chapter19.1
I was reared on the edge of the Jesse James country out in Missouri, and I visited the James farm at Kearney, Missouri, where the son of Jesse James was then living.
His wife told me stories of how Jesse robbed trains and held up banks and then gave money to the neighboring farmers to pay off their mortgages.
Jesse James probably regarded himself as an idealist at heart, just as Dutch Schultz, "Two Gun" Crowley, Al Capone and many other organized crime "godfathers" did generations later.
The fact is that all people you meet have a high regard for themselves and like to be fine and unselfish in their own estimation.
J. Pierpont Morgan observed, in one of his analytical interludes, that a person usually has two reasons for doing a thing: one that sounds good and a real one.
The person himself will think of the real reason.
You don't need to emphasize that.
But all of us, being idealists at heart, like to think of motives that sound good.
So, in order to change people, appeal to the nobler motives.
You may be right. Nothing will work in all cases—and nothing will work with all people.
If you are satisfied with the results you are now getting, why change?
If you are not satisfied, why not experiment?
At any rate, I think you will enjoy reading this true story told by James L Thomas, a former student of mine: Six customers of a certain automobile company refused to pay their bills for servicing.
None of the customers protested the entire bill, but each claimed that some one charge was wrong.
In each case, the customer had signed for the work done, so the company knew it was right—and said so.
That was the first mistake.
Here are the steps the men in the credit department took to collect these overdue bills.
Do you suppose they succeeded?
They called on each customer and told him bluntly that they had come to collect a bill that was long past due.
They made it very plain that the company was absolutely and unconditionally right; therefore he, the customer, was absolutely and unconditionally wrong.
They intimated that they, the company, knew more about automobiles than he could ever hope to know. So what was the argument about?
Result: They argued.
Did any of these methods reconcile the customer and settle the account?
You can answer that one yourself.
At this stage of affairs, the credit manager was about to open fire with a battery of legal talent, when fortunately the matter came to the attention of the general manager.
The manager investigated these defaulting clients and discovered that they all had the reputation of paying their bills promptly, Something was wrong here—something was drastically wrong about the method of collection.
So he called in James L. Thomas and told him to collect these "uncollectible" accounts.
Here, in his words, are the steps Mr. Thomas took:
My visit to each customer was likewise to collect a bill long past due—a bill that we knew was absolutely right. But I didn't say a word about that. I explained I had called to find out what it was the company had done, or failed to do.
I made it clear that, until I had heard the customer's story, I had no opinion to offer.
I told him the company made no claims to being infallible.
I told him I was interested only in his car, and that he knew more about his car than anyone else in the world; that he was the authority on the subject.
I let him talk, and I listened to him with all the interest and sympathy that he wanted—and had expected.
Finally, when the customer was in a reasonable mood, I put the whole thing up to his sense of fair play.
I appealed to the nobler motives.
"First," I said, "I want you to know I also feel this matter has been badly mishandled.
You've been inconvenienced and annoyed and irritated by one of our representatives.
That should never have happened.
I'm sorry and, as a representative of the company, I apologize.
As I sat here and listened to your side of the story, I could not help being impressed by your fairness and patience.
And now, because you are fair-minded and patient, I am going to ask you to do something for me.
It's something that you can do better than anyone else, something you know more about than anyone else.
Here is your bill; I know it is safe for me to ask you to adjust it, just as you would do if you were the president of my company.
I am going to leave it all up to you. Whatever you say goes."
Did he adjust the bill? He certainly did, and got quite a kick out of it. The bills ranged from $150 to $400—but did the customer give himself the best of it?
Yes, one of them did!
One of them refused to pay a penny of the disputed charge; but the other five all gave the company the best of it! And here's the cream of the whole thing: we delivered new cars to all six of these customers within the next two years!
"Experience has taught me," says Mr. Thomas, "that when no information can be secured about the customer, the only sound basis on which to proceed is to assume that he or she is sincere, honest, truthful and willing and anxious to pay the charges, once convinced they are correct.
To put it differently and perhaps more clearly, people are honest and want to discharge their obligations.
The exceptions to that rule are comparatively few, and I am convinced that the individuals who are inclined to chisel will in most cases react favorably if you make them feel that you consider them honest, upright and fair."
Principle 10—Appeal to the nobler motives.