[Illustration: SELLING HOME FURNISHINGS
VOCATIONAL DIVISION
BULLETIN NO. 216
Federal Security Agency U.S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION]
* * * * *
Vocational Division Business Education
Bulletin No. 216 Series No. 14
* * * * *
SELLING HOME FURNISHINGS
A Training Program
Prepared by
ROSCOE R. RAU, Executive Vice President and Secretary
National Retail Furniture Association
and
WALTER F. SHAW, Regional Agent, Business Education Service
U. S. Office of Education
* * * * *
FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY _Paul V. McNutt_, Administrator
U. S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION _John W. Studebaker_, Commissioner
* * * * *
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1941
* * * * *
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D. C.
Price 75 cents
CONTENTS
Page
FOREWORD v
UNIT I. THE SALESMAN AS A BUSINESS BUILDER
Specialized selling of home furnishings as a career 3
Increasing sales and earnings 5
Fundamentals for good selling 8
The daily check-up--A perpetual inventory 10
UNIT II. TECHNIQUE OF SALESMANSHIP
Sale objectives 17
Starting the simple sale 17
The all-important interview 20
Three general considerations for closing sales 23
Meeting the customer 24
UNIT III. SALESMANSHIP APPLIED
How to demonstrate values 29
Contrast in buying methods of women and men 35
Enriching your vocabulary 40
Hidden factors that increase sales 42
UNIT IV. STYLE AS A SELLING FACTOR
Significance of style 49
Period styles from Renaissance to Early Colonial 50
American styles 70
Using style appeal in selling 74
UNIT V. FURNITURE WOODS--THEIR ORIGIN AND USE
Value and price in relation to home furnishings 83
Principal furniture woods 85
Making the most of wood structure and its appeal to the
eye 86
Importance of craftsmanship 92
UNIT VI. SELLING SLEEP EQUIPMENT
Selling equipment to meet customer's needs 107
Mattresses and springs 112
Pillows 123
Studio couches and sofa beds 126
UNIT VII. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ART OF INTERIOR
DECORATION
Interior decoration as a selling method 131
Emotional values of light, color, line, and proportion 133
Color management in decoration 139
Principles of furniture arrangement 141
UNIT VIII. FLOOR COVERINGS AND FABRICS
Drapery and upholstery fibers and fabrics 153
Floor coverings 159
Selling coverings for other floors 171
Use of ensembles in selling 172
UNIT IX. FURNISHING THE LIVING ROOM, HALL, AND
DINING ROOM
Furnishing the living room 179
Distinctive hall furniture 186
Securing hospitable dining room atmosphere 190
Ensemble selling 196
UNIT X. FURNISHING THE BEDROOM, SUNROOM, KITCHEN,
AND BREAKFAST ROOM
Furnishing the bedroom 205
Furnishing the sunroom 214
Equipping the breakfast room and kitchen 217
Final emphasis for alert salespersons 221
UNIT XI. ACCESSORIES THAT MEAN "PLUS" SALES
Lamps and lighting 227
Pictures and mirrors 232
Wall decorations 235
Plastics enter the home furnishings field 237
"Do's" and "Don't's" for the salesperson 241
APPENDIXES
A. Glossary of terms 247
B. General reading list 250
C. A suggested teaching outline for a group leader 252
D. The leading furniture woods 255
E. Common rug terms 263
F. An advertising check list 265
G. Fivefold selling plan for floor coverings 266
H. Color and style in modern advertising copy 267
I. Check list for planning a store-wide promotion 269
J. Ready reference index 271
FOREWORD
This bulletin has been prepared for use by those who seek
self-improvement as members of a group engaged in the study of home
furnishings and how to sell them agreeably, intelligently, and
competitively.
More than $2,500,000,000 is expended annually in this country for home
furnishings. Under present conditions the layman cannot become an
expert on the multitude of things he has to buy, and he must purchase
many articles more or less blindly. Since much structural detail is
hidden from view, the integrity of the dealer is more than merely an
advantage--it is a necessity. There are hundreds of interesting and
vital facts concerning home furnishings which consumers may learn from
retail dealers and members of their sales organizations and which, if
they become generally known, will result in greater discrimination and
economy in buying and will be reflected in more charming, suitable, and
comfortable furnishings in the home.
This bulletin presents at once _opportunity_ and _challenge_ to those
who sell home furnishings:
_Opportunity_ to those who see furniture as a symbol of achievement
and distinction. These hear the call to bring beauty out of drab
surroundings, and to shape the visible garments of life, and even life
itself, making it finer, richer, and a thing of greater worth.
_Challenge_ to those who in selling home furnishings must be conscious
of the wide extension of education in the home furnishing art, the
rapid improvement in the general taste and specific knowledge of the
customer, the tendency to shop in the large centers, the increasing
number of small decorators, and the trend to furnished rooms and
apartments.
