Page images
PDF
EPUB

SOME PHASES OF

THE CLERK QUESTION

HOW A CLERK FATTENS HIS PAY

ENVELOPE.

BY HAROLD V. STERLING.

Giving the man for whom I work the best that is in me has been my surest method for swelling my pay envelope. I am constantly on the alert to create new business and to increase old business, so that, when the store's profits for the year are figured, I can point out the results of my efforts. A commensurate salary increase has been my reward for each of the five years I have spent in the firm's employ.

However, my income is not a fixed one, as all of the five clerks in the store receive commissions of various sorts in addition to regular salaries. The largest and steadiest source of revenue is from what are commonly called "P. M." sales.

On sales of our own-make household preparations, on a line of fountain pens for which we have the exclusive agency, and on all toilet articles, such as brushes, mirrors, traveling sets, etc., which retail for two dollars or more, each clerk receives a commission of from two to ten per cent. I fatten my pay envelope about three dollars weekly from this source.

COMMISSIONS FROM SALES.

Biological products from the largest laboratories in the country are a line which we feature extensively to physicians and a part of my duties is to solicit business on these products. I devote rainy and dull days to calling on or calling up physicians and informing them that we have the various products in stock and that we are ready to fill orders. Any new accounts that I capture in this manner are considered my property and I receive three per cent of the sales (on biologicals and pharmaceuticals) made during the first six months a new doctor gives us his business.

For the first half year that the plan was in operation my share of this custom amounted to fifteen dollars.

In connection with our physicians' supply business we make urine analyses at two dollars each, for which sum we furnish a quantitative and microscopic analysis. I perform all of this

Monthly Department of
PRIZE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

work and receive 50 cents commission on such of it as comes from doctors whom I have solicited.

To be perfectly frank, however, the silver coins that come my way from this source are rather few and far between. Most doctors perform their own analyses-or have them done. free of charge, by the State laboratory.

TRIMMING WINDOWS.

I do the window trimming for our store, and the experience gained in that way enables me to pick up an occasional dollar on the outside. A stationer, whose store is located in the near vicinity, dislikes window trimming so much that he pays me a dollar once or twice a month for arranging an attractive display in his store. This work, of course, is performed on one of my off afternoons or evenings.

Another outside activity that nets me about twenty-five dollars a year is a small mail-order business. In the store we put out, under own label, a hair tonic, the formula for which was obtained from the BULLETIN OF PHARMACY. The boss sells it to me in plain bottles for $5.00 a dozen (about the actual cost).

I place my own label on the tonic and advertise the preparation by means of a small notice in the classified columns of our weekly newspaper. The product is a good one and I have worked up a fair business on it.

A MAIL-ORDER BUSINESS.

In the future I intend to go after the mailorder business more extensively. To that end I am training my younger brother to handle the details. He looks after the filling of the orders, for which I give him a small percentage of the sales. When he has had a little more experience we plan to add other items to our mail-order line, and thus still further increase our incomes.

In common with many drug stores throughout the country we are in quite active competition with wagon venders and house-to-house peddlers. Instead of lying down on the job, however, and watching them secure business that should, perhaps, be ours, we sell to the

AND EFFICIENT CLERKS.

venders a number of our own products at a HOW I DEVELOP BOYS INTO RELIABLE liberal discount from the retail price. They resell the goods, but in so doing place products bearing our name in many homes.

Occasionally one of the venders gets ambitious and wishes to put up his own flavoring extracts, liniments, toothache drops, etc. Right then is when I get busy to hold him as a store customer and, at the same time, make a little something for myself.

INSTRUCTION IN MANUFACTURING.

I tell him that we will sell him essential oils, alcohol, and whatever else is needed to make the preparations. And I further tell him that for a small consideration I will show him how to make his products in the best manner. I do the teaching outside of store hours and feel that I am not divulging any professional secrets, for the information concerning the manufacture of flavoring extracts and other simple preparations is to be had from almost any book of formulas.

During the time I have been with the store I have shown nearly a dozen venders how to make many of the products they sell. For this information I charge one dollar a formula. And in every instance I have held the man's trade for the store. We aim to make a profit of 15 per cent on everything sold to them.

On one occasion a liniment seller had a formula of his own which gave him considerable trouble in that he could not get a clear product. For telling him how the difficulty might be overcome by filtering the liquid through talc -he paid me five dollars.

Still another source which yields me an occasional few dollars is contributing to pharmaceutical journals. If this article ever sees print, it will mean that my receipts for the year have been added to once again.

BY ARTHUR GEORGE.

I always try to assume a sort of "big brother" attitude towards the apprentice who is desirous of rising from errand boy to pharmacist. The memory of my own not-far-back boyhood days is always with me and I am more than willing to pass on the knowledge that enabled me to make the transition from messenger boy to registered man.

A new boy is like a new broom; he sweeps clean, but he can't be expected to do the work of a scrub-brush, soap and water. I therefore make allowances for his uncultivated mind, and allow him to get into the game gradually.

If he is punctual in his comings and goings, attends to his duties faithfully, and manifests a real desire to learn the drug business, I put him in the way of obtaining the desired knowledge.

