The Jasper news., 1912-05-02
THE POLICY OF THE STORE
Merchant should Have Confidence and
Cooperation Of His Employos-sat-
lsfylns Customers Pays.

times out Of ten he will be unable to
do so. This is not because the mer.
chant has none, but because he has
never figured out just what IL is. The
same question Is never answered
twice In the came way. The majority
of merchants will allow personal feel.
ings, prejudice or favoritism to sway
them In one way or another.
Very often a number OF policies will
be found in the same store. the pro-
prietor has one and each OF the clerks
has a pet policy.
One, for instance. relating to a sat.
isfactory purchase guarantee to ev-
cry customer should never be allowed
to be broken. No man relishes the
thought that he has been done" Yet
the merchant Is done brown" many
times. But II he is live one he will
usually win out in the end Every
time the merchant is done" by Gus.
toner he gets many dollars worth OF
advertising out of Il and does not lose,
bot gains, from the transaction.
There are always lot of petty
grievances arising that are better
smoothed over than fought against
Take the matter Of exchanging goods.
II is a necessary evil. The clerk must
smile at the customer who is actually
accusing him OF trying TO beat" him.
The clerk that cannot smile and
smooth out all such cases is OF Ques-
tionabie value to any store.
chased a working shirt for fifty cents
He found It was too small. so took It
back to have 1t exchanged for a larg.
er one. Before trying 1t on he had
torn out the size-label, which is sewn
in the neckband, and IN doing so had
torn the colth about half an inch.
The merchant hmself served the
lad when he took back the shirt for
exchange. He refused to exchange II
on the grounds that II was damaged
He kept it and had II mended The
lad therefore had TO make three trips
10 that store for shirt that was most
unsatisfactory to him.
The merchant had explained care
fully how unfair It was for custom
er to ask 10 have a damaged article
exchanged, and no doubt thought he
had convinced the youthful purchaser
OF the Righteousness OF his refusal to
exchange the unsatisfactory article
AS the youth was leaving the store.
after getting the mended shirt, he
said: I've always come here for my
thiIgs because dad traded here, but
III not buy anything else from you.
YOU old 'tightwad' The last four
words we're uttered with a venom that
showed how much pent.up injury ran
kled In his breast
1t would have paid that merchant to
have torn up that shirt and used 1t for
dust cloths and to have exchanged 1t
for a new one. We spend good money
In advertising TO obtain new custom
ers; for goodness sake let us use a Mt
tie judgment and try TO retain our old
ones.
The merchant who makes It a pol
icy Of his business to satisfy every
purchaser Of that is possible) will find
q few cases OF this kind when he will
feel justified in taking a stand" but
he had better not DO go. Better to
lose a halfdollar than a customer
Customers are worth many dollars.
II is the same with refunding mon
ey. Your money back II you want it,
Is now the rule In the most up-to-date
stores all over the country. Where
this system prevails the customers
know that the purchase is not conclud-
ed, not completed until the article has
been accepted as entirely satisfactory.
II for any reason the purchaser de-
sires to return Il, either for refund or
exchange. he knows that he is at per-
feet liberty to do so, and that no en-
barrassing questions will be asked II
is this feeling Of liberty. OF security.
that makes the patron fayo- one store
more than another
In the stores where money Is freely
refunded IL has been proven that the
actual percentage Of refunds" is a
negligible quantity and not worth con
sidering Yet some merchants make
such a wry face and set up such a
"holler" over refunding a dollar or two
that the customer is convinced that II
must be a considerable sum in the
eyes Of that merchant.
The merchant should periodically
take his clerks into his confidence. lie
should tell them Of his aims. his plans,
his dreams even. and ask them to CO.
operate with him. II he does this the
policy Of the store is TO stand togeth-
er and everyone knows that there is
strength In concerted action. The
merchant must treat his help as hu-
man beings. He must educate them
into his own ways and into thinking
as he does, He can only do this by
having a well-dehned policy for the
conduct OF his business.--A. E. Edgar.
in Cream City Ware Champion.