Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1912-08-10
HOW TO MEET
COMPETITION

/ The Ttmberman takes pleasure In
presenting the following clear and
lucid article. from the Retail Lumber
man. published at Kansas City, on
the solution of the problem of meet
Ing mail order competition. The views
expressed are sane and logic uncon
trovertible. The policy advocated b!
the Retail Lumberman applies to
manufacturers as we'll as retailers
To succeed In any business requires
wideawake business methods, combin
ed with natural fitness and adapt,
bility. Any attempt to build up your
own business by railing at your com.
petitor must fail. The only sure way
to permanent success Is to strive to
excel your competitor In service
though not necessarily in price.
Meeting Mail Order Competition
For ten years or more retail mer.
chants have had to meet active mail
order competition. They have passed
resolutions, formed organizations,
made and heard eloquent, sensible
speeches; but yet all the time the
mail-order house has thrived and
grown larger. Evidently the work
done to meet competition has failed
very largely.
Well, can it be met?
Yes.
No wide, awake retail lumberman
need lay awake nights worrying about
such competition. Lumbermen are
in less danger from such competition
than any other merchant. And the
real lumber merchant Is meeting 1t
very successfully. There is and
will be no law to help the merchant.
In fact, there will be no law to help
along the mail-order house. The
dealer need not expect anything to
come about outside his own brain a l
energy to hep him. Meeting mail.
order competition Is wholly an tndi.
'idual matter with each dealer In his
own territory. Hundreds OF dealers
say they are not materially bothered.
Why2
What Is the secret OF their sue
cess?
1t lies In wide-awake merchandise
ing, coed craftsmanship. Don't allow
your patrons to get the habit of trad
ing away from home. One OF the best
lumbermen In the state of Missouri
recently said he had no trouble with |
mail order houses. On roofing, for
example, he said he met the price
of the mail-order house and then
made good profit. That Is the |
very place the mail-order house gets
in it's work. The dealer who is not
satisfied with good profit re.
fuses to sell, loses all profit and
loses customer forever. A manu-
facturer of certain wood recently |
said he found the dealer In GER
tain town selling his wood at 100 per
cent profit and more. Because the
dealer demanded that profit the man
ufacturer could not get his wood In.
to that market.
What am l to do?" he inquired.
Must | sell over the dealers head
Or stay out of the market? All my |
money Is tied up in my business. l
must succeed"
What would you do, Mr.. Dealer?
The proper thing would be to take
the good profit" and sell more stock
and hold your trade. Use the local
paper. Get your customer to figure
with you and sell him one thing In
order to sell him everything there
after. Bargain counters are as help
ftll TO lumDeTUleu AS W OLucI mCl
chants. Good merchandising alone
will meet mail-order competition.
It's up to the individual dealer
a one. An association can do very
little In helping the individual In this
competition except to show him how
he can better his salesman ship. Let
the dealer and manufacturer work to-
gether to keep down the number OF
yards where there are now too many
or Just enough. II there are too
many, and the dealers cannot live
without exhorbitant profits because
there Is too little trade to 60 around.
let one sell out to theothers. AS
the country reaches Its development
fewer yards are needed. 1t Is just
a condition Of growth and cannot be
helped. No need to expect laws to
help ruin a competitor. The only
law we will get is the law Of the sur
vival OF the fitest.
Just be the fittest.
That man will be making money GU