Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1921-09-29
Know They Must Face the Music
if Their Customers Are
DispIeased.
MEET PATRONS FACE TO Face
= Mall Order Men Prefer to Sell AZ I ono
Distance Rather Than Deal
With People In Their
Own Cities.
(Copyright.)


that he wants that the local mer-
chants do not carry in stock, and that
it is necessary for him to send away
from town to get them.
This explanation may be all right
on the theory that a poor excuse is
better than none, but it fails to pass
muster when it is subjected to a lit
tie scrutiny.
Ask the man who offers this as an
excuse for his dealings with the mail
order man why he does not go to the
local merchant and ask him to order
the articles desired If they are not to
be found in the merchants stock. The
merchant will very gladly do this, and
the merchant and customer will both
profit. The merchant can sell you
whatever you desire at as low a price
as the mail order house can make you
on goods the same quality and he can
make a small profit.
The customer will profit from the
transaction, because he will be deal
ing with merchant who stands back
Of the goods that he sells, and who
is easily accessible in case the arti-
'cles purchased do not prove to be
all that the customer had expected.
Give Home Merchant Preference.
: Why not try this plan the next time
you need something which you can
not find in any Of your home stores
The merchant in the average sized
town cannot carry in stock everything
that all Of the people in his town may
want at all times. It would require
"a capital many times larger than the
average merchant can command to do
this, but he does the best he can.
He ordinarily does carry in stock at
all times many things for which there
is no general demand, in order that he
may meet the needs of his customers
to the greatest possible degree, but
there is a limit to his purchasing abil-
ity. He is always ready and willing,
however, to make every effort to meet
the demands Of the community. Why
not, then, give him the preference over
the far-distant mail order man if you
must have something which is not to
be found in the local stores? He
will do the business in a satisfactory
manner, give you as quick If not quick
er service and more satisfactory treat
meht, and the chances are that
he will give you better values for the
money. Finally, whatever profit is to
be made off the transaction will stay
at home and do it's bit toward making
the merchant and his town and, Incl.
dentally, yourself, more prosperous.
No business can be transacted as
satisfactorily at long range as it can
when the two parties to the transac-
ton meet face to face The only ex-
ception to this rule is in the case of
the mail order man himself, who can
transact his business with greater sue
cess to himself at long distance than
he could If he had to meet his Gus
toners face to face. That is the reason
that he does business by mail instead
of selling to the people in his own
city. If the goods which the mail or
der man advertises in his alluring cat
alogues were the bargains that he rep
resents them to be, he would not have
to go outside of the confines of his
own city to sell all the goods he could
possibly obtain. But the average mail
order house not only does not make
any effort to sell goods in its own city,
but will not sell to anyone residing
within the city limits. The mail order
man does not want to meet his Gus
toners face to face. He can do bust !
ness better so far as he is concerned If
his customer is some hundreds Of miles |
away from his Office.
Does Business in Open
The man who sells goods over the |
counter, on the other hand, does bust
ness in the open. He cannot hide be-
hind corporate name or talk to dis
pleased customer from behind the |
locked doors of a private office. He
knows that he must face the music in
case he is a party to any transaction
that won't stand the light Of day. He
knows that he must satisfy every Gus
toner with whom he may be dealing
or he will lose not only that customer |
burt probably others who viii soon
know all the facts if he does not do the
square thing by any one of his
patrons.
There is no reason in the world for |
any person to send his money to
mail order house because he cannot |
find the article he wants In his local
store. The local merchant is In Dusi-
ness for the very purpose of getting
you what you want. He has the infor-
nation that will enable him to get |
what you want and to get it as quick
~ as you could get it from mail Or
der house. 1t is only fair to him to
give him the chance to make such |
profit as any dealer would make off the
transaction and it is only fair to your
self to keep that profit at home rather |
than to send it away 10 some far dis |
fant city from which IT will never ro. i