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The Lumbermen s Round Table 



Honesty the Best Policy 

 Somewliere back in the dim and distant past, you probably re- 

 member writing in your copy-book these historic words: "Honesty 

 is the best policy." 



Since then you may have had experiences in the hardwood lumber 

 business that seemed to suggest that the copy-book man was all 

 wrong, and that in order to succeed, it was necessary to depart a 

 little now and then from the straight and narrow path. The reasons 

 were as numerous as the methods were devious: competition, the 

 requirements of the customer, the necessities of the business, et cetera, 

 et cetera. 



A group of hardwood jobbers sitting around a dinner table not 

 long ago, got to talking business, and this subject came up. It is 

 significant of changes in sentiment and of changes in conditions 

 under which the hardwood trade is carried on to know that every one 

 present agreed that the day when manipulating grades would pay 

 has long gone by, and the customer can now gamble on getting what 

 he asks for. 



Ethics — or Plain Business? 

 There was nothing in the decision referred to above to suggest 

 that these lumbermen regarded the old-time method as a relic of the 

 stone age of business because they had adopted a system of morality 

 above that of the hardwood men of another day and generation ; but 

 the agreement that it is now tlie best policy to tote fair with the 

 customer in every respect was due simjily and solely to the fact that 

 lumbermen have found that it pays. 



The man who is manipulating the grade may think that he is mak- 

 ing a lot of money on a shipment; but by the time that he figures 

 it all up; by tlie time he adjusts any complaint tliat may be made; 

 by the time that he considers the loss of goodwill which will accom- 

 pany possible dissatisfaction with the himber, he will find, if he is 

 honest with himself, that he has not made any more than he would 

 have done if he had given the customer all that he expected to get. 

 It simply doesn 't pay to do business on any basis which does not 

 take into account the ultimate satisfaction of the customer. Eetail 

 merchants learned that sooner than manufacturers and wholesalers 

 did — but the latter, even in tlio lumber business, are finding it out 

 ra])idly. 



Permanent Trade Counts 

 After all, wliat arc you working for? 



Is it one order from a customer — or tliat customer's regular 

 business? 



Isn't it true that you make more money on the business of the 

 concern which you get without hard solicitation, and retain on the 

 basis of giving full value and service and satisfactiou all along the 

 line, than on the trade of the consumer wlio buys one ear, feels that 

 he hasn't got what was coming to him, and pas.ses you up next time? 

 The former method makes for permanence in business, for good- 

 will, for low selling expenses, because, as has been remarked so often 

 that a great many people in the lumber bvisiness are beginning to 

 believe it, a satisfied customer is the best advertisement. The other 

 system results in having to keep on an eternal hop, skip and jump 

 for new connections; and making new connections all the time costs 

 a lot of money. A plan of that kind means that the sale has got 

 to be on a wide margin to enable the seller to do business, because 

 lie can't count on a repeat order to lower the expense of getting 

 trade. After all, it 's an expensive way to carry on a business, because 

 it makes previous experience of little or no value. It throws away 

 the information about credits and special factory requirements and 

 everything else learned in dealing with a customer for the doubtful 

 advantage of going on to somebody else who is expected to play the 

 part of the honeysuckle opposite the lumberman's bee. 



Getting Regular Trade 



A leading hardwood man acknowledged not long ago that he had 

 only one customer who gave him all his business without questioning 

 even the price. 

 —22— 



"And you can bet he doesn't lose anything by it," he continued. 

 "He has been sending me his orders right along without asking 

 what I was going to charge him, and whenever the market changes 

 in his favor, I invariably give him the benefit of it. Not long ago 

 I advised him that his poplar would cost him $3 a thousand less 

 than before, and I have made reductions in plain oak as conditions 

 warranted. He gets full grade and the best lumber I have in stock 

 on every item. He has shown his confidence in me, and I am showing 

 liim that I deserve it. 



■ ' The average customer suspects you of trying to hold him up, 

 and gets quotations from all over the country before he gives you 

 the business. Then he examines every board with a microscope to 

 make sure that he is getting all that is coming to him. He is taking 

 the attitude that you are guilty until proveu innocent, and in a case 

 of that sort there isn't much inducement to go out of your way to 

 give him extra measure, because he wouldn't appreciate it. But 

 when I have a customer like the one I spoke of, he gets 100 cent's 

 worth of lumber for every dollar he pays me, and it's a connection 

 that is i>rofitable to both of us." 



There's a suggestion here for lumbermen and lumber consumers 

 alike to consider. 



Buying Logs for Profit 



An experienced log buyer jiointed out recently the weakness of the 

 work of the average timberman sent out by the liardwood manu- 

 facturer. 



"Most log men," he explaineil, "go out into the country thinking 

 chiefly of how much they can pay for logs. In other words, they are 

 unconsciously taking the position of the man with logs to sell, in- 

 stead of the correct attitude of the buyer, which should be to get the 

 logs for as little as necessary. Competition, of course, is responsible 

 for that, but it means that the log buyer is not studying the interests 

 of his employer as closely as he should. Instead of trying to insure 

 a profit on every bunch of logs he buys, he seems to have an idea 

 that the main object is to get the logs. That is one of the things 

 he must do, of course, because it's his job to supply the mill with 

 material; but he should remember that if he went high enougli in 

 his jirices, he w'ould soon bankrupt the lumber company. Instead of 

 thinking constantly about how high he may go, he should devote some 

 of his attention to the proi)osition of how low he can buy the logs. 



"Quick purchases make for high prices. The man who tries to 

 see the owner of timber, look at the trees or logs, and close a deal 

 in an hour or two, is sure to pay more than he could get them for 

 otherwise. The fanner is a, canny sort, and he is going to quote the 

 top price first, and attem])t to play one buyer against the other. 

 Holding off a little and showing a disposition to wait him out will 

 very fre<|HentIy bring ilown the price to a reasonable figure." 



In view of the fact that the log price is the basis from which the 

 sawmill man must start, and is certainly easier to control than the 

 selling price, it looks as if the suggestions made above are worth 

 pondering over, and worth having the log bviyer ponder over as well. 

 Maybe it wouMn't hurt to have him pray over it a little. 



Business Credit 



.•\l>nipos of the remarks in this de])!irtment of Hardwood Record 

 for November 10, on the subject of broken contracts, unearned dis- 

 counts, etc., the following from the current ii-suo of the Efficiency 

 Maguziiu! is of interest: 



"In the business worlil, a man who breaks a contract is called 

 dishonest. 



"Men do business with scraps of pa[icr; tliev pledge tlieir honor, 

 faith and fortunes. 



' ' Business men cannot say, ' Oh, yes, I broke my contract with 

 you,' 'I changed my mind,' 'I found it was to my advantage to make 

 other arrangements. ' 



"A breach of contract entails jienalties by destroying confidence, 

 and a business man lacking the confidence of his fellows has no busi 

 uess credit." 



