Transcriber's Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
In the preparation of this volume the plan has been to present the principles of shoe salesmanship—not an abstract or generalized treatment but a specific statement of the principles as they apply directly to the daily efforts of the retail shoe salesman. Throughout, the author’s purpose has been to emphasize the fact that true salesmanship is an effort of brains rather than one of physical endeavor or rule-of-thumb methods.
It is recognized that preparation for success in selling must commence within the man himself and that only as he improves himself will he be able to communicate a higher quality of service to his customer. Realizing this, the chief stress in the first four chapters of the volume is placed on those important qualities that have to do with the man’s responsibility to himself. Mainly these are considerations bearing on the proper care and development of the body and, what is still more essential, the proper mental attitude of the man toward his present job and future development. This having been accomplished the salesman is ready to consider his further vigrowth, which comes through a better understanding of his relation and responsibility to others—the customer and the employer. It is on these facts that the main stress is laid throughout the later chapters.
Acknowledgment is gratefully made to the following shoe men for their valuable suggestions, based upon years of successful selling experience: James M. Borland, George F. Breck, R. E. Caradine, Herbert E. Currier, R. C. Hearne, J. F. Knowles, W. E. McIlhenny, H. C. McLaughlin, Thomas B. Meath, A. E. Oldaker, Joseph E. Palmer, A. E. Pitts, John F. Reedy, Sydney Stokes.
| CHAPTER I | ||
| PAGE | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Field of Retail Selling | 1–8 | |
| Purpose of the Course; The Plan; How to Read; The Science of Business; The Salesman’s Place; Retail Shoe Selling. | ||
| CHAPTER II | ||
| Relation of the Man to His Job | 9–22 | |
| Service; Self Analysis; Confidence; Character; Personality; Carving Out a Career; Co-operation; Success the Reward of Merit; The Price of Success. | ||
| CHAPTER III | ||
| Health an Important Factor | 23–38 | |
| Joy of a Healthy Body; Keeping “Fit” for Business; Food; Fresh Air; Sleep; Learn to Play; Care of the Body; Work and Play for the Mind; Nerves; Personal Appearance; The Knack of Being Well Dressed. | ||
| CHAPTER IV | ||
| Enthusiasm With Honesty | 39–55 | |
| viii | Getting “Life” Into the Sale; Advertising to Focus the Customer’s Enthusiasm; What is Enthusiasm?; Keeping Up Steam; Make the First Sale to Yourself; The Future a Reflection of “To-Days”; Honesty; Danger of Over-Enthusiasm; Promises. | |
| CHAPTER V | ||
| The Customer as the Salesman’s Guest | 56–75 | |
| The Human Heart Throb; Greeting the Customer; Remembering the Name; No Geography in Service; Familiarity; Meeting Him Face to Face; Side Chatter; Painful Silence; Customer Concentration; Talking in Terms of “You”; Stick to the Sale; Talking in Positive Terms; Don’t Argue; “War-Time Portions” Out of Date. | ||
| CHAPTER VI | ||
| Taking an Interest in the Customer | 76–95 | |
| Are You Selling or Is He Buying?; Getting His Interest; Points of Contact; Handling the Goods; Appropriate Selling Talk; Suggestion; Studying the Customer; Discrimination Among Customers; Interruptions. | ||
| CHAPTER VII | ||
| Different Types of Customers | 96–109 | |
| Variety Among People; Human Nature; Tuning-Up to the Customer; Children; Talkative People; Practical; Silent; Unpleasant or Grouchy; Elderly Person or Invalid. | ||
| ixCHAPTER VIII | ||
| Different Types of Customers (Continued) | 110–122 | |
| In a Hurry; “Only Looking”; Undecided; Two Friends Together; Ignorant and Poor; Style Regardless of Price; Actual or Assumed Foot Troubles. | ||
| CHAPTER IX | ||
| Showing the Goods | 123–142 | |
| Freshen-Up the Selling Talk; The Outsider’s Point of View; Getting Under-Way in the Sale; Style Not in Stock; “Just as Good”; Selecting the Stock; Don’t Concentrate on One Line; Showing More Goods; Customer Who Does Not Buy. | ||
| CHAPTER X | ||
| Knowledge of the Stock | 143–159 | |
| “These are Better”; Study of the Stock; Styles; Stock Arrangement; Time Saving; Keeping Posted on New Stock; Customers’ Criticisms; Stock Turn-Over. | ||
| CHAPTER XI | ||
| Money Value of Ideas | 160–174 | |
| Getting “Under His Skin”; Making Two Sales Out of One; Advantages of an Extra Pair; Closing the Sale in the Store; Getting Business From Outside Friends; Telephone Salesmanship; Personal Letter; Advantages of Display Fixtures; Exaggeration; Forced Sales. | ||
| xCHAPTER XII | ||
| The Salesman’s Responsibility | 175–197 | |
| Selling P.M. Goods; Purpose of the P.M.; Advantages; Disadvantages; Salesman’s Attitude Toward P.M.’s; The Customer’s Frame of Mind; Returns; Exchanges; Adjustments; Co-operation; Team Work; Pulling Together With the Store System; Individual Responsibility; The Salesman as a Consulting Expert; Conclusion. | ||
The whole idea and purpose of the Training Course for Retail Shoe Salesmen is to supply the means to increase the salesman’s value.[1] The slogan of the Retail Shoe Salesmen’s Institute is the plain truth that “Knowledge Applied is Power.” Knowledge of itself is of no more value than idle steam from the teapot. Harness up the steam so that it may be put to work and it moves the world—it operates your factories, lights your cities, grows your food and keeps you warm. So also with knowledge. All the world’s learning is worth not a dollar unless it is harnessed-up to the practical problem of everyday life.
1. Although, throughout the Course, mention is often made of “the salesman,” without reference to the saleswoman, this is done to avoid repetition, simply as a matter of convenience in reading. This volume and all others of the Course are designed to meet the special needs of both the retail shoe salesman and the saleswoman. Similarly the customer is for convenience referred to by the use of the masculine pronoun forms.
2Above all other things this Course is practical. It is the first-hand statement of the experience gathered as a result of years of effort by successful men in the shoe business. It is a plain statement of principles and practices of success that have cost these men hundreds of thousands of dollars to gather in the school of practical experience. This is an advanced age. No longer need the man or woman of ambition grope around in the darkness to find a safe footing on which to build a career. Business today is a red-blooded man’s game, and success comes to those who know the rules of this game. Here are the rules—learn to know them.
“Anything that’s worth having is worth working for.” And the happy truth is that after you get into the spirit of the game, more than half the fun is in the working. Charles M. Schwab, the great steel magnate, said to be the greatest salesman in the world, has made millions—more than he or his family will be able to spend in a lifetime. But he is on the job every day. Not because he wants more money, but because he loves the business game, and would rather give up his millions than be put out of the game. This is the spirit that wins.
In this Course you have the tools with which success in your work is built. That you have faith in your own ability to move up is shown 3in the fact that you have numbered yourself among those who are no longer satisfied to continue in the rut of routine and who have taken a firm stand to move on and up.
The Training Course is not a thing of magic, like Aladdin’s lamp, that had only to be rubbed to satisfy the owner’s fondest desire. There is no royal road to success. Desire, effort, work are the signposts that mark the upward way. The Course supplies the need of ambitious men and women who realize that success comes only as a reward of industry, and are willing to meet it half way.
The course of reading is planned to continue for a period of one year, or, to be exact, 48 weeks from the time of the subscriber’s enrollment. Some will find it convenient to complete the reading within a shorter time. However, the longer period has purposely been arranged so that each reader will have plenty of time to thoroughly cover each feature of the Course and thus to get from it the maximum benefit.
Learn to read in terms of ideas rather than in terms of lines or pages. When Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address a great multitude, gathered from all over the country, was assembled before him. These people had come to hear a great speech from the foremost statesman of the age. Such a speech, they thought, 4should call forth all his eloquence and oratory. And so they were disappointed with Lincoln’s simple little talk, that took less than five minutes to deliver. In fact, only one or two of the newspapers bothered to comment on it the next day. They had calculated its value in terms of space rather than wisdom, and had overlooked one of the finest speeches ever delivered in this or any other country.
In other words, learn to read with the mind rather than the eye. Eight volumes make up the working basis of the Course. You have six weeks in which to read each one of these—less than five pages of reading each day. Learn to do this reading so that you may absorb it and make it a part of your daily working equipment. It may be on the principles of selling, or correct shoe fitting, or on a discussion of shoe leather—whatever it is be sure you know it, be sure it has become thoroughly soaked into your brain, and then be sure to use it. Only as you apply your knowledge will you be able to turn it into dollars. So begin at once.
Once in a while you will find a man who will shy at what he calls “theory.” His idea of theory is probably anything that comes from books. Not long ago one of these men said he didn’t believe his business had lost money the previous year, although his ledger said so. However, 5his creditors a little later convinced him he was bankrupt. It didn’t make much difference then whether or not he believed the facts or still considered them theory.
The law which says that an object left unsupported in the air will drop to earth is theory. Who cares whether the so-called “practical man” believes it or not—it’s a fact. And if he steps off the side of a ditch the natural law operates and theory proves to be a fact. Business today is a science. It is governed by principles that are as unfailing as the sun. The Course presents the principles of scientific retail shoe selling. These are the most practical things in business.
In the whole scheme of merchandising, from the gathering of raw materials to the delivery of the finished article in the customer’s hands, no job is more important than that of the retail salesman. His is the final effort. It has been preceded by the combined labor of tens of thousands of workers and the investment of hundreds of millions of capital to furnish the means of welcoming the customer and of encouraging the sale.
These great expenditures of mind, labor and money have been made to build an organisation, to provide attractive salesrooms with all their necessary fittings, experienced and high salaried 6buyers have been busy in bringing together desirable stock, expensive advertising has been sent broadcast. But what does it all amount to without the final sale?
It remains for the retail salesman to meet the customer face to face and upon the ability he has to move the stock is determined the success or failure of the whole undertaking. This, surely, is a big job and it carries with it a big responsibility. Amid present-day competition no longer can we sit back in hopeful anticipation for the best. Selling is mainly a matter of brains, and success comes in proportion to the amount of ability mixed with effort.
The annual shoe business of the United States is estimated at more than $1,500,000,000. There are close on to 250,000 men and women engaged in the retail selling of shoes, most of whom spend their entire effort in the work. Billions of invested capital is required to furnish the means of carrying on this enormous business.
From the standpoint of cost as well as importance as part of a man’s wearing apparel the shoe ranks second only to his suit of clothes. With most women this is true also. No other part of a person’s wardrobe, whether it be of a man, woman or child, becomes so intimately associated with the senses of comfort, self-satisfaction, and the mild and harmless conceit of 7the wearer. A new shoe is an event. In the selection of a shirt, a collar or a tie the main consideration is that of appearance, and if the article proves a disappointment it goes to the scrap heap without any great money loss. Furthermore it has caused no actual physical discomfort.
But not so with the shoe. A ten-dollar shoe is expected to give fifteen or twenty dollars worth of wear; it must stand all kinds of abuse and weather; it must look trim and neat at all times; it must match all cuts and colors of clothing; it must hold its shape, and never, never cause the wearer any pain or inconvenience. That same shoe must attract the approving attention of the wearer’s friends; it must wherever worn give the sensation of snug sufficiency; it must help the chest to expand a little with pride of possession and the shoulders to straighten up as that “well-dressed” feeling asserts itself. Every shoe salesman has noticed these things, that spread of honest joy on the customer’s face as he stands up, stamps his foot into the shoe and strides up and down a few feet, erect and confident, and then reaches into his pocket for the price.
This, briefly, is what goes on in the customer’s mind while he is buying a new pair of shoes. It is for shoe salesman to realize that although the individual sale is only a small part of his day’s work, it is really an event in the mind of the average customer. Success follows in proportion 8to the salesman’s knack in “tuning-up” to the customer so that both minds harmonize, so that they mutually understand each other, and so that the sale results in mutual satisfaction and benefit.
Why is it that of two salesmen working together in the same store, selling the same goods, at the same prices and under the same conditions, one regularly books twice as much business as the other? “Oh well,” someone says, “he has a following; he has friends who come in year after year and won’t buy from anyone else. He knows what they want, and all he has to do is to take the order. It’s a case of having them drop in his lap. The other man gets only the left-overs.”
“Simple enough,” he says, but is it quite as simple as he says it is? What has the one salesman to sell that the other doesn’t have?
It is that great, everlasting business builder—service. It is the salesman’s stock in trade, the thing he has to deliver to the customer, and the thing that stamps him either as a salesman or a mere “order taker.”
In the financial statement of one of the big New York stores is an item called good-will listed along with merchandise, stocks, cash and other property the business owns, and this item 10is valued at a million dollars. Every successful business enjoys a certain amount of good-will that may be reduced to a basis of dollars and cents. It is not unusual for a well-conducted business to have good-will actually worth several millions of dollars. And this is nothing more than a trade-following the store has built up as a result of satisfactory service given to the customers in the past. It is the same kind of trade-following the salesman must build up if he is steadily to increase his earnings, and it comes only through service—through changing an occasional customer into a steady one.
Considering that the salesman’s work should be about ninety per cent head work and ten per cent leg work it is mighty important for him to know what there is in him “from the neck up.” Successful men in selling have taken time to consider these things and they have increased their earning power as a result.
Every salesman should sit down with himself and actually study what he has to offer in the way of service to the customer. Without prejudice either for or against yourself take an inventory of how you measure up on the following:
The first step toward progress is to know your strong and weak points; to make the most of the strong ones by using them whenever possible and to build up those that are below the standard. Go over the list and grade yourself on the percentage basis, from one to a hundred, according to your honest opinion. A person might rate one hundred per cent on his knowledge of the business, but what good would it do him if he did not have tact in handling the customer? He might find perhaps that he was only fifty per cent on tact. That would be his cue, to plan at once to learn how to improve his approach to the customer, how to take advantage of suggestion rather than argument, and how to get the customer to agree with him.
Go right down the list, one after another, treat yourself fairly, and find out just how you stand in relation to the qualities of service that make for success. And remember this, that in developing tact, enthusiasm, sincerity, loyalty, and the others, you are not building for success as a shoe salesman alone, but as a buyer, manager, owner, and as far beyond that as you have the courage to go. The qualities of success are the same whether they be for a small success or for a large one; be sure you get them right and then go ahead.
12Unless a man can convince himself absolutely that he has in him something worth while he will never be able to get anyone else to believe it. He should be so cock-sure of his own ability to move up that it will never occur to anyone to doubt it. But that does not mean he should be satisfied with himself. Confidence is not self-satisfaction.
Assuming that the salesman thoroughly knows his job and is in a position to give his customer service, he will then have in him that air of assurance that will at once win confidence. He will not, of course, openly “rub it in” on the customer and give him the feeling that his opinion counts for nothing. The success of the sale depends upon the salesman’s ability to make the customer feel that his opinion is of first importance, but that in making his decision he may absolutely rely upon the value of the expert’s suggestion. This impression will “get over” only as the salesman shows a natural sense of confidence in his service to the customer.
On the other hand, self-satisfaction is dangerous. It is one of the chief causes that limit progress. Satisfaction means the taking away of the driving force of success that urges the person to do the task a little better next time. There is no standing still in the shoe business, either for the salesman, the department head, or 13the company itself. The movement is either forward or backward. The satisfied shoe salesman is drifting backward although he may be booking as much business this week as he did last. His is a case of “dry rot,” and it is only a matter of days before the condition will begin to show in the size of his book.
So do not confuse confidence with self-satisfaction. One is the fountain head and dear flowing stream of life and advancement; the other is the stagnant pool that shows on the surface its story of rot and decay.
The man who said, “I would rather be right than president,” expressed in seven short words what some other statesmen have required volumes to express—and have done it with less clearness. He expressed to the world that he was a man of character and that he placed above all other things, even the greatest honor the country can give, the importance of holding to a principle of right he had set for himself.
In speaking of business character we mean the sum total of all those uplifting qualities of honesty, ambition, courage, loyalty, courtesy, enthusiasm, and a dozen others that go to make up the moral fiber of a man. Bring these all together, or as many of them as the individual may have, and you get a product which is that man’s character. There were times in the pioneer 14days of the United States when it was possible for a business man to “shade” some of his dealings and still retain his position among his associates. Nathaniel Drew, who was a financial power a few generations ago, was one of the first men to practice stock watering. Driving his cattle from upper New York State to the wholesale market in New York City, he very carefully provided that they should be given no water to drink until about ready to enter the market. Just before being weighed-in, the thirsty animals were given water to their fullest desire. The result was that Drew collected on “watered stock,” and was considered clever.
But those days have passed. No business or any other enterprise can hope to be permanently successful unless it is built upon character. Time was when the traveling salesman could go out on the road with a trunk half filled with samples and the other half filled with cigars and booze. But those days have passed too. Today, with the traveling salesman, it is a matter of open competition on the basis of the worth of the goods plus the service of the salesman. Get right on these factors that make for character—courtesy, ambition, honesty, and the like. Only then will you naturally improve personality and become a real salesman.
Almost without exception a man’s nationality is so clearly stamped upon his face that it cannot 15be mistaken. Just so with personality. It is the outward expression of a man’s or woman’s innermost character. Sometimes we find attempts at forced personality, but these are simply disguises and will soon be recognized. Counterfeits may pass for a while but they will sooner or later find their way to the scrap pile.
There are all kinds of personalities just as there are physical types of men. There are strong and weak, pleasing and disagreeable, depending upon the make-up of the individual and the degree to which he has developed character. To some degree at least every person forms the habit of reading the character of people with whom they come in contact. A child four years old, and much younger too, will size-up a stranger and soon let him know what the impression has been. From some stories we hear of the dog it seems that the faithful animal can, in the twinkling of an eye, tell even the thoughts in a man’s mind.
A man is judged by the impression he makes when met. With the shoe salesman, in approaching the customer, there is almost unconsciously the double “sizing-up” process going on. The salesman will improve his selling ability by being able to size-up the customer so that he may know the likes, dislikes and peculiarities of people upon meeting them. This however, will be discussed later. Here we are considering the qualities of the shoe salesman and the effect they have upon the customer.
16Although a man may not have a pleasing personality he is blessed, at least, to the extent that he can improve it as he can improve his muscular development. Notice the expression on the face of the sprinter in a hundred-yard dash. Every particle of determination in his whole being is expressed in the position of that lower jaw. It takes the man a few seconds to cover the hundred yards, but during that time he has summed up everything there was in him. This has made an impression upon his mind and determination, which as part of his character, has been developed to that extent. This is just a simple illustration but it shows the undying power of genuine effort.
Recognize your shortcomings, make some effort every day to correct them. Character and personality will then follow as the rainbow follows the shower.
In one of the art museums there is a marble carving by an artist who had a big idea that showed his faith in the great truth that we are what we make ourselves. He represented a bright, strong, vigorous young man with a chisel in one hand and a mallet in the other, busily engaged in carving himself out of a rough piece of marble. The thought of the whole thing was that the young man’s future, or his career, was before him, and that the finished product would 17be exactly what he made it himself. In relation to his courage, his confidence and his persistence would be determined the beauty of his future. The world judges and honors him on the basis of what he produces.
To bring the point a little closer home, suppose Marshall Field, John Wanamaker or any other of the great merchants had stopped chiseling after they had become stock boys or clerks; they never would have advanced a step higher. But they did not stop, and we give them credit for chiseling great monuments for the world.
One of the great problems of the time is that of building up a true basis of co-operation or team-work among all workers connected with an organization, and that means everyone from the youngest stock boy up to the president. No business can move forward without co-operation on the part of everyone concerned any more than an army could succeed without a head or without team-work.
It is a well-established fact that no matter how humble or important the job, one is as necessary for success as the other. As an example, a stock boy by placing a pair of shoes in the wrong box may be the means of losing a sale in spite of the most careful planning on the part of the store manager to have the shoe ready for the customer to buy. For this reason, all right-thinking business 18men recognize the fact and are willing to give the humblest worker his proportionate share of praise and profit in the success that comes from his effort.
In studying a forest it will be found that there are all kinds of trees, big and little, strong and mighty, as well as the weak; and it is just so among men and women. There are those who are leaders—men who are extraordinary in character and ability, men who have the will to strive for better things. On the other hand, there are those who are so weak that they must be cared for. There are men who show neither will-power nor character. Every normal man, however, has in him the power to shape his own future. It is for him to choose. He will take his place according to the way he measures up to the responsibility.
In considering these things the question of compensation naturally comes up. Are we to reward every man on an equal basis regardless of his own contribution to progress? The answer is emphatically—No. Compensation takes two forms; financial and honorary. Some men strive for both; others for money alone and still others for the praise and respect of their fellow-men. Without the incentive that comes to a man when he knows that his extra effort will be rewarded by greater returns either in money or honor, there can be no advancement.
19James J. Hill, the great railroad builder, who was responsible more than any one man for developing the wild West of his time; Andrew Carnegie, the lad who arrived here almost penniless and later built one of the largest fortunes ever accumulated; Edward H. Harriman, another railroad builder, who overcame all sorts of physical handicaps and took his place among the men who have made America; Theodore Roosevelt, if you please, who as a boy was so weak and sickly he was not expected to live, and yet later developed into the most vigorous and powerful man in body and mind this country has produced—they all knew that success would come only as a reward of individual merit, and they played the game to win. What could have been more fatal than to have taken from these men their hope of the future? To them it would have been unfair, but to the world’s progress the injustice would have been a thousand times greater.
No one disputes the right of every individual to stand equal with his fellow-man before the law; which means that justice shall be equal in favor of the humble and the great. But you cannot equalize ambition, courage and ability. While the humble are just as needful and important in the world’s work it is necessary also to have leadership with which the less capable must co-operate to produce the best world’s results. The ambition of every individual in the world should be to make the most of himself, 20strengthen his character day by day, develop his ability, and thus aim for the highest position that God has given him power to attain. No man can be held responsible for the lowly position in which he may have been born, but he can be held responsible for being content to stay there.
Anthony H. Geuting, ex-president of the National Shoe Retailers’ Association, and one of Philadelphia’s successful merchants, has told the story of his early start toward the position he now occupies. The experience dates back about thirty-five years, but it clearly shows that the “going” for the young man or woman is a great deal smoother today than it was then.
