current of trade, but, If you are awake
enough and have nose for that kind
OF thing, you will often be able to turn |
these incidental tips on the future into
dollars and cents.
Then commercial travellers are gem |
orally full of gossip about the men of
the wholesale and retail trade, of i'm
pending changes in the personnel of
firms and houses-changes which
might affect your own buying rela- |
tons. Quite as important as this is |
the possibility that you may pick up !
from the chat Of a commercial traveller |
information of moment about the
of your competitors. For
instance, more than once an alert mer- |
chant has in this way gained knowl-
edge of an intended change of location |
on the part Of competitor, or of a
change of trade conditions in a certain /
locality which saved him from maxi |
Ing mistake or gave him a special |
advantage in governing his own move
nents. This kind of thing occurs con-
stantly and it has come within my own
experience so pointedly that It has be-
come a settled principle with me to
ct no travelling man escape until I
nave extracted from him all the trade
gossip bottled up under his vest.
Then there is another side to this
matter of the gossip of the men on the
'oad. If they talk to you about other
merchants they will talk to other ner-
chants and to their associates on the
'oad about you. The essence Of what
hey say about you is bound to get
back to houses which they represent
Ind reach the ears of the men who
manage the wholesale trade.
In word. the men on the road ara
he men who make your reputation
With the wholesale trade In general. SO
ar as the distinctly personal side NJ
'our standing is concerned. They are