The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1915-02-24
MORE on COMPETITION

MORE ON SOMtEIlAlON
~ HE instinct or law OF self
preservation appears to oper-
ate with all It's force in business as
well as in life. When a mans life
is threatened by another the Law per-
mits him to defend himself. even to
the extreme Of taking the life Of his
assailant. Sometimes. however. the
supersensitive person may think his
life endangered when It Is not. or he
may mistake the source OF danger
and hence take wrong means OF
protecting himself.
When the merchant notes that his
patrons are diminishing In NUMBER,
that the total of his business each
month or each year is less while the
trade of his competitor-either the
local merchant or the distant mall
order concerns increasing. he II
almost sure to see the cause IN the
misconduct of his competitor rather
than in defects Of his own methods.
For example. the opinion common
ily prevails among retailers that there
lis about SO much business In q COM
munity and that BY the operation OF
a fixed law each merchant will re-
Iceive about his share Of business;
the amount, the total. = the same.
and II the distribution IL unequal the
merchant who gets more than his
share OF trade must have cut prices,
supplied inferior stock or used some
other unfair method to secure the
patronage. This is why price cutting
campaigns are sometimes started.
While Of course the purchasing and
consuming capacity Of each COM
imunity is limited. yet that capacity
lis rarely reached. While one mer-
chant may use unfair methods to
attract trade. yet he may increase
his trade beyond that OF his fellow
merchants by perfectly legitimate
methods. A great many elements or
factors are involved in each purchase
end many forces not apparent on the
surface determine the direction In
which trade shall now. Everybody
knows that water flows down hill
only. and yet to the casual observer
a stream appears as level as lake.
Only knowledge Of the basic fact
that water seeks its level sustains
him in his belief that the stream
does how down hill.
(, The retail merchant who nova
days faces competition either local or
foreign or both might as well recog-
nize the basic fact that to hold his
trade he must give to the public. to
his trade, not only good service. but
the best service. and he must in ad-
dition convince the people Of his COM
munity that he is giving that serv-
ice. He will only injure himself by
attempting to discredit his cpmpeti-
tors, especially when his claims may
be subjected to immediate tests that
will prove their unsoundnes.
! The same law precisely applies to
his competitor that applies to him
--he can not gain customer and
! hold him year after year by decep'
tion; and this is just as true Of the
catal0g competitor as Of the local
competitor. The time has gone by
when the simple declaration of a
retail merchant-an interested party
that catalog goods are inferior will
be accepted without question. The
merchant making such statements
must know 1t is true and be prepared
Ito prove 1t or he would better moi
make It at all.
One fact the local retailer should
never forget nor leave out Of his
sales argument and that 10 that he.
owing to his permanent location. can
inject more elements OF service into
each business Transaction than can
any other retailer. II he does not
introduce these elements into . sale
be y simply Withholding part ~oi
lths commodity he has to offer which
his outside compstitor can not give.
He ought 70 know II hs II : retail
Ilumberman, exactly what he gives b.
sides the Iumbsr TO his customers
with every one thousand feet Of stock
they buy. One thing he slwaSs can
ana always should glvs ana thst 4