Although I started on my first job at $3.50 per week, and paid out of this $3.00 every week for board and room, I was able, when the year was around, to show something saved. Ever since I have kept up this practice and have never spent all that I made; always saving something. But to do this it was necessary in the early days to practice self-denial. I could not patronize pool-rooms, theaters, circuses and many entertainments that were calling young men away from their occupations, and often it was with bitter regret 21that I could not take part with the other fellows. The temptations were very great, but I knew they could not be followed if I intended to succeed.
Every man of any consequence in the world has had this same experience, and the big, successful business houses of today were built by men who practiced this method of self-denial, through which they gained control over themselves. They learned to say “no,” accumulated money, and above all, built for character and ability.
I remember one winter going without an overcoat—and you can imagine when the weather was below zero, how I longed for the luxurious fur coats so much in use at that time. However, I never felt bitter toward those who had them, but rather I made up my mind that one day I too would own one.
The reader will find in himself a feeling that he is unsatisfied with his present progress in business and that his future is still to be made. Unless he were a man of purpose it is safe to assume that he would not be reading these pages. He is unsatisfied, and that means that no matter how well he may have done up to the present he still sees ahead something better for the future. To be continually dissatisfied stamps a man as a 22grumbler and a perpetual grouch, but to be unsatisfied is the mark of distinction for the man with a healthy purpose, character and a bedrock foundation of confidence in his own ability to win.
Present-day business is one of the most strenuous games we know anything about. Although it is true, as already mentioned, that good salesmanship should call for only about a tenth as much physical as mental effort, the combination of physical, mental and nervous application must continually be on the alert in a man or woman who is actually playing the selling game according to rules. Boxing, running, football, tennis, baseball, are all forms of strenuous exercise, but they do not call for the same endurance as the busy eight-hour day of retail selling. In spite of this, how many shoe salesmen are there who actually make it a part of the daily program to get and keep in condition for the business game?
During the war period, while some of the most important problems of the country and of the world were waiting to be solved, we would hear every once in a while of some chief executive going off to play golf or to spend three or four days on a hunting or fishing trip. These things were not done because the men were more interested in golf, hunting and fishing than they were 24in the problems of the day. They had actually been ordered away from their desks. The eye was beginning to lose its brightness, the complexion was fading a little, and the step, perhaps, was showing signs of lagging. Alert, vigorous, healthy men were needed, who could think quickly and clearly. Lloyd George, the British statesman, made the statement that he was a union man in everything except his working hours. Very often he has been known to work for sixteen or twenty hours at a stretch. This was possible only because he had taken the time and effort necessary to build and maintain a vigorous and healthy body. There is an added joy in living that only a man in condition can appreciate.
Ask any young lad to demonstrate how strong he is and he will immediately draw his arm up tightly and exhibit the knot of muscle. To him that is an indication of his physical condition. However, the business man and woman must have a different standard, and that standard is the basis on which all the parts and organs of the body work together and perform their functions. What good is a finely adjusted twelve cylinder motor if the gasolene flow is choked by a bit of dirt in the supply pipe? The physical machinery is exactly the same. The body must be healthy both inside and out, and to keep fit 25we must see that every part of the machinery is given the chance to do its work.
The young lady is much annoyed to find a pimple on her chin, but to make everything all right again she puts a little white powder on it and hopes the trouble will soon clear away. Or if the color is gone from her cheek she might take some from a box and put it where the natural color should have been. These things, however, can do her no good. Her trouble is from within and she is trying to remove the effect instead of getting at the cause. Put it down now as one of the first principles of health that if you have a headache or earache, a sore throat or a corn, that it is your notice that something needs to be fixed. It isn’t a prepared powder or some special kind of toothache drops you need—they simply aim to remove the effect. Get at the cause. You probably need more exercise or a change in diet in order to get at the cause of the headache. The toothache drop will not improve the condition of the tooth—it needs to be fixed. The corn is crying for more room—give it a chance.
All of these things are warning signals sent out by nature. Whenever you receive a notice, act on it promptly, get at the cause and remove it. Only in this way can you keep steadily fit.
In considering the matter of food it is natural to associate with it the stomach. Too often we 26are likely to consider the stomach simply as a convenience to receive whatever we may feel in the humor of eating. Its main function, however, is to receive certain limited supplies of food, properly prepared, and to take from them the necessary elements required to sustain the body. We need certain foods, like eggs, meat, cheese, beans, to build muscle; starchy foods, such as bread and potatoes; sweets, such as those from fruits and certain vegetables, and also smaller quantities of oils and minerals. It is a good plan to so arrange the daily diet that a combination of starch, sugar, fats and muscle-building foods may be had. Most of us, however, do not have the time or experience necessary to analyze the food we eat to learn its construction and relative food value. Many excellent text books have been prepared on this subject with ready-made menus for the inexperienced. The American Red Cross Text Book on Home Dietetics gives not only proper food combinations but tells how to prepare the food. A copy may be found in any public library.
Dr. C. F. Langworthy has prepared a tabulation of common foods in the five important groups. For a well balanced diet, at least one article from each group should be represented in the meals each day.
It is most vitally important that we see to it that whatever we do eat is thoroughly chewed. If there should be a limit on the time we have 27for eating we could make no mistake by eating half as much and chewing it twice as well. Too much food, insufficiently chewed, can be nothing but harmful. In fact, the popular tendency is to eat too much on Sundays and holidays. This habit of forcing the stomach to work overtime on state occasions is probably responsible for most cases of indigestion. Eat to satisfy your hunger. Remember the old copy-book maxim: “We eat to live; we do not live to eat.”
| For Muscle | For Heat and Energy | For Blood and Bone | For Fat | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Protein) | (Starch) | (Sugar) | (Mineral or organic acids) | (Fats) |
| Lean meat | Bread | Syrup | Spinach | Butter |
| Poultry | Crackers | Honey | Peas | Cream |
| Fish | Macaroni | Jellies | Lettuce | Top-milk |
| Oysters | Rice | Dried-fruits | Potatoes | Salt pork |
| Eggs | Cereals | Candy | Turnips | Bacon |
| Nuts | or some other form of flour | Sugar | Apples | Chocolate |
| etc. | etc. | etc. | Oranges | etc. |
| Berries | ||||
| etc. | ||||
The stomach is a delicate instrument, it is the center of a great many nerves, and it operates best only when these nerves are normal. Excitement, worry, over-exertion and the like, all have a bad effect upon the stomach. Under such conditions it would be better not to eat at all, for the time being at least, rather than to force upon the stomach a lot of food it is not in condition to digest. The suggestion, therefore, is to choose pleasant surroundings, free yourself of any nervous tension, and chew thoroughly.
28Drink water. It acts as a drainage system to carry off waste matter of the body, and the more you drink the better. However, don’t use it as a means of washing down the food to save the trouble of chewing it.
People sometimes have the impression that colds, sore throat and pneumonia are associated in some way with the fresh air of out-of-doors. Following out the same thought they close themselves in from the outside air, bundle up in heavy clothes, and hope to be spared through the winter without an attack. The advice of a wise physician to his patient who was continually catching cold during the cold weather, was to take off a lot of wraps from around her neck and get out into the cold, fresh air.
A draft, that we are in the habit of fearing so much, is simply a circulation of fresh air. The reason it causes trouble is that it exposes the body when the blood circulation is not active enough to perform the extra duty required of it. Another physician is credited with the advice, “The way to avoid having colds is to get in a draft—and stay in it.”
Sometimes it is not possible to have a continuous circulation of fresh air in the shoe store or department. The location may make it difficult, or there may be an objection from some 29of the people present who would be unduly exposed. Under the circumstances it would certainly be well to make a special point of doing some extra open-air walking every day. A walk of a mile or even a half mile before dinner at night will do a person more good than all the pink pills that have ever been made. Open the windows when you go to bed at night and let the air sweep through. An extra covering will give all the protection needed. During some of the really cold nights you may even need to wear a woolen cap. Any sort of a covering will serve the purpose, only be sure to take advantage of the pure, fresh air—it costs nothing but is worth much.
“To be a success a man needs just two suits—a suit of evening clothes and a suit of pajamas.” The man who said this probably did not have to provide for making a living. His main object was evidently to have a good time, but you will notice that he recognized the value of sleep, even for a man who need not work.
Eight hours of conscientious work on the part of the shoe salesman means a steady wearing away of his energy, both mental and physical. He then needs relaxation so as to check the strain; he needs a change of surroundings—different thoughts to occupy his mind and different 30people to meet. This should come in his hours of recreation; but after that he needs his full measure of sleep. Most people should have regularly eight hours of sleep in order that they may be fully refreshed for the duties of the day to follow. Thomas A. Edison, the inventor, has been getting along with four hours’ sleep and twenty hours of work for the past twenty years at least. But he is the great exception that proves the rule.
Don’t try to beat Father Time at his own game. In other words, don’t try to crowd one day’s work and two days’ pleasure into twenty-four hours. You cannot drain out two measures of strength and expect to have enough left over to carry you through the following day.
Throw your cares and worries to the winds when you retire. Forget business, forget pleasure, forget yourself, and just sleep. There will be time enough to consider cares tomorrow when you are refreshed, and they won’t seem half so troublesome then.
For the man who has lost the knack of playing, life becomes just drudgery; he is then simply a work machine. A good, honest laugh is a tonic that stimulates certain organs of the body that rarely get exercise any other way. Business calls for a certain amount of serious consideration, 31but that isn’t any reason why we should overlook its pleasures and brightness.
There are all kinds of play. It makes little difference which we choose so long as we get into the spirit of it, change the line of thought to prevent getting “stale” and to develop an all-around human being. Some men gather canceled postage stamps or coins as hobbies; some play golf, others chess or billiards. Every person should have two or three hobbies, the more the better, so long as we do not let them run away with us. Those of us who have inside work, and that means every shoe salesman, should choose those hobbies that will take us out of doors as much as possible. Skating, walking, tennis, golf, baseball—they are all good. Oftentimes we think ourselves athletes when we become boxing, baseball or football fans, but just remember that the other fellow is getting the real fun out of it. Our cue is to get into the action.
Some form of regular exercise is what we need. Ten minutes of arm and leg movements before an open window, both in the morning and at night, will do more than anything else to build a healthy body and to keep away the doctor for all time. The first few days of this may seem an awful bore, but give it a good trial and you will soon find that you get a lot of increased 32satisfaction out of it. Many excellent pamphlets on gymnastics have been prepared by experts and can be consulted at the public libraries.
Among the most commendable of these is one issued by the government which contains the “setting-up” exercises used in our training camps. It is called: Manual of Physical Training for use in the U. S. Army, and if it is not to be found among Public Documents at your library it may be bought for 50 cents from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.
It is generally agreed that we should bathe at least twice a week in order to keep the body in best condition. In warm weather more frequent baths are required. Perhaps best of all is a cold bath or shower every morning, but it is not everyone that is able to do this. The warm baths are essential, however.
Until within the past ten or fifteen years people as a rule did not fully realize how vitally important it is to keep the teeth in good condition. The old idea was to allow a tooth to remain until it became necessary to have it removed. Today it goes without saying that the body cannot be kept well unless the teeth are kept in condition. One of the manufacturers of tooth brushes tells us that “a clean tooth never decays.” More than half the bills of dentists could be saved if we gave the necessary attention twice a day to our teeth. Doctors tell us 33that care at night before going to bed is even more important, both for the teeth and for the body in general, than the care we give the teeth in the morning.
The great advantage that the human animal has over all forms of lower animals is in the matter of mind development. Being blessed in this way he is able, in a large measure, to “work out his own salvation,” as it is sometimes expressed. He is not compelled to accept as final the conditions in which he may find himself, but may govern his career through the powers of reason, understanding and decision that have been given him. Upon the extent to which he exercises and develops these powers will naturally depend the measure of his progress.
There is no doubt whatever that the condition of our health is to a great extent controlled by the mind. The claim is made also that every condition of the body is governed by the mind; that every form of human ailment may be prevented or cast off at the direction of the mind. A great many people believe this and govern their way of living accordingly; others accept the idea only to a limited extent.
For our purpose we are interested only in so far as to recognize that there is a relationship between body and mind and that we are capable 34of using and developing this. To illustrate the effect that thought has on bodily condition, an actual instance is told of a man who touched his hand to a pipe that he had understood to be extremely hot. At once he had all the mental effect and sensation of the customary burn on his hand, not learning until later that the pipe was actually icy cold.
The mind must have its work and play; all of one and not any of the other is just as harmful for the mind as it is for the body. Most forms of recreation or play that serve for the body serve also for the mind. However, for a person who uses the brain steadily during business hours it is best to choose a kind of recreation that will allow the brain to rest. For example, under the circumstances, a game of chess, which calls for close application, would not be so desirable a change as bowling, basket ball or tennis.
The everlasting grouch is the man whose mind is running in a rut. He hasn’t exercised it enough or given it sufficient variety of work to do. We hear of musical comedies that are recommended especially for the “tired business man,” and that means a man who has been thinking along one line so long that he begins to grow stale. What the musical show does is to give him a couple hours of absolute change, as a result of which his mind goes through a series of gymnastics; it gets limbered-up and the man becomes normal again. Everything is good in 35its proper proportion, but too much work and not enough play, or too much play and not enough work, make a lop-sided man.
Since the war we have seen all too much of “nerve” cases. What we have come to know as “shell shock” is illness of the nerves, caused, generally, by an over-strain they have had. Mild cases of “nerves” we all know. They are the people who cannot stand to hear someone tapping on the counter with a pencil, or who must insist that little Jimmie stop his whistling because it upsets their nerves. If these signs begin to show themselves it is time that we should begin to get more exercise, fresh air, and perhaps more sleep.
Everyone who has had occasion to come in contact with numbers of people of different classes, as have all shoe salesmen, has been impressed with the fact that men of affairs, those who are successful and those who are most highly regarded, are invariably well groomed. They have hands that are well-kept; not necessarily dainty, soft hands that look as though they had never been used, but regular man’s hands capable of doing an honest day’s work. The nails are clipped and they are clean, but 36if they shine too much we might get the impression that he spends too much time in the manicurist’s chair.
The successful man always has clean shoes, and of course, a clean collar. He makes a special point, as part of his daily program, to watch these things carefully. He knows that they are important because they are noticed by everyone he meets, and he cannot afford to run the risk of losing a point because of a false impression given by slovenly appearance. We give more credit to a person of good personal appearance, because we naturally associate the quality of their work with the kind of care they give themselves.
A successful business man from the West recently attended a play in New York in which one of the leading parts was that of a young, aggressive business man not yet thirty years of age. The part was played well; the man was well groomed but not overdressed. He looked every inch the American man of affairs. The business man, who happened at the time to be in New York to engage a sales manager for his company, later remarked that the part played was the exact type of man needed in his business. In other words, he had in his mind the picture of the man needed and, relying on his past experience, he associated ability with the man’s own respect for himself as shown by his appearance.
To be well dressed does not necessarily mean that a person must be expensively dressed. Indeed, it is by no means rare to see expensive clothes poorly chosen and poorly harmonized so as to give the effect of cheapness. When we see a light checked suit matched with a flaring red tie and a yellow shirt to back it up, although we might recognize the clothes to be of good quality, we could not give the wearer credit for being well dressed. Certainly we would not give him credit for being a substantial business man. Business people are not expected to be fashion models. A lot of frills and fancies are not part of a good business woman’s outfit. They are likely to become soiled or damaged during the day and will then give an impression of untidiness. The combinations of black and white and other subdued colors in clothes are always good. Furthermore these colors are serviceable and appropriate, in different combinations, for both summer and winter.
The secret of being well dressed is to wear clothes that match or harmonize so well that no one part of the attire is conspicuous. Often we recognize a man to have been well dressed but cannot describe the clothes he wore. The whole effect was pleasing, his shoes were polished, his linen clean and his suit pressed, but the effect was one of completeness rather than 38of attracting attention to individual articles of clothes.
For most people the question of neatness in dress can be very well taken care of by a liberal use of the whisk broom and shoe brush every morning, a clean collar daily and a suit pressing once a week.
A successful New York sales manager, in a recent book on salesmanship, makes the following statement, the truth of which every shoe salesman will at once recognize.[2]
2. “Salesmanship and Sales Management,” by John G. Jones.
“The old idea that anyone can sell behind a counter is fast giving way to a keen realization of the value of salesmanship in retail selling. Selling behind the counter is largely what the individual makes it. There are those who simply supply what is asked for, and that none too graciously; who do not take the trouble to study the line they are selling, and who give no thought to devising ways of increasing their sales. There is, on the other hand, a rapidly growing class who have made it a point to become thoroughly acquainted with their goods; who by their frankness, courtesy and knowledge win the confidence of their customers.
“They give timely advice to their customers, and are able to sell a better class of goods than the customer intended to buy; and they can close a sale when the customer is in doubt and plan 40methods of awakening interest in lines other than those the customer had in mind when he entered the store. The demand for this latter class is so great that the larger, more progressive retailers throughout the country are establishing training schools to develop this kind of salespeople.”
There was a time when selling meant simply having a lot of goods on hand so that if the customer happened in he might pick out what he wanted or else decide he didn’t want anything. Most of us still remember the old-fashioned cigar store with the wooden Indian on guard outside the door, and the corner drug store with a couple of mysterious-looking glass jars filled with colored water in the front window. In those days we were happy to keep away from such stores except once in a while when there was a prescription to be filled or a postage stamp to be bought. And the reason was that these places did not express life, enthusiasm and interest. The modern drug store, cigar store, and practically every other kind of store is attractive, inviting and so filled with human buying suggestions that it is almost a general thing to come out with more than we had planned to buy. Human interest and service are the things that encourage business and make it prosper.
The most commonplace of things take on interest if the story is properly told. We find 41full-page advertisements of a bottle of ink, a cake of yeast and a toothbrush—the most everyday sort of things imaginable, but although the cost of the ads. is at least five thousand dollars for each issue of the magazine, they draw enough business to pay for themselves. The reason for this is that the story is made interesting enough so that it will be read, certain points of advantage are brought out; the reader then remembers that he needs, say, a toothbrush, is anxious to try the one he now knows something about and—lo! the sale is made. If all this is possible in a printed story, how much greater are the possibilities in personal selling? Take a cue from the ad. man and put life into your story.
There are many articles that can be well sold through advertising alone. Occasionally we find an advertising man who has such faith in advertising that he considers it to be the cure for all business ills. It is a tremendous force, but there are a great many articles, especially those that call for spending a fair sum of money, that must finally be sold by salesmanship—and, of course, shoes are included in this class. Certain things there are, on the other hand, that the customer is willing to buy simply by calling for so many of this, that or some other article. But 42with shoes it is different. No automatic vending machine, where the customer puts in the price, turns the handle and receives a pair of shoes of a certain size and color, will ever serve the purpose. Advertising helps the salesman but by no means does it draw from his importance. If there were any doubt on this point we would have but to consider, if it should be necessary to discontinue either personal selling or advertising, which of the two it would be.
Window and show case displays are very effective means of advertising that serve to focus or centralize the thought of the customer on some few styles of shoes. The customer’s first idea is that he wants to buy a pair of shoes. Whatever enthusiasm he has is spread over the whole line of shoe styles. If he can see in the window or display case one style that appeals to him, his enthusiasm and desire is centralized. It is for the salesman then simply to complete the sale from that point, provided, of course, that the shoe selected proves to be what is wanted. Newspaper advertising has the same effect. It centralizes the customer’s desire on the one or two styles advertised and brings the man into the store with a definite idea in mind rather than simply a vague notion.
The importance of the inside display case to suggest a second pair of shoes, hosiery, shoe dressings and the like, should always be borne in mind. The salesman does not need to rely 43alone on describing the article, but he may actually show it to the customer, thus making a positive suggestion to his mind. This is mentioned here briefly in its relation to advertising but it will later be treated more fully.
With one of the large concerns selling goods direct to the user there is a man of peculiar ability who has succeeded, although in deciding his business problems he purposely sets aside every suggestion of enthusiasm so that his decision may not be influenced by it. His whole basis of calculation is fixed on facts and figures. If it is a purchase he is making the whole consideration is that of price compared with other like qualities. If it is a matter of making enlargements or improvements to the factory, the question is, “What will be the cost and the advantages to the business?” All along the line it is simply facts he accepts.
The personality of this man calls for comment because it is the exceptional case. Most normal people are governed in what they say and do by enthusiasm. It is a spirit or emotion that draws men away from the humdrum of things, shows them something better and fires them with a determination to go after it. The late Theodore Roosevelt was one of the fine examples of men who have been fired with enthusiasm. So great was his enthusiasm that when he got an idea 44his whole personality became ablaze until he carried out his purpose and changed the idea into a reality.
Successful salesmen must have enthusiasm. It does not necessarily need to be of a kind we see at the ball game when a player on the home team makes a home-run, but it must be a spirit that gives the man an incentive to improve continually the quality of his service to the customer, that aims to furnish the goods best suited to the customer’s needs and means, that builds his confidence and adds to the salesman’s success.
The manager in one of the big stores in the West recently made the statement that the way he and his men keep themselves up to snuff in their enthusiasm and selling effort is to begin each morning as though it were the first morning on the job, with as many new things to learn and to do that day as there were on the first day. To keep up steam means that the man should take an inventory of himself to see what progress he has made or how much better a salesman he is today than he was a week ago or a month or a year ago. If he had a good book last week he should use that as a mark to shoot at this week, rather than as a reason why he can afford to let up on his effort for a few days. Yesterday’s record is past and so he should forget it 45except in so far as it may serve as a stimulus to fresh effort.
In speaking of “books,” many successful retail shoe buyers and managers look upon these records of daily sales as bugbears threatening the true spirit of the shoe salesman’s service. No satisfactory substitute has as yet been found for the sales book, and so the average store management has to accept the situation and make the best of it. It is true that the mere fact of a book being kept has an influence on the salesman which, if not carefully guarded against, will result in his giving each customer a short measure of service. If the mind of the clerk is on his book primarily it does not make for the best attention to the fine points of service. It is a delicate question. The successful salesman gives no particular thought to his book but rather devotes one hundred per cent of himself to serving his customers; letting the book take care of itself. Such salesmen, as a matter of fact, do not need to worry about their books—they are certain to be successful. It is recommended to all shoe salesmen that they devote the fullest attention to service; knowing full well that perfection in service will certainly produce satisfied customers and increasing books.
