Mamacita says:  Laura Ingalls Wilder’s wonderful semi-autobiographical Little House series contains some of my very favorite titles of all time.  If you don’t have the complete set in your home, TELL Santa Claus to bring it, and no two ways about it.  Every home needs these books.  Our society needs these stories to help us remember what’s really important.  These books are also a much better way to learn how people actually lived back then than a history text.  Facts, sure, but Laura tells us where they got calico, butter, lamp oil, and fuel, so the pioneers could stay alive long enough to begat US.  Modern PC cops have labeled these lovely books “racist,” “sexist,” and many other “-ists” of that time period, not having the brain cells to understand context. . . . but I digress.

Let’s talk business.

I fully believe that customer service and social media are connected at the hip, and that a business that treats its customers right will see those customers come back again for more of the same – merchandise AND treatment.

This is not a new concept.  Pa Ingalls understood it, over a hundred years ago, and Laura remembered his retold conversation well.  Here it is, straight from The Long Winter, the sixth book in the series.  See if you think this is all that different from business today.

Some background, for you poor undereducated souls who haven’t read the book:

The Dakota town was buried in snow; no trains could get through, the stores were sold out of goods, and the people were starving to death.  Two young men had, in the face of yet another blizzard, risked their lives to leave town to find something for the people to eat.  They found a settler and bought some of his wheat, paying for it with money given them by one of the two storekeepers in town.

When Mr. Loftus, the storekeeper, put the wheat out for sale, he had marked the price way up, and the townspeople were protesting.

Mr. Ingalls told him that they thought he was charging too much for the wheat.

“That’s my business,” said Loftus.  “It’s my wheat, isn’t it?  I paid good hard money for it.”

“A dollar and a quarter a bushel, we understand,” Mr. Ingalls said.

“That’s my business,” Mr. Loftus repeated. . . (he) was not going to back down.  He banged his fist on the counter and told them, “That wheat’s mine and I’ve got a right to charge any price I want to for it.”

“That’s so, Loftus, you have,” Mr. Ingalls agreed with him.  “This is a free country and every man’s got a right to do as he pleases with his own property.”  He said to the crowd, “You know that’s a fact, boys,” and he went on, “Don’t forget every one of us is free and independent, Loftus.  This winter won’t last forever and maybe you want to go on doing business after it’s over.”

“Threatening me, are you?” Mr. Loftus demanded.

“We don’t need to,” Mr. Ingalls replied.  “It’s a plain fact.  If you’ve got a right to do as you please, we’ve got a right to do as we please.  It works both ways.  You’ve got us down now.  That’s your business, as you say.  But your business depends on our good will.  You maybe don’t notice that now, but along next summer you’ll likely notice it.”

“That’s so, Loftus,” Gerald Fuller said.  “You got to treat folks right or you don’t last long in business, not in this country.”

. . .”What do you call a fair profit?”  Mr. Loftus asked.  “I buy as low as I can and sell as high as I can; that’s good business.”

“That’s not my idea,” said Gerald Fuller. (the town’s other storekeeper) “I say it’s good business to treat people right.”

And looking at all the men of the town, and realizing that every single one of them despised him, Mr. Loftus relented and lowered the price considerably.

Unless you’re WalMart, and have driven out every other store in town, this concept is still viable.  Treat people right, and they’ll come back.  Take gross advantage of them, and they won’t come back if there’s any other place to buy their needs at all.

I won’t go into how WalMart and its ilk are making it difficult, if not impossible, for a small business to compete and survive, but I still believe that word of mouth, ie social media, is the best and most effective marketing tool.  WHERE THERE IS STILL A CHOICE OF STORES, most people prefer to give their money to the one that treats them fairly.

Word of mouth.  It’s all over the people’s conversations, online and real life.  Savvy honest businesses would do well to heed it.  To get good feedback, a business must first give good service.  To do that, a business must find out what the people want, and then give it to them.  Etc.

Times are hard right now.  People are struggling.  A business that takes advantage of that fact now might, yes, have its customers over a barrel, but as soon as they can, those customers will take their money elsewhere.

What we need to make sure of right now is that we HAVE an elsewhere to go to.

P.S.  Don’t waste your time watching that dreadful TV series; it’s a travesty.

P.P.S.  Visiting all of Laura’s homes makes for an excellent road trip.

P.P.P.S.  Ever wondered what the real Laura looked like?  Here she is as a young girl and again as an elderly woman.  She was beautiful, inside and out.