Page 188 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

business because he has merchandise in good quantities. I know another
merchant whose store is neat, whose stocks are good, but who does a
comparatively poor business, because he isn’t friendly with people. I know
another merchant who has a badly lighted store, and no fixtures to brag about,
but who does a big business because he is a good salesman and knows how to
teach his clerks to sell. So you see there are always many factors in
determining what makes a store successful.”

The National Cash Register Company, whose officials know as much as
almost any group of men on earth about operating stores, reports in its
excellent book, Better Retailing, that the things which customers like are:

A good assortment of well-arranged stock.
Prices right and in plain sight.
Quick, courteous, accurate service.
Exchange and money back without question.
Truthfulness about merchandise.
The same price to everybody.
An attractive, convenient, well-lighted, comfortable store. Chairs for rest
when selecting goods that take time. Careful attention to children and
servants.
Accurate filling of telephone orders.

There has been an enormous improvement in stores in the past few years.
Customers are accustomed to better salespeople, more careful attention, an
increasing amount of “service,” better lighting, and far more courtesy than we
once expected. They simply will not tolerate a slipshod, careless, unkept store
any more. A store that isn’t neat has no more chance than a frowsy debutante.

People will no longer argue about returned goods. No matter how “wrong”
the customer may be, he is right in his own mind and expects to be treated
accordingly. A customer may have no right to expect to return a hat after she
has worn it, but no merchant ever got rich standing up for his “rights.”

Overbuying is another cause for many failures. A successful, old-time
merchant’s secret of making a profit was simply: “Remember you can always