The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-12-17
THE BOOMERANG
THAT DISCOURTESY BRINGS
Being Discussion Of the superEgo Of Some Buyers-By
Es Howard p Hildreth In 1.-THE
tEH Sample Case

might. II taken II sufncient quantity.
kill an over sensitive person.
The salesman left. and time passed.
but the shipment did not arrive. The
buyer was about to wire for 1t when
the manufacturer himself appeared.
Without introducing himself. he
queried the buyer SO as to make sure
Of his man.
Well. then, Mr.. i am So
and-S president Of the --- Com
pany. l have to inform you that the
order you placed recently with our
salesman Is still on my desk. 1t has
not been shipped, and never will be-
Tho treatment you accorded to our
representative was not the kind Of
treatment which our statesmen are in
the habit of receiving. Furthermore.
we DO not care to do business with
people who treat statesmen in that
manner. Good day"
Mr.. Buyer was compelled to do
without the merchandise. while his
competitor up the street was given the
agency and has built up a fine busi-
ness
Now, then, what Ia the trouble7 Do
some buyers fail to recognize in the
statesmen who come TO see them. real
live men who are human like our
selves. or do they think that the men
OF the road belong to a different race
entirely-that they are socially In
ferior and do not mind the gaining and
maltreatment which they receive? Or
are they 50 conscious Of being the
buyers that they must make their re-
lation with other people TEEN into
their consc.ousn
The few instances that l have cited
are typical of incidents in the life OF
the average salesman. 1t would seem
hnt tAt. n "
IL becoming demoralized by this self
conscious buyer; that there are social
castles In our business life: that guer-
rIIas exist in business as we'll as In
other phases OF human activity. Ger
tainly, the buyer who treat statesmen
as. underlings must consider them
selves as superior beings of genus
not universally recognized. but which.
nevertheless. must exist because SO
many illustrious men represent II.
The buyer who treats the road men
as though they were pine boards
stood on end for him to assail--htt
the coon and get five-cent cigar
fashion--wii turn right around and
treat his own salespeople the same
way. He is the buyer who Is narrow
minded--the know-it-all OF the estab-
lishment He is so impressed with his
own importance. that anyone outside
or MS own sphere Is DelCW uiAi
The knight OF the Grip can be OF
Infinite service to buyers. II they will
permit him to be. 1t happens, in fact.
that a road salesman can be of greater
immediate value to a buyer than can
his own department force. Having
Travelled extensively and having aeso-
ciatcd with buyers of different stores
and under varying conditions. buyers
who have had varying problems which
they discuss more or less with the
travelling men. the salesman 10 very
often in a position to offer positive and
helpful suggestions which will aid the
buyer In building UP his own depart
ment The travelling man should be
catered 10. at least to the extent OF
maintaining friendly relations with
him.
The manufacturer who sends sales
men out TO meet buyers desires them
to develop their personalities % far
As de-brinHing qualities are con-
cerned. This same desire implies that
their clients should be clean-cut bust
ness men. who know now to rub
shoulders and to treat men civilly. Any
one whose duty Is to meet statesmen
would far rather meet q good per-
sonality than 20 meet a SLOUGH. go It
lis. from the manufacturers point OF
view. much to his credit II he can
boast OF a clientele entirely devoid of
tho crouch.
The one way to eliminate this un-
fortunate der~ltct who stands as q
black spot on the business horizon IL
to refuse. as ala the manufacturer
cited above. to sell goods to such a
man. There are not 90 many OF them
that such . policy would cut deeply
into the gross yearly pronta. and the
manufacturer or iob6er would have
the satisfAction-And the reputation
OF protecting his eAlesmen against
suoh inhumAn atrocities.
What's sauce for the goose Is sauce
for the gandeS. IS grandmother used
to say-And In this case II Is mighty
good sauce.