RULES FOR GIVING SERVICE
Our next Monday evening meeting had proved quite interesting. We had
sold one bread mixer, but, thank heaven, no one had inflicted a loaf of
bread upon us! I was hoping that that foolish stunt of mine would die a
natural death--and that's a better one than it deserved.
The matter for discussion at the meeting was introduced by Jones, who
had in his hand a copy of that little "Service" booklet which we had
issued.
"I was thinking over this little booklet the other day," said he, "but,
do you know, Mr. Black, I don't think we are living up to it, somehow."
"In what way do you mean?" I asked him.
"Well, we talk about service and how we want people to feel they are at
home, and all that, and-- Oh, I don't know how to express it," he
floundered.
I certainly didn't know what he was driving at. I looked at Larsen, and
his face was a blank; then I looked at Charlie, and, as I did so, he
said:
"I'd like to ask Jones a question," and he turned to Jones, saying,
"What you mean is that, while we talk of giving service, we have not any
definite plan of going about it. Isn't that it?"
"Yep," said Jones, "we have no rules or regulations or anything of that
kind."
"I see what you mean," I said. "You mean we _talk_ about service, but
don't _give the atmosphere_ of service."
"That's exactly it," went on Jones, "we ought to be able to give people
the feeling that they are being treated differently when they come into
the store."
"Store atmosphere, that is," said Charlie, "and the way to get it is by
having definite rules of conduct--rules which every one should live up
to."
"Do you think it is worth while having a set of written rules of conduct
in a little store like this?" I asked.
"Being a Yankee," laughed Martin, "I'll answer you by asking you another
question. Do you think it is as important for a small store to have
proper accounting methods as a big store?"
For an hour or more we had an animated discussion on what rules of
conduct we ought to adopt for our store, and finally we worked up a list
of twenty-one, which I give as follows:
1. No customer must leave our store dissatisfied.
2. The customer on whom you wait requires all your attention.
3. Approach the customer who enters the store; do not wait for the
customer to approach you.
4. Remember that the object you have in view is to sell goods at a
profit to the store, and to the satisfaction of the customer.
5. The more customers you have, and the more each one spends, the nearer
you are to the attainment of your sales quota.
6. Customers come into the store for their convenience. Let your speech
and manner show that you appreciate the opportunity of serving them.
7. Cleanliness is imperative, from the floor to the ceiling, from your
hair and your shoes to your finger nails.
8. A smile costs nothing. Give one to every customer.
9. Show your appreciation of their patronage by always saying "Thank
you" when giving the package or the change.
10. Customers come into the store to buy merchandise, not to talk to, or
admire you. Do not wear anything, or say anything, that will distract
attention away from the goods to yourself.
11. Repeat the name and address of a customer whenever goods have to be
charged or delivered. An error in writing the name of a customer is
almost a crime.
12. Write distinctly so that others will know what you mean.
13. Try to know the names of customers and, when addressing them, use
their names.
14. Never correct customers' pronunciation of goods. For preference,
adopt their pronunciation.
15. The store is a place for business. Do not allow it to be used as a
meeting place for loafers or for gossips. Nothing drives away real
customers more quickly than this.
16. "Punctuality is the soul of business." Be at the store punctually
and wait on customers promptly.
17. Study your goods and show seasonal articles to all customers whom
you can interest in them, especially if the goods are being advertised.
18. Don't wait till you sell the last one of an article before putting
it on the want book. Remember that it takes time to get supplies.
19. Exercise care in displaying goods. Goods well displayed are half
sold.
20. Adopt as your personal slogan:
"If every worker were just like me,
What kind of a store would this store be?"
21. Work _with_ your fellow workers.
We felt quite pleased with that list of rules, and the more I looked at
them the better they seemed to me.
We had a discussion as to which of the twenty-one rules of conduct was
the best. Larsen said that number one was the best. I favored
twenty-one. Charlie said four was the best, and we finally agreed with
him.
"Four," said Charlie, "appears to me to be the best, because the whole
object of running this business is to make a profit. All the other rules
are followed merely in order to secure that object."
I really believed that we would find it easier to work according to
definite rules, than to continue with no rules for our guidance.
Furthermore, we ought to be happier, working harmoniously together along
definite lines. We all agreed that following these twenty-one rules
would help us to give the store an atmosphere of _good service_, the
_square deal_, _truthfulness_ and _cooperation_.
Larsen had resumed his Thursday afternoon hunts for business. The first
Thursday, when the old chap got back to the store, he was almost crying
with delight.
"Say, Boss," he said, "those people seemed real glad to see me. They ask
me where I been so long. I tell them I was sick. That's why I dropped
Thursday trips. I felt I was meetin' old friends."
"Fine!" I said. "How much business did you get?"
"Sixteen dollars' worth," he said. "I think by keeping at it we'll get
lots of new business. Remember old Seldom?--well," (Seldom was a real
estate man and quite well-to-do) "he saw me coming in and came out of
his office to me. He made me go to Traglio's and gave me a cigar. Then
he said, 'There's nothing I'm wanting, Larsen, but step over to the
house; I'll tell the missus you are coming over.' Well, Boss, I go to
the house and see her. She had a mail-order catalog and was making out
an order. She's good-natured and fat. She make me cup of tea. She showed
me order to go to Chicago."
"What was it for?" I asked Larsen.
"A bread mixer, for one thing," said Larsen, grinning.
I remembered my bread-mixer episode, so I said: "Well, why didn't she
come here for it? Goodness knows we advertised them enough."
"That's what she said. She said it advertised too much. She thought if
she bought one she get her name in paper or something."
"Why, that's nonsense," I remonstrated.
"That's what she said of the ad," said Larsen.
"Oh, well, forget it," I cried peevishly. "Did you get an order from
her?"
"The only one I did get. Here it is--sixteen dollars! I try to sell her
pencil sharpener, but she say, 'That's a man's buy.' I'll sell Seldom
one for her."
"Didn't any of the other people you called on want anything?"
"No," said Larsen, "they not expect me. I didn't like to push this trip.
I think we oughta make a list of season stuff and call on regular
customers. We could sell them stuff they buy from mail-order folks."
Larsen was determined to find some way of coping with the mail-order
houses. We certainly had had some little success, but the mail-order
houses seemed always to be everlastingly on the job.