To repeat, there is no standing still; we are either going ahead or moving backward, and the only sure way to prevent back-sliding is to make each day count for something more than the one 46that preceded. This is a matter of keeping up steam.
The position of the salesman should be somewhere between the buyer and the seller. He owes it to the customer to serve his best interest; to do everything possible to give him every advantage in the bargain. On the other hand, the salesman is the representative of the house that employs him and he is certainly expected to back it up at every turn.
The salesman who takes his job seriously, and such a man is the only one who makes anything out of his job, recognizes this responsibility at once. At first there might seem to be a gap between both sides of the bargain that would make the salesman’s double loyalty impossible. But high class business methods of the day have brought closely together these two interests. There is a mutual understanding that only as they are both well served can there be permanent satisfaction. The house cannot give service if it conducts its business at a loss and the customer will not be pleased and will not continue his business unless he gets full value in what he buys. When taken in this light the salesman’s responsibility as the connecting link between the seller and the buyer is one of double service, and incidentally there is a double advantage. A well-served customer means a steady customer and that in turn means more business and bigger earnings for the salesman and the store.
47No business organization would be so foolish as to hold itself out as being perfect. It is operated by human beings rather than by machines, and that implies there are always bound to be some mistakes. The best the house can do is to make every effort to reduce mistakes to a minimum. In quality of goods and in quality of service there is the possibility of an occasional slip-up, and right here the salesman is called in to show his loyalty and enthusiasm in the face of what might develop to be the loss of profitable business. The weak or unsteady man is bowled over in the face of opposition but the strong man is made better and stronger by it. Every reasonable customer is willing to accept an explanation of the true facts, and is glad to know that he has not purposely been taken advantage of.
Have faith in the goods and the house, recognize the possibility of error and go out of your way to set the customer right when the “kick” is registered.
Three or four years ago a young man who had not had a great deal of business experience took up the selling of an electrical carpet sweeper for household use. This he was to offer in a house-to-house canvas over a limited territory especially assigned to him. Before starting out he read all the circulars prepared 48by the selling department and watched demonstrations made at the office. Armed with his equipment and a prepared selling talk the young man started in his new field. Most of the women proved to be interested to get a “close-up” of the bagpipe, as one of them called it, and even listened to the selling talk, but when it was all over—there was no sale.
For a week the same experience went on until finally the salesman’s young wife thought she would try how it worked around the house. She hitched it up and tried it on the hall rug. The result was fine, and she then tested it on the furniture, the curtains and finally on a suit of clothes. “It’s a wonder,” she said, “and I must have one. We can’t afford to be without it.” She got it, of course, but the important point, as far as we are concerned, is that the man was given in those few minutes the best selling talk he could possibly use and the only one he ever needed from that time on. The experience was the turning point in his career.
What could a cut-and-dry selling talk amount to as compared with the genuine enthusiasm of the man who had just installed a sweeper for his wife’s own convenience? He had now sold himself on the merit of his goods, and there could be no doubt or failing in his voice when approaching the customer. Now he could talk in terms of facts rather than opinions.
“But,” some shoe salesman may say, “we don’t 49have to demonstrate the shoe to the customer, she knows what it is and all about it.” Provided the salesman is simply to take the order it is true that he does not need to demonstrate or convince. The genuine salesman, however, does more. He will sell the customer the shoe she ought to have. He will probably sell her a more expensive one, or he may sell her two or three pairs, and at the same time have her realize that she is being served best in buying them. This is real salesmanship, and it is only possible of a man who is thoroughly sold on the superior merit of his own goods and his house—who has made the first sale to himself.
“Cheer up; better times are coming.” That is a cheerful tune to sing, but it may be misleading unless we realize that it does not mean that time alone will make times better. What we are today is simply a reflection of what we made ourselves during the yesterdays; and next year we shall have to show only what we make of opportunities today. None of us is in business just for a day. The shoe salesman has a future which is, first of all, to make himself a better salesman. Therefore his responsibility today is to put forward everything he has in order to reach the goal he has set. Enthusiasm is the power needed to drive the effort day by day.
Every person in business realizes that there are as many shades of honesty as there are shades of color in the rainbow. Sometimes we might very well be considered dishonest simply by standing by and saying nothing. Any misunderstanding a customer might get concerning a matter of importance connected with the sale should rightly be corrected by the salesman. There is the possibility that the customer may never learn the true fact and that no harm will come as a result of an untrue statement or mistaken idea, but the chances are the other way, and men of experience know that the results are fatal to further satisfactory business when the fact of deception is realized.
Business today is conducted on the basis of mutual confidence in the honor of recognized people. An example of this is in connection with transactions on the stock exchanges where business running into millions of dollars every day is conducted on the basis of a spoken “yes” and “no” between men. A buyer might easily claim he had not made the bargain, and in so doing save himself sometimes thousands of dollars, but he would sooner break his bond than break his word. Wholesale buying of shoes and all other merchandise is carried on in such enormous quantities that the honor system must be depended upon to a very great degree. No one 51is more despised either in business or private life than the man whose word cannot be depended upon and he must sooner or later descend to his own level.
Honesty in the salesman relates both to the house and to the customer. Any man who would stoop to stealing of stock is, of course, simply a plain everyday thief and the law provides for him. On the other hand, the matter of time as a thing of value is sometimes overlooked. There are only a limited number of working minutes in a business day and they rank pretty high in money value. They should be spent with as much care as we spend our money.
The customer is the man who pays the salaries. Without his business there could be no sales force, no stock and no organization. For that reason he deserves the best that can be given. He should not be oversold nor should he be sold under a mistaken impression. It may mean a little less business this time but the difference will be more than made up on the next sale.
In listening sometimes to the salesman explaining the wonderful merits of his newly discovered hair tonic, or perhaps to the great possibilities of profits from some undeveloped copper mines in which he gives us the “opportunity” to buy some shares, the one thing that 52impresses us above all else is the great enthusiasm of the salesman. When he tells us that the tonic will grow hair on the door knob or that the quality of ore taken from the mine shows that the stock will pay a hundred per cent profit the first year, the man is either over-enthusiastic, if he believes what he says, or he is just plainly dishonest. From this it is clear that the dividing line between the two, so far as the customer is concerned, is not very sharply drawn, and that there is a possibility of the salesman being judged as dishonest when he may be absolutely honest, but perhaps over-enthusiastic in making the sale.
The goods should be sold only on the merits they have and not on the merits the customer may expect to find in them at the price he is paying. The duty of the salesman under such conditions is to explain frankly that he is offering the maximum of style, fit and quality he is able to give, either at the stated price or from the selection he has in stock. If the customer insists on better quality he will, in most cases, be able to raise his idea of price. If the style, fit or color is not satisfactory and there is no further selection to be offered it is better to say so frankly rather than to force on him something he does not want. This does not mean, however, that the salesman will show his stock with the attitude of “take it or leave it.” What it does mean is that he will use every effort he 53has to satisfy the customer by getting him to realize that what has been offered is the best that can be given, that it is the maximum of quality and the whole range of style and fit to be had at present. If, then, the salesman is not able to land the sale and the customer is still unsatisfied, he should explain the facts just as they are, with all the courtesy possible, and put the decision up to the customer.
R. C. Hearne, buyer and manager of the Daniels and Fisher Stores Company, Denver, Colorado, has made this important point:
“There is as much cleverness in missing a customer as there is in selling her. A customer properly missed is a future customer. For instance, a woman enters your store and you fail to sell her, but you must not let her walk out with simply a ‘good-afternoon.’ Say instead, ’I would like to have you come in at a little later date’—mentioning the date—’when we expect to have a new line, which I would like to have you inspect.’
“This means that you have probably stamped on your customer’s mind the thought that she will call at your store in the future. Nine times out of ten she will come back to your place of business.”
Every salesman is working to build up a following of regular customers. This he can do only by changing the occasional customer or the “looker” into a “regular,” and this is possible only as a result of genuine, sympathetic service.
If for any reason it is not possible to give the customer some service he asks for, he should be given an understanding then and there rather than a promise that cannot be filled. “I’ll see to it personally,” the salesman may say, “that these shoes are delivered to you tomorrow.” He then passes along the box in the regular way. It may be delayed for a day, the customer is disappointed because he had planned to use the shoes on a special occasion, and in turn his confidence in the salesman is lost. To the salesman it was a small matter; he took it for granted that the delivery would be made without delay, but he did not “see to it personally,” as he promised he would. He should either have done what he promised, or he should not have offered the service unless he could have carried out the promise as cheerfully as it was made. And that, by the way, is the test to be made of every promise before it is given.
“I’ll let you know when the new style is received,” says the unthinking salesman, in a moment of enthusiasm and genuine effort to serve the customer. But then he promptly forgets his promise and the incident is closed. With the customer, it is different, however. She waits a reasonable time to be notified but receives no word. Naturally she assumes the style has not been received and, being in need 55of the shoes, she goes elsewhere and makes her purchase. The sale is lost and the chances are great that her future business also will be lost, provided she gets service in making the outside purchase. Taken in this light it is a pretty serious matter, both for the salesman and the house.
Enthusiasm is a wonderful business-building power, but it must be sincere and it must be lasting.
So far we have been considering those important matters that have to do with the salesman’s relationship to himself—the responsibility he has to build for himself a healthy mind, and business spirit. We are now interested to consider his relationship to the person who supplies the power to operate the whole machinery of commerce, who foots all the store’s expenses, and who regulates the size of the salesman’s pay—the customer.
A man whose career as a salesman had extended over many years, and who had been unusually successful in his work, was once asked before a large gathering of business men to tell them what great power he considered responsible for his success in selling goods. His reply was the simple and beautiful fact that he learned to love his customers. What he meant, of course, was that he had trained himself to regard each customer and to show him the same consideration and interest as though the customer were his warmest friend. Mention love, and we immediately think of Romeo and Juliet. 57Romeo, with his fiery devotion, would have made a wonderful salesman if he had applied the same enthusiasm to the commercial field.
The man who said he loved his customers was not some soft, wishy-washy dreamer who gazed soulfully into his customer’s eyes. He was a strong, vigorous, man’s man, who understood enough about human nature to know that it is sympathetic interest coming from the heart that the customer wants and for which he is happy to pay. He wants to feel that his request to be served will be considered by the salesman not simply as another series of mechanical motions, but rather as an opportunity to be of genuine help.
The kind of respect and consideration a gentleman gives to a guest in his own home is the standard by which the successful salesman measures his service to the customer. There is nothing false or artificial in it; simply a genuine effort to please. When reduced to this basis the art of good salesmanship is not a series of cut-and-dry rules to tell the beginner how many steps to take forward when greeting a customer, when to reach up to remove a box from the stock, case, or when and how to accept the customer’s money. Those are simply mechanical operations and should not constitute a more important part of the sale than the arm motion 58of a speaker in delivering an address. To the man who has his heart in his work the mechanical motions called for in conducting a sale will come as naturally as breathing.
In line with the thought of natural selling, it is evident that a salesman should not rush at the customer. To pass someone else who is approaching a customer with the idea of serving him means to cause resentment both in the customer’s mind and in that of the fellow-worker.
Of course, the customer will be treated with politeness, but this again is more of a forced expression of consideration. The trick monkey that accompanies the Italian organ grinder has been trained to take off his little red cap whenever anyone put a cent in the tin can. This is a mechanical movement that might be considered politeness, but surely it does not express any part of the salesman’s responsibility in serving his customer. The salesman is courteous, which implies that there is in him a genuine regard and an honest effort to show every respect to which his customer is entitled. Courtesy is the habit of being polite—that means it is a natural expression and not artificial.
The impression made upon the customer at the time he first enters the store or department depends upon the manner in which he is received—whether his host is glad to see him or whether he seems bored by the fact that another visitor has come. When he realizes that 59he is welcome there comes at once a warmth of friendship that removes his natural tendency to restraint. The salesman’s responsibility is to remove every obstacle that stands between the meeting and the final sale. A cold reception will prejudice a customer against the house and the salesman. Therefore, greet him cordially, so that the sale may commence on even ground. This will save both time and selling effort.
H. T. Conner, vice-president of the George E. Keith Stores Company, believes that a natural smile on the face of the salesman as he greets the customer governs the success of the meeting. He says: “The first duty of the salesman is to smile. A great big smile always wins. Be good natured. No matter how grouchy your customer may be you can rest assured that a pleasant word or two will set him right. Look your customer straight in the eye and convince him that you are at his service. Do this and the sale is yours. Never permit the grouch to get the better of your patience, for it means lost time and ten to one you will not be any good to serve the next customer.”
To know the customer’s name and to greet him by name sets aside many of the first obstacles in the way of getting started with the sale. By all means the art of remembering 60names should be cultivated. George Boldt, who until his death a few years ago was proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, built up a fortune of millions on the strength of his great personality. He recognized that men and women feel more at home, and are also mildly flattered, when addressed by name. Mr. Boldt made it his business to remember the names and faces of thousands of his guests, in order that he might greet them cordially as they entered. To remember all these names he followed the plan of repeating each one over and over to himself when first hearing it. He pictured in his mind how the name would look when written and then associated it with the appearance, voice and manner of the individual man or woman. This required some effort, of course, but it is important enough to be seriously considered by everyone who is constantly serving people.
In Chicago there is a woman in the shoe department of a large store who has built up a large following of customers in much the same way. She has gone a step further, however, in that she remembers also their special preferences, when they made the last purchase, and, if there are children in the family whom she has served, she remembers also their names. When we consider that her income is two or three times as great as that of other salespeople in the same department, who will say that it isn’t worth the effort?
The summer resort shop requires a special style, color or material in a shoe in order to satisfy the needs of its customers; the professional man prefers one style above another; the laboring man has his preference; the Westerner has his choice, which is altogether different from what the city man in the East requires, and so on it goes, each man for his own needs and preferences. But not so in the quality of service required by the customer. Human nature is the same from Maine to California, in the ditch digger and in the bank president. The salesman who does not recognize the truth of this fact cannot grow. The successful salesman of the East is also the successful man of the West, the North and the South, but the salesman of narrow vision and small purpose is a failure wherever he goes.
A splendid thing it is, and a mark of genuine service, to recognize a customer, to know his preferences and to take a personal interest in him. But what a different thing it is and how important it is for the salesman to know the difference between this and forced familiarity or attempts at “showing off.” The latter can do nothing but cause the customer to lose his regard and perhaps go elsewhere to be served. 62The man of experience in business recognizes the difference and governs himself accordingly. He continually bears in mind the fact that the customer has come on a business matter and that his sole interest is to be well served with the goods he needs.
Without giving the matter a thought, a salesman, or a group of them, may sometimes take station at the front of the store with their backs toward the door while they engage in conversation. Although this may seem a minor matter it is nevertheless important, for the reason that the effect given is not good on a person entering the store. A person’s back suggests coldness and a spirit of unfriendliness. Make every effort to establish and hold the good graces of the customer—this is necessary. Meet your man face to face. Let him know you are pleased to serve him and he will be just as pleased to give you the business.
Here is the experience of a man as told by him at a recent sales convention. On his way to the office one morning about nine o’clock he dropped in at a nearby store to make a purchase of a pair of shoes. Entering, he noticed three of the salesmen grouped around one of the display 63cases, listening attentively to a member of the party who had full sway of the interest. At the farther end of the store was the only other salesman on the floor, and he was busy with the stock. In relating the experience the man further mentioned that he waited for a minute or two (which seemed to him like five or ten), and finally turned to make his way to the door. Not until then, when he was about to leave, did one of the number break away from the group and call out, “Something I can do for you?” Under the circumstances the answer, of course, was “No,” and the door closed on a perfectly good sale that was missed.
This man was not a grouch by any means. He was a busy business man and thought enough of his time and the day’s work before him to become restless when called upon to waste his minutes when there was no occasion for it. Very likely the story that seemed so important to the salesmen at the time was the recital of some ordinary experience of the night before—whatever it was it was not important enough to warrant losing the man’s business, not only on that sale but ever since. Anyone who thinks about it for a minute will realize that idle talk on unimportant matters, gossip, story-telling and the like, is just plain waste. It wastes the time of the man who talks and of those who listen—and any person around cannot well help listening. There are certain times in most 64stores and departments when trading is quiet and there is no important current work to be done. This can be well used as an opportunity to get acquainted with the trade papers, catalogs and good business books, or to talk over with fellow-workers store problems, experiences, ideas, etc.
Then there is “kidding” with some other of the men or girls while waiting on a customer. This is fatal. As far as retaining the customer’s respect and confidence is concerned the salesman might just as well tell him that he is of no importance—and that is practically what it amounts to.
The following is another form of side chatter to be guarded against. Consider what an impression this would have on you if you were in the customer’s position:
Customer: “Do you have this same style in a vici kid?”
Clerk (turning around): “Hey, Joe—do we have this style in a vici kid?”
Joe: “No.”
Customer: “What is the price of this pair?”
Clerk (turning around and holding shoe in the air): “Joe, what are we getting for these?”
Joe: “Nine-fifty.”
When next the customer comes in to buy, if he does, it is a certainty that he will either choose Joe or someone who seemed to have some reason to be called a salesman. Successful selling is 65based on confidence. Anything that destroys confidence injures the salesman.
Washington Irving, the famous American author, tells of one of the early Dutch settlers in New York who made it his special rule in public always to be silent. At public gatherings he would be present but would say nothing, and when a discussion arose he would smoke his pipe soberly and silently look on. After the question had been decided and all differences of opinion had been set aside the men would turn to the silent friend and find on his face an expression that meant: “Of course, I knew the answer all the time, but was letting you younger boys work it out for yourselves.” In time he came to be considered the wise man of the community.
But this sort of thing does not go in retail selling. The customer must be made to feel comfortable and at home. A man coming into the store said that he would like to look at a shoe, size 7D, the same as the one he pointed out in the window. Turning about, without comment, the salesman made his way to the rear of the store to select the shoe, leaving the customer to look over the row of empty chairs and choose one for himself. Returning the salesman seated himself on the stool and, without comment, removed the customer’s old shoe and finally, without comment, 66placed the new one on the foot, laced it up, and then only then did he break forth into speech with, “There, how’s that?”
Until then the anxious customer silently wondered whether, perhaps, the shoe was one he should not have asked for, whether possibly he had selected a chair he should not have taken, or whether it was just a case of the salesman not liking him. Surely he could not be expected to know whether the salesman was a silent wise man, making an effort to please, or just a silent man not sufficiently interested even to extend the customary courtesies.
A general rule on this point that will never go wrong is to say at least enough so that the customer will understand you are on his side.
Another way of expressing the idea of customer concentration is just this: Give the customer, while you are serving him, one hundred per cent of your attention, interest, thought and knowledge of the business. Any measure less than that means there will be a loss somewhere and the wise salesman will make sure it is not his loss.
One of the retailers with a long chain of successful stores, in speaking of this, brought out the distinction between classes of salespeople in this way:
“Salespersons may be divided into two classes: 67those who simply wait upon the customers and those who sell and produce business. The members of the first class perform their work like machines; they sell goods asked for by customers and their chief thought is to get rid of the customer as quickly as possible, and, perhaps, to get all the money from him they can. They have no suggestions to make and no advice to give. They know little more about the goods than the price.
“The other class of salespersons take an interest in their customers to make them satisfied with the service given. They firmly believe that a sale is not complete unless satisfaction on the part of the customer accompanies it. They firmly believe in the goods they are offering and they communicate this confidence to their customers. They know that a satisfied customer is a walking advertisement for their store.”
The salesman should bear in mind that the customer is not a shoe expert, that the person of average means does not buy a pair more than two or three times a year, and that he actually needs helpful advice and suggestions. By learning, first of all, just what it is the customer has in mind to buy, the salesman, with his knowledge of the stock and of the business, is well able to offer a genuine service. An important point is well brought out above, that a customer, rightly served, is a living advertisement, not alone for the store but also for the man who serves him.
A splendid thing it is, and a needful part of every salesman’s make-up, to have loyalty for his house and a firm conviction in its high standard of business character. On the other hand, in his relations with the customer he should always remember that there is in the customer’s mind just one question and that is, “In what way will this thing be of benefit to me?” He is interested in the honesty of the house and the guarantee behind its word, he is interested in the salesman who serves him, he is interested in the style of the shoe, in its fit and wearing qualities only in so far as they are to be of special benefit to himself. It is for the salesman to appreciate and to take advantage of this fact in his treatment of the customer.
This same idea has been expressed in another way, as follows: “The man who is to be a success in selling must learn to ‘put the buyer in the picture.’” This is just another way of saying that the salesman, in his effort to serve, must convince the customer, at every turn, of the special advantages the goods hold for him. If the customer is a stout woman she is not interested to know that the shoe would look exceptionally well on a tall slender person, nor does she care especially that there are some very nice shoes in stock at twice the price she has to spend. From start to finish talk shoes for stout women 69of her height and around the price she has to spend, bearing in mind, of course, that she may be able to increase her idea of price.
In selling women’s suits and dresses, and men’s suits, too, there is a little trick of the trade to get the goods on the back of the prospective customer as soon as possible. The salesperson might show the customer a fine picture of a slim young miss wearing a similar pattern of dress as the one in which the woman expressed an interest, or the man might be shown the picture of a college boy wearing the same model as the one he inquired about, but the experienced salesperson knows better than to waste time that way. The moment he finds a suit in which the man, for instance, has shown an interest, he asks him to slip on the coat “just for the size,” and then leads him over to the mirror. What he has done, you will notice, is to place the customer in the picture, which is just exactly what appeals to every buyer.
Follow this cue from the experience of the clothing salesman. Plan the whole effort to please the customer from the moment he enters the store until you bid him “Good-by,” by showing him himself as the central figure in the picture.
Someone has told an exaggerated yarn of a young sales clerk who had been given as a word 70of advice by a well-meaning salesman of more experience the suggestion that he should show a special interest in each customer, because upon that would depend his success. The first customer to approach the clerk was an old lady heavily weighted with the worries she had accumulated and nursed for almost sixty years. Being comfortably seated in one of the chairs her mind began its usual pastime of freshening up the worries of the past, and the old lady became talkative. Determined that he would be a success as a salesman, according to what little he had been told of it, the clerk showed every indication of interest and sympathy—even grief as the sad story proceeded.
