Early American furniture in soft brown or honey-colored, map_Selling Home Furnishings: A Training Program

in chintz or printed linens, or in one of the many new textures

developed for this type, is a happy choice for many sunrooms. Others

are attractive when equipped with light-colored woods upholstered in

lovely pastel fabrics. Chrome-steel furniture offers many opportunities

for the sunroom as do bentwood, glass, enameled furniture, and rattan.

The sunroom offers an opportunity to sell such "plus" items as

studio couches, sofa beds, standing bridge sets, radios, magazine

racks, desks, and lamps. Since many sunrooms may be interpreted as

an extension of the living room, these offer an opportunity to sell

regular living room stock, upholstered chairs, a sofa or love seat, the

necessary tables, lamps, and accessories.

EQUIPPING THE BREAKFAST ROOM AND KITCHEN

The breakfast room has no fixed position or character. It may be a

nook or small alcove, equipped with built-in table and settles, and

decoratively a part of the kitchen; an important room of fair size and

pronounced individuality; or--as is often the case--a room so small

as to be pretty well crowded by a small table, four chairs and their

occupants, and connected with the dining room by a cased opening or

French doors.

The proper aims of breakfast room decoration are _(a)_ to make it as

comfortable, spacious, and uncrowded as possible; _(b)_ to give it a

sunny, inspiring quality; and _(c)_ to emphasize its individuality

while linking it harmoniously with the more important room, if any,

into which it opens.

WOODWORK AND WALLS IN THE BREAKFAST ROOM

Since the breakfast room is a gay informal room it should be cheerful,

light, and colorful. Walls may be tinted, painted, or papered. If

tinted, light pastels should be used. If painted, colored decalcomanias

may be used to add a decorative note. Fruit and flower prints in gay

colors on a light pastel or white background, gay stripes, or colorful

figured wallpaper may be used. Woodwork, if possible, should be white

or the pastel color of the walls. Since most of the furnishings for the

breakfast room are light in color, gay, colorful accents should be used

both in the wall decoration and in the pictures and accessories.

FLOOR COVERINGS, DRAPERIES, FURNITURE

Here--as in the hall and the sunroom--imagination, familiarity with

good current work, and energy will sell more goods in less time than

the stodgy, conventional, lackadaisical methods which so many buyers

meet when they undertake the furnishing of a breakfast room. In this

field it is easier for a good man to trade _up_ than _down_, no matter

what class of customers he works with. In the comment, "This would be a

delightful place in which to start the day," we have the starting point

for all good work in furnishing the breakfast room.

THE KITCHEN

Within the last few years, more money has been spent by the consumer

on the kitchen and laundry than on any other rooms in the house.

Mrs. America today is kitchen conscious and is ready for a thorough

modernization job on her kitchen. Kitchen planning as an important

phase of selling should be carefully studied. Kitchens should be

planned to be efficient and should be laid out carefully, preferably

by an architect, for the installation of sink bases, extra built-in

cabinets, and other features. However, the kitchen also offers

unlimited opportunities for the sale of portable cabinets, kitchen

tables and chairs, cabinet bases, work tables, curtains, linoleum,

pots, pans, and accessories.

The modern kitchen had its beginning in the United States, less than 25

years ago. The rise in the general standard of living in our country,

rather than the increasing scarcity of domestic help, has been greatly

responsible for the development of modern kitchen equipment and the

innumerable mechanized aids now available to the housewife.

As usual, beauty at first lagged behind invention. Indeed the early

cabinets, refrigerators, and ranges differed as sharply in appearance

from the beautifully proportioned and smartly colorful models found

in the shops today as the automobile of 20 years ago differed from the

streamlined aristocrats of today.

In the beginning, convenience and the elimination of drudgery seemed

enough, and drab ugliness was accepted as an inescapable part of

kitchen work. Later, in a sort of blind devotion to cleanliness and

sanitation, kitchens were done like hospitals in hard and shiny

white tile, white walls, white curtains, white range, cabinet and

refrigerator, white utensils and dishes. From this intolerable tyranny

of white we have at last been delivered. The door has been thrown open;

color has entered the kitchen. The American homemaker of today, whether

her room be large or small, asks for a kitchen which not only is a

convenient and pleasant place in which to work but a source of pride

and a delight to the eye.

[Illustration:

Courtesy American Furniture Mart.

Figure 47.--Chrome adds sparkle and verve to this attractive kitchen

ensemble made with flared hairpin-curved legs and enamel and

natural-wood top.]

