The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1919-07-19
BY =, p. Bowman.
~, stAFaea- A. ~

| I'm Motor age.
How is business:" IL the question
often asked OF the garage manager,
| owner or whoever happens to be re-
sponsible for business, and in nearly
every instance the answer is Fine"
| or Very good, considering condi-
| tons" and in reality the man wno
says it makes the remark coneen-
| tiously. For eleven months Of the
year he rests easy with the business
done and awaits the end Of the
| last month, anxious to read the re-
! port Of the years profits,
Finally the years business 10 placed
before him in figures which are not
| an estimate but an actual statement
| OF the profits OF each department
| summed up to represent the profit Of
/ the total business, and what q sur
| prise they sometimes are.
At q first glance Mr.. Manager Is
| up In the air and his first thought Is
to tack For Sale" sign on the front
door OF the place which would hide
the Rock Of Gibraltar. But before
| doing this he again seats himself in
his chair and gives the report lit
| tie study. His frst thought, perhaps,
10 to discover who is to blame for
the existing condition and replace
the guilty party or parties with eff
ficient help. why" he remarks in
the height Of excitement, I'VE have
done a larger business this last year
than we have done in preceding
years. and we have barely made ex-
penses in comparison to the profits OF
former years"
Business IL Greater.
He turns to the report Of the re-
pair department, which shows that its
total business is 80 per cent more
than the year before, and the profit
IL no greater. II is a peculiar and
sad state of affairs, but after check
ing the report II IL found to be cor
rect. and further, IL discloseS the
secret OF no prohts for the
80 per cent business increase.
First to catch the managers eye,
Credit by adjustment, s15." Frying
into the day slips and memorandum
for the day bearing the date Of this
particular transaction. he finds that
about seven weeks before this credit
was issued John Jones had had GER
tain repairs made on his car which
amounted to $1,000. Then after try
ing to recall the particular transact
tions. he remembers the occurrence
very clearly.
After having sent Mr.. Jones sew
eral statements of his account with !
out having received any reply. to say !
nothing of a remittance, he called on |
Mr.. Jones. in person. and after listen
ing to Mr.. Jones tale Of woe the ac-
count was cut in two and SIS credit |
issued. which. with Mr.. Jones check
for $3.50, balanced the account and
cleared 1t on the books.
No Longer Customer.
As the garage manager remembers
{. Mr.. Jones claimed that his car was
n no better condition after he had IL
'epaired than IL was before, and that
{ vas necessary for him to take 1t to
mother garage before ne could use ii
With any satisfaction. The manager
LIso remembers that Mr. Jones did not
eturn to the garage with his car. nor
lad he returned to register any COM
,laint. not even after several remind
RS Of his unpaid account had been
orwarded to him.
The affair did not have a good ap-
,earance, but, as the manager would
ay 1t. anything to get it OF the
'ooks," so the amount was split in
avor Of Mr.. jones' and he hadn't
cen the customer since. In fact Mr..
ones was no longer a customer, just
remembrance of one and one of
make up the reason for big business
nd no profits.
Mr.. Jones was not the only one;
here were others. In fact, after the
djustments alone had been totaled
hey amounted to a sum which would
ave made a satisfactory profit for
he repair department
Why Poor ShOwingF
Now. who was to blame for the
'oor showing of the repair depart
nent? Why, the party who made the
djustments. Of course. and the party
Who made the adjustments happened
o be the manager, and, passing the
lame from one source to the other, il
nally settled itself in the credit de-
artment, OF which the manager was
n charge And there the blame
ested. 1t could be traced no further.
he poor showing of the accessory
apartment, the tire sales and every
ther department, found its seat OF
rigin in the credit department
The credit department was to blame
or the poor showing Of the entire
usiness for the entire year. and the
uestion arose as to the efficiency Of
hat particular department After a
borough investigation Of credits It
-as found that each OF the credit Gus
omers had the best OF credit refer
noes as per the Judgment of the re-
all dealers cTedit association, which
onsisted OF grocers. clothiers, etc, but
,hich did not include the garage bust
ess-
It was found that car owners would
ay their grocery bills, dry goods bill
nd clothing bill promptly at the
armination Of their credit period, but
hey would pay no attention whatever
D their garage bill.