For the convenience of users of this bulletin, the subject matter has
been arranged in the form of units, each of which is intended to be
made the basis for a minimum of 2 hours discussion and study. With each
unit is a set of stimulating questions and a brief reading list. A more
detailed reading list will be found in the appendix. This bulletin,
hence, may serve as a short unit course for those who can spare time
for no more than 8 or 10 group meetings. Certain groups may prefer
not to follow the units in the order suggested and to concentrate for
a longer time on such important topics as period furniture, interior
decoration, the furniture woods, or various room arrangements. For
these, selected material may be used for short unit courses in
specialized fields. For instance, the last five units, taken together,
may serve many salesmen of home furnishings as a basic course in the
art of interior decoration.
Attention also is called to the grouping of subject matter to
accommodate those who may wish to use this bulletin for reference
purposes and in sales meetings called by the management. The individual
salesman who uses this material in such a manner will be aided in
building up a body of related and organized knowledge which may have
application any day in his work with his customers.
At times the text makes generous use of the personal pronoun. This has
been done deliberately with the thought that there should be present in
every meeting of a group a feeling of comradeship and personal loyalty
to a common cause. Hence, at times the text employs the pronouns "we,"
"our," "you," and "yours," to replace the more formal terms, "the
salesperson," the "retailer," or "the representative of the store."
Especial acknowledgment is due Rosalie Flank, style authority and a
former director of advertising and public relations for the American
Furniture Mart, for many contributions to, and much valuable criticism
of, the last five units, which deal with problems of interior
decoration. Most of unit XI, which discusses "Accessories and Facts
That Mean 'Plus' Sales," and section D of unit III, "Hidden Factors
That Increase Sales," were prepared by her. To Frier McCollister,
representing the National Association of Bedding Manufacturers,
credit is due for much of the material in unit VI, "Selling Sleep
Equipment." The authors also have consulted freely Clark B. Kelsey's
"Furniture--Its Selection and Use," National Committee on Wood
Utilization, United States Department of Commerce, and "The Road to
Higher Earnings" issued by the National Retail Furniture Association.
The authors gratefully acknowledge contributions and assistance in
editorial reading and criticism from Marie White, agent, Home Economics
Education, U. S. Office of Education, Washington, and William J.
Cheyney, vice president, National Retail Furniture Association, eastern
office, New York, N. Y. Others who assisted in the preparation of
special material for this training program are:
Helen Arms, stylist, John M. Smyth Furniture Co., Chicago, Ill.
Smith Cady, director, Home Furnishings Industry Committee, Chicago,
Ill.
Charles E. Close, secretary, The Veneer Association, Chicago, Ill.
Burdett Green, secretary, American Walnut Manufacturers
Association, Chicago, Ill.
Chester K. Hayes, executive director, Household Science Institute,
Chicago, Ill.
Phillips A. Hayward, Chief, Forest Products Division, Bureau of
Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Washington, D. C.
Leo J. Heer, managing editor, National Furniture Review, Chicago,
Ill.
J. P. Kramer, advertising department, Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Co.,
New York, N. Y.
George N. Lamb, secretary, Mahogany Association, Inc., Chicago, Ill.
Kenneth Lawyer, State supervisor for distributive education,
Springfield, Ill.
Robert B. Palmer, advertising manager, Duff & Repp, Kansas City, Mo.
A. M. Sullivan, director for vocational education, Board of
Education, Chicago, Ill.
Jay Van Den Berg, Van Den Berg Bros., Grand Rapids, Mich.
Illustrations, charts, and tabulations have been reproduced with
permission of the American Furniture Mart; The Merchandise Mart;
American Walnut Manufacturers Association, Chicago, Ill.; The Floor
Covering Advertising Club, New York, N. Y.; Grignon, furniture
photographer for the American Furniture Mart; Henri, Hurst, & McDonald,
Inc., advertising, Chicago, Ill.; Home Furnishings News Bureau,
Chicago, Ill.; Institute of Carpet Manufacturers of America, New
York, N. Y.; Delmar Kroehler, president, Kroehler Manufacturing Co.,
Naperville, Ill.; Mahogany Association, Inc., Chicago, Ill.; National
Association of Bedding Manufacturers, Chicago, Ill.; National Committee
on Wood Utilization, U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington; National
Furniture Review, Chicago, Ill.; National Retail Furniture Association,
Chicago, Ill.; The Seng Co., Chicago, Ill.; U. S. Department of
Commerce, Forest Products Division, Washington, D. C.; and The Veneer
Association, Chicago, Ill.
Special acknowledgment is made to the following publishers for
permission to quote from one or more of their publications:
The American Home, editorial department, New York, N. Y.
Dodd, Mead & Co., Inc., New York, N. Y.
Frederick J. Drake & Co., Inc., Chicago, Ill.
House Beautiful, New York, N. Y.
J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
The New York School of Interior Decoration, New York, N. Y.
The Seng Co., Chicago, Ill.
This Bulletin has been prepared at the direction, and under the
supervision of B. Frank Kyker, Chief of the Business Education Service,
U. S. Office of Education, Federal Security Agency.
J. C. WRIGHT,
_Assistant U. S. Commissioner for Vocational Education_.
Unit I
THE SALESMAN AS A BUSINESS BUILDER
Specialized Selling of Home Furnishings as a Career
Increasing Sales and Earnings
Fundamentals for Good Selling
The Daily Check-up--A Perpetual Inventory
[Illustration:
Photograph by Grignon.