The old lady, encouraged and comforted because she had found such a good listener, continued on and on and on, and as she continued her recital became more expressive and her grief more bitter. At any rate the two of them enjoyed the sorrow together, and after the lady had been partly revived with a glass of water and a large fan she was then able with assistance to reach the door and make her way homeward. She had lost all thought of the sale and had wasted an hour of her own time and the clerk’s.
The trouble here was that in his effort to follow instructions the clerk had allowed himself to lose sight of the fact that he was selling shoes and not sympathy. Certain types of good customers 71there are who like to talk. The experienced salesman learns the knack of listening without encouraging a long yarn that will take his time and prevent him from serving the next waiting customer.
As with the customer so with the salesman there is sometimes a tendency to drift to things that have no relation to the sale he is trying to make. Remember that the sale is a courteous business transaction and not a social visit. Stick to the sale and make it pleasant business from start to finish.
“You wouldn’t want a nice pair of canvas shoes, would you?” ventured the clerk. And the answer suggested to the customer was, “No, thank you.”
The salesman is not interested in knowing what the customer may not want and it certainly is not part of his job to suggest “No” to the customer. Consider the effect on the customer’s mind of the same idea expressed in positive terms rather than negative. “We have just received some new styles of pretty canvas shoes that I know you will be glad to see,” and then the salesman is on his way to produce a pair. When put in some such positive form there is less than one chance in ten that the customer will not remain and be well pleased to look 72at the shoes. Then a new sale begins from that point on.
“You did not ask for tan shoes; you asked for black,” says the inexperienced salesman. Although what he says is absolutely true, it is bound to set up in the mind of the customer a feeling of antagonism which will have to be overcome later before the clerk can number this man among his friendly customers. Anything that suggests a negative thought in the customer’s mind must be faithfully avoided. It is bound to kill confidence and enthusiasm.
“Don’t you like that style? Why not?” The reaction on the customer’s mind as a result of that question will probably be that he did not come in to explain his preference in style but to buy himself a pair of shoes. Take advantage of the point he has made, that he does not care for the style. It is evident that you have misjudged his taste. Make a positive suggestion out of it by letting him understand that you are interested to know first how the shoe is for fit and that you have a different style that you believe will meet his ideas on appearance and quality.
To ask a customer “What size do you wear?” might give him the impression that the salesman does not know his business. If he is the kind of man who keeps those things in his head, he will probably mention the size by the time the shoe is removed from the foot. If he does not, 73the experienced salesman will carefully use his measuring stick and then confidently start off for the stock. There are, in fact, some stores that have established a special rule among the salesmen that the old shoe is not to be referred to for size, but that the measuring stick is to be used at once. To repeat for emphasis: Most men do not buy shoes often enough to remember all the details of size, style, materials and the like. They are not experts but come to the salesman to receive expert service.
Following the thought of suggesting only positive ideas is the important point to avoid argument with the customer. Argument is negative, and does not serve to get the customer in a buying frame of mind. He may make some statement that is absolutely without foundation concerning quality, make or price. Whatever it may be the salesman can do nothing better to strengthen himself and the reputation of his goods than to give the customer the true facts in the form of confident suggestions rather than sledge-hammer blows of argument. For example:
“There is no occasion for these present high prices of shoes. The manufacturers and the dealers are simply taking advantage of conditions to make big profits,” says the customer.
74“Yes, the prices certainly are higher than those we have been accustomed to lately,” says the salesman, agreeing but preparing the customer to accept the facts, “but when we consider that the price of hides and skins has advanced anywhere from two hundred to five hundred per cent, due to scarcity, and that labor costs are close on to seventy-five per cent higher than they were a short time ago”—and the salesman need not go further in most cases. He has “let the customer down easy” and at the same time given him the facts. The result is a better understanding of the true conditions and a higher regard for the salesman’s ability. It distresses any man to have himself brought face to face with the fact that his statement is without foundation. The salesman should plan, as in this instance, to offer his facts so skillfully that the customer will not recognize that he is being convinced of his error.
Concerning the goods of competitors, the salesman in most instances will find it best, by all means, to make no effort to go into the relative merits of quality, style, fit, business policy or any other such questions. He is not in business to advertise his competitors, and therefore the more he leaves them in the background of the picture the greater will be his success in selling his own line. This point is treated more fully in the chapter on “Showing the Goods.”
During the war period everyone learned to accept gladly war-time portions, of food especially, and also to a great extent, war-time portions of service. That term “war-time” meant to us just a little bit less or just a little lower quality than what we had been accustomed to and what we needed in order to be perfectly content.
Although a salesman may be busy and have several customers waiting to be served, there is no need for him to render war-time service. A few words of explanation to the customer the moment he or she enters the store will bridge over the delay caused by the salesman’s inability to give instant service.
Courtesy and consideration of the customer’s needs does not, as a rule, require more time than slip-shod service and the delay caused by it. As already mentioned, the general run of men and women come to the store on a matter of business and they do not have any special desire to remain any longer than necessary to get well served in their requirements.
A full measure of service, then, is the just dessert of every customer. It pays dividends for the store and increases the salesman’s salary.
When in 1917 the annual convention of the National Shoe Retailers Association was held in Chicago an incident occurred which, although small in itself, emphasized one of the very important principles of selling. Owing to some confusion in the cloak room of the auditorium in which the convention was being held, two of the members of the association, both retail dealers, were unable to secure their hats and were thus under the necessity of making an immediate purchase. They entered one of the nearby stores, naturally somewhat embarrassed at being without hats, mentioned the conditions briefly to the clerk and asked to be fitted. It should be borne in mind, of course, that these two gentlemen, although experienced shoe dealers, did not know any more about the subject of hats than the average customer knows about the subject of shoes.
The sales clerk, without showing any interest or consideration at the embarrassment of his customers, responded with the question, “What kind of a hat do you want?” After a minute’s 77thought they both decided that it had better be a soft felt hat. This was followed with the second question, “What size do you wear?” Neither of the unfortunate customers could recall the size of the hat he had been wearing and was unable to fall back upon the usual custom of referring to the size mark in the old hat. This meant another slight annoyance and delay in trying on several hats before the clerk was able to learn the sizes. After hunting the stock awhile, the clerk at last produced one or two styles of narrow brimmed felt hats which proved entirely unsuited to the customers, who were both rather tall and heavy. Evidently here was a man who did not know his job. Finally taking the matter into their own hands, the two men decided they would content themselves with caps until they could find a salesman who could give them help in deciding what they should wear.
The purchase was made and the price paid, but it is evident that the clerk could not be considered to have sold his customers. From start to finish these men were buying, and the clerk proved to be more of a hindrance than a help.
In retail shoe selling it would be rare indeed to find in one sale so many features of poor salesmanship, but it is clear, of course, that the presence of any one of them would operate to reduce the customer’s confidence and satisfaction. 78From the shoe salesman’s own experience he would have realized at once the desirability of greeting the customers cheerfully and of showing an interest in an unusual experience that brought the men in from the street bareheaded. He would not have asked a blunt question concerning the kind of hat desired but would, at a moment’s glance, have recognized his customers as business men, would have taken notice of the quality and color of their suits, and then would have made some such positive suggestion as, “I have here a nice felt hat that will look well on you.” He would have known immediately that a large man would require a hat with either a medium or wide brim. And although he had not been told the hat size he would have known enough about his business to know that men of this size would not wear less than a size seven. He would have brought that size, or perhaps one larger, and would have handed it to the customer with the remark, “I believe this will serve you for size.”
All these things would have been genuine selling effort. In the case mentioned the men were well able to buy the best hat in the house, and two hats at eight or ten dollars apiece would have been more easily sold than the caps at two-fifty were bought. Between the two there is as much difference as there is between day and night. One is bright, cheerful, intelligent; the other nothing more than a vague, half-hearted burlesque of selling.
For the purpose of analyzing a sale and in order to show just what are the points to be considered, the selling process may be represented by four steps leading upward to the final sale, as follows:
The theory of selling is based on the idea that before it is possible to proceed with any attempt to sell it is necessary first to get the prospective customer to transfer his attention from other things and to apply it to the article to be sold. While walking along the street our main attention and interest may be on those things immediately around us. If suddenly we hear the hum of a motor from above we at once think of flying and our attention is transferred to the aeroplane passing overhead. The means of attracting our attention was the hum of the motor or perhaps the action of the people around us.
In retail selling the matter of attracting attention is to some extent, but not all by any means, taken care of by newspaper advertising, window and store displays, the customer’s acquaintance 80with the store, and the like. It is for the salesman, however, if he is to sell rather than simply to take orders, to guide the customer’s attention and build a genuine interest in the goods; to sell so that the customer will listen and respond to his selling talk, examine the goods and agree perhaps to try them on. These things show interest.
However, interest alone does not sell. We may be interested to examine a German fighting tank brought over for exhibition, but that in itself does not create in us any desire to own one. The effort of the young man to sell the electric carpet sweeper, already mentioned, caused interest on the part of the housewives, but the action stopped there. He was at first unable to create desire and as a result there was no sale.
It is for the salesman to so plan his effort that the customer will get from it a desire to own the goods. Assume, for example, that the customer has bought one pair of shoes and that you have been able to get his interest in a pair of patent leather pumps which he is now examining. Up to this point it may be he is examining them only because they are a fine piece of workmanship, as he might examine an exhibit in the art museum. However, that in itself does not make sales or profits. It is for the salesman now to create a desire in the customer to add that pair of pumps to his wardrobe.
81The final stage of the sale is that of stimulating the buying action in the customer; to assist him to the decision that he needs the goods and that his desire to have them is greater than his desire to retain the money. In the present chapter we are to consider the matter of attracting the customer’s attention and of building his interest in the goods. Later the important points of creating desire and of stimulating action will be taken up.
The electric power to illuminate the store or home is controlled by switches which serve to bring together or to separate the points of contact. When the switch is thrown on the effect is one of bringing together of the points of contact. As a result there is action; the circuit is completed and light is produced. The first stages of the sale may be likened to the action of the electric switch. If attention and interest in the goods are properly guided by the salesman they will without exception lead up to the action of buying on the part of the customer.
A great point of importance is that of listening attentively to the customer’s first remarks. Upon this may often depend the whole success of the effort. If a woman calls for something new that is at once a means of establishing a point of contact on the basis of style. Talk style and show the latest patterns and at once 82you have fixed her attention and interest. If, in a certain shoe offered she should compliment the heel but not quite approve of the color, you have here a suggestion for further effort. Concentrate on the heel and any other features that may have appealed to her and use this as the means of establishing the contact. Concentrate on the strong points; speak of the specially designed arch and of the beauty it gives the general appearance of the whole shoe. This certainly does not mean to overstate any facts but it does mean to make use of those intimations of preference that the customer expresses to focus interest and to advance the sale.
If a customer mentions the quality of strength in calling for a shoe, it is safe to assume that wearing quality rather than style is the special feature that will appeal to him. His appearance will usually indicate the quality of shoe desired. Work with him on the matter of quality, select the stock with that in mind principally and style only as a second consideration.
Most parents in buying children’s shoes have foremost in mind the important matter of getting a shoe that will allow freedom of movement and natural growth of the feet. Perhaps in the first sentence spoken some intimation of this will be made. Take advantage of it and use it. Remember that it is the element of comfort the customer wants and that the sale will progress with greater satisfaction all around according 83to the salesman’s ability to understand what is wanted, and to deliver it.
The customer’s interest in the goods and also his desire of ownership is influenced more than many salesmen realize by the way in which the goods are handled. A young clerk with more spirit than experience, in bringing a pair of satin slippers to the chair where his customer was seated, allowed them to swing arm’s length at his side as he approached her. This she noticed, and an impression of slip-shod handling was suggested. Although the slippers were fresh stock, taken from the box just a moment before, the customer insisted that they had the appearance of being handled and requested another pair. In her mind, ruffled appearance was associated with the manner in which she had seen the shoe handled by the clerk. The expert diamond salesman handles a stone with all the tenderness and care of a mother with her child; not because the diamond means more to that salesman than the shoe does to the shoe salesman, but because he understands human nature enough to realize that only in so far as he shows an interest in the stone can he hope to have the customer do so. If he slid the stone across the counter the sale would suffer. If he should drop it in taking it out of the case the sale would likely be lost.
84The point to bear in mind in this connection is that the salesman is asking the customer to make the goods his own. A dainty silk or satin slipper should be handled daintily by the salesman; with just as much care as the owner would give it upon using it the first time. On the other hand, a strong, heavy outing shoe might be slapped firmly upon the palm of the salesman’s hand. The heavy sound in this instance might be expected to give the impression of strength and lasting qualities. All of these things, although small in themselves, play an important part in bringing up the customer’s attention and interest to the point of desire.
“Something for you, mister?” as a part of the selling talk, is many times worse than absolute silence. It is bad because it is as ancient, tattered and torn as the “little old red shawl” itself. It stamps the salesman as being without any originality and it is likely also to bore the customer. Take it for granted that he wants something or else he would not be in the store. Jump right into business and at the same time get the customer on your side. Anything original such as, “May I serve you?” or some variation, is good. Perhaps as good as anything else is a smile and a cheerful “Good morning” or “Good afternoon.” The expressions “Lady,” 85and “Mister,” have been tabooed for generations; they might serve all right for a peanut stand but not in a high-class shoe store or department. “Madam” and “Sir” are dignified and are greatly to be preferred.
The customer is always glad to see a sign of intelligent interest concerning himself. If the salesman notices that the shoe just removed has been bought from his house or if he recognizes the customer, it is always good to ask with courtesy whether the shoe removed has given satisfactory service. In most instances it is safe, of course, to assume that the shoe has, or else the customer would not have returned. On the other hand, there is the possibility of some dissatisfaction, and in that case it is well to know the facts.
Among inexperienced salesmen there is the danger of laying too much emphasis in the selling talk upon the price—in other words, making it a matter of selling prices rather than merchandise and service. The customer has come to buy shoes; price is an important consideration with him in all probability, but it is quality, style and fit that will determine his satisfaction. If the salesman will devote himself especially to these things, if he can assure his customer that the goods are what he wants and that they will give him service, the matter of price will, in most instances, be secondary. The slogan of a New York retail house is that “The quality will be 86remembered long after the price is forgotten.” There is a great deal expressed in this from the standpoint of good merchandising. The salesman can do no better than to make his appeal on the same basis.
Limit the number of questions directed to the customer. As mentioned before, the customer may resent questions because of a feeling that he came to be served rather than to be subjected to questioning. The sale will proceed more smoothly if the salesman takes for granted that certain minor points are satisfactory unless the customer makes some mention of them to the contrary. If nothing is said concerning color, style of heel, quality or kind of leather, it is a great deal better to assume the customer’s satisfaction. To bring them up specifically with a direct question means that an entirely new train of thought is started in the customer’s mind, that he is required to make another decision and that he will be hindered by confusion of thoughts in coming to his main decision to buy.
Repetition of some point of special importance that may have slipped the customer’s mind is an effective means to stimulate a decision. Great care should be used in doing this because repetition of any point of small importance will produce the effect of annoyance. If used at all, let it be only on some point of importance on which the customer has shown interest or concern.
The operation of the human mind in getting started on a train of thought has been compared with that of a trolley car or automobile in getting started from the condition of rest. It is not possible to apply the full power at once and to get an immediate operation of the car at full speed ahead. The power when increased gradually builds up the speed, and the forward motion goes on so naturally that it becomes almost unnoticeable. It is said that the human mind operates much the same when given an idea in the form of a suggestion. To the shoe salesman this means that there must be only a limited number of suggestions presented and that these should be offered one after another only as the mind has time to get started and under motion on the one preceding.
To make this more concrete, it may be assumed that the salesman has offered his customer a certain style of shoe, that he has told the chief points concerning it, and that the customer has made no reply. Should the salesman at once produce another shoe and begin his talk concerning it, the customer would become confused and be further away from a decision than he was with only one pair to consider. Only after it is clear that the first shoe is not the one wanted, or at the customer’s special request, should others be offered. Give the 88customer’s mind a chance to get accustomed to the suggestions already offered.
All suggestions made should be of a positive nature. Their purpose is to assist the customer to a decision. The following illustration is given to show the effect of a negative suggestion:
The attention of a physician was attracted the other day by a shoe he noticed in the window of one of the city stores. Going in, he said to the clerk: “I’d like to see some of the styles you are showing in the line of Oxfords for summer. I don’t want to try on a pair just now, but I would like to have you show me three or four styles.”
“Well,” said the clerk, “we haven’t very many Oxfords in stock just yet. Most of the styles that we will carry this summer are shown in the window. You can go out and look at them.”
The customer did go out—and didn’t come back.
The suggestion of being too anxious to make a sale causes the customer to be skeptical. He will either question the quality of the goods being shown or the ability of the salesman to give him dependable service. The salesman’s effort, to be more effective, should be so natural that it does not occur to the customer that he is being led to a decision. The interpretation 89that a great actor gives to a part he is playing is so natural that his audience loses sight of the fact that there is effort, and actually moves along in the part with the actor.
Nervous hurrying as shown by quick, excited movements causes uneasiness to the customer. There is the danger of having this shown when there are several customers waiting to be served. However, the effect produced by excited hurrying is that of confusion in the customer’s mind. His decision is reached less easily under such circumstances. The salesman is thus unable to accomplish as much as he would under an even, steady pace. The brisk, snappy movement of enthusiasm is not to be confused with that of excitement. The former is a thing to cultivate. It represents the spirit of the times. It wins the customer’s respect and saves his time as well as that of the salesman.
H. B. Scates, shoe buyer and division manager for William Filene’s Sons Company, Boston, mentions an incident that brings out clearly the basis of service and the relationship that should exist in the mind of the salesman in his selling effort. Mr. Scates, in a series of talks, had been speaking to some of the salespeople on the advisability of studying and understanding the customer so as to establish a better working basis of service. After one of these talks had been 90completed one of the young ladies spoke to Mr. Scates, explaining that there were a number of things she did not understand and asked if he could explain them in direct relation to her everyday work. This gave him the cue as to where he had been wrong and he sat down with this girl and had the following conversation with her:
“Your married sister buys her children’s shoes from you, doesn’t she?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“How do you go about to sell her?”
“Well, of course, I know about what kind of shoes she wants, how much she can afford to spend, and after I find out just what she wants the shoes for, dress or everyday wear, I show her the kinds we have that she ought to buy.”
“What do you mean by the kind she ought to buy,” he then asked.
“Well, you know we have some kinds of dress shoes that are perishable and really not economical, and we have some everyday shoes that will wear longer than others, and I always tell her about these things and advise her how to get the most for her money.”
“Now,” he said, “you have told me how to be a good salesperson, instead of having me tell you. And I will 91carry the idea a little further for you. In case of your sister, you tell the truth about the merchandise, you show a genuine interest, you take real pleasure in handling and fitting the youngster because she is your little niece, and you have given them 100 per cent of real service and the benefit of all you know about shoes and our particular stock.
“Treat every customer with the same interest as you would your own intimate friends, and you can’t lose.”
There is a big thought expressed in what Mr. Scates has said. The matter of studying the customer is not a cold, calculating process but one of human friendliness. The effort to please that a person makes in serving an intimate friend is not forced and unnatural, but a genuine, whole-hearted desire to be of assistance. To that extent each customer should be considered by the salesman as an intimate friend and should be served accordingly.
In selling to a steady customer there is a special advantage in that the salesman knows the man he is serving, his preferences and also something of his price limitations. With the new customer a very good indication is in the person’s appearance, although there are exceptions to this rule, as will be pointed out. The man or woman who is simply and neatly dressed 92will probably not be interested in the extremes of style. A fair indication may be had also from the quality of the clothes and especially the quality of the shoe that is being worn. It is safe in many instances to show something of slightly better quality on the assumption that the customer is not wearing the best he has, or perhaps, that he is more prosperous now than he was when he made the last purchase. At any rate, it is better to come down on the quality of shoe offered than to have the customer request that he be shown something better.
A customer, man or woman, dressed in the extreme of style will almost invariably expect to be served with footwear of the same general nature. Such a person will require a change of style from that last purchased or from the one he or she is wearing. Any attempt to fix a general rule on this point would be difficult, except to suggest offering the extreme styles with some variation of appearance as compared with the shoe being worn.
The practice of playing favorites by giving one customer more considerate service than another is unnatural. It is unfair and furthermore is not good business. Any short-measure of service is bound to be noticed and as a result the business is lost to the salesman and probably 93lost also to the house. Nothing can be said to illustrate with more force the advisability of serving all customers honestly and without discrimination than an experience of a few months ago as told by the retailer who was successful in securing the business that had gone a-begging. Such cases are bound to occur continually unless there is a fixed standard of service.
A certain customer entered one of the city stores, having just arrived from a camp where he had been spending the summer. Dressed as he was at the time, his appearance was that of a laborer, and evidently, on that account, he was treated indifferently by the salesman. Being dissatisfied the man left without having made a purchase and then entered another store where he was treated with all the respect and consideration due him. Before leaving, he had purchased shoes to the value of seventy dollars, paid cash for them and then presented his card with the request that the shoes be delivered. Not until then was it learned that he was one of the most influential men in that section of the country.
The secret of success in serving people is to treat them all alike, but to make each one feel the distinction of individual attention.
There are times when it is impossible to avoid interruptions while a customer is being served. A polite apology is the least that can be given, but this does not overcome the handicap that has been caused, and also the feeling that only part service and divided attention is being given.
Bear in mind that to the customer the salesman represents the store, and that if the service given is not what it should be the natural tendency is for the customer to go elsewhere. Quality alone will not sell goods. Someone has expressed the fact in this way: “An expert selling force could, if necessary, sell inferior merchandise, but a sales force without the spirit of true service would bring on failure regardless of a high standard of merchandise.”
Interruptions are often due to the fact that the salesman’s work is not properly organized. He may have passed along the preceding order without the proper instructions, or he may set it aside with the intention of completing it later, and as a result may be holding up the work of someone else. In consequence it becomes necessary, perhaps, that he be interrupted when serving the next customer and thus his effectiveness as a first-class salesman is reduced. The remedy is to organize the sale from the time the customer is approached until the charge is 95entered and the goods are passed along for delivery. Get the whole transaction completed and out of the way so that the next customer may have undivided attention.
