ii6 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



feeling for him. As it is now, I never 

 occupy his chair unless compelled to do 

 so. If he should start a shop of his own 

 I would never go there. Nothing will 

 more quickly drive away trade than to 

 show displeasure because you do not re- 

 ceive it. 



Now let me give an illustration on the 

 other side. There is a grocery clerk in 

 this town that, at different times, during 

 the past 15 years, has worked in three 

 different stores, and I \iave/ollowed him 

 around from one store to the other. I 

 don't suppose I get any better goods, or 

 get them any cheaper, but I like to 

 trade with "Charley." He is truthful, 

 obliging, and has an «^;r^a(5/^ way that 

 pleases me. 



Other things being equal, we patronize 

 the man for whom we have a friendly 

 feeling — ^and sometimes we do when 

 other things are 7iot equal. Perhaps 

 some of you may remember my report- 

 ing, in the last September Review, of how 

 a florist failed in bu.siness over in Onta- 

 rio. He lived across the road from Mr. 

 F. A. Gemmill, and Mrs. Gemmill's 

 mother, an old Scotch lady, told me it 

 was because "He hadna' the sense to 

 speak gentle to the people." He never 

 gave away a flower. Even when com- 

 pelled to throw them away, he never _^«z'^ 

 them away. He buried them in the 

 ground so that children might not pick 

 them up. I know a man here in Flint 

 who was a success as the foreman of a 

 sash, door and blind factory, but the firm 

 for whom he worked went out of busi- 

 ness, and he went into the grocery busi- 

 ness. He had plenty of money, and 

 stuck to the business several years, but 

 finally gave it up as a bad job. He was a 

 silent, stern, austere, unapproachable 

 man. People prefer to trade with those 

 who are sociable, companionable and 

 friendly. 



It is principally for the benefit of my 

 advertisers that I am writing this editor- 

 ial, and it will not answer for them to 

 say they do not meet their customers per- 

 sonally, hence this matter of friendship 



makes little difference. Just as much as 

 though you met themyizf^ to face. The 

 kind of letters that you write, more than 

 anything else, decides the success or fail- 

 ure of j'our business. There is one firm 

 with whom I do quite a little business, 

 and the letters from one of it members 

 often "rile me up." It isn't so much 

 the exact words that are used, but it is 

 the spirit that shines out between the 

 lines. If he were the only member, I 

 fear that we should not do much busi- 

 ness; but there is another one of the 

 partners who, no matter what the cir- 

 cumstances, always writes in such a way 

 as to sooth me — if there is any occasion 

 for it. No matter if he thinks I am in 

 the wrong, he always put the matter in 

 such a wa}^ as not to offend me or arouse 

 my combativeness. Who has not, at 

 some time or another, witheld his order 

 from some firm, simply from the tone of 

 the letter that came in response to an 

 inquiry ? And who has not sent an order 

 where he did not at first intend to bestow 

 it, being led to do so from the perusal of 

 the kind, courteous, comprehensive re- 

 ply sent in response to an inquiry ? The 

 letters sent out by the great business 

 houses, like those that deal in paper, or 

 printers' supplies, are models of polite- 

 ness. No matter if they do find it neces- 

 sary to refuse a request, it is done so 

 kindly as to make the recipient almost 

 feel as though a favor had been bestowed. 

 As one man once wrote me, in response to 

 my request for a settlement, "It is really 

 a pleasure to get even a 'dunning letter' 

 from 3'ou, for you do word it so politely .'^ 

 But why write more ? We all prefer 

 to deal with our friends. And we make 

 friends, yes, and lose them, too, some- 

 times, in little ways that we least sus- 

 pect. Time and again has some custom- 

 er said to me, when sending in an or- 

 der, "You did so and so for me at snch a 

 time, and I have never forgotten it." As 

 a rule, the incident had passed from i)iy 

 mind. In the first place, cultivate a 

 kind disposition. Not simply for the 

 sake of getting trade, but because it makes 



