We must remember three things:
1. All furniture is derived, however remotely, from earlier forms
and therefore can be identified with a style appeal.
2. American women have become style-conscious in matters of
decoration.
3. The home-furnishing art is studied in colleges and secondary
schools; books dealing with it are widely read; at least 25
million persons read national magazines which devote space to
it; hundreds of newspapers publicize it; powerful agencies are
actively engaged in widening popular knowledge of it.
WHAT SUCCESSFUL STYLE SELLING INVOLVES
In order to enhance the desirability of an article through an appeal
to beauty of design or style, we must cause the customer to see in it
something desirable which she has failed to see for herself. To do this
we must be able to notice this "extra something" ourselves, and to
convey a clear and interesting picture of our observations.
Many never see more than a part of the sales possibilities of what we
have to sell. Our merchandise is as common to us as an old shoe. We are
prone to forget that its forms are the result of age-long processes of
development, its ornament the heritage from an immemorial past. Often
we forget its romance, its quickening appeal to the imagination, its
promise as a way to richer and more stimulating life. To us a chair is
a chair, and a rug is just another rug.
You will sometimes find it effective in building up appreciation of a
fine machine-made rug to tell how much time would have been required
for weaving alone had it been made by hand. Count the number of tufts
per square inch; multiply by 144 to get the number per square foot;
then by the number of square feet in the rug, divide the total by
2,500--the average number of knots tied by a Persian weaver in a full
day's work--to arrive at the number of working days. Make a few of
these calculations based on rugs of standard weave and size at your
leisure, and remember the results for use when required.
To equip yourself to emphasize style in furniture, first go through
your stock carefully, and identify the style of all pieces that are
accurately reproduced or closely adapted from historic designs. It may
surprise you to learn how many pieces can be definitely assigned to one
of the historic styles.
The ideal way, of course, would be to have each piece styled and marked
by the manufacturer; this may come in time. Another way would be to
have the style names agreed upon by the entire sales force, after
discussion, and marked on the tags, so that everybody will be telling
the same story. But if no definite plan is used, study the stock by
yourself. After all, the man who wants to travel ahead of the crowd
must expect to do some pioneering, and you will be the one to profit.
Every clever oriental-rug man realizes the sales value of an
identifying name. He knows that women particularly like to know the
name or weave of a rug and any facts connected with its design, because
these things make them feel more assured in buying and give them
something to talk about pridefully to their friends.
In presenting your furniture under its historical names, be careful
not to make claims you cannot establish. They will expose you to the
ridicule of a well-informed buyer, of whom there are many.
Never say that a piece is a reproduction unless really it is. Say
that it is "in the style of" or "inspired by," or "derived or adapted
from," or "a present-day adaptation of," or "a twentieth century
interpretation of" the style to which you have assigned it. Having said
this, proceed at once to give it whatever additional importance or
value you can draw from your knowledge of the history, personalities,
or practice of the period. Do not lecture but try to dramatize your
merchandise.
The highest use of language is pure self-expression. Only your choice
of words and expression can give your customer kinship with what you
feel. An encyclopedia of information is not of itself complete customer
service when you are dealing with style, period, color, harmony, and
satisfaction.
DRAMATIZE YOUR MERCHANDISE
Suppose, for example, that you want to sell an ordinary loose-cushion
sofa in blue velvet, with machine-carved cabriole legs, rolled arms,
and straight-lined back with curved ends.
It is easy to say, "Here is a handsome, well-made sofa in blue velvet.
Just the right thing for your room; the price is $95."
But it is almost as easy, and in many cases far more effective, to
say, in substance: "This, as I understand it, is what you may have in
mind. There is nothing striking or extreme about the design. Notice the
graceful curves of the cabriole or f scroll legs, which are completely
adequate to hold up the heavy body; note how those same curves are
echoed in the arms and suggested in the back, so that the whole piece
reveals harmonious lines. This sofa expresses the quality of repose
which makes it so important in the properly furnished modern home."
Or, suppose you have a reproduction of a Chippendale ladder-back
chair. With 9 possible buyers out of 10, it would be foolish to try to
sell such a piece through the bald statement that it is a beautiful
Chippendale chair.
