Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1919-05-02
Mail Order Man Need Not Worry
About Keeping His Old
Customers. ID
HIS field NOT RESTRICTED
Local Merchant, on Other Hand, Must
Give Good Values and Service
In Order to Hold
HIs Trade.
(copyrighl)

sucker born every minute. III this be
true, there are LAO potential custom
ers of the mail-order houses ushered
into the world every "a hours and the
number reaches total of 525,600 every
year.
OF course as Mark Twain remarked
regarding reports of his death, these
figures may be exaggerated, but they
serve to illustrate the fact that the
mail-order houses of the big cities al
ways have new fields to exploit and
are not hampered in their dealings by
the necessity of pleasing all their old
customers. IL the mail-order buyer
discovers that he has been "stung'
and registers vigorous kick. 1t means
nothing In the young life of the mail
order man. Why should he worry as
long as there are some 99,999,999 other
persons In the United States to whom
he may make his alluring appeals.
Ever Get Money 6ack7
Did anyone ever hear Of mail or
der house refundlng a customers
money If the customer was not salts
fed with his purchaser Don't all speak
at once, please. The big mail order
houses In the cities expect to receive
a large number of complaints from
their customers. They know that
much or the goods which they sell will
not come up to the expectations of the
buyers, whose ideas as to what they
will receive have been formulated from
the pretty pictures and alluring de-
scriptions given In the catalogues.
The mail order houses prepare for |
this contingency by maintaining large |
corps of clerks whose sole duty 1t is
TO answer the letters of irate Gus
toners. These clerks. or correspond
ents, as they are called, exercise all
their powers of cajolery In an effort
to appease the complaining customers,
but II this is found to be impossible.
after an exchange of letters, the mall
order man has no cause for worry. His
living Is not dependent upon the Gus
toner to whom he has already sold
goods. "There are as good fish In the
sea as have ever been caught" and he
turns his attention toward the landing
of the new fish.
Local Merchants Field Limited.
Compare the position of the mail or
der man with that of the retail mer-
chant in the small city or town. The
retail merchant has certain limited
territory from which he must draw his
rade. All his business must be done F
lay after day and year after year {
mons the same people. The buyers
o whom he can appeal for business =
lumber only few thousand at the |
most and In some cases a few hun +
red. Unless he can make his Gus 2
omers his friends and bring them
dck to his store again, he cannot con
hue in business. The result is that
e looks beyond the single sale which Z
e may be making at the time. II is ~
, his interest TO please every one of =
is customers. II viii profit him moth
Is to make big profit of customer
a one sale II that customer is not =
ltisfied with his purchase and refuses .
come back to his store again
From which man can the buyer ex.
'ct to get the best values. the best "A,
ryice and the best prices In proper A,
On 10 the quality Of the goods sold? IN
rom the man who must please him
Id give him his moneys worth in or
II to remain in business or from the IN
nm who figures thar he may never
ar from the buyer again and that 1t
il make no great difference whether
pleases him on not?
Gets II Whiis He Can.
The idea upon which Che mail order
IN works is to get the money while
getting Is good If the customer
with the goods which he re-
YES, all well and good. The mail or ?,
man knows that the customer Is
kind of man or woman who -
eS 20 take Il chance or he wouldn't -
ie sent In his order in the first
&c. Therefore ne may figure that
customer is likely to take a second 4 Il
nee even II the first does not turn y
to his liking. If the customer has -,
ugh spirit 10 make kick. the IA
med correspondents In charge of
complaint department may be able III
pacify him. If they are not. 1t I
sn't matter moch anyway for there al
millions of others who may be IN
ght with the same bait--there Is vi
born every minute. You know.
Is well for the consumer to re- vlI
pber these facts II he Is ever -
pied to take chance on the offer
, OF the mail order house. The u
merchant has something at stake an,
- sale that he makes, The mail oia'
las nothing at stake. The
''"'n : Z has everything at Co
hefcn~A IT in which he treats
on the nis;ss ~aunot get others wa
lstomers, Tor 40 ne mail orhss =,
re their places. a FOR n Is -
has nothing at Stiists CON a,s y
terest TO get ali tilasi ~ mo- ix,Ss
Oh sale, knowing that ks Jos
have another chance sr ttist p /
r customer. COL