During the recent J. Press Summer Bash one of the partygoers offered a supposed compliment telling me I am his favorite Influencer.
I don’t know from being an Influencer. I explained to my fan I merely continue fulfilling the duties assigned to me so many years ago by my then boss, Uncle Irving Press.
Irving took every rookie sales associate for a beginner’s lunch at The Yale Club. No favoritism because I was his nephew. Between dabs of toast into his usual order of Welsh Rarebit, he laid out his Golden Rules.
Greet every prospective customer with courtesy asking how you may help them. When they are about to leave, purchase or no purchase, thank them for their visit, offer them your calling card and inquire if they have received the latest brochure, if not get them on the mailing list. Don’t get personal but thank them for their visit. Any derogation from this procedure is a firing offense.
Irving’s rules remain standard operating procedure at J. Press, but my responsibilities have evolved to that of archival consultant, event MC, and bi-weekly columnist. But Influencer? My years in the trade have inured me to the sophistries of good tailoring and making certain long term investment wardrobe purchases are fairly priced. I take both immense pleasure and pride knowing the merchandising skills promulgated by the Press family since the company’s founding in 1902 remain well-honed today.
If publicizing this belief characterizes me as an Influencer, I accept the digital reality. I am what I am—still an Ivy League Salesman, not unlike playwright Arthur Miller’s eulogy for his stage character Willy Loman,
Confessions of An Influencer
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He’s a man way out there in the blue,
riding on a smile and a Shoeshine
RICHARD PRESS
4件のコメント
Thank you for adding a few more keystrokes in support of what we have mostly lost at this point. With fervent hope of reviving all manifestations of civility, courtesy, and integrity, I say damn the torpedoes full speed ahead.
Simon Crompton over at Permanent Style voiced a similar sentiment. He said that although he might be influential, he most assuredly is NOT an influencer. Same with you. Same gentlemanly self-effacement.
Love it…..old school values…..Coach C.
Richard, I for one started buying a LOT more from J. Press once you started blogging. Knowing the tradition and history of the clothes was a key part of my buying decisions. As Press and others put less information in their advertising materials (David Ogilvy would be rolling over in his grave) your blog becomes even more an essential part.