Figure 1.--Contemporary French grouping is expressed in this attractive
chair with natural finished wood frame, tufted back, and rust figured
beige damask upholstery. The combined lamp stand and plant table is a
modern favorite.]
SELLING HOME FURNISHINGS
Unit I.--THE SALESMAN AS A BUSINESS BUILDER
SPECIALIZED SELLING OF HOME FURNISHINGS AS A CAREER
Selling home furnishings at retail is one of the most pleasant and
fascinating of occupations. It is clean work, physically agreeable,
mentally stimulating, and free from deadening routine. Moreover, it
is a growing field with limitless possibilities. True, there always
will be malcontents who proclaim that the people of America are losing
interest in their homes, that restless excitement is their god. Facts
indicate, however, that our people are turning their thoughts and
aspirations, in increasing measure, to the enduring satisfactions of
the home.
MODERN METHODS ARE DESIGNED TO MEET CHANGING CONDITIONS
All available data on buying habits indicate that selling methods
should be revised to meet the buyer's interest as it shifts from what
furniture is to what furniture will do. This is a logical development.
For many years American women have been influenced by the cleverest
advertising in the world to desire and to buy finished products on the
basis of performance and with little or no concern as to how they are
made. To these women, rugs, chairs, tables, and lamps are parts whose
interest depends chiefly on how they are combined with other parts
to form harmonious wholes. According to a number of comprehensive
surveys, three out of every five women who are interested in furniture
are concerned chiefly with its effect in making their homes more
attractive. If this is true, those who sell home furnishings must have
a sound knowledge not only of their merchandise but also of the art of
arranging and combining that merchandise to insure comfort and beauty
in completely furnished rooms.
This specialized selling of home furnishings as a career, therefore,
means mastery of the art of interior decoration. If interior decoration
be defined as the sum of the processes by which a home is made
beautiful to look at and comfortable to live in, then all who sell home
furnishings must understand style, design, materials, and construction.
Every furniture salesman who consistently maintains a high sales
volume as a result of his own skill will be found to employ the methods
of the interior decorator whether he adopts the professional title or
not.
[Illustration: Figure 2.--A suggestive progress-program for those who
sell home furnishings which may be modified in terms of situations.
Promotion steps are shown on five training levels of increasing
difficulty and responsibility.]
The fighter who carries a punch in one hand only will lose a good many
bouts. The carpenter uses a ripsaw for one operation and a crosscut for
another. The salesman is in precisely the same situation. He always
can make some sales merely by showing furniture and quoting prices.
He always can make more sales by a skillful presentation of style,
design, materials, and construction. But in order to build a personal
following and to sell to the highest possible percentage of his
customers the largest possible amount of merchandise, he must become a
competent adviser in the creative processes of home furnishings.
Figure 2 is a diagram of an educational program which, starting with
preparatory training in the early years of the secondary school,
continues through a period of cooperative part-time training which
combines education in the school and on the job, until full-time
employment assures continued opportunity to study progressively on
three training levels of increasing difficulty and responsibility.
Mastery in ability to sell home furnishings implies adequate
understanding of materials and selling techniques acquired at each of
these training levels.
INCREASING SALES AND EARNINGS
There are three ways by which one can increase his sales and earnings:
1. Increase the daily average number of customers waited on.
2. Increase the average percentage of customers sold.
3. Increase the average volume of each sale.
INCREASE THE DAILY AVERAGE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS
In order to increase your daily average of people waited on, you must
_(a)_ arrange to secure customers for the otherwise idle hours of the
day; and _(b)_ develop the ability to speed up the selling process,
which will enable you to sell to more people during the active hours.
_(a)_ To secure customers for the otherwise idle hours of the day,
begin with the "lookers" and your "call trade." The woman who has been
planning what is to her an important purchase frequently will want to
consult her husband or a friend in whose judgment she has confidence.
If you have been successful in creating real interest in your
merchandise, it will not be difficult to make an evening appointment,
obviously as a means of saving the time of the husband or the friend.
When you suggest an early or late appointment you may readily promise
exceptional service. You will be assured of the individual attention of
your group under conditions removed from the confusion of regular store
traffic. If the appointment is during the early morning hours or during
evening hours, it will be easy to group the pieces as they are to be
used and thus show them as they might actually look in the home.
Then, too, you always will have some sales under way or coming up with
old customers, and in many cases you can, by acting in advance, arrange
appointments which will occupy otherwise empty time, thus leaving the
more active periods of the business day open for routine selling. Time
which cannot be spent with customers should be devoted to developmental
work.
_(b)_ Among many ways to speed up the selling process are the following:
1. Get down to business, and stay there. Much time is wasted both
before the sale is made and afterward in purely extraneous
talk, not calculated in any way to advance the sale or build
confidence. Within the limits imposed by courtesy, confine the
conversation to the business in hand. And don't yield to the easy
temptation to talk about yourself.
2. So far as is possible, eliminate the element of guesswork in
showing merchandise. Find out enough about your customer's room
and what is in it, and about her tastes and plans, to enable you
to avoid confusion and resistance, and to cut down the amount of
time spent in showing goods there is no chance to sell.
