DIFFERENT TYPES OF CUSTOMERS
VARIETY AMONG PEOPLE
Just as there are no two people exactly alike in physical appearance,
just as there are no two sunsets, trees or no two blades of grass
exactly alike, there are no two people of like personality and mental
development. Variety is a law of nature. One of the greatest wonders of
all creation is that such a range of variety is possible year after year
and century after century, without duplication. Glancing at a field of
daisies or a bouquet of violets the first impression might be that they
are all alike, but we find, of course, that each one is different in the
length of its stem, the size of its petals and color shadings. As the
saying goes, “Variety is the spice of life.” It is variety that prevents
life from becoming monotonous, by presenting things of everyday life in
changed forms and relationships. Among people the variety of nature and
disposition is the one thing that sets the art of salesmanship apart
from monotonous, machine-like operations and establishes it as an
occupation calling for brains and skill.
Someone may say, “How I wish all customers were like Mrs. Brown or Mrs.
Smith, who always know what they want, who buy without any fuss and are
out of the store again in less time than another customer takes to
decide on the color or style!” That sounds as though it might be an
ideal condition except for the fact that it would put selling on a plane
of service with that offered by the slot machine. The salesman would
become a mere human shoe-handling machine. The sale to Mrs. Brown is a
pleasure to the salesman simply because it is one of a variety; all of
which have been different in some respects and most of them calling for
a higher degree of personal salesmanship. There are some manufacturing
companies today that have built up such a steady demand for their goods
that the salesman supplying the retailer is often required simply to
look over the dealer’s shelves to see what is needed to make up the
complete stock, make out his order for the required goods and have it
signed by the retailer. Fine business for the wholesaler and the dealer!
But the salesman runs the risk of becoming a mere stock-keeper; and his
pay is regulated accordingly.
HUMAN NATURE
An understanding of human nature is of especial importance to people who
sell. Every shoe salesman has recognized the fact that there is among
customers a variety of personality or dispositions. One person is
continually in a hurry; another person, although he may have just as
much to do, is never rushed. One person is happy as a matter of habit;
another will appear to be weighted with the cares of the world—and so it
goes, each one contributing to build up variety in human nature.
The study of human nature is known also as character reading and as
psychology. The purpose of this study is to bring about a clearer
understanding of the laws governing the operation of the human mind.
There is a relationship between a person’s disposition and his physical
appearance as shown by the features of his face, the shape of his head
and such like. The science of analyzing these signs is known as
character reading or character analysis. People who make a special study
of these things are sometimes able to show remarkable results in reading
and understanding people at first sight. Everybody acquires the habit,
more or less, of “sizing-up” a person who is met for the first time. To
the salesman the ability to do this is a special advantage in that it
enables him at once to understand a customer and to govern his effort to
sell accordingly.
Without knowing anything about the details of character reading as they
relate to a study of the proportions and relationship of a person’s
nose, chin, mouth, and so forth, most of us learn to understand people
simply through the impression they make upon us as we meet them. A
person’s general manner of approach, the expression and tone of voice,
come to mean a great deal to us in an effort to understand those with
whom we come in contact. A broad suggestion on this point is that the
salesman should confine at least his first effort at reading human
nature to that of taking a genuine interest in each customer. He should
base his effort to serve upon _personal impressions_ rather than upon
any attempt at analyzing the customer according to a series of rules.
Only after having made a special study of psychology or character
reading would he be in a position to get results from these sources.
Without belittling any of these things it is safe to say that a goodly
share of success in all retail selling is based upon the policy of
considering each customer, first of all as a fellow human being, and of
backing this up with a genuine effort to serve him well.
TUNING-UP TO THE CUSTOMER
Everyone has had the experience at some time or other of listening to
amateur musicians who attempted to produce in harmony without first
having tuned-up to the proper key. Although their efforts and interest
may have been every bit as sincere, although the motions may have been
the same and notes of music the same as those played by an artist, the
effect produced could be nothing but discord, and the more persistent
the effort to continue the more displeasing would be the result. The
position of the salesman in relation to the customer is precisely the
same. Unless he is, at the outset, able to understand something of the
nature of the customer and the manner in which each one should be
treated, there will surely result a lack of harmony that will end in
killing the sale.
The salesman is called upon for the use of tact, which means an
understanding of what is proper to be done under varying conditions as
they arise under different circumstances. The clerk who asked his
customer to go outside and look over the styles in the window, and to
return after he made a selection, stamped himself at once as being a man
without tact. He had not properly tuned-up to his customer and therefore
the remark, although it seemed perfectly proper to the clerk, could only
produce discord on the mind of the customer.