A better approach would be as follows: "Here is an armchair reproduced
from one of Chippendale's masterpieces. If you will set it off by
itself you will see its extraordinary grace and harmony of line. In
this piece we have Chippendale's conception of the ladder back--a
very old form of chair expressed in flowing curves which descend
rhythmically from top rail to floor. As a chair it is perfect--staunch,
thoroughly comfortable, and enduring; it is even more desirable as a
work of art. Anyone may well be proud to own it."
This language is not intended to be "stilted." If delivered casually,
with no thought of reciting a memorized paragraph, or of delivering a
set speech, these ideas will be effective in sustaining interest while,
informally, you direct attention to other features. "High-lighting" or
dramatizing your merchandise is as difficult as it is necessary when
one must guard against failure by enhancing the desirability of the
merchandise.
STYLE APPEALS BASED ON PERIOD DECORATION
Your description should not be left to chance or to the inspiration of
the moment. Think them out at home or in your free time in the store,
and plan just how and when you will use them.
These "high lights" may be based upon history, beauty, and sentiment.
To illustrate:
Bedroom Suite Adapted From the Style of Louis XVI.
_History._--"In this suite we have a reflection of the last of the
great decorative styles developed in France under the Bourbon Kings.
Louis the Sixteenth was king of France when our forefathers signed the
Declaration of Independence. There was great gratitude and admiration
for France in those days, which inspired the importation of a good
deal of furniture of this style for the statelier homes of America.
Washington bought some of it for Mount Vernon, and Jefferson for
Monticello."
_Sentiment._--"This suite called Louis XVI, named for an era made
brilliant by the later courts of France, is reminiscent of the days of
Marie Antoinette. Lovers of style and beauty the world over have for
decades, even centuries now, looked back to the days of the last lavish
escapades of the French courts whenever there is a resurge of the human
appetite for the ornate, gilded opulence of color and design that you
see characterized in these pieces."
_Beauty._--"In this suite we find the slender proportions, fine lines,
chaste ornamental forms and delicate grace of the style of Louis Seize.
See how skillfully the strength and dignity of these pieces is insured
by the straight vertical lines of the frames, and their effect of soft
and luxurious ease by the curves of the top rails and mirrors."
Cabinet, Chest, or Dining Suite Adapted From Style of the Italian
Renaissance.
_History._--"This piece was certainly made in America, and it may have
been made within the past 2 months--it is new in our stock. Yet in
every line and detail it recalls to us the great age of the Italian
Renaissance, when the New World was being discovered and explored, and
the Old World made over for the development of modern life."
_Sentiment._--"Women, of course, counted greatly during the Italian
Renaissance; but they did not dominate the design of furniture as they
do today. Note the virility of this design--its straight, vigorous
lines, its solidity and strength, its unyielding angles, and its
simple, sparse ornament."
_Beauty._--"There are times and places when delicacy and daintiness
fail to please. For the room that has such a place nothing could be
more appropriate and satisfying than this cabinet, designed in the
virile spirit of the Italian Renaissance. There is a beauty in straight
lines, in strong and noble proportion, in rich dark coloring."
These tabloid statements are of course to be regarded as suggestions,
not as models. Make up your own, couched in your own language, and
based upon your own merchandise and your own customers. But do not
assume that this sort of thing cannot be done in your store and with
your customers, or that it is old-fashioned, and of no value. It must
be done at certain times if we want to sell furniture in volume and on
other bases than utility and price.
TWO CLASSES OF EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMERS
In making a style appeal based upon period decoration you will
occasionally encounter customers who belong to either of two classes,
both small, but important enough to merit brief mention--
1. Those who express contempt for modern machine-made furniture.
2. Those who have no use for period design and often for the whole
matter of style.
Nothing will be accomplished by argument. But the one who scorns style
probably does not carry that idea over into his purchase of clothing
for himself or of the automobile he drives. In dealing with this type
of customer it may be worth while to point out that the machine at
least has enabled us to reproduce the truly beautiful pieces of the old
masters with their full beauty preserved and to make them available
to people of ordinary means. Certainly society could not support the
immense number of craftsmen that would be necessary to make good
furniture by hand.