Just as there are no two people exactly alike in physical appearance, just as there are no two sunsets, trees or no two blades of grass exactly alike, there are no two people of like personality and mental development. Variety is a law of nature. One of the greatest wonders of all creation is that such a range of variety is possible year after year and century after century, without duplication. Glancing at a field of daisies or a bouquet of violets the first impression might be that they are all alike, but we find, of course, that each one is different in the length of its stem, the size of its petals and color shadings. As the saying goes, “Variety is the spice of life.” It is variety that prevents life from becoming monotonous, by presenting things of everyday life in changed forms and relationships. Among people the variety of nature and disposition is the one thing that sets the art of salesmanship apart from monotonous, machine-like operations and establishes it as an occupation calling for brains and skill.
Someone may say, “How I wish all customers 97were like Mrs. Brown or Mrs. Smith, who always know what they want, who buy without any fuss and are out of the store again in less time than another customer takes to decide on the color or style!” That sounds as though it might be an ideal condition except for the fact that it would put selling on a plane of service with that offered by the slot machine. The salesman would become a mere human shoe-handling machine. The sale to Mrs. Brown is a pleasure to the salesman simply because it is one of a variety; all of which have been different in some respects and most of them calling for a higher degree of personal salesmanship. There are some manufacturing companies today that have built up such a steady demand for their goods that the salesman supplying the retailer is often required simply to look over the dealer’s shelves to see what is needed to make up the complete stock, make out his order for the required goods and have it signed by the retailer. Fine business for the wholesaler and the dealer! But the salesman runs the risk of becoming a mere stock-keeper; and his pay is regulated accordingly.
An understanding of human nature is of especial importance to people who sell. Every shoe salesman has recognized the fact that there is among customers a variety of personality or 98dispositions. One person is continually in a hurry; another person, although he may have just as much to do, is never rushed. One person is happy as a matter of habit; another will appear to be weighted with the cares of the world—and so it goes, each one contributing to build up variety in human nature.
The study of human nature is known also as character reading and as psychology. The purpose of this study is to bring about a clearer understanding of the laws governing the operation of the human mind. There is a relationship between a person’s disposition and his physical appearance as shown by the features of his face, the shape of his head and such like. The science of analyzing these signs is known as character reading or character analysis. People who make a special study of these things are sometimes able to show remarkable results in reading and understanding people at first sight. Everybody acquires the habit, more or less, of “sizing-up” a person who is met for the first time. To the salesman the ability to do this is a special advantage in that it enables him at once to understand a customer and to govern his effort to sell accordingly.
Without knowing anything about the details of character reading as they relate to a study of the proportions and relationship of a person’s nose, chin, mouth, and so forth, most of us learn to understand people simply through the impression 99they make upon us as we meet them. A person’s general manner of approach, the expression and tone of voice, come to mean a great deal to us in an effort to understand those with whom we come in contact. A broad suggestion on this point is that the salesman should confine at least his first effort at reading human nature to that of taking a genuine interest in each customer. He should base his effort to serve upon personal impressions rather than upon any attempt at analyzing the customer according to a series of rules. Only after having made a special study of psychology or character reading would he be in a position to get results from these sources. Without belittling any of these things it is safe to say that a goodly share of success in all retail selling is based upon the policy of considering each customer, first of all as a fellow human being, and of backing this up with a genuine effort to serve him well.
Everyone has had the experience at some time or other of listening to amateur musicians who attempted to produce in harmony without first having tuned-up to the proper key. Although their efforts and interest may have been every bit as sincere, although the motions may have been the same and notes of music the same as those played by an artist, the effect produced could be nothing but discord, and the more 100persistent the effort to continue the more displeasing would be the result. The position of the salesman in relation to the customer is precisely the same. Unless he is, at the outset, able to understand something of the nature of the customer and the manner in which each one should be treated, there will surely result a lack of harmony that will end in killing the sale.
The salesman is called upon for the use of tact, which means an understanding of what is proper to be done under varying conditions as they arise under different circumstances. The clerk who asked his customer to go outside and look over the styles in the window, and to return after he made a selection, stamped himself at once as being a man without tact. He had not properly tuned-up to his customer and therefore the remark, although it seemed perfectly proper to the clerk, could only produce discord on the mind of the customer.
The salesman’s proper attitude of mind should be that of working along with the customer. He should train himself, as he proceeds with the sale, actually to feel the contact of his own foot in the new shoe as it slips on the customer’s foot. He should experience the satisfaction of the purchaser, who mentally notes that he has just spent, perhaps a considerable part of a week’s pay, in a good cause and with no regrets. He cannot serve the customer and hope steadily to get satisfactory results unless he can transplant 101himself into the customer’s frame of mind. He should be able to consider himself sitting in the chair, he should look at the shapes and colors submitted, through the eyes of the customer, and he should feel the shoe on his own foot as he adjusts it to the customer’s. Pure imagination, of course, but how else can he successfully work along in the sale with his customer—how else can he hope to work in harmony?
Most customers have a mind of their own and can make a decision when they feel assured that they have the shoe best suited to their requirements. It is recognized by merchants that the customer is more dependent upon the ability of the shoe salesman to supply the goods needed than he is upon any other salesman from whom he makes purchases. The shoe salesman who really lives up to his responsibility is a consulting expert to whom the customer comes for suggestion and advice, in the same way that the doctor is an expert to whom the patient comes for help.
The salesman’s responsibility therefore is to think with and not wholly for the customer.
Already the fact has been mentioned that there is great variety in human nature. Although each nature or disposition is slightly different in some respect from every other disposition, 102as one blade of grass is different from another, still it is reasonably possible to make some broad classifications for the purpose of considering their points of difference.
The first great distinction among people is that between young and old. “Men are simply boys grown up,” we say. But the experienced salesman knows that what will be satisfactory in the nature of service for the young boy will not do for the “old boy.”
Most youngsters, especially boys, do not like to be sent to the grocery store on small errands to get supplies of food for the dinner table. On the other hand, there is generally a change of attitude when the boy learns that the errand is to a grocer’s where he knows some good-natured soul will take the trouble and special interest to hand out, perhaps a cracker to make him happy on the way home. To use a homely illustration: A butcher in New York city built up a following among all the children in the neighborhood because he showed a fatherly interest, and at the same time handed out pieces of bologna to the youngsters, whenever they came in to buy. He may have handed out a pound or two in the course of a day; but some of the young boys have since become old boys and are still trading at the old stand.
Success in serving children, whether it be food or shoes, is in showing a genuine interest in them and in pleasing them. The salesman need 103not take time off to explain the operations of the store or department, but he will find his time not lost in spending a moment to inquire kindly on some minor point concerning the child and perhaps to learn its name. The child is pleased, and except in most unusual cases the mother is too.
With children the matter of proper fit should be foremost. In addition to the fact that the foot is continually growing, it is soft and easily moulded. An incorrect fit under these conditions should be carefully guarded against. The matters of wearing quality, price and style should be of secondary importance to fitting properly. If the parent seems to be unaware of the full importance of correct fitting the salesman can generally win a good customer by taking the necessary time to explain.
Something has already been said concerning the salesman’s attitude toward the talkative customer. It is safe to assume that nothing definite in the nature of a sale will result by encouraging such people to talk. Knowing practically nothing about shoes, the natural result is that if they are encouraged to go on the conversation must drift from the subject of shoes. This means that the sale is then less of a reality than it was when the customer first sat down in the chair.
104A one-sided “conversation” cannot long continue. The salesman should take part in it only as long as it has some bearing on his special mission—that of selling shoes. As it continues beyond that point he should offer no further encouragement to go on, but should wait with consideration until there is a pause, and then continue from where he left off with the selling talk.
Oftentimes there will be suggestions made in the course of the conversation that may later be used in an effort to encourage further purchases. For example, some reference may be made to the purchase of an evening gown. At the proper time this will open up an opportunity to suggest a pair of silk slippers or a satin pump. However, it is well to complete the first sale before offering suggestions concerning additional purchases.
Certain people there are of very practical nature who have in mind a definite notion of the goods they want and who do not take kindly to open suggestions on the part of the salesman. They will be recognized by their firm, business-like walk, decisive movements and steady, well-controlled voice. Such a person will be reached best by direct and frank statements of facts. If the salesman speaks with an air of authority this customer will invariably listen and be influenced 105in his decision accordingly, although he may not be willing to admit it.
The practical person will quickly express the feeling if unsatisfied with a shoe and may resent any direct effort to influence his judgment. Under the circumstances it will generally be found best to show another style at once. The practical person is not by any means always right in his decision, but the effort to correct an error of judgment, if there should be one, must be made indirectly, in order that the customer may come to a conclusion through his own reasoning on the basis of facts given him.
With this type of customer it is unnecessary to mention or call attention to points that may be observed by a careful examination. The practical person, as a rule, will notice them. However, some important point about the quality or kind of leather, the lining or outer sole, will be well received. Elaborate styles will generally not be acceptable. Quality and fit on the basis of price will be the deciding factors.
The fact has already been mentioned that the silent salesman causes the customer to be ill at ease. More so, perhaps, is the silent customer difficult to handle and the cause of embarrassment to the inexperienced salesman. The natural thing among people is for them to talk enough so that their thoughts on a subject may 106be known. Perhaps the best plan in serving customers who will not express an opinion is to take it for granted that they agree with everything being told them and finally to assume that they are satisfied and ready to make the purchase. To close the sale some definite suggestion, such as, “In wearing these you will find the cushion pad of special comfort,” followed by the motion of preparing to write the ticket, will either close the sale or else cause the customer to express definitely any opinions or preferences he may have.
F. W. Small, shoe buyer and department manager for the Gilchrist Company, Boston, has this to say concerning the customer who is unreasonable in his demands for attention and service: “The grouchy, irritable customer is best served by the salesman who assumes a jovial, apparently unperturbed, light-hearted manner. However, he should always be attentive and courteous, for oftentimes these people are not as bad as they seem. Difficult circumstances, such as ill health and the like, have probably been responsible for their unfortunate manner rather than any wish or desire of their own. If the salesman loses his control and becomes indifferent or uncivil such customers become offended as much or even more so than the average person. On the other hand, if the salesman appears 107pleased and happy while serving them, although they may not show it at the time, it is invariably a fact that they are encouraged and benefited by having come in contact with an opposite disposition, which they must surely admire. Such a salesman will be singled out by them for all later business, because of a feeling they have that he understands them and their needs better than anyone else.”
It is not an easy matter by any means to accept with a smile continually unpleasant people, but it is good-paying business for the salesman. He can best understand them perhaps by considering them as mental invalids in need of some extra measure of consideration and service. As Mr. Small points out, they are not as bad as they may seem, and will remember every effort to please sometimes longer than will the cheerful customer.
It is hardly necessary to say anything concerning the salesman’s responsibility in serving elderly people and invalids. Almost as if by instinct a man or woman realizes that such people are entitled to an added measure of kindness and respect. It is only necessary to remember that whatever may be the peculiarities of disposition, these things have almost without exception been brought about by circumstances and conditions that the individual could not control. 108Nothing less than the standard by which the salesman would serve his own mother or father should be the measure of his effort to please and serve well.
There are times, of course, when it may seem that an elderly person should be able to think more quickly or to make a decision with less fuss. Perhaps two or three other sales might have been made in less time and with less effort, but who would think of measuring service with a yardstick under these circumstances.
Absent-minded people are often met with by the salesman, and might be considered as an annoyance unless they are properly understood. Almost everybody who ever tried to write a joke has taken the absent-minded college professor as a subject at some time or other. The yarn of the old professor who, coming in out of the rain, put his umbrella to bed and stood in the bath tub, proved him to be absent-minded—but he was no fool. While the rest of the world very systematically put their umbrellas where they properly belonged and went comfortably to bed, he was probably thinking five years ahead of the rank and file. This is not an argument in favor of increasing the number of absent-minded people. They are not all college professors and they may not all be deep thinkers, but 109they do deserve to be treated with every possible consideration on the part of the salesman.
In some stores, where the business is large enough to warrant it, the management has found it to be good business to have salesmen of special ability to serve elderly customers and invalids. This requires a fine degree of salesmanship on the part of the man who is able to tune himself up to such customers and to understand how they should be best served. It is an art worth while cultivating.
Certain customers there are who are required at times to make purchases in a hurry. When a man has ten minutes to use in buying a pair of shoes, and is on his way to catch the limited train from New York to Chicago that leaves twenty minutes later, he is in a hurry. It is safe to say, too, that he needs the shoes pretty badly. There is nothing the salesman can do under these conditions that will please the customer so much as to cut through all the red tape, get right down to business and get the customer started on his way again before the ten minutes are up. Excitement would not do it. This would result in the salesman being unable to think clearly and it would mean also that the customer in excitement would probably take whatever was offered—and repent later. Someone has said that what the salesman needs under these conditions is to be “cool-headed and hot-footed.”
However, when a customer, especially a man, it not actually in a hurry it is promptness and dispatch that he wants rather than “pushing.” 111The distinction between these was clearly brought out in a recent article:
All men like promptness and dispatch, but few of them want to be hurried. It is important to keep in mind the difference between hurrying the customer and waiting on him with speed.
Quick, nervous movements or speech on the salesman’s part do not indicate quick service; they only confuse or annoy the customer. The salesman who puts the least extra motions in his work, the fewest words and the keenest attention, is the one who will serve quickly and best.
Help the man to make his choice without seeming to be patronizing; try to anticipate his course of thought without interrupting him. When he steps up in front of you act able to hurry, but do not suggest hurrying. This is the safe way because, while men do not like to waste time, few of them, except on special occasions like catching a train or keeping an appointment, are in such a hurry that they want to be shot through the selling process as though they were getting into a lifeboat.
Reflect confidence in your ability to save the customer’s time rather than 112the ability to speed him out of the department.
There are a few women who take keen enjoyment in a form of indoor amusement known as “shopping.” This may be nothing more than a desire to use what would otherwise be a dull morning by attending a variety show of merchandise. Such a woman may pass from one department of a store to another trying on pretty clothes in each one, and with no thought to buy.
After some experience on the floor the salesman soon learns to distinguish between the customer who comes for business and the “looker” who has come to be entertained at the expense of the salesman’s time and effort while other customers are waiting to be served. On learning that there is no possibility of making a sale, it is for the salesman to suggest, perhaps, that he has shown the principal range of styles and that if there is nothing satisfactory among them the lady might call later and find what she is looking for. The salesman should, of course, offer the usual courtesy extended to customers and should make no intimation of the fact that he does not care to spend further time showing goods. Skillful salesmanship has often been accountable for sales in those cases where there had originally been no intention to buy. Rather than 113run the risk of missing a sale it is much better for the salesman to continue his effort for a while even after he has become convinced that a purchase is not even being considered. The idle “looker” today may later be ready and able to buy. Therefore whatever goods are shown should be shown to advantage in order that they may make the most favorable impression.
Everyone with selling experience has met the customer who is unable to make a decision—the person who is thoroughly satisfied with the goods but cannot come to the point of saying “yes.” In a recent booklet written for salespeople[3] the following important points are brought out and clearly state the position of the salesman in relation to the undecided customer.
3. Chats on Garment Salesmanship, by Margaret Sumner.
Now for the woman who needs to be helped in making up her mind. She is a very trying type and needs careful coaching, bolstering up and nursing along to the point of decision. Her other characteristics will be more or less your guide in showing you how to bring her to the point of decision, but your own manner must be very firm. Do not let the least hint of a doubt that she will finally buy creep 114into your manner or voice. At the same time don’t try to overwhelm her with your own forcefulness, for then she will be frightened. Caution and timidity are the natural weapons of the weak nature, and in all dealings with such persons you must use all the kindness and patience at your command. You have to make decisions for them but let them think that they are making up their minds. Be very gentle but firm.
The weak person must be led like a little child. She simply hesitates to make up her mind without any reason at all. Do not try to reason with her; just be cheerful, smiling and confident, until you inspire a little confidence in her. Some remark about the reliability of your goods and the reputation of their makers and of the store behind them will help.
Other woman find it hard to make decisions when the mind is a little weakened through worry or too great an expenditure of nervous energy. This is the nervous, unhealthy, irritable type, and your method must be as cheerful and sympathetic as with the timid woman, but less insistent. Try to convey the impression, without saying it in so many words, that it will be a relief to get the matter off 115her mind by making a decision now. These poor women run around from store to store, get half a dozen different styles and desirable qualities fixed in their minds and then lie awake at night trying to decide between them. If this method of shopping is hard upon the salesperson, it is many times as hard upon the shopper. When such a one leaves with the promise to “decide later” be just as polite and cheerful as ever, yet without any abruptness. Leave as good an impression as possible, remarking that you hope she will come in later and in many cases she will. Often the personality of the salesperson is the deciding factor in a case of this kind without the customer realizing it.
Still another type of customer who is undecided and has difficulty in coming to a decision is the person who, for example, has a short, thick foot and always admires the long, slim-looking styles and wishes to be fitted accordingly. Then there is naturally the opposite—the person with the long, slim foot who laments of its size, who thinks of the length, which to her seems enormous. One practical salesman with years of experience mentions that such a customer, if well served, can actually be made to feel pleased with the shape of her foot. He says: “When reasoned with properly the customer 116can be made to feel much comforted if not really proud of the shape of her feet. The salesman can mention, for instance, that the cubic contents of this 8AA foot is less than a size 5½E—and besides a tall woman would not be well proportioned if she had short feet, short arms and short fingers. To be properly proportioned is an advantage—and before the customer realizes it the size 8AA looks pretty well, after all, she thinks they will do all right, the price is satisfactory and the sale is made.”
There is nothing dishonest about this means of serving the customer. It is a genuine, whole-hearted effort to please her and to supply her with the shoe she should rightly wear and that will give her the maximum of service. Hugh Black, a prominent Scotch writer and a close student of human nature, made the statement, after having toured the United States, that one of the chief characteristics of the American people, as he noticed them, was that “no matter what they are doing they want to be doing something else; and no matter where they are they would go somewhere else.” It is perfectly human for everyone to seek variety. The woman with the long, thin foot has become tired of looking at it and consequently it seems commonplace. The salesman in mentioning that the slim foot has its advantages is simply reassuring his customer of a fact, and in doing so he is serving her well.
117One of the fatal mistakes in shoe selling is to attempt to please a customer with a size or proportion that is not the proper one for her to wear. This can result in nothing but a loss of business through dissatisfaction when the shoe fails to give the service expected of it. To understand the customer, to use tact—but not deceit—in selling the shoe she should wear, is the responsibility of the salesman.
It is not unusual for a customer who may be undecided to bring along a friend to assist in the selection. The salesman, under these conditions, may have the task of selling two people the one pair of shoes, because the sale depends upon the satisfaction of both. The effort to sell will, of course, be directed to the person who is buying. However, should there be a difference of opinion between the two concerning some important point such as size or fit, the salesman would naturally be supported by the person who favors the shoe he is suggesting as the most desirable one. Although it would be a mistake for him to make a controversy of it by setting up sides, he can assist in bringing about a decision by a suggestion or two in favor of the person who has agreed with the salesman’s selection.
A woman customer accompanied by her husband, 118or vice versa, offers another situation that calls for tact on the part of the salesman. One good woman explained that her husband had bought himself a new suit but that she had accompanied him simply to pick out the one he should have. The shoe salesman under the same conditions, will soon be able to tell which one of the two is to do the deciding, and he will then direct his selling effort accordingly.
As a test in salesmanship and the ability to serve different types of customers, the question was asked before a training class for retail salespeople as to the manner in which a customer answering the following description should be greeted and served:
A woman about thirty enters the store carrying a baby in her arms and leading another child by the hand. Her clothes are shabby. She is evidently tired and makes her way to the nearest chair. She looks discouraged.
The salesman on considering these facts realizes at once that such a customer cannot be served in the same manner as the care-free schoolgirl. If he places himself in the position of the tired woman he will realize that her problems are different and that she requires in a shoe not 119only service but quality, fit, style and price to meet her own circumstances.
The salesman would make no effort to hurry such a customer. He would realize that she would get genuine comfort by resting for a minute or two before getting down to business and that she might not even care to think of shoes while resting. Being discouraged, as shown by her expression, she would probably be cheered by a remark and some show of interest in the children. To show an interest would not mean to pry into her personal affairs or to ask a lot of questions, but a kindly word would serve to direct the woman’s thought from her troubles and to put her in a buying frame of mind.
Such a customer would expect shoes that would give her the maximum of wearing quality for the money she has to spend. Her appearance indicates that she is poor. She wants the greatest possible wearing service and comfort that she can get. She deserves the best fit that it is possible to give her, and she will generally be glad of the salesman’s suggestions concerning the shoe she should wear. The matter of pattern and style is not a prime consideration. Talk quality and supply a strong, serviceable shoe. Show an interest in the children and they will at once be lined up for the next pair of shoes the mother is able to buy them. It may have taken ten minutes longer to serve the woman 120well, but she has been satisfied and has been made a steady customer.
A certain amount of almost every store’s trade is made up of the customer who is interested above all other things in style. Something has already been said concerning the personal appearance of such a customer. The whole outfit from hat to shoes will speak in terms of style.
With the customer who puts style before all other considerations there is great likelihood of there being objection in the matter of correct shoe fitting, especially if the person’s foot is unusual in size or shape. Here the salesman is called in to use all he knows of the art of tactful selling. Business of the kind where price is no object is certainly well worth cultivating, but here, as in all other successful shoe selling, the matter of correct fitting is essential to satisfaction. Avoid talking in terms of sizes. This always lays bare a tender part of the customer’s conceit or consciousness and opens up the possibility of dispute and misunderstanding. It is correct fitting that the customer is buying and not size marks. The salesman will concentrate his efforts to give the maximum of style with correct fitting, but with customers whose first and only thought is style, he will speak only in terms of style.
Among customers there are a certain number who continually have trouble with their feet but who are never able to come to the point of realizing that the shoes they insist are the proper size are the real cause of their great discomfort. The salesman should serve his customer by furnishing him with a shoe that actually fits the foot and not one that fits some mistaken idea of size.