3. Be sure that your appearance, manner, and language are such as
to inspire quick confidence. This will make it unnecessary to
spend too much time in demonstrating the fitness and value of
your merchandise. Alertness, faultless courtesy, and unfeigned
interest in the customer's comfort and convenience are vital.
4. Know your stock, including the small occasional pieces whose
location is often shifted, so thoroughly that you can go directly
to any piece you want to show. In a sale involving several
articles, particularly if they must be shown on different floors,
plan and route the selling process to eliminate unnecessary
movement, and if the display is made during regular store hours,
try to close the sale somewhere above the first floor, with its
noise, confusion, and beckoning suggestion of the open door.
INCREASE THE AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF CUSTOMERS SOLD
Much of our study will be directed toward discussing methods for
increasing the percentage of sales made to customers waited on.
Everything is important, and every improvement in equipment will help.
Doubtless what is most needed is more knowledge, which we can acquire;
more patience, which we can force ourselves by a sheer effort of the
will to summon and employ; and more energy, which we can and will
develop in the degree that we recognize and desire its rewards.
INCREASE THE AVERAGE VOLUME OF EACH SALE
Trade Up Consistently.
The first requirement of one who would increase the size of individual
sales is that he shall trade up consistently. Obviously, this does not
mean that the salesmen should disregard prudence and common sense and
try to sell a $100 article to the buyer who can afford to spend only
$50 or $75, nor does it mean use of high-pressure selling methods. It
does mean that he should develop the ability to estimate the buyer's
tastes, means, and real needs, and to present elements of value in his
merchandise other than price.
Ten years ago a woman who made a shopping tour through 12 department
and furniture stores reported that 8 out of 10 salesmen quoted the
price of every article immediately, with strong emphasis upon its
low price. A number of salesmen mentioned the wood and finish of the
article, quoted the price with the usual comments, and stopped--their
entire stock of ideas apparently exhausted by this effort. This same
kind of selling is still too prevalent. Today's emphasis upon service
for specific needs rather than upon low price to build sales volume has
given us an ever-increasing number of salespersons who understand that
it is foolish to start a sale from the bottom, foolish to assume that
no one desires or can afford to buy good things, and not only foolish
but dishonest to discuss furniture of poor quality and low price in
terms which fairly could be applied only to better quality and higher
price.
Suggest Related Merchandise.
A second and extremely important way to increase the size of your
average sale is by the skillful suggestion of related merchandise.
A great many persons buy home furnishings only when they need them as
a physical utility. Quite naturally, they get along with the minimum
number of pieces and buy for the lowest prices consistent with their
ideas of desirable quality.
To be prepared for this type of emergency or "suggestion selling" each
salesman should work out for himself, with the help of other salesmen,
and by wide reading of trade journals, magazines, newspaper articles,
and books in his field, a list of articles in the home-furnishings
field which naturally belong together. These lists of "naturals" should
be memorized for ready recall at any moment.
"Specials," modern accessories, new designs in small occasional pieces,
when advertised to the public, lend themselves to a suggestion-selling
program used in connection with a carefully selected call list. In
suggestion selling, emphasis should be upon the quality of charm or
fitness to be added to a particular room, with the furnishings of which
the salesman already is familiar.
Sell More Than Utility and Price.
Those who buy furniture for satisfactions other than utility naturally
buy--insofar as their means will permit--whatever pieces they believe
to be necessary in order to insure those satisfactions. It is clear
that salesmen in order to sell to this type of customer must be able
to arouse the interest of these utility and price buyers in other
satisfactions.
To do this, they must be able to sell something more than furniture.
They must sell on the basis of the enticement of comfort and cushioned
ease, the lure of beauty, the appeal of smartness and style. They must
sell distinction, the acclaim of friends and guests, the pride and
pleasure of the children, and the joy of living in an attractive home.
Does this tend to provoke a skeptical smile from those who have been
selling furniture for years? Well, let those smile whose earnings have
been wholly satisfactory. As for the others, let them remember that
in diminished volume is told the story of those who consistently have
attempted to sell furniture as nothing more than furniture and who have
stolidly ignored the power of imagination and sentiment in quickening
interest and deepening desire.
FUNDAMENTALS FOR GOOD SELLING
Sales experts are agreed that it is impossible to formulate a selling
plan that will apply to all salespersons. There are no magic words to
be spoken in the presence of potential buyers that will cause them to
call loudly for an order blank and reach for a fountain pen. There are
certain fundamentals which will help a man to become a better salesman.
BE TACTFUL
Webster defines tact as "a nice discernment of delicate skill in saying
and doing what is expedient or suitable in given circumstances."
Tact is one of the most valuable assets in salesmanship and must be
exercised at all times. Many sales of home furnishings have been lost
in discussions with a prospect who was inclined to be belligerent.
Under no circumstances enter into an argument. You have heard the
well-known axiom, "Win an argument and lose a sale." The fact that you
have sound sales arguments to use in presenting your sales story does
not mean that you must argue with the prospect to prove your point.
