HOW TO STOP SWEARING
Larsen was a bully good fellow, but I found that in one way he was
hurting the help, as his habit of swearing seemed to have been caught by
the other fellows in the store.
Somewhat with fear and trembling I got the force all together one night
and gave them a little talk on business conduct. Goodness knows I felt
quite incompetent to speak about it, but I felt that it was necessary,
particularly as I had noticed Jones and Wilkes swearing badly, and even
doing it when there were customers in the store. From the language they
used, it was evident that Larsen was the source of inspiration. I spoke
to them somewhat like this:
"It's only a few weeks ago, fellows, since I was a clerk at Barlow's, so
I know how you fellows feel and think, because I thought very much like
you do now. You know there are certain things which a boss realizes
which an employee doesn't. I really want you fellows to know that I want
to help you in any way I can."
Larsen chipped in here, saying:
"I know he does that!"
I silenced him, however, and went on:
"You fellows represent this store when you are in it and out of it. The
way you conduct yourself is to the public the way this store conducts
itself. For instance, if I were to get drunk nights, that would reflect
on the store, wouldn't it?"
They nodded in agreement.
"Now, if I were to be using bad language all the time, that would
reflect on the store also, wouldn't it?"
Again they nodded yes, but not with the same emphasis as before.
"There's one thing," I continued, "that we all have to learn to stop. It
is so easy to slip into bad language that we use it before we realize
it; but it is a bad habit and one that, I am sure, does hurt the
standing of the business. So I am going to ask you fellows, for one
thing, to stop using bad language in and out of the store. I'll go
further, and say I will not allow it in the store at all; and if I find
any one swearing, either about something or at something, I shall put a
black mark against his name.
"Now," I continued, and here I brought out a little tin box, "I have put
a dollar in this box to start a fund. At Christmas any money that is in
this box we will turn over to the Christmas Tree Fund run by _The
Enterprise_ every year. If any of you fellows catch me swearing, tell
me, and I'll put a quarter in the box. If any of you other fellows are
caught swearing I think you ought to put something in the box--if it is
only a dime or a nickel, even. You understand," I said, "that there is
nothing compulsory about this, but it should be a bit of good fun to
keep check on each other in that way, and if any one of us forgets
himself and lets loose some language that isn't proper English, he may
console himself with knowing that his flow of language may mean a new
doll for some poor kiddie. Is that a go?" I asked.
Larsen chirped right up and said:
"You bet it is! It's one good h---- of a--" he grinned sheepishly, put
his hand in his pocket, and dropped a quarter in the box, while a howl
of laughter went up from the other fellows.
That one laugh seemed to break the ice, and for the first time we all
seemed to have a good understanding of each other. They all pledged
themselves to a fine of a dime every time they swore.
"There is one other thing I am going to say at this time," I continued,
when that question had been settled, "and that is that every Monday
evening I am going to have a general meeting of all men who have done
their duty during the week. It will last for three-quarters of an hour
only, and I shall look upon it as a kind of directors' meeting.
"You know," I said, "that directors get paid for every meeting they
attend. Now, I am going to pay all you fellows half a dollar for
attending this directors' meeting every Monday.
"You will be at liberty to say anything you wish. You can roast the
store policy, or me, or any one of us here, and whatever takes place at
this meeting will be considered merely as an outside affair and nothing
to affect our relationship in the business. In other words, you have a
free hand to go as far as you like in that meeting and know that there
will be no kick from me on it.
"Next Monday we'll all get together and talk things over generally. If
any of you have any suggestions to make, shoot them along next Monday. A
week from Monday, however, we'll name one definite thing for discussion
among ourselves."
I gave the boys a cigar each and the meeting adjourned.
I felt that that night's work was well worth while, for I soon noticed a
little different attitude in the men. Eighty cents, however, went the
first day into our "swear box." I began to wonder whether their dimes or
whether their bad language would hold out the longest.
The idea seemed pretty simple, after it had been tried, and found to be
a success, but it wasn't such a simple thing for me to think up. It had
started when Betty read in a paper about how the inmates of a prison
were given a voice in the running of it, and that had set me thinking
about giving the employees a hand in running the business, and the plan
grew out of that. I had been convinced from the start that it would work
out well.
A customer had come into the store one day and asked for an 8-in.
aluminum saucepan. Jones had waited on her, and had replied:
"Sorry, madam, but we are out of that size."
The customer had turned and left, and I had watched her make a bee line
for Stigler's. Then and there I began to consider whether it would not
have been possible to have sold her something, instead of allowing her
to turn away. I reasoned that, while she asked for an 8-in. saucepan,
she might have been just as well satisfied with a 7-in. or a 9-in. or
something else. Jones had not, however, made any attempt to see if
something else would suit her. I reasoned that there were also many
cases like this coming up every week, and that if we could only outline
some standard method of handling such cases, it would mean quite a lot
of sales saved--and, better still, in customers saved. That customer who
went out, if she found what she asked for at Stigler's, would probably
figure that we did not have a very complete stock, and, in any case,
when we forced a customer to buy somewhere else it tended to cultivate
the habit of trading there.
I figured that here was a good subject to bring up for our meeting the
following Monday, and I sat down to work out some general rule to cover
such situations.
It took a long time for my inexperienced mind to put in writing that I
wanted to say, but finally, with the help of Betty, I evolved the
following, and then, deciding that it was such an important matter that
it ought not to be delayed until the next Monday, I had it typewritten,
and gave a copy to each of the force.
This is what I wrote:
"Never tell a customer we are out of stock of anything.
If something is asked for that is not in stock, offer
the customer something else that will, in your
judgment, satisfy her. If a customer, for example,
should ask for an 8-in. aluminum saucepan and we are
out of that size, bring her both a 7-in. and a 9-in.
size and say: 'These are the nearest we have to the
8-in. size. Which of these would suit you best?' If the
customer should hesitate, impress upon her the benefit
of buying a saucepan rather larger than she anticipates
needing. If the customer says that nothing but the
8-in. size will suit her, suggest that you can give her
an enameled pan in that size, and if that won't do, ask
her to leave her name and address and we will have one
expressed to her promptly from the manufacturer. Apply
methods similar to these in every case when we are
asked for something of which we are out of stock. Make
it a rule never to allow a customer to leave the store
without making every attempt to sell her something that
will be satisfactory to her."
I was really pleased with myself when I heard an animated discussion on
this new rule. Jones exclaimed:
"Jiminny Christmas, the Boss has got more sense than I thought he had!"
I told Betty that, when I got home, and she immediately fingered all my
vest buttons.
"What's that for?" I asked.
"I think," she said gravely, but with a twinkle in her eye, "you had
better take off your vest and let me fasten those buttons with wires, or
else you'll be bursting them, through swelling with pride!"