The Point of Contact

Bv JACK DIONNE

The other day I rvent into a place of burincr to call on itr mar.agei Tbe place war modern, intcrerting, attractive. Sig1rr of indurtry were ev-r;rw.he.e. The frrrt imprerion war rplendid

At the door rat a young wonan with an "Information" tign at her elbow. She looked me ov€r ar I arked for the High Mogul. Tbere war no welcome in her glance. Wbea arured that the head of the houre war really the percon I wanted to ree, rhe frewned with empharir, rlapped the tphone attaclunent over her head, puhed a buRon, waited a few norncntr, pulled t'he herdpcace o4 frmg it frorn her with dirdain, turned ber back to tuew ber deek work' and frorn thc corner of her mouth canre the information, Sruddmsly given* ttHett not in.tt

. No nore. Not a word aa to where hq rva$ when hc would be in, wouldn't I ree rormone ebe, wbat could tiey do for me, or a thing. Jurt plainr frank di*ourtery.

I war amued. I htd reqr tte type before. And ar I wondered how little the fitra mut th'nt< of the art of ralermanrhip to orpore its cdlerr to ro rude a ttpoint of contacft with the firm, thc manrger carne in. He war courteour, burine*like, friendlyr-a[ risht.

And I wiehed that I lnew him wetl enough to have uttered before leav' ing, a few thoughtr on ralermanrbip, with the t'point of contacttt ar a tcxt.

Mr. Burinerc Man, regardleu of how lalge or how rmall your bulinerr may be, what line you are in, or what you ane trying to accomplirb, lirten to ttb: fot The Merchant Magazine. Volume one. number one features a classic Dionne editorial, industry and personnel news, merchandising features from companies such as E.L. Bruce Co. (today's Bruce Hardwood Floors). Subscription price : $2 a year.

],:sTX-IpY THE POINT OT CONTACT BETWEEN YOUR BIJSINESS AND YOI'R C.A,IIERIi.

DOtiatT overlool that point. The perrcn who ureetr your callen flRST ir one of the moct importent perlonr in your entire organization. If you will rtop to think, you wil quickly rqlize the high value of FIRST IMPRESSIONS; and the 6rt imprerion your businer giver the caller, ir ttrough the f,rrt person who addrerrer him.

.And the more your rucces! dependr upon itr rtanding with the public, the more nsees$ary i! it that the right penon form your ttpoint of contact't.

In the modern building store, for inrtame, the rnan who meetr the trade at the'door ir decidedly more able to help and hurt thc concern, than i! the manager in the back ofice. MUCH mone.o.

Think it over. Ir the perron who enterr your place of budnecr-regard' Ieu of wherc or what it ir-<mart enougb to make the caller cee that bc ir welcome, and to put him at hir earc?

Your ttpoint of contact" rhould have iurt one thing in view: TO MAKE THE CALLER FEEL TH.AT HE IS A GUEST IN YOUR PLACE.

It nahec no differcnce whetbcr he b a big prorpectivc client.or jurt a bill collector. He rbould be treatcd the rane way.

And if your'rpobt of contect't rnaker the crllq' g1"4 that he barne, he har rendered your burbeg a valuable rerwice.

July 1, 1925 . With the magazine really catching on. this issue runs a record 162 pages, including some fullcolor ads.

July 1,1935 . Reflecting the tough times, issues are temporarily scaled back to 24 pages after running 28 pages per issue for most of the Great Depression.

July 1, 1942 . A regular "Honor Roll of Lumbermen in the Armed Services" is instituted. And in honor of the magazine's 20th anniversary, the "Ten Years Ago Today" column is renamed "20 Years Ago."

January 1, 1951 The subscription price skyrockets to $3 for 24 biweekly issues.

October l, 1954. The first New Products section profiles a number of interesting products, literature and sales aids, including an amazing new floor wax.

January 1963 After 40 years as a biweekly, the magazine goes monthly.

August 1963 . Well known California lumberman A.D. Bell Jr. succeeds Dionne as publisher.

October 1966. The becomes The Western California Lumber Merchant Lumber & Building Materials Merchant, reflecting its expanded coverage of other products and reach to all 13 states.

THE FAIIILIAR block logo of lhe Merchant flrst appeared in '1966, during a 10-year phase with a longer name.

JulY 1975 '

The magazine realizes its name is too long after readers keep calling it everything from The Western Lumber Machine and Lumber & Druggist to The Western Lover Merchant.It's shortened to its lonstime nickname, The Merchant Magazine.

October 1975 Editor David Cutler, who joined the company in 1962, succeeds Bell as publisher.

July 1978 . The first personnel change-Beau Dayshus -is made at Mungus-Fungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv., and The Merchant Magazine is there to report it.

March 1982. The Merchanl comes full circle by inspiring a sister publication, Building Products Digest, which initially concentrated on the same 13 southern state territory as the o\d Gulf Coast Lumberman.

December 1993 . First pull-out, wall-hanging Deluxe Industry Calendar of Events.

October 1998 First Traders Preview for NAWLA Traders Market.

April 2001 New publisher Alan Oakes replaces retiring David Cutler.

June 2004 . First "Competitive Intelligence" dealer profile by columnist Carla Waldemar. She's currently at 98 and counting.

May 2006 Relaunch of The Merchant's website, Buildins-Products.com

February 2007 First "Olsen on Sales" column by James Olsen. He's recently compiled the 55 best into a new book-An Unfair Fight: How Winners Sell & Sellers Win.