_Color and convenience in the kitchen._--And truly, the best of modern

kitchens are charming places. Seeing them, one wonders how further

improvement can be possible. Vibrantly light, yet without glare; cozily

warm without excessive heat; tranquil with the tranquility of perfect

adaptation of parts to function; unbelievably convenient; and bathed

in the glow of soft harmonious-color, they are immensely more pleasant

and distinguished than the shops and offices where men must spend

their working days. Among all the professions, homemaking has been

outstanding in creating an attractive and satisfying environment.

Of course this does not mean that all kitchens are attractive and

satisfying. That unhappily is still far from true. Yet beyond doubt,

the desire for them is widespread and growing. Yearly, and with

accelerating speed, the processes of modernization are going forward.

_Floor coverings for the kitchen._--First comes the floor. There was a

time when linoleum was regarded purely as a utility, but that time has

passed. The new linoleums are handsome in appearance, pleasant to work

on, and easy to care for; hence they are almost universally employed in

the modern kitchen.

_The walls._--The walls may be done in enamel paint, or papered with

the new washable fabrics, which offer a wide range of choice in pattern

and texture. Never use really dark color on the walls, and remember

that the lighter you make the wall color, the larger the room will

appear. As to hue, yellow tones, from pale cream to maize, will help

to make the room sunny and cheerful; light gray-green will make it

cool and restful; apple, or any yellow-green, will make it restful but

sunny; and such yellow reds as peach, apricot, or pale salmon will make

it warm and cheerful.

_The trim._--In very small kitchens the woodwork often is painted to

match the walls, either exactly, or in a slightly lighter or darker

shade. In rooms which are larger, or where more decorative "snap" is

desired, the woodwork may be done in a contrasting color, as apple

green with cream walls, or a soft green-blue with apricot.

_Kitchen curtains and accessories._--Kitchen curtains may be used as

an opening wedge in kitchen sales. Interest in a pair of curtains has

been known to start a complete remodeling job. On the market today

are innumerable curtains in a variety of colors and designs. Since

much originality and ingenuity is used in making attractive kitchen

curtains, many women are attracted to these inexpensive items, to "pep

up" their kitchens. Often they lead to the sale of a cabinet, table, or

new linoleum. Kitchen furniture should be shown with dummy windows on

which crisp, attractive curtains are hung. Decorative towels add to the

gayety of the kitchen and are helpful in setting up a kitchen display.

Accessories for the kitchen are colorful and decorative and a little

ingenuity and suggestion will get a woman interested in the kitchen.

National magazines and the women's section of newspapers are constantly

giving suggestions for fixing the kitchen. Cookie cutters with colorful

handles nailed to the walls, kitchen implements with colored handles

hung on attractive racks; wooden bowls cut in half and nailed to the

wall, then planted with ivy--all are unusual suggestions appreciated

by women. The endless variety of new things which may be suggested for

the kitchen is a veritable gold mine for the salesman who takes the

opportunity to investigate the possibilities.

Many interesting and delightful things go into the modern kitchen

which were unknown in those of 20 years ago. One sees a colorful pad

for the work chair, a hanging bookshelf for cookbooks and accessories,

an ornamental wall clock, colored prints, and plants. And of course

in many a kitchen there is the breakfast nook, with its decorative

furniture and its colored linen, glass, and china.

Some breakfast nooks are just sufficiently shut-off from the kitchen

by a buttress or low partition to tempt the housewife to make a sharp

difference in their decorative treatment. Usually this is a mistake,

particularly if it results in a large or striking paper on the walls.

It is better to carry the same wall color throughout, and to depend

upon small things to lend the desired individuality to the alcove.

There is no danger of monotony in this practice; while a sharp change

impairs the spaciousness of both rooms, and robs them alike of serenity

and beauty.

Study of the above will enable you to offer definite advice to women

who want to modernize their kitchens. Even though some of the details

may not deal with merchandise you sell, all this knowledge will prove

valuable in winning the customer's confidence.

FINAL EMPHASIS FOR ALERT SALESPERSONS

Since we are working in a free country which now contains more than

40,000 retail furniture outlets, it should be clear that we cannot

make anyone buy anything. Selling continues to be chiefly a matter

of people, not of goods in stock; for example, we find one dealer,

operating with a small stock in a small town, complaining that all the

good business goes to the city; while a second dealer, operating with a

similar stock in a similar trading area, allows almost nothing to get

away from him. The latter makes it his business to know what is going

on in his community; goes out after an order well in advance of the

time the goods will be needed; learns what is required; knows how to

sell it; and where and how to secure it. The main difference is in the

men, not in conditions.

