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The Man With "Punch" Gets the "Biz"
fn a recent article on retail salesmanship in this depart- ment, we made the statement that the retliler who dbter_ mines to forsake the old time plan of ,,Watchful 'Waiting,, for people to come to him and tell him what they want ?o bly, ?-n4 who starts out to use the newerrthoughls in merchandising to CREATE business, and CONSTh.UCT Uusiness, and INTENSIFY business,-will find himself at first in much the same condition as the boy who makes his first trial at riding a bicycle.
f.he loy w-ho has -never attempted the feat of balancing on a- wheel, feels at first as thoughhe could not possibly lEarn the. thing, and catch the trickl He gets a few falls it first, andlas t-o try-a-nd- keep trying, when- suddenly he finds thai Jt9 CAN keep his balance on the wheel; and from that time his riding troubles are over. It becomes second nature to him.to ride, and he keeps his balance with ease.
There is a point in this little comparison to which we want to call the notice of our dealer friends, who have made 3..f.ry attempts at new ideas in merchandising, and whoIike the-boy-who_ fell off the first time he got o"r, hi" wheelwas inclined to believe that he could NdT learn the trick.
The. point is THIS. When he had his first fall, and felt as though he were attempting a hopeless task, why does the boy not give up? -Why-does h_e go ahead un[il he-firrally be_ comes able to balance? BECAUSE HE SEES OTHER BOYS RIDING BICYCLES, AND HE HAD ENOUGH SENSE AND COURAGE TO KNOW THAT WHAT
OTHERS COULD DO SUCCESSFULLY AND HAPPILY,. HE ALSO COULD DO.
Catch that thought, Friend Dealer?
We have had many dealers say to us: "We took your advice and we bought plan book systems, and we failld to do any good with them"; or "We tried display advertising as you .suggested, -and did not get returni enough to jujiify the investment," and there were 'a variety oi othei complaints along the same line.
. Now, mind you, we have reports on the other side of the Iedger in greater number than we have had complaints, thank the Lord? 'We have had more dealers write us that they ARE trying better merchandising, and that they ARE succ-eeding at it, and we have great reason to feel r-ejoiced on this account.
However, we do not feel that because a number have made good with better merchandising, that we should overlook those that have not. We are going to keep right after the two kinds of needy among the dealers;-those who have tried and failed,-and the latter is the larger group by farthose who have not even had the energy or the willingness to TRY.
,We are going to have strong help in making both these cliques see things our way,-in the person of NECESSITY. They say that NECESSITY is the mother of invention; we
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