Nor is it a question of paying more for style. When one chooses
well-styled furniture it is true that he pays for materials and labor,
but he gets in addition the distinction that comes from rich historical
associations, and aristocratic lineage.
QUESTIONS
_1. How would you make a style appeal based upon period decoration to a
customer who professed contempt for modern machine-made furniture?_
_2. What steps would you take in selling a reproduction of the
Chippendale splat-back chair?_
_3. What are the characteristics of the four outstanding furniture
periods known as the French, Early English, Georgian, and American?
(Consider each period from the viewpoint of historic date, lines,
proportions, woods, upholstering fabrics, and modern use)._
_4. Why may Sheraton, Hepplewhite, and Duncan Phyfe furniture be used
together?_
_5. What is meant by the following: "Modern arises from the fact that
its designers are neither bound by traditions of the past nor wedded to
the present, but move alertly up and down the centuries--combining the
old and the new--with a refreshing disregard of dynasties and dates?"_
_6. To what extent is streamlining, now an accepted feature of kitchen
equipment, appearing in metal and wood furniture?_
_7. Contemporary furniture finds expression in honest construction.
Construction is emphasized rather than concealed. In what ways would
you say_ sincerity _was the most revolutionary characteristic of
contemporary furniture?_
_8. What has been contributed in domestic comfort by the idea of
interchangeable unit furniture?_
_9. What unusual service features are afforded by the sectional sofa?
Is this trend likely to become "fixed" as a furniture emphasis or is it
merely seasonal?_
_10. Where are the great furniture manufacturing centers in the United
States? Where and when are our big furniture style shows held? By whom?_
SUGGESTED READING LIST
BURROWS, THELMA M. _Successful Home Furnishing._ Manual Arts Press,
Peoria, Ill. 1938.
Basic Periods of Influence, I, pp. 15-45.
Reference Appendix, pp. 123-133.
FALES, WINNIFRED. _What's New in Home Decoration?_ Dodd, Mead &
Co., Inc., New York, N. Y. 1936.
Period Furniture, VIII, pp. 150-174.
GOLDSTEIN HARRIET _and_ VETTA. _Art In Every Day Life._ The
Macmillan Co., New York, N. Y. 1925.
Furniture Arrangement.
Harmony, p. 21; Proportion, p. 57; Balance, p. 83; Emphasis, p. 141.
KIMBERLY, W. L. _How To Know Period Styles In Furniture._ Grand
Rapids Furniture Record Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. 1912.
KOUES, HELEN. _How To Be Your Own Decorator._ Tudor Publishing Co.,
New York, N. Y. 1939.
Period Characteristics in Furniture, II, pp. 12-25.
Furniture Arrangement, IV, pp. 37-49.
POWELL, LYDIA. _The Attractive Home._ The Macmillan Co., New York,
N. Y. 1939.
The Modern Style, pp. 104-113.
The Country Home, pp. 113-120.
SEAL, ETHEL DAVIS. _Furnishing The Little House._ Century Co., New
York, N. Y.
Foundations in Good Furniture, V, pp. 79-96.
On Dress Parade Behind The Scenes, XII, pp. 185-200.
STEWART, ROSS _and_ GERALD, JOHN. _Home Decoration._ Garden City
Publishing Co., Inc., Garden City, N. Y. 1938.
Elements of Traditional Styles, XIV, pp. 249-305.
United States Department of Commerce, National Committee on Wood
Utilization. Furniture: Its Selection and Use. 1931.
Part III, pp. 75-98. United States Government Printing Office.
WHITON, SHERRILL. _Elements of Interior Decoration._ J. B.
Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 1937.
Period Decoration and Furniture, III, V, VI, VII, pp. 91-233.
Taste, Style, and Fashion, XXI, pp. 627-647.
Furniture Arrangement, XXIII, pp. 665-681.
WRIGHT, AGNES FOSTER. _Interior Decoration for Modern Needs._
Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York, N. Y. 1917.
