SELLING: Right Hand, Left Hand

As an appliance dealer in Wilmington, Del.,Phil Klein, 43, sells plenty of General Electric products. Looking athis fine record of orders last month, G.E.’s supply company decided tohonor Star Salesman Klein; it gave him a free five-day trip to Havana.Five days later, another G.E. division took a look at Dealer Klein. TheSmall Appliances Division discovered that Klein was pushing sales bywhacking 20% off “fair trade” minimum prices; it promptly got a courtinjunction to stop him from such selling. Confused by the pat fromG.E.’s right hand and the slap from its left, Klein announced that fromnow on he would sell at “fair trade” prices, but he would donate 20% ofeach sale to any charity designated by the purchaser. By last week,donations had gone to twelve community charities and ten churches.”Anyway,” said Klein, “I’m going to sunny Havana for five days.”