CUSTOMER CONCENTRATION
Another way of expressing the idea of customer concentration is just this: Give the customer, while you are serving him, one hundred per cent of your attention, interest, thought and knowledge of the business. Any measure less than that means there will be a loss somewhere and the wise salesman will make sure it is not his loss.
One of the retailers with a long chain of successful stores, in speaking of this, brought out the distinction between classes of salespeople in this way:
“Salespersons may be divided into two classes: those who simply wait upon the customers and those who sell and produce business. The members of the first class perform their work like machines; they sell goods asked for by customers and their chief thought is to get rid of the customer as quickly as possible, and, perhaps, to get all the money from him they can. They have no suggestions to make and no advice to give. They know little more about the goods than the price.
“The other class of salespersons take an interest in their customers to make them satisfied with the service given. They firmly believe that a sale is not complete unless satisfaction on the part of the customer accompanies it. They firmly believe in the goods they are offering and they communicate this confidence to their customers. They know that a satisfied customer is a walking advertisement for their store.”
The salesman should bear in mind that the customer is not a shoe expert, that the person of average means does not buy a pair more than two or three times a year, and that he actually needs helpful advice and suggestions. By learning, first of all, just what it is the customer has in mind to buy, the salesman, with his knowledge of the stock and of the business, is well able to offer a genuine service. An important point is well brought out above, that a customer, rightly served, is a living advertisement, not alone for the store but also for the man who serves him.