J. M. Watson, president of the Guarantee Shoe Company, San Antonio, Texas, emphasizes very strongly the need to serve the customer with fit rather than sizes. In explaining the policy of his company he said:
If the customer asks what size the shoes are, change the subject if possible. However, if you are pinned down to where it is necessary to talk size, do so. But do not say simply “6A”—say “6A, which is the size that fits you.” Then if the customer should say, “They are too long, I don’t wear a 6A, I wear a 5C,” the salesman would reply: “When I sell you a shoe you wear a 6A because I do not misfit my customers. The shoe you have on is exactly the model and size that your feet require—to give you any other would mean that I would be selling you the wrong shoe for your feet.”
122This is a clear statement of fact, but it is bound to impress the customer favorably because it is said with an air of authority and because it brings out the importance of correct fitting. The subject of shoe fitting will be fully treated in the next following section of the Course. It is mentioned here simply in its important relation to the treatment of different types of customers. If the customer actually has foot trouble he needs expert advice such as the salesman will be in a position to give after having mastered the section of the Course on “Correct Shoe Fitting.” On the other hand, if he does not have foot trouble, he needs good salesmanship to protect himself from insisting upon a poorly fitted shoe that would later bring on trouble.
The purpose of the selling talk is to assist the customer along in the sale from the start up to the point of his decision to buy. To exercise a helpful influence requires of the salesman life, spirit and freshness. Everyone, in order to make a living for himself, is required to have and to use a certain amount of selling ability, and in proportion to his skill in using it will depend the value of his services. The best newsboy is the one who puts the most life and spirit into his efforts, the one who lets you know, even though you may be across the street, or around the corner, that he is on the job and that he has papers to sell. In short, the most successful newsboy is the one who is the best salesman.
The president of any business organization, no matter how large his salary nor how great his importance, must be a salesman. He does not have a free hand to do as he pleases, but must get his authority on important matters from the directors, who represent the interests 124of the stockholders. Unless the president is salesman enough to convince the directors that his plans are sound and that they will prove profitable to the business he cannot expect to receive authority to proceed with them, and therefore he cannot succeed in his work. In other words, his problem is exactly the same as that of the shoe salesman except that he must sell an idea or his opinion, whereas the retail salesman sells merchandise.
If in presenting a plan to his directors the president of the company should attempt to do so in some half-hearted, dull and uninterested manner he could expect to receive in return no greater interest or enthusiasm than he himself showed. On the other hand, if his selling talk is stimulating, if his manner indicates confidence, if he is actually “on fire” in the interest of his proposed plan he can be assured of having it received and considered favorably. The salesman is dealing with a live subject. He is called upon to present facts concerning his goods in such a way that the customer will recognize them as being facts rather than mere opinions. This means that the selling talk must be made to live—it must be freshened-up. The salesman must continually guard against becoming mechanical or stereotyped either in his manner or his sales talk. He must realize that it is just as important for him to “launder” his selling talk as it is to launder his linen.
One shoe salesman who has recently moved up to the position of branch manager, says, in speaking of the need to keep customer service up to par, and of his method of doing it, that his first duty each morning is to look over the appearance of his store, his windows and his stock from the viewpoint of an outsider—to consider his services as a salesman as they would appeal to the customer who had never before made a purchase of him. He realizes that there is the tendency for him to grow “stale” in his efforts and to fall into the habit of considering the next sale as another mechanical operation. He says that the danger is to regard today’s work simply as a continuation from where he left off yesterday and to overlook the fact that as far as today’s customers are concerned there might just as well have been no yesterday.
The outsider’s point of view is that each sale is an entirely new experience. The salesman who is able to get himself into this frame of mind and to treat the customer on this basis can never become mechanical. He will never run the danger of losing business through growing stale in his selling talk and his effort to please. This is the difference between working for a future and working for the pay envelope. Every man of responsibility looks further ahead than the Saturday envelope. He is working for a future 126that means his development beyond his present job. His success in reaching it will depend upon his ability to grow out of one and into a bigger one. Promotion or success is not an over-night process; it is a natural and gradual growth cultivated by steady effort. Alexander Hamilton, the first treasurer of the United States and the greatest financial mind the country has ever known, was proclaimed a genius both here and abroad, because of what seemed to be a superhuman understanding and foresight. His simple reply was that although men gave him credit for genius, the only genius he had was in being able to work night and day on the subject in hand until he had sweated out a solution.
This may seem to be drifting a long way from shoe salesmanship but it is just as close as the pay envelope. The laws of success are unfailing whether they apply to merchandising or to statesmanship. No one ever got anywhere on a permanent basis except by hard work. To know what the customer wants and should have, to make a whole-hearted effort to serve him and to keep at it, is the formula for success in shoe-selling.
For the reason that intelligent retail salesmanship is principally a matter of brain work rather than physical effort, it is not possible to set down any fixed list of rules or conditions which, 127when observed, will result in one hundred per cent results. Local conditions vary and of course human nature among customers varies; so that it is necessary for the salesman to keep these things continually in mind and to plan his work accordingly. On the other hand there are certain definite suggestions that can be used to good advantage to serve as the salesman’s working basis by bringing to mind some of the important points to be considered and by mentioning one way in which they may be met.
Mr. Watson of the Guarantee Shoe Company makes the following practical suggestions on getting the sale under way, based on over twenty years experience in the retail shoe business:
If there is no salesman’s stool in front of where you have seated the customer, go immediately and get one. Place it directly in front of the customer and at once sit down. Then make some such positive suggestion as “Let me examine the right foot first, please.” While saying this hold out the hands toward the foot so that they may meet it and allow you to get the shoe off before the customer realizes that he or she wants to see the shoe before trying it on.
Say as little as possible while removing the shoe, and get it off as quickly and easily as possible—then 128produce the measuring stick. Either have the customer stand on the stick or place the foot flat upon the foot rest of the fitting stool. An important point to remember is that the foot should never be measured while in the air. The toes should be well stretched out by pressing them with the fingers—and be sure to remember what the foot measures.
Do not spend a lot of time telling the customer all about the bones in the foot. The salesman should, however, examine the foot for enlarged joints, hammer toes, arch trouble, corns and so forth, and mention to the customer the foot trouble he discovers. He should take special notice of the size of the hosiery worn, by pulling out the end at the toes, and if he finds the hose to be too short he might mention the fact and suggest that a half size larger be bought next time. He might also explain the fact that short hose, like short shoes, are the cause of many foot troubles. He should spend some time studying the foot as to the width required; length of toes and such other matters. All this should be done before the customer is shown a shoe. It is important to spend considerable time in this preliminary work. Plenty of time spent in this way will mean 129that less time will be required later in the transaction, for the reason that the customer will be impressed with the fact that he is being served by a real shoe expert.
Bring to the customer only one style of shoe, and that should be the style the salesman has assured himself as being the one desired by the customer. Do not hand the shoe to the customer to examine and do not hold it up before his eyes to inspect. Take it directly to him and put it on the foot at once.
It is well always to bring two sizes of shoes, both of the same style. In other words, if you have decided the customer needs a size 6, but are not quite sure whether the foot is an A or AA, bring both the 6A and 6AA. Slip the larger shoe on first, and if it is too loose do not lace it up and do not wait for the customer to call attention to the fact that it is too large. Take it off immediately and slip on the smaller one. If this is the right size, lace it up. If you have misjudged the foot and brought both sizes too large or too small do not spend time in lacing up the shoe. This would cause the customer to lose the confidence he had gained in the beginning through the preliminary work. The salesman 130should go quickly for the correct size and at the same time take away the shoes that did not fit.
The next shoe should surely be the correct size, or else the salesman’s ability will drop in the customer’s estimation. If it is the right size place it on the foot and lace it up. Iron out the shoe well by pressing the toe down with one hand and smoothing out all the wrinkles with the other hand. Both the fingers and the palm of the hand should be used for ironing the shoe, while the other hand is used to press down the toe.
These suggestions by Mr. Watson are definite and contain some valuable hints. They bring the sale up to the point of getting the shoe properly fitted on the customer’s foot. The salesman should then continue the sale by asking the customer to stand in the shoe and then, perhaps, follow it with the suggestion that he “walk a few paces and notice how well it feels on the foot.” By the time the customer has returned to the chair and if he has not already made the decision to buy, the salesman might continue by suggesting that the other shoe be tried on. After having both shoes completely laced he is ready to ask the customer to walk in them and to lead him to a mirror where a full view of the shoes may be had. The customer 131is now face to face with the necessity to make a decision. He has been led through the sale with positive suggestions and has only to say “yes” to complete the transaction.
Another point worth remembering is that of placing the old shoe, when removed from the customer’s foot, out of the way and out of sight under the fitting stool. To throw it down carelessly for others sitting around to gaze upon is displeasing to the customer. He feels happier when it is out of sight.
Another delicate point calling for real salesmanship is that of selling a customer who calls for a shoe that is not in stock. The style, perhaps, may have been one shown in the window. It may have been one of the numbers especially popular in the store. The sizes may be broken and further stock difficult or slow to secure. Although the salesman would likely know all these things at the time the customer mentioned the style wanted, he certainly could not afford to hold up his hands in horror and greet the customer with the sad news, “I don’t think we have your size.” The result of such a remark could only have the effect of causing him to feel that he had suffered a real loss and that no other shoe would serve him quite as well.
If, on the other hand, the salesman proceeds to the proper section he may find he has the correct 132size in stock. This he can produce, and the sale goes along without difficulty. However, if the salesman finds he is not going to be able to fit the customer in his first choice it is for him to begin at once by offering a suitable second choice. This he should not attempt to do by running down or finding fault with the shoe asked for by the customer. Convince the customer that you are sincerely working for his interest—tell him so. The style and fit of the shoe called for will serve as an indication of the kind of shoe wanted. Proceed at once to get the stock nearest to it and start selling it on its merits. Nothing will be gained by considering any further the merits of the shoe that is out of stock. Remember that one of the important features of salesmanship is that of creating a desire for the merchandise you have. Fit properly the shoe you have in stock, dwell upon its good qualities, its workmanship and its value. The sale will be made when the customer understands that the goods you have rather than the goods you had are those that will serve him best.
One manufacturer warns his customers against substitutes by advertising the fact that “You can teach the parrot to say ‘Just as Good’ but he won’t know what he is talking about.” The buying public has been taught to disrespect the man who preaches “just as good” and to have 133suspicion of the goods he is selling. Reliable dealers and manufacturers sell goods on their own merits and not by a false standard of comparing them with something else. The fact has already been pointed out that the salesman cannot afford to spend his valuable time boosting the business of his competitor by discussing with his customer the relative advantages and disadvantages of both lines. He sells his own goods on the basis of their merits and allows the man around the corner to do the same.
To mention the matter of “just as good” means that the salesman has invited comparison. Then he has the double task of proving his statement first, and later of selling his own goods. Even then the customer will probably not be quite satisfied until he has tried the other article, just to find out for his own satisfaction how they compare. One far-sighted business man said that “when a competing salesman talks about my line I consider him as valuable as a salesman on my own payroll.”
If a style is out of stock, the wise salesman will plunge right in to sell the goods he has on their own merits. To invite comparison with “just as good” arguments wastes time and stamps the man as an imitator. Be original.
It is now getting to be understood more generally among dealers and salesmen that it is unnecessary 134that the customer be shown a half dozen pairs of shoes in order that he may be able to make a selection. The whole point of importance is to spend enough time at the beginning of the sale to find out exactly what shoe the customer should have and then to go after that particular shoe. If a physician were to make a hasty examination of a patient’s throat and then dash off hurriedly, only to return a moment later for another inspection and to change his original decision, the patient would at once lose confidence. Or if the dentist were to commence extracting a tooth and later change his mind and decide it should be filled, he would probably be invited to give up his diploma and to accept a plumber’s license. He is expected to know what his patient needs before he starts treating him.
The shoe salesman is expected to be a specialist, an expert, in his line. He is expected to spend enough time with the customer to find out what shoe he should have. It is for the customer to give an indication of the style wanted. With these in mind the salesman is prepared to make his selection of the stock. Generally the customer is interested in not more than one pair of shoes out of the whole stock—and that is the pair he is to buy and wear. If the salesman, by the manner in which he conducts himself and his actual knowledge of his job, wins the customer’s confidence, if he conducts 135himself as an expert, the customer will accept him as such and be glad to take advantage of his advice. The first or second shoe selected for the customer can be made more satisfying to him than one that he himself may have been required to select out of a dozen offered to him. The whole matter narrows down to one of whether the salesman is simply to hand out shoes at the direction of the customer or whether he is to be a helpful adviser. One means wasted time and small results; the other results in prompt, satisfactory business and a following of customers who are “boosting” for the salesman and the store.
Groping around in the stock to find a size or style must give the customer the impression that the salesman does not have the size in the particular shoe he first intended to show, or else that he is trying to find something else that may not be as desirable. It makes the customer feel uneasy when there is no occasion for it. The man in touch with the stock day after day is expected to know where to lay his hands on the goods he needs. The salesman cannot afford to give his customer an opening for suspicion or doubt as to his ability.
Unless the salesman watches himself carefully he may run into the habit of showing and of using his selling effort on those styles 136only that appeal to his special preference. There is the danger for him to regard as a second choice the styles that do not appeal to him especially. The young man, fresh out of school or college, would like to clothe every customer in sport models, whereas the middle-aged conservative salesman would have the natural tendency to favor the plain conservative styles. However, neither of these two men would have best results if they allowed their personal preferences to have full sway in the selection of styles.
Each customer has his own likes and dislikes on the subject of footwear styles, just as he has his preferences among moving picture stars or candidates for public office. One man is of the opinion that his choice of candidate has all the desirable qualities, whereas the opponent has none of them. But he will sometimes learn after election day that the majority of voters saw things in a different light; that although each voter examined the same two or three candidates he saw qualities in them that the man standing alongside could not see. The salesman will see one shoe that represents to him a perfect style, but the customer may have an entirely different opinion. It is the customer’s preference that must be considered.
The whole range of footwear styles is created in order that the customer may find in the selection something to meet his particular preference. 137The conservative, middle-aged salesman, although he may not care for the sport models, recognizes that it is the customer who is to be pleased, and therefore he will put in the background any individual preferences. He will not concentrate his efforts on any certain few styles but will make selection to meet the tastes of his customers.
Many stores have certain short-profit lines or leaders for the purpose of attracting trade to the store. There are two ways in which the sale of these goods may be considered by the salesman. The first is that the leader gives the opening for an easy sale, that it requires no great effort on the part of the salesman, and that the thing to do is to follow the path of least resistance and hand out the goods called for without further ceremony. The way in which the sale of these goods should be considered is that they serve to bring the customer into the store and give the salesman an opportunity to meet him and to show the line. This does not mean that the leader is something to be held up before the customer so that he may grab at it and miss. It does mean, however, that the shoe called for by the customer may not be as desirable for him as some other in the stock. The salesman is given a real opportunity to get goods before his customer’s eyes, and he should take advantage of it. Although the customer may have asked for and may have been shown 138an eight-dollar shoe it is very often the fact that a ten or twelve-dollar shoe with more style and better wearing quality, if properly shown, will please him more.
Although a shoe may be a short-profit line the salesman’s obligation to give the customer full satisfaction is just as great as it is in selling the best shoe in the house. The leader, as suggested, is designed to attract the new customer so that he may become acquainted with the salesman and the store. If he is given poor fit or poor store service it means that his further business is lost and that the advantage of the leader has been wasted.
In a great majority of cases it is possible to close the sale after having shown the first or second pair of shoes, provided the sale is properly taken in hand by the salesman. The difficult case, however, is when the customer, after having looked over several styles, will make some such remark as “I’ll call again—I didn’t intend to buy today, anyway.” The easiest thing for the salesman to do under these circumstances is to reply, “Very well,” and to consider the matter closed. But that is not salesmanship.
Many times when the customer makes such a suggestion it means that he is dissatisfied with the service he has received—either he has lost confidence in the salesman or he has been misjudged 139concerning the style of shoe he should have been shown. When once he has left the store without having been satisfied it means that it will be doubly hard to get him to return. He has the feeling that the salesman, and hence the store, has not been able to serve him, and in all likelihood he will go elsewhere to look for the goods he needs.
The time for the salesman to “nail” the sale is when he has his customer face to face before him. Although when he made the statement that he would return, the customer may have had every intention of doing so, he is inclined to go elsewhere, almost unconsciously, because he has in mind his need for the shoes and the fact that he has not yet bought them. Therefore he is attracted to the next store he passes—and the sale is lost. Very often the second store is no better equipped and stocked to give him service than the first. The difference is that he is shown more goods. The salesman’s cue when the customer says “I’ll be back” is to get into action at once, and to let him realize that there are more styles to be shown and that it is a pleasure to show them.
Even though the customer should say, “Never mind about showing me any more shoes today,” the salesman should not consider that his efforts have failed. What he needs to do is to build up again the confidence of his customer. A positive suggestion, such as “It’s no trouble at all—I 140believe I know now just the style you have in mind,” will reassure the customer and cause him to wait while the salesman goes to get another style. Quick action and an air of assurance will do more than anything else to win the customer under such circumstances.
Someone has written a short rhyme that tells a long story about showing the goods. These verses may not represent Shakespearian excellence from the standpoint of English literature, but they do represent the height of good sense from the standpoint of successful merchandising.
No store, no matter how perfect its organization, has ever been able to make a perfect score in selling. In the course of a month or a year there are many people who come into the store with the intention of buying but who are unable to get what they want, regardless of the quality of salesmanship. People who have a very definite idea of what they want in a shoe may not find what is desired in style, fit, wear, or price—or possibly a combination of these. In these comparatively few cases it is not a matter of insufficient or poor service on the salesman’s part, but one of limitation of stock variety to meet the customer’s ideas.
In cases of this kind the person will “shop” around from store to store in an effort to get the goods desired. Perhaps he will find the goods somewhere else; if so that sale goes to the store with the goods. Oftentimes, however, the person will not be able to find just the article he had in mind to buy. It is to be expected, therefore, that the business will come back to the store that showed the best service. The experienced salesman, when not able to close a sale, bears in mind that this person will return if well served, and consequently he continues his 142best efforts even though he knows he will not be able to make the sale. He is in business not alone for today but for tomorrow and next year, and he treats all persons he serves so that they will become “regulars.”
The person who does not buy has committed no crime. The salesman cannot afford to say or do anything to cause him to feel embarrassed—to make him feel that he has imposed upon the valuable time of the salesman or taxed his patience. Let the man feel that his visit has been appreciated and he will surely come back when he is again ready to buy.
The following is the experience of a Boston business man as told by him to show the importance of a knowledge of the stock, on the part of the salesman:
After having looked around in several of the shop windows I finally saw a shoe that seemed to be just what I wanted. Entering the store I was met by a young man to whom I pointed out the shoe in which I was especially interested. Within a short time he brought a shoe of the same style in my size and placed it on my foot.
For some reason or other, however, the shoe did not seem to look as well on my foot as it did in the window, and I asked to see some other shape. The young man produced another and after lacing it up explained that the price was twelve dollars, which was two dollars more than the one first shown.
On a point of information I then inquired, “Why should this pair be worth twelve dollars as compared with the 144other at ten?” And the answer I received was:
“Oh, these are better shoes than those.”
Although the customer knew practically nothing about shoes and values and may not have been able to distinguish a calfskin from an alligator hide, and although he knew nothing of footwear styles and make, it was an insult to his intelligence to tell him that he was paying two dollars more because the twelve-dollar shoe was better than the ten-dollar one. He might just as well have been told that he was paying two dollars more because twelve was that much greater than ten. The salesman owes it to himself and to his success in selling to acquire a knowledge of his stock. On any other basis he can do nothing more than hand out shoes at the customer’s direction and hope that no questions will be asked. But it is not on this basis that success is measured out either in selling or any other work calling for the use of brains.
An investigation has recently been made among retail stores to determine the causes accountable for the loss of customers. As a result of this the fact has been brought out that among the chief reasons for the customer’s dissatisfaction, and as a result of which he transfers his 145business to some other store, is the salesman’s ignorance of the goods being sold. Business to the extent of millions of dollars is lost every year among retail shoe stores, due to this one cause. Satisfaction in the way a customer is served depends upon his confidence in the salesman who serves him. This cannot result unless the salesman shows an understanding of his goods.
To know the stock does not mean simply to know the prices. It means among other things that the salesman must know what he has in stock to sell and where to lay his hands on the goods when he needs them. The man who is a success at selling realizes that the better knowledge he has of his stock, the greater will be the satisfaction of his trade. He knows every line in the house thoroughly—even the odd pairs he knows by size and width so that when he gets the foot that may be fitted with one of these he can convert the dead or odd pair into cash.
To study the stock means actually to take the time to examine the different qualities and styles, to know the materials of which they are made and to understand why the one shoe sells for twelve dollars as compared with the other at ten. In most stores there are times in the morning while business is quiet when the salesman has the opportunity to get into the stock, to examine it carefully and to learn the “feel” of the goods. This is something that will come 146to him only by getting the goods in his hands. A few minutes each day spent in a close study of the stock will pay dividends in the way of increased business and satisfied customers.
Later in the Course will be taken up the comparative importance of different kinds of leather, the advantages of one over the other, a study of cloth fabrics that go into shoes and the “why and wherefore” of each of them, a discussion of rubber, fibre and a dozen other materials that have important parts to play in their own special ways. To have a knowledge of the goods means to have an understanding of how shoes should be fitted, of how they are made, an understanding of styles and how they are originated and introduced. The shoe salesman who is in business for a future must know these things and he will get results in proportion as he learns these facts. They will all be fully treated in following sections of the Course but are mentioned here to show how closely they tie-up to the salesman’s everyday work in serving his customers.
The best salesmen are those who know most about their product and their business and no one can be permanently successful without such a knowledge.
One of the powerful forces to stimulate the customer’s desire to buy is the wish to have 147something out of the ordinary in appearance. This is another variation of the demand for variety that has been mentioned before. To give the customer what is wanted in footwear variety calls for the steady changing of styles season after season.