Explain tactfully your side of the story and, if your statement is
questioned, try to prove it. But rather than enter into an argument
about it, pass on to another point, and, if necessary, refer later to
the point in question from a different angle.
DON'T INTERRUPT AND DON'T EXAGGERATE
Some salesmen are so anxious to tell all they know about their product
that unquestionably they develop a habit of interrupting a prospect
every time he speaks. This reflects adversely on the salesman; often
it prevents the prospect from telling of the features particularly
liked or the real objection to the proposition. When your prospective
customer starts to speak, listen, and above all, when answering a
question, don't exaggerate. Many a sad failure in selling has resulted
from an exaggeration of facts to the point where the prospect will not
believe anything the salesman has said.
BE SINCERE
Sincerity breeds conviction and if you are convinced of the statement
you make, your attitude will go a long way in making your prospective
customer believe your story. Know your product and its advantages; be
sincere and enthusiastic when you are presenting them. Be natural. It
will pay.
DON'T TALK TOO MUCH
All have known salesmen who have talked themselves out of sales. This
is a fault common to many. Some types evidently believe that if they
talk fast enough, do not permit the prospect to bring up objections or
say anything, and put the pen in the prospect's fingers and get him to
sign on the dotted line, a good sale has been made. The day for this
kind of selling is gone. Today's buyer wants information and she wants
a chance to think about that information after she gets it. Make your
statement about your product and let your customer think about it. Be
careful not to bury one important sales feature by showering several
more on top of it before the customer has had time to decide on the
merits of the first. Give your customer an opportunity to ask questions
and express her opinion. Often, if allowed to talk, the prospect will
sell herself.
BE READY TO ANSWER OBJECTIONS
An objection or reason for not buying may be real or it may be merely
an excuse. In any event, the salesman must be able to answer it
effectively in order to close the sale. If the customer raises an
objection, be sure you understand it. Don't jump at conclusions as to
what the objection is going to be. After you understand it clearly,
repeat it. Sometimes when an objection is repeated the customer
immediately can see for herself that it is not a valid objection.
POINTS TO REMEMBER IN SELLING
Salesmen interested in fundamentals will do well to remember four
points of value in selling:
1. Talk to your customer as though she knows about the product but
explain everything as though she knew nothing about it.
2. Treat your customer with unfailing courtesy.
3. Assume that she is able financially to buy anything on the floor
even if her general appearance leaves room for some doubt. When
basic facts are established, suggest justifiable time-payment
plans as an arrangement she might prefer--but do this tactfully
since many women are sensitive about money and credit ratings.
4. Make your sales story complete. Tell it simply, directly,
earnestly, and honestly.
THE DAILY CHECK-UP--A PERPETUAL INVENTORY
Elementary fundamentals should be brought up time and again. You may
know you are beyond the stage where you need to be told to keep the
ears clean, the hair combed, the shoes polished, and suits pressed, but
there are some angles on this matter of keeping a perpetual personal
inventory which may be reviewed profitably many times. Consider the
advantages of a daily check-up.
Some women are inclined to trust to first impressions of appearance and
manner. A salesman may find it difficult and sometimes impossible to
win their confidence if there is anything in his appearance, manner,
language, or actions to detract attention or arouse prejudice. If these
important personal matters are neglected, it means reduced income
through the loss of some sales and an unnecessary loss of time in many
others.
One of the best ways to guard against these losses is to work out a
sort of perpetual inventory of your own good and bad points, and to
keep this inventory up to date, making a systematic check-up.
Certain principles as to proper dress for men in home-furnishing stores
of dignity have been established. One metropolitan store insists
that salesmen wear dark suits; black shoes always; white collars
either attached or detached, not necessarily starched; neckties, dark
preferably, and in harmony with the suit. This store never permits
removal of coat or vest even in summer. Many stores, however, permit
vests off in summer and supply uniform coats to all salesmen--dark palm
beach or similar material. Arbitrary rules without reason are worse
than none. The store mentioned above feels that the factors listed
as important simply conform to the laws of good taste in reflecting
the store to its clientele. No store can afford to tolerate slovenly
attire, shoddy language, or indifferent effort.
If, in good faith, interested salesmen will run through the following
list of questions before they go to work each morning for 2 or 3
months, they will find the results in increased sales unexpectedly
profitable.
APPEARANCE
Have I had the food, sleep, and exercise necessary to enable me to meet
all customers, even on the longest and busiest day, with energy and
enthusiasm?
Do I feel and look fit, alert, competent, and prosperous?
Is there anything to attract unpleasant attention to my hair,
fingernails, teeth, tie, or shoes?
MANNER
Do I meet all customers without reference to age, sex, or dress, as if
I were genuinely glad to see them and sincerely interested in serving
them intelligently and well?
Am I businesslike without being brusque? dignified without being stiff?
unvaryingly polite but never oily or servile?
Do I treat all customers with real courtesy, and none with cheap or
offensive familiarity?
Do I ever permit myself to look or act bored, tired, indifferent, or
sullen?
LANGUAGE
Is my voice pleasant?
Do I talk enough, or too much?
Do I talk carefully and well, without grammatical blunders or slang,
and with an adequate command of words, or do I stumble, use poorly
chosen words, and repeat myself until my customers are bored or
repelled?
