WTO IOT]RC

Promoting the rr,'tiorr of do-it-yourself decks u ith \\'estcrn \\bod is admittedly not ne\\,,

But with today's smaller homes, the idea of exra space with decks is very eas,v to sell.

Easier sdll, when you take advantage of V,'estern \lbod's neu' promotional kit.

It combines the high-arvareness of professionally produced radio and ne\\ spefer ads, with an idca hook to ger homeou ncrs thinking about decks,

MThere's no charge for any of these materrals an..l thev're ready to run. Just put 1,our five-second tag on the radio, and vour store namc at the bottom of thc ads. It's that simple.

So, for the price of a stamp, get evcrything you nc.,l to pump up sales...q-, As cures g.l, a Jcck prornoiion /W\ ill L:::i:: ii,-ltki,'i ".,. o\1[l

Dear V'/WlA:

I'm pumpc,l. Shou'me the miracle of mcrchandising u ith a frcc \itstern \\bod retailcr's kit. Between your advertising and mv media placement, this deck promorion sht,uld Jt uonders for our circulation.

\Al\1t I Iii\1

\l)t)iiLsi (lT\

Shut Up and Listen

THIS is the time of the year when there is a I great deal of talk about increasing R.O.I., customer service, the level of merchandising, employee training, marketing, etc., etc., etc.

Corporate self-improvement is fine, but frequently it is too inner directed. We suggest a good many companies could better spend their time listening. Listening to the customer. It's a seldom practiced art and one that should occupy a far greater amount of every employee's time.

Listening, for those of you who are probably talking at this very moment, consists first of shutting your mouth. Many find this the most difficult aspect of the art. What follows, though, can be equally taxing: thinking about what's been said. As the old saw has it, there's a message in there for you somewhere, if you'll just listen.

If your customer or potential customer didn't think he had something to say, his mouth would be closed. Yours should be.

Your part here is to listen and think, and, not incidentally, please don't interrupt. The number of uncompleted sentences uttered every day must surely total into the trillions. You won't find out what the customer wants if you are talking. You know what you think, now clam up and find out what the customer thinks. The answer to many a business problem lies with the customers.

All the operational and management expertise in the world is meaningless if you don't hear your customer. What they say can take the form of direct suggestions, made to correct a fault they perceive that you don't. More difficult to grasp are the sometimes idle remarks that the thoughtful recognize as a problem the customer has encountered. It's up to you to recognize this clue, evaluate its implications and act upon the implied suggestions to correct a problem. Sometimes, company expansion can grow out of these remarks as outsiders spot opportunities you don't.

If you don't listen to your customers, it won't be too long before you don't have any customers or any business to manage.