A thorough understanding of conditions of fashion demand that good taste must be represented in footwear styles. Occasionally there will be a demand for freak styles that do not meet the generally accepted idea of good taste and common sense, but these constitute the exception. The shoe business of the country is conducted on sound principles. It requires foresight to anticipate the wishes of the public and to have styles ready to supply when the demand is made. A high degree of good judgment and common sense is needed. For instance, a manufacturer, in making up his lines of women’s shoes for a coming season, must take into account the colors of dress goods that will be popular at that time, in order that he may be in a position to harmonize the leather or cloth in the shoe with the costume. He must take into consideration the length of the skirts to be worn and plan his styles accordingly. The weaves and qualities of shoe fabrics must be considered, and so on all along the line. All this must be planned in advance in order that the salesman may have on his shelves the goods that are wanted and when they are wanted.
148Styles are a necessary feature to the success of a shoe business, but unless they are properly understood by the shoe salesman they may act with a “back kick,” like a rifle in the hands of an amateur. The true facts are clearly brought out in an article that appeared recently in a booklet for the salespeople of a progressive mercantile company:
Merchandise that has its value based on style loses its value as the season advances and something else is produced to take its place. Seasonal merchandise must be sold during the period in which it was intended to serve its purpose.
Sales on style merchandise are not only justified but essential. The price of this character of goods is based on the newness of style, and merchandise loses its value when this feature is eliminated.
Sales are a necessity to keep a stock clear of all odds and ends. To allow goods to remain in stock beyond the period during which they should have been sold is only creating losses in the end. No one serves the firm better than the salesman who always makes special efforts to have stocks clean.
From this it is clear that for the salesman to give the best service, both to the customer and 149the house he represents, it is essential that he have a thorough working knowledge of his stock. The fact is often overlooked that it is from the last pairs of shoes in a line that the proprietor gets his profit. If these are not sold they become dead stock and their value decreases the longer they continue to lie on the shelves.
The size of a store and its inside arrangement will have a great deal to do with the way in which the layout of the stock is to be planned. However, there are some important points to be remembered which apply regardless of the amount of room available for storing the stock or the kind of fixtures used.
A plan well worth following is that of keeping to the front the stock first purchased so that it may get first attention on the part of the salespeople. The tendency is to give the most prominent position to goods just received and to overlook the goods that have been in stock for some time. We naturally forget the things that are out of sight. To do this with the stock means to pile up a number of short lines that will later have to be sold at a sacrifice. Thus a loss results that might have easily been avoided through a little care in the arrangement of stock.
The following are some valuable suggestions 150on the care of stock made by Mr. Conner of the George E. Keith Stores Company:
We shall assume that the salesman is required to do a certain amount of stock work—that a certain number of sections are given to him to be cared for. Rightly, he should take as much pride in this stock as he would in new furnishings in his home. The contents of the cartons should be kept clean and presentable at all times. A liberal amount of tissue paper should be kept between the shoes, and it should be well straightened out. The cartons should be kept clean so that the salesman might justly feel proud of the appearance of the goods if a customer should enter the store hurriedly and notice a certain number in the stock. The appearance of a particular pair of shoes pulled out should be such that the customer would receive the impression that it had just arrived from the factory. There should be the look of freshness and newness that would at once appeal to the customer and influence his decision in favor of buying.
The control of a stock section given over to a salesman does not mean simply that the stock is to be kept clean and salable. Depending on the volume of business and the size of stock carried in the particular store, there are 151a minimum number of pairs of shoes that constitute a profitable line. Assuming that the business cannot operate profitably any one line of shoes when there are less than twelve pairs, as soon as any one of the lines in the salesman’s charge is brought down to that number he should at once take sizes and report the facts to his manager. He should take sizes on his stock at least twice a week and should know that no sizes are in the stock room that should be on the shelves.
Another point of importance in connection with neatness and order in the stock is that of returning to their proper places goods that have been taken out to be shown to the customer. The slip-shod way is to put the shoes in wherever there happens to be an empty space. The result of doing this is that either the pair will be lost trace of, or it will cause unnecessary work on the part of someone else in weeding out stock incorrectly placed and in putting it where it properly belongs. It is as easy to return stock to the special place provided for it as it is to pick out the wrong place. The goods when rightly placed can always be found when wanted without loss of time and effort on the salesman’s part spent in searching around among half a dozen places where he or someone else might have put them.
W. W. Willson, manager of retail stores for Rice & Hutchins, considers the matter of a thorough acquaintance with the stock of particular value to avoid wasting the customer’s time. He says:
The average customer today demands dispatch when making a purchase. Dispatch does not mean to carelessly rush through a sale, but to do away with unnecessary loss of time. People as a rule have numerous things to attend to either in a business or social way, and they will not waste valuable time waiting while some uninformed salesperson tries to serve them and makes a blunder of it. The customer invariably remembers an experience with this kind of salesperson and makes a special point to avoid him when the next purchase is made. He will find the salesman who knows the stock.
It is often said that “time is money.” To convince yourself of this divide your earnings each week by the number of hours that you work and you will readily understand how much your own time expresses in money on the expense account of the store or department. Remember that this applies also to your customers. You should know 153your stock so well as to require only the minimum of time to properly transact the sale to the best interest of the customer as well as yourself. A thorough knowledge of the stock helps you to do this. Take care of it and keep it in condition to show and to sell to the best advantage.
It is a recognized business fact that a following of satisfied customers is the best possible advertisement that any business or salesman can have. Satisfied customers return and make other purchases; they influence other customers to come to the store or department. This increases your sales and the profits of your firm. An increased volume of sales increases the value of the salesman. The person who sells the most goods with the greatest satisfaction to all parties concerned receives the greatest reward in compensation and promotion.
Bearing in mind the important fact that style goods must be sold during the current season, it is clear at once that the salesman must keep himself posted at all times on new goods received. A week lost in getting informed of the fact that there is a new style in stock means more than the loss of six business days. It may 154mean that a certain number of customers have been required to accept goods less desirable to them, or it may mean that the business has been lost altogether. The customer does not buy shoes every week or every month, and on that account a sale lost this week often results in the loss of a sale for the season. The time to sell seasonal goods is at the opening of the season, and every day past the opening reduces the possibility of a profitable turnover and increases the prospects of “left-overs” and dead stock.
New styles coming in should be carefully studied to determine the type of feet for which they are most suitable. To show a woman a new style of shoe just received, and explain to her that it represents the most advanced model of the season, would be good business provided she could be properly fitted in such a shoe. On the other hand, if her foot is of such a shape that it could not wear the new style, it would be better business for the salesman to say nothing about the new styles and to give his whole attention to the shoes he has to fit the particular foot. To be prepared to meet this situation when it occurs requires that all shoes in the stock be studied with the idea of learning their points of advantage or limitation as applied to different classes of feet.
In line with this same suggestion is that of watching the stock of sizes in new goods received. The particular size may have been out 155of stock three days or a week ago, but there is always the possibility of a new shipment having been received. If the salesman does not actually know the condition of the stock in a certain size, he should make it a point to find out rather than to accept the fact that it was out of stock when he inquired yesterday or two days ago. Above all he should not advertise the fact that he does not know the stock with any such remarks as “I’m not sure that I have your size,” or “I don’t think we have that style.”
One of the very difficult problems that men in public life have to meet is that of learning the opinions of the people they represent concerning current matters of importance. For instance, the governor of a state or the mayor of a city is seriously interested in the opinions and desires of his constituents on matters that he will be called upon to settle. He is not able to meet personally and learn the views of more than a dozen or a few dozen people, and so he very wisely takes advantage of public opinion—which includes criticism as well as favorable comment. In fact, the experienced man will be more considerate of the criticism than the commendation, because it gives him the advantage of good judgment on the opposite side of the question. He is wise enough to know that his 156opinion may not be sound, and for that reason he takes advice from his critics.
In retail selling, also, there is the possibility of getting good advice from critics. A customer may not be pleased with the style of a shoe, the quality, color or fit, and will probably express that fact as a criticism. Nobody delights in receiving criticisms, of course, but just the same it is a wise merchant who considers these opinions of outsiders and plans to take advantage of whatever good there may be in them. A word dropped by a customer may contain the answer to the question of why this or that line does not move. A word from the customer concerning the kind of service he has received may contain a suggestion to the salesman to give more attention to a feature of his work he may have been overlooking and which may have been responsible for loss of sales.
A great many stores today take advantage of customers’ criticisms by requiring the salesman to prepare a record of each sale that is lost and the reason why it was lost. Every man, regardless of his position, can afford to consider carefully any comments having to do with the quality of his work. He should, moreover, consider them with an open mind, so that he will be in a position to judge the value of each suggestion, rather than simply to pass it by and try to forget it quickly because it is unfavorable rather than a pat on the shoulder.
A New England merchant operating a country general store made it one of his business rules that he would never sell an article at less than cost. His way of figuring was that if he never made a sale at a loss he could never lose money and consequently his business was bound to prosper. And so he went on year after year faithfully following out his original idea, which later became as a law to him. Each year contributed to pile up more stock, and each year he found himself with more dead stock, that steadily decreased in value the longer he kept it. There could be only one result following from such a short-sighted policy—the business died of dry-rot. It was then for the creditors to sell the goods at whatever they would bring, and it was an actual fact that some of the goods were found to have been in stock for twenty-five and thirty years.
For our purpose we are interested in this experience only as it shows the importance of keeping the stock moving. The old country merchant knew nothing of the meaning or importance of stock turnover. Today most merchants understand that a great measure of their success in trading is dependent upon the ability of the salesmen to sell out the stock promptly. A profit is made only when the goods are sold, and therefore the store’s success is measured by the 158number of times a line of goods can be sold out or turned over during the course of a year. To say that a certain line of shoes has a turnover of four, means that the line is sold out and replaced with fresh stock four times during the year.
The following is a word of good advice given to merchants on this important matter of turnover:
Did you ever think of shoes as so many dollar bills lying on your shelves? Picture this thought in your mind. As long as they repose on your shelves they do not work for you. In fact, converted into shoes, they cost money and depreciate in value the longer they stay there. It would be better to have real dollar bills tucked away in your stocking; you would then receive no interest but they would not cost you money.
Keep your stock moving!
Clean out slow sellers!
Stock turnover is the secret of success in conducting a store.
The salesman’s work has a very direct relation to the matter of stock turnover, for, after all, he is closest to the customer and upon his knowledge of the stock and selling ability depends a great deal of the success in keeping the stock moving and of keeping it clean of short lines and dead stock. This is no small responsibility. 159A knowledge of the stock is essential. On the part of the salesman it requires that he know what goods he has to offer, where he may find them quickly, their particular merits and special advantages from the customer’s point of view.
It is for the salesman, if he is to get results, to talk to his customer in terms of facts and ideas—not simply “words.” Sometimes we hear of a person who “talks a great deal but says nothing,” and we understand by this that his statements are without facts—that there is no point to what he says. Personal selling is a matter of presenting the story to the customer in such a way that he realizes he is getting information. It is for the salesman to tell his story so that it will “get under the customer’s skin.” This requires a certain amount of originality, a knowledge of what is being sold, an understanding of the customer.
In reading footwear advertisements, which are simply printed selling talks, it is interesting to notice how well the selling points are presented to appeal to different classes of customers. The following one, for instance, is directed to men. It is brief, but in a few words brings out the story by emphasizing the qualities of comfort and convenience, which are of greatest importance to most men:
161Low shoes give your ankles a holiday every day.
Perhaps russet is a bit cooler—it’s easier to care for anyhow.
Other people think more of exact shoe fitting, especially if they are having trouble with their feet. The main selling point in this case is that of offering a shoe to do away with further troubles. The following ad. shows how this was done. The shoe salesman has the same problem, except that he has the advantage of meeting the buyer face to face and can tell his story in a little different way.
Ever have trouble with your feet? “Blank” wearers never do. That’s because the “Blank” fits perfectly—no pinching, nor pain for the grown-ups—no deformities for growing feet. The “Blank” shoe starts the foot right and keeps it so.
But, as every shoe salesman will know, different people have different ideas concerning what is the feature most desirable in a shoe. To impress the person who considers as uppermost the matter of appearance and style, the selling talk is directed along a different line so as to “get under the skin” of such a customer.
If you have a pretty foot and ankle, wear a shoe that does them justice. If 162you haven’t, wear a shoe that makes them look as if the pretty foot and ankle were yours. “Blank” shoes for women emphasize the pretty foot, add grace and shapeliness to any foot. “Blank” shoes fit all over—not in spots. They fit around the ankle and they fit around the foot, and fit both with the smoothness of a stocking and the firmness of a glove. The fit of the ankle is for something more than looks. That graceful custom-made “curve” at the back holds the shoe firmly but gently in place. No up-and-down slide—heel-hurting and peace-impairing—to the “Blank” shoe.
These selling appeals are all made with the express purpose of meeting the individual desires of different classes of people. The man who tells the printed story realizes that he cannot get results in talking style to the person who is suffering from foot trouble, or vice versa. He realizes that there are many classes of customers and he plans his selling talk so that it will be accepted by the people to whom he is talking. The salesman will realize at once that he must meet the same condition.
Just as it is possible for a man, by mixing brains with his effort, to make two blades of 163grass grow where one grew before, or to grow two bushels of wheat on the plot that formerly produced but one, so also the salesman may increase his production of sales. With him it is a matter of seasoning his effort with ideas and suggestions that will appeal to the customer and stir-up the desire to buy. To illustrate: The manager of one of the finest shoe departments in the United States has built up a big business in patent low-cut shoes. The growth has come about largely through the application of an original but simple idea that has as its basis a positive suggestion to the customer. The plan may be described briefly by mentioning the case of a woman who enters the department to purchase a pair of spats. The salesman, working on the idea, gets the spats, removes the customer’s shoes and puts on her feet a pair of patent leather pumps. He had, of course, previously taken notice of the size of the customer’s foot. Having put on the patent leather shoes the salesman then adjusts the spats, dropping just a word of explanation to the effect that spats can be judged to better advantage when fitted over patent low-cuts. The result in a large percentage of cases is the sale of the patent leather shoes as well as the spats.
Illustrations without number might be mentioned to show the generous response, in the way of increased business, that follows in the path of intelligent effort. Some of these the salesman 164might well use, without variation, in his daily work; others he might improve to meet more closely the demands of his own trade. However, the greatest good will come to the salesman who uses these illustrations as a guide rather than as a model to be copied line for line.
An incident worth mentioning is that of a gentleman accompanied by his wife and two children who entered a shoe department to purchase a pair of canvas shoes for the lady. It was in the early spring and the family was starting off to spend some time in the country. While serving the woman the salesman noticed that the husband was wearing heavy winter shoes, and after completing the first sale he suggested a “pair of comfortable canvas shoes for all-around country use,” and mentioned that a new line had recently been received. He was then quickly on his way to select a desirable shoe, and by the time he returned the customer had half decided that he probably would be much more comfortable with a pair of light shoes. The feel of the shoe upon his foot served to complete his decision—and the sale followed. A bright remark on the salesman’s part to the effect that he could furnish “two pairs of shoes for the price of the one just bought” was an original way of suggesting shoes for the two children. It appealed to the customer and another sale was made. Furthermore, the customer was more pleased with having purchased 165the four pairs than he would have been with only the one he had first planned to buy.
It is out of the question to suggest that this plan or any other would produce results in every instance—every salesman knows that it would not. On the other hand, it does very clearly point out how intelligent effort on the salesman’s part can be turned into sales when properly directed to meet the needs of the individual customer.
There is probably not one customer in fifty who understands why it is to his advantage to be provided with an extra pair of shoes. Most customers would agree that, for the sake of variety, it would be well to have another pair so that they might alternate in wearing different shoes. But they do not realize that there is actually an advantage of money saving to be gained.
It is for the salesman to offer a definite reason for the purchase of a second pair. If the shoes are allowed to “rest” every other day or perhaps for two days after each time they are worn the wearing life will be much greater. By regularly changing off in this way, opportunity is given for the foot perspiration to dry out before it is able to cause any damaging effect upon the leather and fabric, especially that on the inside of the shoe. In addition, there is the 166sanitary advantage. Most people live in their shoes about sixteen hours a day and during that time subject them to a variety of conditions of cold, heat and dampness. From the standpoint of sanitation, it is as important to provide sufficient ventilation for the shoe as it is to do so for the rooms in which we live.
Satisfaction on the part of the customer is the basis of successful merchandising. Every wide-awake salesman and dealer realizes this fact, and makes it a part of his selling policy to insure the customer’s entire satisfaction, as far as it is humanly possible to do so. The mistake sometimes is made, in trying to please a customer, to leave an unnecessary opening for dissatisfaction. For instance, the salesman might make the remark to an undecided customer, “Take them home and if they are not just what you want, bring them back.” The suggestion is made with the best intention to serve well. But there is in it the germ of indecision which may later develop into dissatisfaction and cause the customer to return the goods when there may be no occasion for it.
The time for the salesman to complete the sale is when he has the customer before him, face to face. There are exceptions to the rule, but in general if the customer cannot decide favorably when he has the benefit of the salesman’s advice 167and suggestion, it is not likely that he will be able to do so later. To suggest a decision later is the salesman’s admission that he has not completed the sale. What the buyer requires is more selling effort, rather than more time so that he may think it out for himself.
Closing the sale in the store means to learn just what the objections are that are holding up the decision, and then to present selling facts so that the objections will be overcome and the sale will follow naturally. If the customer is told to work out his own salvation by deciding later, it is likely that his objections will take on greater proportions, while the advantages must fade into the background. The result then is that the goods will be returned, and either the business is lost altogether or else the effort to sell must be commenced all over again. A sale that is completed when the customer first calls is good business for the salesman. To the customer it is even more satisfying, for the reason that he is put to no inconvenience in returning the pair first bought and in selecting some other. He is also more favorably impressed with the salesman’s ability to sell and his understanding of the goods being offered.
When a salesman encourages business with outside friends he is justified in his feeling that 168he is offering a higher quality of personal service than the friend would receive at any other store where he is unknown to the salesman. To begin with, there is a better basis of understanding between the buyer and the seller. The salesman knows quite definitely what his friend desires in style, fit, quality, and he may know his price limitations. Furthermore, there is a natural personal interest in the customer that must surely result in his receiving the maximum of service. These are advantages to be gained by the friend. The salesman has the advantage of an enlarged list of regular customers as a result of a simple announcement that he is in the shoe business and that he would like to have a call from his friends.
Along the same line may be considered the suggestion sometimes made by the salesman to the effect that “I wear this style myself.” A point such as this would carry weight with a close personal acquaintance of the salesman and would be well worth bringing out whenever necessary. However, to customers who are not personally acquainted with the salesman it would probably seem out of place, and would carry no weight in bringing about a decision. Rather than run the risk of being misunderstood it would be better for the salesman to omit, as much as possible, personal reference from his sales talk.
More and more the advantage of the telephone as a means of getting business is coming to be realized by shoe salesmen who are alive to ideas. With a list of his customers’ telephone numbers the salesman is in a position to place himself and his story before any one of them within a moment’s notice. He may have an announcement of the receipt of a new line of styles which he knows will especially appeal to the customer, or perhaps the salesman may have in stock a special-value shoe of the customer’s size that he will be interested to see. It may be an advance announcement of a sale, or any one of a dozen items of special interest to a buyer. The telephone is at the salesman’s elbow. It is as easy for him to tell his story to the customer as it is for him to “talk about the weather” to the man standing alongside of him.
“Good-morning, Mrs. Brown, this is the Progressive Shoe Store—Mr. Smith talking. You will be interested to know that we have today received our complete line of spring styles. There are two or three of the models I know will appeal to you especially.” ... “Wednesday? Very well, I’ll have them ready to show when you call.”
The customer appreciates genuine service of this kind. It requires just a moment of the 170salesman’s time, but produces big results in the form of increased business, and it establishes the good-will of the customer, both in the store and the salesman.
It requires somewhat more time and a little extra effort on the salesman’s part to write a short, personal letter to his customers to accompany the season’s announcement. The telephone can be employed, perhaps, with less effort, but it is not always possible to make use of this means of getting in touch with customers. There are some buyers who live out of town, and others who cannot be reached by telephone—but the mails go everywhere.
The personal letter has its advantage in that it makes a more lasting impression on the customer’s mind. It is of a more permanent nature and is consequently less easily forgotten. Also it serves to get the salesman’s name before the customer in such a way that it will be remembered. It is a known fact that people remember what they read for a longer time than they do the things they hear. This is no small matter from the standpoint of the salesman, because he is continually working to single himself out from all other shoe salesmen in the mind of the customer and thus to build up a personal following of his own. A short, business-like letter will go a long way toward establishing such a relationship.
The inside display case is the shoe store’s open picture book. Almost everyone enjoys looking at pictures, which is proved by the success of the moving-picture show. Were the salesman merely to say, in suggesting an additional purchase, that he has a pretty suede pump of a new model, he could not do more than arouse a mild interest. On the other hand, if, with the aid of the display case, he is able to bring the shoe directly to the customer’s notice he at once has interest and his statements then are not mere words, but facts.
Very often the tendency is to let the show case tell its own story; to take it for granted that if the customer sees what he wants he will say so and buy it. But that, generally, is not what happens. Most people are inclined to hold back in making a decision to spend money, even though they realize their need for the goods. A word from the salesman to bridge over the gap many times is all that is required to complete the sale. Display fixtures are mechanical and have their purpose to reduce the salesman’s physical effort in showing the goods. They do not take the place of the salesman but serve as his convenience to show more and to sell more goods. It does not take a great deal of extra effort to finish off the sale of a pair of shoes with an additional sale of shoe trees, hosiery, shoe 172dressing or some other findings, but the business amounts to a substantial figure in the course of a month.
Just as it is important for the salesman to develop positive, money-making ideas, it is necessary for him to guard against anything in his selling talk that will result to deaden the customer’s confidence. Lincoln very wisely said, with his original knack of expressing the point so that no one could miss it, that “you can fool all the people some of the time, you can fool some of the people all the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.” Ninety-nine per cent of the customers are in the class of people who may be fooled once but who make it their special business to guard against it the second time.
Exaggeration is one way of fooling the customer. There are times when a sale might be closed more quickly by stretching the truth, but the advantage to the salesman and the store cannot be lasting on such a basis. When the customer learns that he has been fooled, and in most cases he will find it out, his further business will very likely be lost forever. The customer has been given a just cause for grievance and it will be necessary to overcome his strong prejudice before he can be brought into the store again. He will never entirely forget the occurrence 173even though he might overlook it for the time being. Moreover, it will surely be revived in his mind at a later time upon any slight indication of what might seem to be an attempt at unfair treatment.