ACTION
Do I slouch, or get into awkward and ungraceful postures, or sit on the
arms of chairs or sofas?
Do I play with a pencil, watch chain, or sales book, or jingle keys or
money in my pocket?
Do I ever show merchandise carelessly, as if it were of no value or
importance?
Do I ever get into an argument with a customer when there is the
slightest possibility of giving offense?
Whatever your present earning power may be, wide experience warrants
the belief that you can raise it appreciably by improving your present
rating in these factors which together give outward expression to your
personality as your customers see it.
QUESTIONS
_1. Do you think a salesman can be sincere and use "high pressure"
methods at the same time?_
_2. Do you feel you are doing a customer a favor or imposing on her in
urging her to come to a decision, particularly when grading-up?_
_3. A customer says: "I like this suite, but the price is a little more
then I'd counted on paying." What is the best way of handling this
customer to close a sale?_
_4. A customer says: "I've just about decided on this one, but I'd like
my husband to see it." What is the right way to handle this situation?
Should an attempt be made to close the sale then and there? What has
been your experience?_
_5. A customer is sold on a modern suite, and has her mother with her.
Her mother is not sold on modern furniture. How would you handle this
situation?_
_6. A customer wants an Early American bedroom, is apparently satisfied
with the suite, which happens to be birch, and asks: "Is it solid
maple?" How do you answer?_
_7. If the president of the First National Bank and his wife came in at
5:30 to look at a dining-room suite, how would you handle the first 5
minutes of the conversation?_
_8. Select a bedroom suite from the floor selling for $99 and one
selling at $179, and demonstrate the points of superiority in the more
costly set?_
SUGGESTED READING LIST
BOLLING, CUNLIFFE L. _Retail Salesmanship._ Sir Isaac Pitman &
Sons, Ltd., London, 1930.
The Spirit of Salesmanship, II, pp. 14-26.
Aptitude for Salesmanship, III, pp. 26-37.
Sales Demonstration, X, pp. 152-165.
KENAGY, H. G. _and_ YOAKUM, C. S. _The Selection and Training of
Salesmen._ McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, N. Y. 1925.
The Measures of Successful Selection, XI, pp. 215-249.
Mental Alertness Tests for Salesmen, XII, pp. 249-277.
Personality and Aptitude Tests, XIII, pp. 277-300.
Training Salesmen, XIV, pp. 300-319.
KELSEY, CLARK. _Furniture: Its Selection and Use._ National
Committee on Wood Utilization, United States Department of
Commerce. Superintendent of Documents, United States Government
Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
Budget, Buying Plans, Need, Utilities, I, pp. 1-19.
National Retail Dry Goods Association, 101 West Thirty-first
Street, New York, N. Y. 1935. Furniture Sales Manual.
PELZ, V. H. _Selling At Retail._ McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New
York, N. Y. 1926.
Personal Qualifications of the Retail Salesman, VIII, pp. 119-139.
How to Make Sales-Talk Effective, XI, pp. 185-215.
Sales by Suggestion, XVIII, pp. 293-313.
Following Up the Sale, XIX, pp. 313-315.
REYBURN, SAMUEL W. _Selling Home Furnishings Successfully._
Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, N. Y.
SIMMONS, HARRY. _How To Get The Order._ Harper & Bros., New York,
N. Y. 1937.
Sales, Leads, Customers, I, II, III, V, VII, VIII, pp. 1-78.
STEWART, ROSS _and_ GERALD, JOHN. _Home Decoration._ Garden City
Publishing Co., Inc., Garden City, N. Y. 1938.
Buying Furniture, XII, pp. 219-230.
WHITEHEAD, HAROLD. _How To Run a Store._ The Thomas Y. Crowell Co.,
New York, N. Y. 1921.
Developing Organized Loyalty, XXI, pp. 253-265.
----. _The Business of Selling._ American Book Co., New York, N. Y.
1923.
The Mental Law of Sale, V, pp. 44-51.
The Salesman's Personality, XVIII, pp. 221-234.
How To Develop Personality, XIX, pp. 234-242.
Unit II
TECHNIQUE OF SALESMANSHIP
Sale Objectives
Starting the Simple Sale
The All-Important Interview
Three General Considerations for Closing Sales
Meeting the Customer
[Illustration: Figure 3A.--A block front Chippendale secretary. The
pulls are all pierced chased brass. The broken pediment is ornamented
by the unusual addition of a hand-carved leaf carving. The ribband back
chair has the cabriole ball and claw and leaf carving on the knees and
is upholstered in a hand-blocked tapestry.]
[Illustration: Figure 3B.--This copy of a Sheraton corner stand has
tambour sliding front drawers and a copper-lined plant container at the
back. The chair at the side is a Sheraton decorated armchair, in black
with gold decoration. The upholstery is green and ivory striped satin.]
Unit II.--TECHNIQUE OF SALESMANSHIP
SALE OBJECTIVES
When you start toward the display floor with a customer who has asked
for a particular article, you have--or should have--five objectives:
1. To close a sale, if possible, for an article of the best quality
warranted by the customer's needs and means.