The salesman’s proper attitude of mind should be that of working along
with the customer. He should train himself, as he proceeds with the
sale, actually to feel the contact of his own foot in the new shoe as it
slips on the customer’s foot. He should experience the satisfaction of
the purchaser, who mentally notes that he has just spent, perhaps a
considerable part of a week’s pay, in a good cause and with no regrets.
He cannot serve the customer and hope steadily to get satisfactory
results unless he can transplant himself into the customer’s frame of
mind. He should be able to consider himself sitting in the chair, he
should look at the shapes and colors submitted, through the eyes of the
customer, and he should feel the shoe on his own foot as he adjusts it
to the customer’s. Pure imagination, of course, but how else can he
successfully work along in the sale with his customer—how else can he
hope to work in harmony?
Most customers have a mind of their own and can make a decision when
they feel assured that they have the shoe best suited to their
requirements. It is recognized by merchants that the customer is more
dependent upon the ability of the shoe salesman to supply the goods
needed than he is upon any other salesman from whom he makes purchases.
The shoe salesman who really lives up to his responsibility is a
_consulting expert_ to whom the customer comes for suggestion and
advice, in the same way that the doctor is an expert to whom the patient
comes for help.
The salesman’s responsibility therefore is to think _with_ and not
wholly _for_ the customer.
CHILDREN
Already the fact has been mentioned that there is great variety in human
nature. Although each nature or disposition is slightly different in
some respect from every other disposition, as one blade of grass is
different from another, still it is reasonably possible to make some
broad classifications for the purpose of considering their points of
difference.
The first great distinction among people is that between young and old.
“Men are simply boys grown up,” we say. But the experienced salesman
knows that what will be satisfactory in the nature of service for the
young boy will not do for the “old boy.”
Most youngsters, especially boys, do not like to be sent to the grocery
store on small errands to get supplies of food for the dinner table. On
the other hand, there is generally a change of attitude when the boy
learns that the errand is to a grocer’s where he knows some good-natured
soul will take the trouble and special interest to hand out, perhaps a
cracker to make him happy on the way home. To use a homely illustration:
A butcher in New York city built up a following among all the children
in the neighborhood because he showed a fatherly interest, and at the
same time handed out pieces of bologna to the youngsters, whenever they
came in to buy. He may have handed out a pound or two in the course of a
day; but some of the young boys have since become old boys and are still
trading at the old stand.
Success in serving children, whether it be food or shoes, is in showing
a genuine interest in them and in pleasing them. The salesman need not
take time off to explain the operations of the store or department, but
he will find his time not lost in spending a moment to inquire kindly on
some minor point concerning the child and perhaps to learn its name. The
child is pleased, and except in most unusual cases the mother is too.
With children the matter of proper fit should be foremost. In addition
to the fact that the foot is continually growing, it is soft and easily
moulded. An incorrect fit under these conditions should be carefully
guarded against. The matters of wearing quality, price and style should
be of secondary importance to fitting properly. If the parent seems to
be unaware of the full importance of correct fitting the salesman can
generally win a good customer by taking the necessary time to explain.
TALKATIVE PEOPLE
Something has already been said concerning the salesman’s attitude
toward the talkative customer. It is safe to assume that nothing
definite in the nature of a sale will result by encouraging such people
to talk. Knowing practically nothing about shoes, the natural result is
that if they are encouraged to go on the conversation must drift from
the subject of shoes. This means that the sale is then less of a reality
than it was when the customer first sat down in the chair.
A one-sided “conversation” cannot long continue. The salesman should
take part in it only as long as it has some bearing on his special
mission—that of selling shoes. As it continues beyond that point he
should offer no further encouragement to go on, but should wait with
consideration until there is a pause, and then continue from where he
left off with the selling talk.
Oftentimes there will be suggestions made in the course of the
conversation that may later be used in an effort to encourage further
purchases. For example, some reference may be made to the purchase of an
evening gown. At the proper time this will open up an opportunity to
suggest a pair of silk slippers or a satin pump. However, it is well to
complete the first sale before offering suggestions concerning
additional purchases.
PRACTICAL
Certain people there are of very practical nature who have in mind a
definite notion of the goods they want and who do not take kindly to
open suggestions on the part of the salesman. They will be recognized by
their firm, business-like walk, decisive movements and steady,
well-controlled voice. Such a person will be reached best by direct and
frank statements of facts. If the salesman speaks with an air of
authority this customer will invariably listen and be influenced in his
decision accordingly, although he may not be willing to admit it.
