Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-04-28
ELLEN YOUNG
DOCTOR OF SALES
By Ruth Leigh
Author Of The Human side Of Re-
tail selling" The A B c Of Retail
ing" etc

! 1Ou say mat 9Ou MAVEN lahNh
a vacation from business N sixteen
years, Mr.. Merritt" remarked Ellen
Young to the owner of the Merritt
Knitting Mills. I'm convinced that
| you have been doing less and less
work each year. as a result"
Don't you believe it." Merritt
| treasured her with a gesture. "Ill
J bet l do more work in ten hours
/ than"
But what kind of work? 1t isn't
the you do. but the quality
that counts. after ALL" Here's my
| point. Mr. Merritt. A human being
is like n machine. He runs and runs
along, but unless he stops frequently
and gets oiled. rests the machine.
so to speak. he's bound to break
down eventually. And the longer he
runs his bodily machine without
giving 1t a rest. the greater and
greater the depreciation, just as
with your huge knitting machines.
Unless o stop them often. oil
them. see that the parts are work.
ing, rest them. they get worn out
quickly"
Emanuel Merritt looked inter-
ested.
Now If YOU. or any employe in
your Office and factory. Is supposed
to do good work, 1t Is far more eff
cient for him to work for a period,
then rest and play for a period. than
to work constantly. Business men
are approaching the importance of
these frequent periods of relaxation
for workers. They begin to see that
these little rests enable the worker
to do far more efficient work when
he returns to the job. Don't you
realize. Mr.. Merritt. that IL a person
runs on and on, year after year,
with no real rest and play period,
that his work is bound to become
more and more inefficient. +? He can't
help going stale on the job. But let
him get away for a minute: let him
stop and rest; and what happens?
He becomes refreshed; returns to
his job with new vigor: and that
Job Is consequently better handled.
Vacations and frequent pauses
during a days work are considered
really efficient today. One can't
drive people and expect them to
Keep up an equal pace of good work,
without stopping occasionally to
rest"
Then you don't think night-work
Is favorable?"
mo. I don't. OF course. some-
times, under exceptional conditions.
night-workI is necessary to tide over
a rush. But as a general rule, I
think that night-work is usually a
waste of time and money. Workers
who have been working all day are
tired. The evening should be spent
in some form of relaxation or diver
sion. When a man works at his lob
all day, and then for four or five
hours at night. naturally. he can't
to his desk the next morning
with the same vigor, freshness and
emciency that he would have If he
mad rested or done something di-
verting after business hours. So
you lose in the end. because the
next day, the worker is more in
efficient"
live been rather wanting to
get away. on a fishing trip up North
began Merritt wistfully.
We'll, go, Mr.. Merritt. You'll find
that the fishing trip will be one OF
the mos profitable business invest
ments you ever made. 1t will nav
you amazing dividends in returned
health. Moreover, if you get away
from your work you'll come back
with new freshness. new ideas, a new
viewpoint. A man can't plug along
day after day and expect to be con-
stantly new. fresh and original. He
needs to get away occasionally, to
get a new viewpoint on things in
general, and this new viewpoint is
going to give him a better grasp on
his work."
what do you think of this as an
illustration to this shoe advertise
ment, Miss Young?" asked the
youthful advertising manager" of
a shoe concern. He held before
Ellen Young proof of a cut repre-
senting a man watching an automo-
bile race, with speedily running ma
chimes shown in the foreground.
Ellen Young gives some very in
teresting advice about advertising
and illustrations tomorrow.
Let Miss Leigh answer your BUSH
ness questions on buying, selling, adj
vertising, employment, etc. Ask your
questions clearly and give all the
facts. Questions requiring technical
answers will be SEM by mail. Others
will be answered in this issue.
Business Questions Answered
As near as possible can you give
me a list showing the principal items
of expense in a hardware store?
MERCHANT.
From the latest figures available.
the leading expense items in a retail
hardware store during 1920 were:
Rent 3.41 per cent
Salaries ............ 1O.1l
Advertising ........ 1.12
Heat and light ...... .43
Deivery ........... y
'.........s 90
Insurance and taxes so
General expenses go. eel
Depreciation and shrink
age ~
Bad debts .......... 81
Percentage of total expenses to
sales, 20.41 per cent.
Copyright, 1922, by Public Ledger
Company =. =. .. -.