VII, pp. 107-165.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] For thousands of years the chair was a symbol of state and dignity,
and not an article for ordinary use. Common people were not permitted
to sit on chairs, and few of the great lords were permitted to sit on
chairs in the presence of the king. The chair did not become common
until the sixteenth century; before that, chests, benches, and stools
were used.
[5] These hutches, or small chests, held the clothing, personal
belongings, and materials for the mass when the baron was en route from
one castle to another, and were carried on the backs of pack mules.
From this rudimentary beginning all modern forms of case goods have
evolved.
[6] The French "qu" or final "que" as in "baroque," is pronounced like
"k." The accent is always on the final syllable.
[7] The French "e" and "et" are pronounced like "a."
[8] Pronounced Kănz.
[9] Pronounced fo-tuh-ye, the "uh" having almost an "r" sound as in
"burn," the final "e" practically silent.
[10] Pronounced "sehz," practically the English word "says."
[11] Pronounced dē'rĕk-twär.
[12] A Handbook of the American Wing; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, N. Y., 1928. Price $1.
Unit V
FURNITURE WOODS--THEIR ORIGIN AND USE
Value and Price in Relation to Home Furnishings.
Principal Furniture Woods.
Making the Most of Wood Structure and Its Appeal to the Eye.
Importance of Craftsmanship.
[Illustration:
Courtesy the Veneer Association.
Figure 15.--Variety in Veneer Slicing.
1. Flat cut--American walnut, two-piece matched.
2. Crotch--Avodire.
3. Stump-wood--American walnut, four-piece matched.
4. Quarter--African mahogany, mottled and fiddleback.
5. Rotary--Ash (Tamo).
6. Burl--Maidou, two-piece matched.]
Unit V.--FURNITURE WOODS--THEIR ORIGIN
AND USE
VALUE AND PRICE IN RELATION TO HOME FURNISHINGS
The materials in a piece of furniture, and the way those materials are
put together, affect not only its appearance, but also its durability
and behavior in service. Appearance and durability both help to
determine value. They are factors which usually influence a customer
toward or against a purchase. But the customer, unaided, cannot be
expected to see and appreciate these factors at their true importance.
Therefore a sound knowledge of materials and construction, plus ability
to use that knowledge effectively, is essential to the salesperson who
wants to take the road to higher earnings.
Every sale is a process of weighing one satisfaction against another.
Those who buy from sheer necessity compare price against price, or
price against terms. Those who buy for any other reason weigh price
against value.
Do not forget that price and value are by no means the same thing.
A low price does not automatically constitute, from the customer's
viewpoint, a high value. The _price_ of an article is fixed by the
dealer. The _value_ of that article is fixed by the buyer, since it
depends, not upon what the article costs to make or what is asked for
it, but upon what it is worth to her.
Except for the confirmed bargain hunter, no buyer will buy anything, at
any price, unless she believes that it will add to her satisfactions.
On the other hand, few persons will buy anything, however satisfactory,
unless they believe it to be worth the price. It follows, as a
fundamental rule of salesmanship that _price is almost never the first
consideration in the mind of the buyer, but that it is almost always
the second consideration_. For this reason, few sales can be completed
without a demonstration of value.
YOUR OWN BUYING HABITS
Study your own buying habits, and you will see that you seldom make a
purchase on the basis of _price_ alone. Always you consider _value_.
Consciously or otherwise, you compare the satisfaction you hope to gain
against the price you are asked to pay. You like a bargain, but you
recognize that low price, by itself, does not constitute a bargain.
TWO STAGES IN SELLING
The buying habits of the great majority of your customers are no
different than your own. People generally will not buy a piece of
furniture at any price unless they first believe, of their own
initiative or as the result of your efforts, that it will afford them
satisfaction, for their own use. Having found such a piece, they still
will refuse to buy it until they also become convinced that _its value
measured in terms of their own satisfactions, equals or exceeds the
price_.
Thus the average sale consists of two stages:
First, helping the customer find the merchandise that meets her
needs and satisfies her tastes, at the price she can afford to
pay (not, necessarily, the price she desires, expects, or has
expressed a willingness, to pay).
Second, convincing her that the article is a good value for the
price.