The practical person will quickly express the feeling if unsatisfied
with a shoe and may resent any direct effort to influence his judgment.
Under the circumstances it will generally be found best to show another
style at once. The practical person is not by any means always right in
his decision, but the effort to correct an error of judgment, if there
should be one, must be made indirectly, in order that the customer may
come to a conclusion through his own reasoning on the basis of facts
given him.
With this type of customer it is unnecessary to mention or call
attention to points that may be observed by a careful examination. The
practical person, as a rule, will notice them. However, some important
point about the quality or kind of leather, the lining or outer sole,
will be well received. Elaborate styles will generally not be
acceptable. Quality and fit on the basis of price will be the deciding
factors.
SILENT
The fact has already been mentioned that the silent salesman causes the
customer to be ill at ease. More so, perhaps, is the silent customer
difficult to handle and the cause of embarrassment to the inexperienced
salesman. The natural thing among people is for them to talk enough so
that their thoughts on a subject may be known. Perhaps the best plan in
serving customers who will not express an opinion is to take it for
granted that they agree with everything being told them and finally to
assume that they are satisfied and ready to make the purchase. To close
the sale some definite suggestion, such as, “In wearing these you will
find the cushion pad of special comfort,” followed by the motion of
preparing to write the ticket, will either close the sale or else cause
the customer to express definitely any opinions or preferences he may
have.
UNPLEASANT OR GROUCHY
F. W. Small, shoe buyer and department manager for the Gilchrist
Company, Boston, has this to say concerning the customer who is
unreasonable in his demands for attention and service: “The grouchy,
irritable customer is best served by the salesman who assumes a jovial,
apparently unperturbed, light-hearted manner. However, he should always
be attentive and courteous, for oftentimes these people are not as bad
as they seem. Difficult circumstances, such as ill health and the like,
have probably been responsible for their unfortunate manner rather than
any wish or desire of their own. If the salesman loses his control and
becomes indifferent or uncivil such customers become offended as much or
even more so than the average person. On the other hand, if the salesman
appears pleased and happy while serving them, although they may not show
it at the time, it is invariably a fact that they are encouraged and
benefited by having come in contact with an opposite disposition, which
they must surely admire. Such a salesman will be singled out by them for
all later business, because of a feeling they have that he understands
them and their needs better than anyone else.”
It is not an easy matter by any means to accept with a smile continually
unpleasant people, but it is good-paying business for the salesman. He
can best understand them perhaps by considering them as mental invalids
in need of some extra measure of consideration and service. As Mr. Small
points out, they are not as bad as they may seem, and will remember
every effort to please sometimes longer than will the cheerful customer.
ELDERLY PERSON OR INVALID
It is hardly necessary to say anything concerning the salesman’s
responsibility in serving elderly people and invalids. Almost as if by
instinct a man or woman realizes that such people are entitled to an
added measure of kindness and respect. It is only necessary to remember
that whatever may be the peculiarities of disposition, these things have
almost without exception been brought about by circumstances and
conditions that the individual could not control. Nothing less than the
standard by which the salesman would serve his own mother or father
should be the measure of his effort to please and serve well.
There are times, of course, when it may seem that an elderly person
should be able to think more quickly or to make a decision with less
fuss. Perhaps two or three other sales might have been made in less time
and with less effort, but who would think of measuring service with a
yardstick under these circumstances.
ABSENT-MINDED
Absent-minded people are often met with by the salesman, and might be
considered as an annoyance unless they are properly understood. Almost
everybody who ever tried to write a joke has taken the absent-minded
college professor as a subject at some time or other. The yarn of the
old professor who, coming in out of the rain, put his umbrella to bed
and stood in the bath tub, proved him to be absent-minded—but he was no
fool. While the rest of the world very systematically put their
umbrellas where they properly belonged and went comfortably to bed, he
was probably thinking five years ahead of the rank and file. This is not
an argument in favor of increasing the number of absent-minded people.
They are not all college professors and they may not all be deep
thinkers, but they do deserve to be treated with every possible
consideration on the part of the salesman.
In some stores, where the business is large enough to warrant it, the
management has found it to be good business to have salesmen of special
ability to serve elderly customers and invalids. This requires a fine
degree of salesmanship on the part of the man who is able to tune
himself up to such customers and to understand how they should be best
served. It is an art worth while cultivating.