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.