A prevalent fault among even experienced furniture salespersons is the
failure to deal adequately with the first stage--that of finding out
what the customer wants. With interior decorators and many drapery
salespersons the second stage--demonstration of value--is more often
neglected. Moreover, much business is lost by men who reverse the
logical process, and begin their demonstration of the value of an
article before their customer has tentatively accepted it as adapted to
her own needs and tastes.
On the other hand, innumerable sales are sacrificed through reliance
upon mere assertion of value, or upon discounts or marked-down prices,
with a consequent failure to deliver, at the end, a convincing
demonstration of value. In such a demonstration construction and
materials will occupy the spotlight.
CONSTRUCTION LESS INTERESTING TO WOMEN THAN MATERIALS
American women are not too much interested, as a rule, in the
construction of the articles they buy. This is not because they regard
sound construction as unimportant, but because they have been taught to
take it more or less for granted. Their chief concern in any product
lies in what it will do for them, and they do not care a great deal
about how that result is insured. An analysis of magazine advertising
will reveal the fact that construction is rarely used as an advertising
appeal; a count of several current issues indicates about 1 case in 20.
There is a much wider interest in materials, including furniture woods
and the floor covering, drapery, and upholstery fabrics; though even
here the primary concern of the great majority of buyers is with the
effect of these materials upon their homes and themselves rather
than with the materials as such. According to an industry survey, 6
women out of 100 have no interest in furniture; 61 are interested in
it primarily as a means of making their homes more attractive; 16 are
chiefly interested in furniture woods; 14 in style or appearance; and 3
in construction.
HOW THIS ATTITUDE OF MIND AFFECTS OUR INTERESTS
The widespread disposition of women to take construction and materials
for granted tends to reduce emphasis upon quality, forces prices
toward unnecessarily low levels, and cuts down volume and profits. It
encourages the production of poor merchandise, thereby undermining
public confidence in furniture and furniture dealers.
A sound knowledge both of materials and of construction will help
demonstrate the superior value of more costly merchandise when such
merchandise lies within the customer's buying power. This knowledge,
properly used, will of course enable sales to be speeded up, a larger
number of customers to be waited on, and a larger percentage of sales
to be made. Even when the salesman is emphasizing woods and fabrics,
the materials of which home furnishings are made, he must win the
customer's confidence in the quality of construction, the craftsmanship
with which these materials are put together, if he would effectively
minimize what to him is price resistance.
PRINCIPAL FURNITURE WOODS
In all periods of high civilization men have felt a deep interest in
the furniture woods. The sheer beauty of these woods, their association
in sentiment and legend with the noble trees of many lands, their
never-ending, never-repeating variations of figure and shading, the
romantic stories of their journeyings by ship or caravan from the far
ends of the earth--these things always have delighted men and women of
taste.
Undoubtedly they who sell furniture know too little about the furniture
woods, talk too little about them, make far too little use of their
powerful appeal to the eye and the emotions. If they can learn to know
them intimately, and to regard them, not as merchandise merely, but
as something fine and nobly beautiful, they cannot fail to inspire
widespread admiration and desire for ownership.
A LIST OF THE LEADING FURNITURE WOODS
In appendix D, page 255, will be found a brief account of leading
furniture woods. Most of these woods are used today, and many of them
will be found in your stock. Ours is an age which takes great delight
in colorful and beautifully figured woods. An astonishing variety of
new species has come into comparatively recent use as the result of
exploration in Africa, Australia, and the more remote and difficult
areas of Central and South America. Salespersons are strongly urged,
through this and other sources, to become familiar with the leading
furniture woods in order to possess the background necessary to arouse
appreciation of the beauty, distinction, and rarity of the woods used
in furniture manufacture and to convey an adequate sense of the time,
skill, and expense necessary to make these lovely woods available in
strong and enduring form for the modern home.
[Illustration:
Courtesy the Veneer Association.
Figure 16.--Veneer slicer: Note the finished slices in the middle
foreground and the tremendous length of the log--the full length of the
slicer (16 feet). Working with amazing speed, this slicer frequently
requires the attendance of three operators at the same time.]
MAKING THE MOST OF WOOD STRUCTURE AND ITS APPEAL TO THE EYE