I remember Pop always getting agitated as Christmas approached. I assumed it was for much the same reason as many people this time of year. This letter from Newton to Pop reveals another source of his holiday anxieties.
Mr. Leon Sinclair December 3, 1960
Box 473
Norfolk, Connecticut
Dear Leon:
Glad to have your letter of the 30th but I want to straighten you out on one thing. It isn’t the manufacturers that say “never turn down an order.” It’s Newton that says that. We continue to accept orders long after most of our competitors have quit and we do it because of the favors that we get from the manufacturers and because we don’t make impossible demands upon them.
Many of the jobbers send in to the manufacturers an order today and want it shipped yesterday.
We feel that this is embarrassing to us and we don’t do it. As a result, the manufacturers generally are disposed to be extremely cooperative as far as Newton orders are concerned.
We can do some difficult things…but we can’t do the impossible…or maybe I should say it’s a little more difficult. It isn’t the matter of just accepting an order. The question is what are the provisions about the order? If it’s just a straight order, that’s one thing. If it’s a special order or an order that calls for individual names or initials and what not, that’s a horse of a different color.
However, we find that the percentages take care of us and we’re not so much interested in the order that we can’t handle as in the ten orders that we can.
No Leon, it isn’t a matter of cheap items or expensive items. It’s a matter of the circumstances and provisions of the particular order and the situation in which the factory may find itself at that particular time.
Salesmen are constantly asking us to wire or phone them as to the status of an order at this season. We just can’t do it. We don’t know.
Each factory has literally thousands of orders that are being put through all of which are rush orders.
For them to locate a particular order might take a half a day’s time for one person and they literally have hundreds of requests at this time of year. So what do they do? They simply refuse to answer anything. And in a way we can understand the situation and don’t blame them because if they should attempt to answer these things, they would almost have to stop the whole operation and they feel that getting out the orders is more important than sending us information. And in a way they’re right.
But every salesman and every jobber thinks that their own particular orders are the only ones that they have to worry about.
The only reason for going to this length is that I wanted to try to clear the air to give you a better understanding.
Every salesman sees this situation only from the standpoint of his own little order. If that was all that was involved, it would be simple.
The way to do from now on Leon, is to take things on faith. It won’t work in every case, but it will work in the great majority and that’s the main thing anyway. Customers will call you frantically and want to know what the situation is. The thing to do is to just tell them that everything is under control and that shipment will be made on time…and it will in 99 cases out of 100.
But if you let yourself become frustrated in the deal and get excited about the situation, you’ll live in a constant stew from now till Christmas.
Cheerio,
NEWTON MFG. CO.
HALufkin/ab
Tags: Pop's Letters