He commences his training in subjects pharmaceutical by helping around the store when he is not engaged in delivering packages.

DUSTING TRAINS MEMORY,

Dusting stock is a fine way to learn the names and places of the various goods carried. As a result, when I am busy waiting on customers and direct the boy to bring me a package of Epsom salt or a bottle of cough syrup, he knows where the article is kept and can bring it to me, thus saving time for myself and making him feel that he is of real help.

With one boy, whose training I began in this manner, the scheme worked exceptionally well. The store had a gallery which ran around it on three sides, and when a customer called for anything kept up there this little chap upon hearing the customer's request, would, without being told, climb the stairs and procure the de

QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CONTEST.

This department is in the hands of the big family of BULLETIN readers, and the heartiest co-operation is earnestly urged. The following questions are announced for the next contest:

1. How much capital should a man have before starting a business of his own? Submitted by F. D. Eby, Pearl City, Ill.

2. How can we prevent the farmers' trade from going to the general store? Submitted by Harry G. Cheesman, Wiarton, Ont.

For the best answer to either of these questions we shall award a prize of $5.00. Other answers, if printed, will be paid for at regular space rates. Every answer should be at least 500 words long and in our hands by October 10.

sired article. Needless to say his forethought was occasionally commented upon by the customers and a little praise frequently goes a long way.

Of course, the boy has to help in keeping the soda fountain in order, but I don't believe in holding him to it everlastingly, for, if this is done, he becomes discouraged with the drug business long before he is able to creep-much less walk-in his apprenticeship.

WINDOW-TRIMMING TRAINING.

After a boy has become thoroughly acquainted with the stock, I teach him a few rudiments of window trimming. Crude as the results of his work may be, I praise him and encourage him to keep on. I have even gone so far as to have some of my friends congratulate the "window trimmer.”

After he has been grounded in the fundamentals of window trimming, I suggest that he change the displays in the show-cases. It is a good idea for the boy, and for the boss as well, to realize that because a certain case has been, for the last dozen or so years, the refuge for quassia cups, powder-puffs, lead-pencils, and playing cards is no reason why it shouldn't be equally effective if filled with water bottles or safety razors.

At this period in the apprentice's career he is fully capable of waiting on stamp customers, and, after having been instructed as to the best way to tie up packages, I believe he may be permitted to wait on the common, every-day class of customers who frequent the store.

GAINING SELLING EXPERIENCE.

Should, he make a blunder while waiting on a less finical customer, such as handing out an eve-brow brush when a child's tooth-brush was called for, that customer is more easily placated than would be one of the more or less aristocratic and easily offended class. Of course, mistakes with any class are to be prevented if possible, and I merely suggest that a boy wait on only picked customers at first and sell only picked goods, in order to circumvent as much as possible any chance unpleasantness. To use a rather far-fetched simile, the untried clerk should first wait on less-easily offended customers for the same reason that new remedies are first tried on animals. If results prove satisfactory, their use is continued.

beginner by his preceptor. If a boy sees the boss sitting round in a chair all day or leaning upon the counter for hours at a time, the chances are decidedly few that the lad will develop into an enthusiastic clerk.

ALWAYS APPEARING BUSY.

When the boy is around and the manager feels the need of a rest, let the latter get out a book from the store library and at least pretend to study. Or better still, let him take a piece of wrapping-paper, preferably one that has been used, as an example of economy, and figure out a problem or two. The action will impress the boy and keep the boss in closer touch with his business.

The importance of impressing upon the boy the wisdom of always keeping busy cannot be overestimated, for unless he is so impressed the chances are that his training will cause him to choose loafing as a profession rather than pharmacy.

From the start the boy should be encouraged to prepare for a course in pharmacy, either at a college or by enrolling in a reputable correspondence school. If he hasn't the necessary capital, it might be a good idea to loan him the money. Then when he has completed his course and become a registered pharmacist, he is ready to fill the position of an efficient, reliable, and enthusiastic clerk.

And, finally, to keep him at the highest point of efficiency, it is advisable perhaps to offer him a small percentage of the profits accruing at the end of each fiscal year-and then watch him work.

HOW I WOULD HIRE A CLERK.

BY NORA I. MITCHELL..

Were I in need of a clerk the first thing I should do would be to advertise for one in the BULLETIN OF PHARMACY. It would be that kind of a clerk, one who reads a live, up-to-date drug journal, that I should want to work for

me.

In my "help wanted" ad I would not try to save a few cents by scrimping on the number of words used, but would make very plain the kind of clerk desired and what he would be required to do. I would state whether I wanted a man or woman, whether the clerk should be married or single, and whether I wanted an

Above all, a good example should be set the experienced person or just a bottle washer.

By such a plain statement I would prevent any embarrassing situation similar to one which arose in a certain store in a western city. The proprietor of this establishment inserted an ad for a pharmacist of several years' experience no other particulars-in the morning paper of his city, and a woman pharmacist who had more than the requisite training answered the advertisement.