2. To sell any additional merchandise in which you can arouse an
interest.
3. To make the sale in such a way that the merchandise will stay
sold, and the customer will become a loyal business friend.
4. To secure and record any information as to the customer's home
and tastes that may lead to possible future sales.
5. To do these things without wasting time so that you may get
another customer and repeat the process.
In order to attain these objectives you must gain the confidence of the
buyer, and here your success will depend upon what happens in the first
5 minutes. It is during these crucial minutes that the customer forms
the impressions which so often lead her either to bestow her confidence
or withhold it.
STARTING THE SIMPLE SALE
The experienced salesman is accustomed to form a quick judgment of
the customer and to base his opening procedure on that judgment. The
technique presented here is designed particularly to help this salesman
make large sales or handle small sales which may be expected to produce
future business.
Let us assume that your customer has not asked for an advertised chair,
and that there is nothing in her appearance or manner to enable you to
make a close guess as to her tastes and means. All you know is that
she is interested in an easy chair. Since she has not told you exactly
what kind of chair she wants, it is safe to assume that she doesn't
know. On the other hand, you may be certain she wants a chair to serve
some particular purpose of her own. The chances are that she has only
a vague idea as to the particular type of chair which will best serve
this purpose; you as yet have no idea whatever. Accordingly, you must
choose one of three methods for starting the sale.
THE HAPHAZARD METHOD
The first is to lead her through your stock in the hope that she will
see a chair that pleases her and buy it. This sometimes will happen,
and there are some customers--though few--who can be sold in no other
way. However, this method wastes so much time, and results in such a
heavy percentage of lost sales, that it should be your last resort. It
is open to three serious objections:
First, it will not help you win the customer's confidence. By
relinquishing all control of the interview, you forfeit her respect for
you as a competent adviser in the processes of home furnishing, and
become merely an order taker. If she happens to like your merchandise,
you are fortunate; but you can do nothing to influence her toward
liking it.
Second, no one can look at a great many different things, however
interesting and beautiful, without becoming confused and losing the
power of discriminating judgment. The woman who is shown furniture by
this undirected method is likely to become tired and certain to become
confused, and may be expected to decide to "think it over," "look
around," or "bring her husband."
Moreover, you cannot show many chairs, even by this method, without
making some comments about them. If you are like many salespersons you
will fall into the habit of describing half the pieces shown either as
the most beautiful, the smartest, the most comfortable, the latest, or
the best bargain. If this happens, any normally intelligent person will
suspect that you are either insincere or incompetent.
Third, if a sale results, it is likely to be at an unnecessarily
low-price level unless the question of credit limit is involved; and
in any event there will be no sale of additional merchandise, no
information of future value, no loyal business friendship.
THE HIGH-PRESSURE METHOD
You may decide to make a persistent and, if necessary, a high-pressure
effort to "sell" her something. This method, like the first, will
work with a limited number of buyers. However, it results in much
wasted time by reason of the high percentage of returns for credit
or exchange, and in ill-feeling and impaired confidence which over
a period of years make it difficult for the salesman to build up a
personal following among the buyers of his community.
As a matter of cold fact, this method of selling home furnishings has
caused the retailers an immense loss in public confidence, as well as
in money. Because of wrong selling methods, multitudes of women now
stay out of certain stores except on those rare occasions when they are
forced by actual needs to enter. Although these women want to buy, they
are afraid of being sold.
More accurately, they are afraid of being sold the wrong thing. Most
of the women who ask to see a chair or rug or other home-furnishings
merchandise really want something much more important to themselves,
although they do not tell us about it. They want beauty, comfort,
distinction, or social prestige. In other words, they want to buy
furniture as a means of making their homes more attractive; but their
past experience, or the experience of their friends, often leads them
to believe that the salesman will not really help them. To overcome
their hesitancy, they must be made to feel at the beginning of the
interview that no one is trying to sell them, or even to let them buy,
but rather that the desire of the salesman is to help them buy.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
The third possible course of action is based upon a study of the
customer's needs. The salesman will seek to discover the customer's
purpose in looking at easy chairs and then to show her the particular
pieces in stock which are best adapted to serve that purpose. He will
need information about the size, style, and coloring of the chair
required, and the amount that the buyer is able or willing to pay for
it. Do not, at the outset, ask for this information.
In selling home furnishings avoid questions which will force the buyer
to make definite commitments in advance as to her tastes or the amount
of money she is prepared to spend. In the first place, it is probable
that if she had fixed ideas on these subjects she would have told you
exactly what she wanted at once. If you force her by direct questions
to make a statement, she may feel impelled to abide by it later; you
thereby have placed yourself and your stock under an unnecessary
handicap.
In the second place you run the risk of annoying her, since few women
welcome a direct question at the beginning of a sales interview as to
how much they are prepared to spend. Finally, such questions may be
so clumsy and amateurish in technique as to under-mine a customer's
confidence in your ability. Your questions at the outset should be
directed toward determining her needs. If such questions are skillfully
put, she will welcome them as evidence that you are trying to help her
buy economically and intelligently.
