CUSTOMERS’ CRITICISMS
One of the very difficult problems that men in public life have to meet is that of learning the opinions of the people they represent concerning current matters of importance. For instance, the governor of a state or the mayor of a city is seriously interested in the opinions and desires of his constituents on matters that he will be called upon to settle. He is not able to meet personally and learn the views of more than a dozen or a few dozen people, and so he very wisely takes advantage of public opinion—which includes criticism as well as favorable comment. In fact, the experienced man will be more considerate of the criticism than the commendation, because it gives him the advantage of good judgment on the opposite side of the question. He is wise enough to know that his opinion may not be sound, and for that reason he takes advice from his critics.
In retail selling, also, there is the possibility of getting good advice from critics. A customer may not be pleased with the style of a shoe, the quality, color or fit, and will probably express that fact as a criticism. Nobody delights in receiving criticisms, of course, but just the same it is a wise merchant who considers these opinions of outsiders and plans to take advantage of whatever good there may be in them. A word dropped by a customer may contain the answer to the question of why this or that line does not move. A word from the customer concerning the kind of service he has received may contain a suggestion to the salesman to give more attention to a feature of his work he may have been overlooking and which may have been responsible for loss of sales.
A great many stores today take advantage of customers’ criticisms by requiring the salesman to prepare a record of each sale that is lost and the reason why it was lost. Every man, regardless of his position, can afford to consider carefully any comments having to do with the quality of his work. He should, moreover, consider them with an open mind, so that he will be in a position to judge the value of each suggestion, rather than simply to pass it by and try to forget it quickly because it is unfavorable rather than a pat on the shoulder.