DEALS “ON THE ROAD”

Evening Star, Issue 20985, 26 December 1931, Page 6

DEALS “ON THE ROAD”

" C.T." MEN'S STORIES A London ‘Sunday Dispatch ’ prize competition for ‘ My Best Deal ’ stories brought out some good ones from “ C.T.” men on the road. Here are some: ENTERPRISE WON. “ I went to introduce the goods of a newly established British firm to tho buyer of a large retail store. I sent in my card, and a young lady informed me that hei chief was too busy to see me. I learned, in her opinion, that there was ‘ nothing doing,’ my particular lino being purchased abroad for special style and finish. ‘Mr A.’ was, in fact, ilying to Paris that afternoon, going straight from the office—she was about to phone his chauffeur when to call for him. “ Then T had a brain wave. Fortunately 1 had a passport. Quickly I, too, booked a seat in tho afternoon air liner. “ I followed his car to Croydon, and got a seat next to him in the aeroplane. “ When well away I passed him m,y card, and opened fire. I never saw a man more astonished, flattered, and interested at the same time. “ Before we landed ho had the whole story out of mo, and I had completed my best deal.”—A.E.H., Streatham. CUTTING THE STRING. “ A customer in the West End tail - ors’ shop where I am employed asked me for a ready-made raincoat. He then produced a piece of string, and stated that he wanted the coat that length. Several coats were tried, which, although fitting him perfectly, were mot near the length of the string. A search was made m vain. ‘‘So, as I could not get a coat to fit the string, I had to, get the string to fib the coat. This was done, unobtrusively, with a pair of scissors. “My customer was delighted with his purchase.”—N. H. Sugarman, yictoria Park. E. “ BRITISH IS BEST.” ‘‘Some years ago I began a small drapery business at home, and sold cheap and mostly foreign-made goods. Among my customers was a shabby little woman who often bought articles of feminine wear. “ One day she came back with some material, which, as soon as it was washed, fell to pieces. That decided me. 1 must sell British goods only, for my customers were falling off. I bought £4O worth of goods, and set them out with tho notice :• ‘ British— Therefore Dependable.’ Half an horn later my shabby little woman walked in. She was shabby no longer—a small legacy had altered that —and she smiled when she saw the notice. She examined every bit of that stock, and I collapsed with surprise into a chair when she said: ‘ I’ll take the lot,’ and wroto a cheque.”—J.E., Trent Valo, A HAND IN TIME. “ For years 1 had been trying to get an order from Mr X. Ono day I found him in a towering rage. “ ‘ For heaven’s sake,- don’t come hindering me,’ he shouted. ‘ Tho typist’s gone home ill, tho office boy’s not turned up at all to-day. I’m up to my eyes in work, and here’s all this stuff to bo packeu up to catch the 6.15 post, otherwise tho customer will cancel tho order.’ “ I glanced at the clock. Four o’clock. It was a solid hour’s work for one man. I calculated. I started packing the stacks of carded silks, and by 5 o’clock the parcel was ready. ‘‘ Two days afterwards I got my first order from the man I had been able to help so unexpectedly, and now I getthe whole of his business in my particular lino.”—A. Fleming, Clapham. SCORED A GOAL. “ Travelling for a firm of seedsmen, I called on a big farmer in Kent whom wo were keen to get on our books. “He was a hard nut to crack. I threw up tho task at last and was about to walk away, when at my feet I spotted a small bag of barley—ono of my samples. “Angrily 1 gave it a kick, and away it sailed straight through the posts of an open gate some 20yds distant. “ The farmer called mo back. ‘ Yon a footballer? ’ ho asked. I informed him that I had once played ■ centre forward for a well-known amateur club. This led to an animated discussion on Soccer football, and finally I camo away witli heavy orders. The farmer was a leading light in local football.”—Frank Merchant, Croydon.