THE ALL-IMPORTANT INTERVIEW
Upon leaving the elevator take your customer directly to an easy chair
which you know to be good-looking and comfortable, conservative both
in design and coloring, and neither your cheapest nor your most costly
quality. By choosing a conservative rather than an extreme style you
run no risk of impairing her confidence in your taste and judgment,
and by picking a piece in the middle price range you run no risk
of offending her if she is in the market for a costly chair, or of
alarming her if she is a buyer for a cheap chair. Moreover, you are in
the safe position of being able to shift ground in either direction
without loss of prestige. Don't ask her how she likes this chair,
and don't make any flattering comments on it. Merely say, in effect:
"I don't know how close this particular chair comes to what you have
in mind; but at least it is attractive and comfortable. If you care
to sit down in it for a moment, and to tell me a little about your
requirements, or about your room, perhaps I can save you the time and
trouble of looking at a great number of unsuitable pieces. Is the chair
for your living room?" If the answer is "Yes," proceed: "Then it will
of course have to fit in with your other things in that room."
At this point you may wish to draw up a small table and lay the
living-room floor plan[1] on it with the first page so placed that
the customer can easily see it. Then draw up a chair for yourself. It
is important to move with a poise and assurance which will cause the
buyer to know you are following the usual procedure. By the time you
are seated she will likely have read enough of the first page to be
interested and awaiting your next move.
OPENING THE INTERVIEW
In many simple sales it will be unnecessary to ask many questions, or
to enter the answers on the plan. Since you cannot know this at the
start of the interview, however, it is usually wise to show the plan,
even if you make no actual use of it. The effect of this procedure
catches interest, places the transaction on a more professional basis,
and helps create confidence in yourself and your store as skillful and
competent advisers in the selection of furniture.
[Illustration: Figure 4.--Room arrangement plan
NOTE TO SALESPERSON.--If you do not have a floor plan and have not
seen the room in question, take blank paper and pencil. Block in
window and door openings and location of "other" furniture. Then
proceed as suggested, recommending nothing that will not enhance the
attractiveness of the room for its particular use. Always date your
sketch; place upon it the name of your customer, and file for later
reference.]
If you decide to use the plan, spread it on the table, and say, in
effect: "This device helps us to serve our patrons who are interested
in buying furniture that will add to the comfort and beauty of their
homes. In your own case, for example, we have scores of chairs that are
good looking and that are good values. Yet, if you were to look at all
of them you would undoubtedly find that some are too large or too small
and that the great majority will not harmonize perfectly in design,
style, or coloring with the other things in your own particular room.
By using this device you can give me a clear picture of your room as
you want it to look. Then I can show you only such pieces as promise to
meet your requirements, and you in turn may select the one chair that
seems most suitable. Do you have a guest chair in mind, or one for the
special use of a member of the family? If for a member of the family,
the sex, size, and individual preference must be taken into account; if
for guests, the general decorative character of the room only.
"The new chair will be seen against the background of the walls and the
floor coverings, and as a part of the group to which it belongs. Hence,
we must be sure it will harmonize with these other elements. Your rug,
for example, is----?" Enter important information which is given on
the floor plan under the heading "Floor covering." Information needed
includes the type of rug (which may give you an idea of the buyer's
price level); coloring; and type of design (which will indicate to
you the characteristic features of the new chair necessary to insure
harmony). Then proceed in the same way with the walls, woodwork,
draperies, and principal upholstery fabrics.
If by this time your customer shows signs of impatience, you may wish
to say in effect that you can show her several chairs that will fill
the requirements admirably. Then go to work.
UTILIZING THE CUSTOMER'S ANSWERS
If, on the other hand, the buyer clearly is interested, ask for the
size of her room and for the description and location of her other
furniture, and block in the information on the floor plan, using
the method shown in the typical floor plan, page 21. Here the best
procedure is to start from the point of intersection of the 2 heavy
lines, or axes, and count in 4 directions, using the scale of ¼-inch
square for each foot. For example, if the room is 16 × 24 feet, count
12 squares from the center in both directions to locate the end walls,
and 8 squares in both directions to locate the side walls. When this
information is recorded you will get an idea as to the correct size and
proper location for the new chair. Be sure to locate windows and doors
accurately and indicate the exposure of the room with reference to the
compass points.
These preliminaries when completed will give a clear picture of the
room, a fair idea of your customer's price range, and a good start
toward her confidence. Thank her and introduce yourself simply by
saying, "I am Mr. Smith. If you are pleased by what I have shown you
today, I shall hope to see you again as other living-room needs arise.
May I fill in your name and address, so that this plan may be filed for
use when you are next in the store?"
USE JUDGMENT IN SHOWING MERCHANDISE
You must be guided by your best judgment. If you have reason to think
the customer has confidence in you, show first the particular chair
that you honestly believe is best for her purpose, introducing it with
a brief, pointed, and purely impersonal comment on its beauty, style,
and peculiar fitness for her own purpose. Don't use superlatives. She
may not like this piece well enough to buy it immediately, in which
case you will be seriously handicapped in trying to interest her in
another one. If, on the contrary, you do not feel assured of her
complete confidence, probably it will be wiser to show your second or
third best piece first, holding the best in reserve.