I@ A/rcr'il at Farm and City Market

Bv R. E. Saberson

Among other things, we are here to consider what lumber dealers can do to help WIN the war. If the answer is "Nothing" it is an admission of non-essentiality and many a lumber yard is destined to become another war casualty. But by this time it has been well demonstrated that lumber dealers can do many important things not only to help WIN the war but also to help SHORTEN it. If this were not the case there would be little else to do but go back home and "board'er up" for the duration.

By your presence at this meeting you indicate your beIief in the essentiality of your business.

And so it seems to me that you can help the war effort substantially by supporting your association as never before because through it and your National Association you are able to gear your own activities more closely to the Government's program and through adherence to wartime rules prevent friction, mistakes, misunderstandings that would otherwise be certain to occur. Under such circumstances it must be comforting to know that your association affairs, nationally and locally, are in competent hands.

The first thing we must do, if we are to help shorten the war, is to change from peace-time to war-time thinking-to change from peace-time to war-time operations. And that isn't easy ! The hardest thing for a business man to do is to change his established routine. It seems it should be easier than it is, yet the inability to meet chbnged conditions wrecks more companies and more men than anything else.

General Motors recently published a pamphlet which tells the story of the processional caterpillars that work only in a procession. They feed on pine needles. One caterpillar, with eyes half closed, snuggles his head up to the rear of the caterpillar in front of him and blindly follows. Thus the procession works its way through the branches of the trees.

A French scientist made up his mind to try and see what would happen if this routine were disturbed. Pa- tiently he worked until he got the procession started around the edge of a plate. The center was filled with pine needles but, running true to form, the caterpillars traveled around the rim of the plate in the traditional manner until they died of exhaustion although there was plenty of food in plain sight all the time.

One of the dangers of war-time is the fact that we are too inclined to attempt to operate our lumber yards according to established peace-time formulas. It can't be done. War-time regulations bring irs in contact with a flock of "can'ts." You "can't-do-this" and you "can't-dothat" orders descend upon us in a never-ending flood. Eventually we become so saturated with "can't" that we begin to overlook the "cans." 'We become negative, rather than positive, in our approach to many of our problems.

Next thing we know we begin to run short of certain stock which we find it more and more difficult to replace. This creates another dangerous state of mind-a malady which someone has appropriately described as "haven't got it-can't get it-to hell with you."

The effect of this negative mental attitude is well illustrated by the experience of a lumber and builders' supply dealer who stepped into a chain store one morning to buy a gun strap. The girl behind the counter said:"We have no gun straps."

"f see three there on some guns," replied the customer. "Couldn't I buv one of those ?"

Just then the manager came sweeping by but he was no longer interested in customers. He was more anxious to read about the "can'ts that came in that morning's mail. The girl followed him to his office. "We have no gun straps in stock. Could f sell one of the straps off the guns we have ?

"No, you can't do that," was his emphatic answer.

So the disgusted prospective customer went to a second chain store where he was told again that no gun straps were to be had.

It wasn't until he reached the third store that he heard the welcome words: "Listen, sir, if you want a gun strap, I'11 get you one, if I have to make it myself."

The dealer not only sold a gun strap but an additional cash sale amounting to more than $10.00. More important still, he made a customer.

At the beginning oL 1943 the lumber and builders' supply dealer's biggest worry is how to replace inventories. That is problem number one and it will no doubt continue to be the major problem through the year. Strange to say, sales promotion is problem number two, although probably not many will be willing to agree that such is the case.

Recently I made that statement to a dealer, who said with considerable display of annoyance:

"Listen, mister, get me something to sell a.nd I'll get