While waiting for the proprietor to show up she had been watching the store's customers, and, consequently, she was not surprised when the owner said: "Oh, I couldn't think of employing a woman pharmacist." Her study of the store had apprised her of the fact that even if he did find it a source of revenue, he could hardly ask a refined and educated woman to dispense "fire-water!"

FINDING OUT QUALIFICATIONS.

When the applicant who had read my ad appeared at my desk, I would first ask for his letters of recommendation in order to learn how former employers regarded his honesty and dependability.

I would then take into consideration his personal appearance, for this means much to any one who has the public to deal with. His per

sonal habits would also come under this head. Women form a large part of a store's customers, and there is nothing that is more disagreeable or disgusting to them than to have a clerk hanging on the end of a cigar or cigarette while attending to their wants. If he must smoke, I would insist that he do so off duty.

A third qualification would be a cheerful voice and courteous manner, for it is often the kind of treatment accorded people, rather than attractive displays, that sells goods.

I would find out, from what he has done, what he was capable of doing. If I asked him how many prescriptions were put up in a day or a year at the store where he was formerly employed and he could not give a definite answer, he would not get the place. His lack of definiteness would prove that he was not a clerk whose services I desired.

Some merchants are constantly hiring and firing clerks because they do not go into sufficient details as to the way the work must be carried on. I would try to avoid this difficulty by thoroughly teaching the new clerk the duties of his position. I would show him "how."

I would keep in mind the old Chinese proverb which says: "If you know how, a thing is not hard; if it is hard, you do not know how."

FRITZSCHE BROTHERS

-16

Why does the advertiser like the

B.ƒP. ?

smile,

Bessure it always takes him
on the side for a
Cardinely

A Question Answered.

We receive a great many appreciative letters and cards - and we reproduce herewith one of the latter, which is somewhat out of the ordinary. The mystery is solved!

Youthful Errors.

The three short papers which follow have a common theme—mistakes in dispensing. Perhaps no druggist has escaped entirely the committing of similar offenses; these experiences, therefore, should strike a responsive chord.

TWO OF A KIND.

BY J. D. HOWARD, PH.G.

During the early autumn of 1905 I decided to study pharmacy, and not knowing just how to begin I went to an old druggist who ran a store in our nearest town for advice. He told me that I could go through like a top, and that he would teach me all that it was necessary for me to know for $15.

He gave me fifteen lessons in sheet form, I turned over to him three fives, and started for home, a distance of about fifteen miles through the country.

In about two weeks I went back to the old druggist and asked him to examine me on the lessons. At this time he asked me to work for him, offering me $15 a month. He said that he would help me along and make a first-class druggist out of me. I accepted this offer and went to work.

He owned a small stock of general merchandise which he combined with his drug stock. We arranged the stock by putting the drugs behind the prescription counter, the groceries on the side with the soda fountain, and the dry goods on the opposite side. I looked after the fountain, sold candy and cigars, measured cloth, and delivered groceries. It was all in the day's work.

After a while I began to get a little anxious. There didn't seem to be much of a show for me at this place.

I learned that a schoolmate was going to give up his position in a drug store of a near-by town with the idea of studying medicine. I had him recommend me as an experienced helper, and the druggist offered me the job at $20 a month and board. I readily accepted.

This druggist filled on an average of about ten prescriptions each day, and I hung around the prescription counter and watched him use his scales and spatula, for I knew that he would soon ask me to do this work.

There was a young doctor there who was trying to build up a practice, and he loafed about the drug store a great deal. He was a jolly good fellow, and we soon became warm friends.

THE LABELS REVERSED.

One day the druggist went away and left all the work to me. The young doctor was having steady calls, and he prescribed a four-ounce pepsin mixture for one of his patients, directing a teaspoonful to be taken three times a day after each meal; and for another patient he prescribed four ounces of belladonna liniment with directions to apply freely to the affected parts.

I got in a hurry and put the liniment label on the bottle that contained the pepsin mixture. and the pepsin label on the liniment bottle!

After the rush was over I discovered my mistake, and as soon as the druggist returned I made a quick trip to the house where the liniment had been sent and called for the bottle. stating to the patient that the delivery boy had taken the wrong package.

I next went to see the man with the sprained ankle, and before I had time to state the object of my errand, he told me that he had used only one application of the medicine that I put up for him, and that it had given him great relief. I left the pepsin mixture with him, and on my

return I met the doctor and told him what had happened. He laughed and said that he would say nothing about it; and added that it was a very great thing indeed for a patient to have confidence in a medicine.

ANOTHER CASE.

At another time this same doctor prescribed a tonic for a little girl with eczema. He directed the father to have me fill the prescription, and also told him to call for two ounces of camphorated oil and apply it to the irritated parts. After I had prepared the tonic, the father said that the doctor told him to get two ounces of carbolic acid!

In a short while the phone rang. It was the father asking for the doctor. He said that they had applied the carbolic acid as directed and that the child was having fits!

I got busy looking for the doctor, but could not find him. In less than ten minutes I was plowing up the street with a pint of alcohol and some olive oil, but as luck would have it, they

« PreviousContinue »