C omp et it oriti s

Talk with the average business man ten minutes and you can determine whether he is building his business permanently, or whether he is organized for the purpose of trying to defeat a competitor.

Most men have "COMPETITORITIS."

They never permit themselves to forget their competitor. They think of what HE is doing, more than they do of their own business.

If a business man thinks more about his competitor than he does of his own business there is only one answerHIS COMPETITOR

WILL WIN OUT!

Business today is simply a matter of service. There is no other through route to success. Profits are legitimate when they accrue as the result of SERVICE.

It was not always so under the old regime.

Certain organizations prospered because they were able to extend credit to buyers who temporarily were in need of credit accommodations.

Others secured patrons because they were so located that it was piactically impossible for customers to make purchases elsewhere.

There was a time in the history of merchandising when "fixing things up" with their competitors, was looked upon as the only safe, sane and sensible way; but' the practice was so disastrous and the ethics were so questionable that it is now practically a thing of the past in pll} but those business organizations which hive been so poorly managed that SERVCE TO THE CUSTOMER is still a foreign element.

The FEAR of co,rnpetition is only experienced by business men who are weaker than their competitors.

A business man never fears a competitor who is weaker than he is.

Consequently, whenever we hear a man talking about competition we know that the other fellow has it on him.

A local sales manager who worries continually about the pricethe other fellow is quoting or is going to quote should have a "business blood test" made.

He is becoming anaemic.

PRICE long ago ceased to be the big factor in merchandising.

It figures out something like this-

Sooner or later, however, conditions changed, and ser- An organization with trained buyers and requiring large vice to the customer proved to be the only certain road to quantity of merchandise can buy as closely as any other merchandising success. organization of equal size. Therefore, there cannot be a great d,ifference in merchandise cost. It is also safe to assume that no one concern can do business at so much less cost than another that there will be a large difference in the selling price PER ARTICLE. Profits, toq ,are quite generally standardized so that no sensible business man can expect to obtain abnormal profits.

To greatly UND'ERQUOTE in this age of merchandising usually produces a suspicion in the mind of the buyer that the quality of the merchandise may be questionable. Particularly is this true in lumber and millwork where none of the merchandise is branded so that the customer can determine just what grade he is getting, and where 'rnuch of the material looks a great deal alike.

The local sales manager who understands merchandising invariably turns a low competitive quotation into a selling argument for HIS own goods since he is positive that the competitor who is underquoting cannot do so and furnish the same quality of merchandise.

The first year that Thompson Yards, Inc., started in business they heard much talk about COMPETITION.

Now the subject is seldom mentioned by local sales rnanagers, so strongly has the SERVICE IDEA supplanted the old desire to cut a price or resort to some unlb'usinesslike stunt because some competitor lacked the self control necessary to prevent him from doing it.

Watching the other fellow ISN'T profitable.

It's just as foolish as changing the "Watch'Your Step" signs to read, "Watch the Other Fellow's Step."

I{ we were as willing td watch the other fellow's step as we used to be to watch his business, it wouldnlt take us long to fall and break our necks.

We need to watch our own steps. We don't need to worry about the other fellow's. He won't thank us for trying to tell him where to step, anyway.

Every business man has enough to keep him busy if he is really and truly trying to RENDER SERVICE.

If he renders the right kind of service he doesn't 'have to fuss much about the other fellow.

SERVICE is the whole thing. If you have service you won't have to worry. If you do not, and the other fellow DOES-all your fussing about him won't save your bacon.

From "Ifpper Cuts," house organ of Thompson Yards.

Sell Them Fresh Air

Make it your business to stron'gly recommend a sleeping porch on every home you have anything to do with the building of.

Sell them fresh air, health, happiness, rosy cheeks, sound slumber, etc. Charge them for these blessings. Give them the building material. You'll both be the gainer'

Wc havc a paint prcpodtion to livc hrmber deal'en, who derirc to handlc printr of quality rrrd backcd by rcrricc.

Our rnatcriab arG mrdc for pcoplc rvho knorv what good paht wilt & to improve the acccptability of thcir hmber.