Exaggeration is largely a matter of habit. If the salesman allows himself to stretch a point today and he finds that it works, the chances are that he will try the same trick a second and a third time, until finally the exaggeration comes to him so naturally that he does not realize he is fooling the customer. On the other hand, it is a matter of habit also to cultivate honesty and square dealing. If the customer is given the true facts in the first place it means that there can be no come-back—that he will know what to expect of the goods he has bought and that he will respect the man who sold them, when he finds that they come up to his expectations.
Another point of importance along this general line of thought is that of guarding against forced sales. Once in a great while it may happen that a salesman does not have in stock the shoe he knows the customer should have. Perhaps the customer may have a foot of such unusual shape that it requires either a custom-made shoe or some special model not carried in stock. Even though the salesman were to force on such a man a pair of shoes that would not 174give him service, there could be no permanent advantage. If the customer did not later return the shoes for a claim he would probably pocket his loss with the feeling that he had been beaten.
C. A. Reynolds, president of the Keystone Leather Company, Camden, New Jersey, who, as a young man, was a retail shoe salesman, tells of an experience of his that illustrates this point. A customer entered the store, asked to be fitted, and explained that he was having considerable trouble with his feet. Upon examining the foot the young salesman (who was Mr. Reynolds) noticed that it was of such a shape and in such a condition as to require a special type of shoe that was not kept in stock. The salesman frankly explained the facts and then advised the customer where he could get the shoe he needed. The sale had been lost, but the customer was pleased because he found what he wanted in the store to which he had been directed. He returned to thank the young man for his advice. And he did more; he later brought his wife and three children to be fitted where he knew they would receive service.
It was a matter of losing one customer to gain four. The experience illustrates the difference between the short-sighted policy of “a sale at any cost,” and the true basis of selling on the foundation of service.
Among retail merchants there has in the past been a great deal of discussion concerning the advantages and disadvantages of the system of offering the salesman special premiums for the sale of certain of the goods in stock. Probably every shoe salesman knows that P.M. is an abbreviation for the term Premium Merchandise, Premium Money, or, as it is sometimes known to the salesman, “pin money.” It represents a special commission offered the salesman for the sale of certain specified goods.
In every store there is some of the stock that calls for extra effort and skill on the part of the salesman in disposing of it. The goods may be slow-selling lines, discontinued or broken styles, extreme sizes and widths, or in some instances the premium may be placed on certain grades of higher priced goods. Whatever the reason may be in the individual case, the premium is offered as an incentive to the salesman to put forth extra effort to move the P.M. stock. From 176the standpoint of good merchandising it is important for the retailer to turn over his stock as quickly and as often as possible for the reason, as already mentioned, that the profit is made only when the goods are sold and that capital tied up in dead stock is wasteful.
By keeping a daily record of sales according to sizes and styles, the manager is able to tell at a glance just which goods are moving and which are the “shelf-warmers.” Some stores, when it is found that a shoe has not moved within thirty or sixty days, immediately make inquiries to determine the reason. If it is found that there have been objections to the shoe, expressed by the customer, and if the management decides that these will permanently interfere with sales, the goods are at once classed as P.M.’s and arrangements are made to dispose of them promptly. The truth is that the longer goods of this kind remain in stock the more difficult it will be finally to get rid of them.
In favor of the premium system may be mentioned the fact that it is an effective means of keeping the shelves clean, at all times, of dead stock. To the house it means a smaller profit on the sale as a result of the extra commission paid the salesman, but this is more than overbalanced by the fact that goods are being steadily kept moving and that there would result 177an even greater loss if they were allowed to remain in stock indefinitely.
The particular advantage to the salesman is that he is encouraged to sell goods that require on his part a higher degree of salesmanship than that called for in selling the popular lines. Then, of course, there is the evident advantage he has to increase his earnings to the extent of the premium.
It is not to be expected that the P.M. system has all advantages in its favor, and none of the disadvantages to offset them. Indeed, there are many retailers today who are very strongly opposed to the premium system and who will not introduce it into their own organizations, on the ground that it works against the best interests of the customer. The opposition is based on the claim that the tendency to earn the reward is so great on the part of the salesman that there is the likelihood that the customer will be prevailed upon to buy goods that are not best suited to his needs. In other words, the inexperienced salesman will have foremost in his mind the fact that a certain shoe bears a P.M., and in order to earn this for himself he will adopt the short-sighted policy of selling the shoe to the customer, even though he may know it to be the one not best suited.
If the salesman should allow himself to be influenced 178in this way in order to earn a small commission, it is certainly true that the premium system would be a failure. It would be a great deal better to have the dead stock on the shelves than to allow the customers to be badly served. The result would be to lose the customer, and this, of course, would be fatal to the business if the system were allowed to continue. It is from “repeat” business that the store makes its soundest profits, and it is also from “repeat” business that the salesman establishes himself as a big sales producer. He cannot afford to allow a small temporary gain in the form of a premium to stand in the way of his future development and success as a salesman.
Mr. Willson of Rice & Hutchins makes the following suggestions concerning the salesman’s proper attitude toward premium goods:
In his service to the customer, the successful salesman will consider first, the customer’s interests; second, the firm’s; and finally, his own. This is the basis of true service.
As we serve, so shall we profit.
Service and not self is the basis on which the success of present-day business is built. The salesman who has set a high standard for himself will 179use P.M.’s in the proper way—as an incentive to learn the stock and to improve the quality of his own work. The broadest minds in the retail merchandising field will tell you that the most capable salesman will sell, first, the goods that have been in stock the longest, discontinued or broken styles and the higher grades of merchandise—whenever these goods will properly serve to satisfy the purchaser.
The P.M. system is intended as a means of stimulating the salesman’s ability to serve and to satisfy the customer. If you, as a salesman, do not plan for the steady improvement of your work day by day, you will fail, whether you are working on the P.M. system or any other system.
When properly understood by the salesman, the premium plan encourages better service, better business, better salesmen, bigger profits for the store and bigger earnings for the salesman.
The responsibility of meeting and bringing about a settlement with the customer who presents a claim for adjustment, exchange or 180return is generally placed in the hands of the store manager or an assistant. However, this important matter will be considered here for the reason that every shoe salesman, although he may not at present be holding either of these positions, is looking forward and preparing to assume the greater responsibility. For that reason he has a special interest in this subject of complaints and adjustments.
When the customer returns to the store for the special purpose of registering a complaint concerning the goods, he sometimes has the feeling that he has been unfairly treated. He may have the suspicion that an imperfect article was intentionally sold to him because he seemed “easy.” In fact, if he thinks about it long enough, he will probably recall that when he made the purchase the salesman spent some extra time looking over the stock—and before long the customer will convince himself that the selection was made from a job lot. He may decide that he has had palmed off on him a shoe that was a “second,” and that it was done deliberately. Nothing but imagination on his part, of course, but in a great many instances these are the thoughts that go through a customer’s mind if he is dissatisfied with a shoe or if it has failed to give him proper wearing service.
He approaches the store with fire in his eye, and is all keyed-up to meet opposition. “I’m not at all satisfied with these shoes; they are 181imperfect and I expect you to make good,” he blurts out and expects a similar reply. “I’m obliged to you, Mr. Jones, for bringing them back so that we may get at the cause of the trouble,” is the salesman’s reply—and the customer is at once without defence. He has planned to meet opposition but finds that the salesman is with him rather than against him, and the one-sided argument has ended. The customer is then in a frame of mind to listen to reason.
A brief explanation to tell him of the special care that is exercised in the inspection of shoes is often a good means of establishing the customer’s future business on a permanent basis. Explain to him, for example, that “a rigid inspection of all shoes is made as they arrive, and never is anything allowed to go into stock when there is the slightest indication of weakness—still we cannot always tell what is underneath the surface of the leather. Of course, in cutting shoes only selected skins are used, but even with this extra precaution occasionally a weak spot is found in a skin after the shoes are worn.” These are features of service the customer receives and still in most cases he knows nothing about them. The opportunity is offered in a case of this kind to impress upon him the facts and thus to strengthen his confidence in the ability of the salesman and the store to serve him well in the future.
There is a story of an old woman who had her small savings in a bank which was reported to be in difficulties. At once she started out and appeared, bank book in hand, before the paying teller’s window.
“Have you got my money in there?” she inquired.
“Yes, madam, do you wish to withdraw it?”
“Well, if you’ve got it I won’t bother, but if you haven’t got it, I want to take it out.”
Oftentimes the circumstances are much the same with the customer who asks for permission to return goods. In general, retail merchants have found it to be the best policy to show a willingness to grant cheerfully and quickly the permission and, in a cash business, to refund the money. This is a part of the store’s service to its customers and in every instance it will make a favorable and lasting impression. When the customer is satisfied in this way it means that other purchases will shortly follow, if it is not possible to make another sale at once.
The return or exchange of any goods that have been damaged or abused, unless there is in them an imperfection, should be carefully 183guarded against. If the goods are imperfect and are not up to standard there is every reason for allowing the return or exchange, but there is no good reason why the store should be called upon to pocket a loss as a result of the customer’s change of mind after having used or abused the goods.
Concerning the return of goods that may be resold without loss, it is a rather general policy to permit an exchange without ceremony and to do it cheerfully and promptly. The idea behind this is that the customer has every right to change his mind regarding the purchase. The fact that he has previously been fitted and sold should in no way enter into consideration to limit the amount or quality of service offered on the exchange sale. This is another refinement of the broad business principle of giving the customer just a little more than he may be entitled to. It pays, however, for the reason that it establishes a sounder basis of business friendship and good-will.
It is clear, of course, that if the customer should show a desire to exchange a shoe for one less desirable from the standpoint of fit and comfort, the salesman would offer the benefit of his more expert knowledge by explaining the facts, without insisting.
There can be no hard and fast rules laid down concerning the extent or amount that should be 184allowed on claims for allowances. The principal point is to meet the customer on even ground when the claim is made, and as already, mentioned, to get him in the proper frame of mind so that he will be in condition to think on a reasonable basis and without prejudice.
Frank Butterworth, store sales manager for the Regal Shoe Company, makes some practical suggestions concerning adjustments:
Our policy, like that of other progressive retailers, is that “the customer is always right.” We have confidence that the average American wants to play fair. For that reason we make it a general custom to let the customer adjust his own complaint. Experience has shown that our idea of what is a reasonable amount to be allowed on a claim is often lower than the customer’s estimate. On the other hand there are just as many cases where the actual cost of settling a claim is less when the adjustment is left to the customer. After making settlement of the claim our policy is always to resell the worn shoes to the customer. We believe that even in their unsatisfactory condition, they are worth more to the customer than to anyone else and that it is to the advantage of the customer, ourselves and the whole shoe industry to get all the use possible out of every foot of leather that goes into shoes.
Co-operation is a matter of pulling together so as to produce the best results for everyone concerned. It requires that everyone in the organization shall work as a unit for the common good of the customer, the store and each person in the store. A salesman cannot hope for results by trying to work independently of his fellow workers, the office, the management and the whole store system.
A most important feature of co-operation is that called for in cases where it is necessary to turn over a customer to some other salesman to complete the sale. It is a valuable salesman who realizes, even before the customer himself, that there is a lack of interest or confidence on the part of the customer. There are times when he should be turned over from one salesman to another. When the customer first shows any restlessness and is not just satisfied with this, that or the other style that has been shown him the salesman has his first cue. He should not wait until he has shown the entire stock of merchandise. He owes it to his team partner to leave something for him to work with.
The transferring of a customer to another salesman does not necessarily mean that the second man is more capable than the first. If 186the sale is completed by the turnover man it may mean simply that his manner of approach and selling talk is more to the liking of that particular customer. People have special preferences for different styles of clothes or kinds of reading. Even the best of salesmen will have their occasional difficulties due simply to the fact that their personalities or methods of selling do not harmonize with the views and preferences of the customer. As a general rule the salesman who turns business to his team partner will often find that there are just as many instances when his partner will find it necessary to do likewise. For this reason the question is not so much one of salesmanship as it is of giving the customer the kind of service that pleases him most and that secures his business.
The salesman would not be doing himself full justice if he did not make a special effort to determine for his own good whether there had been any part of his selling effort that was weak and that may have been responsible for the customer’s lack of confidence. Perhaps he had misjudged what was wanted in the matter of style or quality or perhaps he had not been positive enough in his efforts. He may have been only lukewarm with the customer who needed to be assisted in making a decision or he may have been too insistent with the man who preferred to do his own deciding. It is well for the salesman to learn these things at the time 187so that he will be in a position to profit by the experience and steadily improve the quality of his work. A few minutes spent in going over the circumstances with the salesman who completed the sale will be found to be well worth the time and effort from the standpoint of better business made possible through the ability to understand and serve all classes of customers.
The management of the store or department may provide for team work among the salesmen but it is for the men themselves to determine the degree of success they are to have in working together. No man can be a genuine success who cannot pull together with the men around him. Friction among the men and women who make up a business organization is like friction between parts making up a machine. It results in wearing out the parts that are not working properly and it retards the work of the whole machine. Any man in the organization who tries to work alone and in disregard of the other parts of the business machine is bound to cause friction, and as a result of this he will wear himself out and limit the advancement to which he would otherwise be entitled.
The salesman should pull together with the advertising department. He should make it part of his job to study the store advertisements 188as soon as they appear so that he may fully understand all the selling points of the goods advertised and so that he may know exactly what the customer has in mind when he calls for a particular style or quality advertised. This is part of the salesman’s responsibility to himself and his job, provided he is serious enough about it to figure beyond the weekly pay envelope and to plan each day’s work so that it will serve as a stepping stone to the position of greater responsibility—toward success, which is the goal of every red blooded and clear thinking man and woman in business. The salesman should actually study every piece of advertising matter put out by the store, whether it be a catalogue, sales letter, newspaper announcement or window display card. The interested customer will study the ads., and surely the salesman cannot afford to do any less.
Not only should he study the advertising of his own store but he should make himself familiar with what is being done by other stores in the same line. No man, no matter how capable he may be, is beyond the point where he can profit by the experience and ideas of other men. The salesman who is alive to his responsibility and who is pulling together with other departments of the business will often be able to make valuable suggestions based upon ideas that he has gathered outside the business.
Every advancement that has ever been made 189in business, in science and every other branch of the world’s work, has been the result of an idea of some one who was able to look a little further ahead than the rank and file of other people around him. The salesman’s idea may be one to improve the style of advertising or it may be an idea on some improved method of stock arrangement, window display, delivering the goods, or meeting objection on the part of the customer. There are dozens of such opportunities for improvement in every business but they come only to the man who has his net out to catch them. In other words, the salesman must go half way to meet them by taking the trouble to look around with an observing eye and by thinking along the line of improvement, both for himself and the business with which he is associated. The two are so closely related that a man cannot advance the interests of the business without advancing his own interests also. An original idea is one of the most valuable things in business. The man who can produce it is the director of his future.
In every organization, business or otherwise where there are a number of people working together it is essential that there be provided a certain fixed method of operation to insure the best results throughout. A transaction is not 190complete when the salesman makes the sale. It must be followed up, for instance, with certain very important work in the office department. Records of sales and customers’ charge accounts, stock records and reports of various kinds must be prepared for the management. All these things are essential—no business can get its full share of success unless it has the benefit of correct statements concerning present conditions and results of operations in the past. The records serve the same purpose to the manager of a business as a chart of the sea serves the navigator in guiding the course of his vessel.
The salesman has a responsibility to co-operate with the office by providing a complete and correct record of every sale, exchange or return that passes through his hands. He may feel that certain of the information called for is not necessary and consequently he may disregard it in the preparation of his sales tickets. The important thing for him to remember, however, is that the work of the office begins where the salesman’s work ends. Every item of information called for is necessary and important—to supply any less means that the correctness of the office records will suffer and as a result their usefulness will be reduced. Customers’ names, their correct addresses, the address to which delivery is to be made, information concerning the billing and payment, records of the style and sizes of stock sold—all of these facts are of the 191greatest importance from the standpoint of the management. If the salesman fails in giving the correct information in the first place, the error will necessarily be passed along and limit, if not destroy, the usefulness of the whole record system. A moment longer spent by the salesman in preparing the ticket at the time the sale is made will give him the opportunity to get the facts, to get them correctly and to get them complete.
The store system requires of the salesman that he co-operate also with the shipping department. First of all this demands that he get the correct instructions concerning delivery and that he make it part of his job to get them down in black and white so that there can be no loop-hole for error in having the goods go astray. Anything that acts against the entire satisfaction of the customer is bound to reflect upon the salesman as well as the store. For that reason, if for no other, there is a responsibility to work hand in hand with every department, for the full satisfaction of the customer. Co-operation with the shipping or delivery department means, in addition, that the salesman shall know in a general way what is possible in the way of delivery before making a definite promise to a customer. Before giving the assurance that a package will be delivered “tomorrow morning” he should first of all know whether such a thing is practicable in view of the work already in hand. 192This may seem a small matter and, in fact, it is because it calls for but a small amount of extra effort on the salesman’s part to keep himself informed on such things and to guide himself accordingly. However, there is always the possibility of serious trouble and possible loss of business brought about through disappointment caused the customer as a result of unfilled promises made by a salesman at the time of the sale.
It is a fact generally recognized that authority and responsibility move to the man who shows himself able to assume them. What every live, progressive business organization is looking for today is the man capable of measuring-up to the big jobs—not simply the man who has been with the concern for a long while, but rather the man who has shown himself broad enough to shoulder and to carry authority. There is a vast difference between the man who is merely willing to accept a bigger position and the man who shows himself able to accept. The one may have nothing more than a vague hope, whereas the other has a burning desire and a determination to move on and up.
The salesman of purpose puts into his work the spirit of partnership—the spirit that he is working in the interests of “our” store, of which he is a part. Another man measures the extent of his service according to the idea that his effort 193is entirely for “their” store—and he limits his own progress accordingly. The man of purpose will naturally show that he is capable of handling authority, he will take pleasure in doing his work well and he will steadily move up to the higher plane of usefulness and responsibility. Such a man will work with the management of the business to improve conditions as he finds them. No progressive manager is so satisfied with himself and his own way of doing things that he would not welcome suggestions for improvement coming from anyone in the organization. If he is a man of experience he knows that no matter how clever he might be he could not himself hope to discover every opportunity of improving his business. For years the oil refiners of the country had been throwing away the most valuable part of the petroleum product, as produced by nature, until one day a man with a different point of view proved that millions of dollars worth of oil products were annually being carted away in the dump wagons. Now we have a hundred useful products extracted from the mass.
Every man in business today should realize the important fact that his work, no matter what the nature of it may be, is not a cut and dried process or method to be accepted and worked upon as handed down by those who preceded him. Rather, it is a responsibility and an opportunity. He should, of course, take advantage 194of the experience of those who have preceded him in the work, but that should be to him simply the starting point from which he may begin to develop his own ideas and improvements. When a man gets into the habit of regarding his work as an opportunity rather than a task he naturally takes a personal responsibility in developing himself and improving the quality of his work. Whatever he does will have behind it a purpose. The man will work with his eyes open to opportunities for improvement. This does not mean, however, that he will take the attitude of criticizing or fault finding, but rather the attitude of working with his fellow workers and the management for the good of all concerned.
Too often we learn of the man of ability, who because of his modesty, hesitates to make known his ideas for improvements. He perhaps has the feeling that he is not able to contribute anything that his boss does not already know, and may never come to the point of making his ideas known. In doing this, he is of course working against his own best interests and those of the business. He should get himself into the habit of airing his views on anything that has to do with the interests of the business. He should get into the habit of talking with those in authority. His first suggestion, perhaps, may not be entirely workable but he will at least have the satisfaction of knowing why, and he will be 195the better informed in working out his second and third suggestions. All this calls for the putting forth of some extra effort and the use of brains, but it spells the difference between the man who is able to shoulder responsibility and the one who simply follows instructions. The difference is well worth the extra effort to the man who has the faith in himself to plan definitely his success.
The twentieth century is an age of specialists—men who are experts in a particular branch of important work. The time was when a man was classified as a doctor; now he is a specialist in cases having to do with the treatment of the eye, the throat, the stomach, the feet or more than a dozen other of the specialized branches into which the profession is today divided. The lawyer also is a specialist. He may be an expert in real estate law, insurance law, trade mark law, or admiralty law, but he is a specialist or expert in some one particular subject and he is in demand because he is recognized as an authority by people desiring information and advice in his particular field.
In the same way the shoe salesman should aim to make himself an expert in his field of work. He should know the subjects of correct fitting, the processes of manufacture and the special advantages of each from the standpoint 196of the customer, the materials used and their particular points of merit—all these things and more he should know intimately because they have a very direct bearing upon the quality and success of his selling work. When the shoe salesman places his work upon such a level that the customer may consult him for advice and suggestion concerning style, service and fit he will then find himself in the same demand and of like importance to experts in other fields of business life. The opportunity is open. Only now are the people beginning to realize the possibilities of genuine service and advice to be had in the way of correct fitting and suggestion concerning styles and qualities. The salesman who is willing to meet the demand by preparing to establish himself in his work as a consulting expert is assured of a future limited in the degree of success by nothing but the standard he sets for himself.
Accomplishment in business or in any other field of endeavor is to a large extent a state of mind. It requires first of all that the man shall have a strong, healthy determination to succeed and confidence in his ability to do so. It requires also that he shall be willing to supply himself with the necessary tools to build success, in the same way that the shoemaker provides himself with the necessary tools to make a pair of shoes.
197The Training Course for Retail Shoe Salesmen is the salesman’s kit of tools with which he may build for himself success in his work. But he must learn to use the tools. In other words, he must first read the Course and secondly he must make it a part of his daily selling work to apply the principles. The suggestions made are practical and workable. They are taken from the experience of men who have succeeded and therefore they are not simply opinions but proven facts.
A man’s development is not something to be completed in a day or a week. It is a gradual process of growth. The reader will do well to refer back to this volume from time to time for the purpose of refreshing his memory on the different matters bearing upon shoe salesmanship and self development. In this way he will be in a position to determine the extent of his progress along the lines suggested and, what is still more important, he will be encouraged to renew his efforts in the knowledge of his definite progress already made toward the greater success that awaits him.