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Page 14
BE POLITE AND KIND TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
Politeness and civility are the best capital ever invested in business.
Large stores, gilt signs, flaming advertisements, will all prove
unavailing if you or your employees treat your patrons abruptly. The
truth is, the more kind and liberal a man is, the more generous will be
the patronage bestowed upon him. "Like begets like." The man who gives
the greatest amount of goods of a corresponding quality for the least
sum (still reserving for himself a profit) will generally succeed best
in the long run. This brings us to the golden rule, "As ye would that
men should do to you, do ye also to them" and they will do better by you
than if you always treated them as if you wanted to get the most you
could out of them for the least return. Men who drive sharp bargains
with their customers, acting as if they never expected to see them
again, will not be mistaken. They will never see them again as
customers. People don't like to pay and get kicked also.
One of the ushers in my Museum once told me he intended to whip a man
who was in the lecture-room as soon as he came out.
"What for?" I inquired.
"Because he said I was no gentleman," replied the usher.
"Never mind," I replied, "he pays for that, and you will not convince
him you are a gentleman by whipping him. I cannot afford to lose a
customer. If you whip him, he will never visit the Museum again, and he
will induce friends to go with him to other places of amusement instead
of this, and thus you see, I should be a serious loser."
"But he insulted me," muttered the usher.
"Exactly," I replied, "and if he owned the Museum, and you had paid him
for the privilege of visiting it, and he had then insulted you, there
might be some reason in your resenting it, but in this instance he is
the man who pays, while we receive, and you must, therefore, put up with
his bad manners."
My usher laughingly remarked, that this was undoubtedly the true policy;
but he added that he should not object to an increase of salary if he
was expected to be abused in order to promote my interest.
BE CHARITABLE
Of course men should be charitable, because it is a duty and a pleasure.
But even as a matter of policy, if you possess no higher incentive, you
will find that the liberal man will command patronage, while the sordid,
uncharitable miser will be avoided.
Solomon says: "There is that scattereth and yet increaseth; and there is
that withholdeth more than meet, but it tendeth to poverty." Of course
the only true charity is that which is from the heart.
The best kind of charity is to help those who are willing to help
themselves. Promiscuous almsgiving, without inquiring into the
worthiness of the applicant, is bad in every sense. But to search out
and quietly assist those who are struggling for themselves, is the kind
that "scattereth and yet increaseth." But don't fall into the idea that
some persons practice, of giving a prayer instead of a potato, and a
benediction instead of bread, to the hungry. It is easier to make
Christians with full stomachs than empty.
DON'T BLAB
Some men have a foolish habit of telling their business secrets. If they
make money they like to tell their neighbors how it was done. Nothing is
gained by this, and ofttimes much is lost. Say nothing about your
profits, your hopes, your expectations, your intentions. And this should
apply to letters as well as to conversation. Goethe makes Mephistophilles
say: "Never write a letter nor destroy one." Business men must write
letters, but they should be careful what they put in them. If you are
losing money, be specially cautious and not tell of it, or you will lose
your reputation.
PRESERVE YOUR INTEGRITY
It is more precious than diamonds or rubies. The old miser said to his
sons: "Get money; get it honestly if you can, but get money:" This
advice was not only atrociously wicked, but it was the very essence of
stupidity: It was as much as to say, "if you find it difficult to obtain
money honestly, you can easily get it dishonestly. Get it in that way."
Poor fool! Not to know that the most difficult thing in life is to make
money dishonestly! Not to know that our prisons are full of men who
attempted to follow this advice; not to understand that no man can be
dishonest, without soon being found out, and that when his lack of
principle is discovered, nearly every avenue to success is closed
against him forever. The public very properly shun all whose integrity
is doubted. No matter how polite and pleasant and accommodating a man
may be, none of us dare to deal with him if we suspect "false weights
and measures." Strict honesty, not only lies at the foundation of all
success in life (financially), but in every other respect.
Uncompromising integrity of character is invaluable. It secures to its
possessor a peace and joy which cannot be attained without it--which no
amount of money, or houses and lands can purchase. A man who is known to
be strictly honest, may be ever so poor, but he has the purses of all
the community at his disposal--for all know that if he promises to
return what he borrows, he will never disappoint them. As a mere matter
of selfishness, therefore, if a man had no higher motive for being
honest, all will find that the maxim of Dr. Franklin can never fail to
be true, that "honesty is the best policy."
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