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awareness among top management of
the large majority of stores which do
not have positive public relations pro-
grams that such programs will produce
more net profits for everyone engaged
in retailing.
Need for Public Information
There must be a realization on the
part of top management of the need for
a continuing and active public infor-
mation program. This new kind of top
management must tell the public about
the contribution of the store to the com-
muntiy; it must enlist the support of
that public against inflationary prices—
against government controls—or for
whatever it believes to be right! Re-
tailers should tell the public about the
low profit margins, the high labor turn-
over, and the host of other problems
with which they are confronted every
day. It is a well-acknowledged fact
that the public likes best that which
they know most about.
In retailing, public relations is more
than a factor of top management. It is
an attribute. A store's public relations
policy begins with its owner. From
there on it is up to a whole series of
individuals — every employee of the
store — to carry out that policy. In
looking for a common denominator to
weigh the great stores against those
which are not so great, one must con-
clude that it is a genuine desire to be
of service to the public, coupled with,
and this is the point on which many
stores fail, a thorough understanding of
the nature of true customer service. Lew
Hahn, President Emeritus of the
NRDGA, has perhaps done more than
any other individual along these lines
in the teaching of his concept of the re-
tailer as the purchasing agent for the
community which he serves.
Whether the responsibility for the
public relations activities of a retail
store rests on the shoulders of the man-
ager, a full-time public relations man,
or is shared by all, certain qualifica-
tions must be present if the program is
to be successful. As to qualifications,
Batchelor, in his book Profitable Public
Relations, says that if a man is to serve
his store effectively:
". . . he needs to be a specialist in
many fields. He must combine quali-
ties found in the successful publicist,
the lawyer, the economist, and the
politician . . . But above and beyond
all these special qualifications, the
public relations expert must also
possess that elusive quality known as
personality. He must be able to win
and hold confidence, not merely of
company officials but of the worker
as well. He should have no arbitrary
preconceived viewpoints; nor can he
hide his own views behind the opin-
ions of others. He should avoid the
antagonisms when possible, but not
at the sacrifice of basic convictions.
What he says should be cogently and
forecfully expressed, and be ground-
ed solidly on common-sense . . ."
This is a pretty large order! Further,
the personality of the store itself helps
determine its ultimate success. It is
that inner asset which Kathleen Norris
was talking about when she said, "From
birth to 18 a girl needs good parents;
from 18 to 35 she needs good looks,
from 35 to 55 a woman needs person-
ality; but from 55 on, the old girl needs
cash." Let's hope that not too many of
our retailers find themselves feeling
"over 55"! Nothing so reveals the very
heart, the marrow of a store's character
as the way in which it does its work—
the spirit, the quality it puts into it.
Thomas B. McCauley once said. "The
measure of a man's character is what
he would do if he knew he would never
be found out." What does all this boil
down to? The ability to get along with
people and to inspire confidence in
others are extremely important. Lead-
ership, moral courage, courtesy, and the
ability to write effectively are all qual-
ities which help to assure success in
this field. A good amount of just plain
common sense, when properly applied,
can be one of the key vertebrae in the
backbone of public relations!
Up to this point, we have considered
the vital role which public relations
plays in the field of retailing. The term
"Public Relations" has been defined.
We have shown that there is a serious
lack of progressive public relations ac-
tivity in our stores. We have outlined
the characteristics required in those who
are chosen to direct the public rela-
tions program. Let us now give con-
sideration to the major influential
groups which can be reached through
a well-integrated program.
Employee Cooperation
The stores' "public" actually consists
of people in each of several categories.
Good public relations ought to start in
a store's own backyard—among its own
employees. A satisfied, well-informed,
and pleasant employee is the best pos-
sible advertisement which a store can
have. Up to now retail employees have-
n't had the anti-management, anti-owner
feeling which has been characteristic of
many of the employees of industrial
plants; however, they may develop such
a feeling if retailers are not careful.
Retailing faces its own struggle for
men's minds. Stores must have informed
personnel. There must be adequate
communication facilities between man-
agement and personnel—and they had
better be two-way! The store must tell
its story over and over, and the method
must be geared to the people to be
reached or influenced—just as is the
advertising or promotional campaign.
The result must be the winning of the
understanding and loyalty of employees
on all levels. In dealing with this group
—as well as all the other "publics"—
the attiude must be a serious one. Be
serious, but be serious about some-
thing important! The monkey wears a
serious expression which would do
credit to a college student—he is ser-
ious because he itches! The employee
who meets the public and can speak of
"our" organization and use the pro-
noun "we" instead of "they" in discus-
sing a company or its merchandise ex-
emplifies the ideal situation. It must be
remembered that the driver of the store
delivery truck or the elevator operator
rubs shoulders with more people in a
week than the president does in a year.
A second public, and perhaps the
most important single group, are the
customers of the store—past, present,
and future. It must be emphasized that
there are many ways in which customer
good will can be nurtured, developed,
and held. Policies with regard to cus-
tomer relations must be based on facts
—the products of customer research.
The customer's point of view is essen-
tial. As the late Henry Ford once said,
"If there is any secret of success, it lies
in the ability to get the other person's
point of view and see things from his
angle as well as from our own." The
realization of the customer's interest in
himself is essential. Joe Cook admitted
this truth when he once quipped, "Of
all my wife's relatives, I love myself
best". Voltaire demonstrated his keen
understanding of human nature when
he stated nearly two centuries ago, "I
can win any woman from the handsom-
est cavalier in fifteen minutes; while
he spends his fifteen minutes talking
about himself, I spend every one of my
fifteen talking to the woman about her-
self. And invariably a lesser number
of minutes suffices."
In his record-making book, "How to
Win Friends and Influence People,"
Dale Carnegie gave some sage advice to
business men. "You can make more
friends in two months by becoming in-
terested in other people than you can in
two years by trying to get other people
interested in you." By applying this
technique to your retail operation, you
can influence more people to buy in two
months by becoming interested in them
and their particular needs than you can
(Turn to Page 26)
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, MARCH, 1952