ENTHUSIASM WITH HONESTY
GETTING “LIFE” INTO THE SALE
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]
Footnote 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 methods 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 full-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.
ADVERTISING TO FOCUS THE CUSTOMER’S ENTHUSIASM
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 with 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 alone 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.
WHAT IS ENTHUSIASM?
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 his 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.
KEEPING UP STEAM
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 except 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 that 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.
No 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.
MAKE THE FIRST SALE TO YOURSELF
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 by 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 have 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.
THE FUTURE A REFLECTION OF “TO-DAYS”
“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.
HONESTY
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 is 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.
DANGER OF OVER-ENTHUSIASM
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
impresses 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 has 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.
PROMISES
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 of 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.