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Winning The Customer’s Good Will
by
“‘How about a goy (Gentile), Ruby?’ said I.
“‘No, that vont vork. Kein yiddishes Madchen fur einen Goy und keine Shickse fur einen yiddishen Jungen.’ (No Hebrew girl for a Gentile boy; no Gentile girl for a Hebrew boy.)
“‘All right, Ruby,’ said I. He was such a good, jolly old fellow, and while he was a man in years he was a boy in actions,–and Ruby was the only name by which I ever called him. Nothing else would fit. ‘All right, Ruby,’ said I, ‘I believe I just know the boy for Leah.’
“‘Veil, you know vat I will do. I don’d care eef he iss a poor boy; dot is all ride. I haf money and eef I ged the ride boy for my goil, I vill set him op in peezness. Dot’s somet’ing for you to vork for– annodder cost’mer,’ said he–the instinct would crop out.
“Well, sir, I’ve got to make this story short,” said Johnny, pulling out his watch. “I found the boy. He was a good, clean-cut young fellow, too, and you know the rest.”
“You bet your life I do,” said Sam. “Two solid customers that buy every dollar from you.”
“And,” continued Johnny, “Leah and Abie are as happy as two birds in a nest. I don’t know but these marriages arranged by the old folks turn out as well as the others anyhow.”
“It’s not alone by doing a good turn to your customer that you gain his good will,” said the hat man. “Not always through some personal favor, but with all merchants you win by being straight with them. This is the one thing that will always get good will. Now, in my line, for example, new styles are constantly cropping out and a merchant must depend upon his hat man to start him right on new blocks. A man in my business can load a customer with a lot of worthless plunder so that his stock will not be worth twenty-five cents on the dollar in a season or two. On the other hand, he can, if he will, select the new styles and keep him from buying too many of them, thereby keeping his stock clean.
“Yes, and this same thing can be done in all lines,” spoke up two or three of the boys.
“Yes, you bet,” continued the hat man, “and when you get a man’s good will through the square deal you have him firmer than if you get his confidence in any other way.”
“Sure! Sure!” said the boys, as we dropped our napkins and made for our hats.