BE ALERT FOR OPPORTUNITIES

The able salesperson is energetic, stout-hearted, and enthusiastic. He

never permits himself even during periods of slow business to fall into

the dangerous habit of assuming that every customer will be reluctant

and exacting, and every sale difficult. He expects a fair percentage

of quick and easy sales, and is prepared to seize every opportunity to

make them.

Having confidence in himself, his store, and his merchandise, he

works on the assumption that most of the people who enter a furniture

store are definitely interested in an immediate or later purchase of

merchandise to suit their particular needs and tastes. He further

assumes that he will be able to learn those needs and tastes, find

in his stock the right merchandise to satisfy them, and present the

advantages of this merchandise in a clear and convincing way; and that

when they are so presented, the customer will buy. This assumption may

not always be valid; but it never fails to give him confidence and

driving power, and is the necessary basis of consistently successful

salesmanship.

The able salesperson never forgets that his customer will not buy until

she is satisfied and convinced, however attractive his merchandise,

low his prices, or logically complete his demonstration. He knows

that she may have prejudices which are not easy to discover, or bits

of information or misinformation which may cause her to question or

distrust what he tells her, and thus to impede or wreck the sale.

ORDERLY PRESENTATION OF MERCHANDISE

One may never be certain which method and selling appeal will cause

any particular individual to buy. Accordingly the salesperson will be

prepared to follow an ordered procedure which will in theory exhaust

all the possibilities. The important factors may be emphasized in the

following order:

1. Pleasing appearance (design, coloring, materials, finish).

2. Personal and decorative suitability (size, convenience,

emotional effect, prestige value).

3. Sentimental appeal (style, historical, or social associations,

prestige value).

4. Quality (materials, construction, finish, established service

record, manufacturer's reputation, store's reputation or

guarantee).

5. Price (in relation both to the customer's means and spending

habits, and to the sum total of values provided by all other

factors).

CLOSE OF SALE SHOULD COME LOGICALLY

Ordinarily the charted sale will develop in this order:

1. Elimination of possible alternatives and concentration upon

merchandise to be sold.

2. Elimination of resistances through answering spoken or unspoken

objections.

3. Final demonstration of appearance, suitability, and values.

4. Direct suggestion to buy, when suggestion is necessary.

However, closing a sale is not a separate operation, but rather the

natural and logical culmination of a continuous process, planned from

the beginning to help the customer buy what she wants or needs. Thus

the difficulties of closing a sale often are the result of inept work

in the earlier stages. Good salesmanship is far less a matter of

overcoming these difficulties than of foreseeing them at the beginning

of a sale, and thus making it impossible for them to arise at the end.

For this kind of salesmanship we require:

1. A knowledge of people and the way their minds habitually work.

2. A thorough knowledge of home furnishing merchandise in general,

and our own in particular.

3. A sound working knowledge of the principles and practice of the

home-furnishing art; and

4. Planned procedure in showing our goods and in closing sales.

Give a chemist a bottle of colorless liquid containing three or four

metals in solution, and in an hour or less he will tell you exactly

what those metals are. He doesn't guess, but puts the solution through

an ordered series of reactions which gradually exhaust all the

possibilities.

Making a sale is roughly an analogous process. In dealing with a

long succession of unknown customers we cannot possibly guess just

which procedures will satisfy any one customer's tastes and personal,

decorative, and financial requirements. Human beings never react with

the exactness of chemical combinations, but their reactions may be

relied upon to make planned selling enormously more profitable than use

of any combination of haphazard methods yet devised.

QUESTIONS

_1. What do you do when your customer says, "I will wait for the spring

sales?"_

_2. In what ways may good window display aid you in selling bedroom

furniture?_

_3. Illustrate, if possible from your experience, the use of the

complete "room picture" method._

_4. What are the advantages of glass curtains?_

_5. Under what conditions would you sell pieces from different suites

for the same bedroom?_

_6. Give a demonstration of harmony in furniture for the sunroom._

_7. What part may effective use of the English language play in helping

you close sales?_

_8. If it were your decision, would you rearrange your display floors

on the basis of harmonious and convenient groupings, or on the basis of

displaying articles selling in greatest quantity?_

_9. Explain satisfactorily how the idea of "groups" may make sleeping

quarters sparkle with the occupant's personality._

_10. Show what is meant by the statement that the floor is really the

"key" to a well-balanced room._

Early American furniture in soft brown or honey-colored, maple, covered