DON’T CONCENTRATE ON ONE VARIETY
Unless the salesman watches himself carefully he may run into the habit of showing and of using his selling effort on those styles only that appeal to his special preference. There is the danger for him to regard as a second choice the styles that do not appeal to him especially. The young man, fresh out of school or college, would like to clothe every customer in sport models, whereas the middle-aged conservative salesman would have the natural tendency to favor the plain conservative styles. However, neither of these two men would have best results if they allowed their personal preferences to have full sway in the selection of styles.
Each customer has his own likes and dislikes on the subject of footwear styles, just as he has his preferences among moving picture stars or candidates for public office. One man is of the opinion that his choice of candidate has all the desirable qualities, whereas the opponent has none of them. But he will sometimes learn after election day that the majority of voters saw things in a different light; that although each voter examined the same two or three candidates he saw qualities in them that the man standing alongside could not see. The salesman will see one shoe that represents to him a perfect style, but the customer may have an entirely different opinion. It is the customer’s preference that must be considered.
The whole range of footwear styles is created in order that the customer may find in the selection something to meet his particular preference. The conservative, middle-aged salesman, although he may not care for the sport models, recognizes that it is the customer who is to be pleased, and therefore he will put in the background any individual preferences. He will not concentrate his efforts on any certain few styles but will make selection to meet the tastes of his customers.
Many stores have certain short-profit lines or leaders for the purpose of attracting trade to the store. There are two ways in which the sale of these goods may be considered by the salesman. The first is that the leader gives the opening for an easy sale, that it requires no great effort on the part of the salesman, and that the thing to do is to follow the path of least resistance and hand out the goods called for without further ceremony. The way in which the sale of these goods should be considered is that they serve to bring the customer into the store and give the salesman an opportunity to meet him and to show the line. This does not mean that the leader is something to be held up before the customer so that he may grab at it and miss. It does mean, however, that the shoe called for by the customer may not be as desirable for him as some other in the stock. The salesman is given a real opportunity to get goods before his customer’s eyes, and he should take advantage of it. Although the customer may have asked for and may have been shown an eight-dollar shoe it is very often the fact that a ten or twelve-dollar shoe with more style and better wearing quality, if properly shown, will please him more.
Although a shoe may be a short-profit line the salesman’s obligation to give the customer full satisfaction is just as great as it is in selling the best shoe in the house. The leader, as suggested, is designed to attract the new customer so that he may become acquainted with the salesman and the store. If he is given poor fit or poor store service it means that his further business is lost and that the advantage of the leader has been wasted.