INTERRUPTIONS
There are times when it is impossible to avoid interruptions while a customer is being served. A polite apology is the least that can be given, but this does not overcome the handicap that has been caused, and also the feeling that only part service and divided attention is being given.
Bear in mind that to the customer the salesman represents the store, and that if the service given is not what it should be the natural tendency is for the customer to go elsewhere. Quality alone will not sell goods. Someone has expressed the fact in this way: “An expert selling force could, if necessary, sell inferior merchandise, but a sales force without the spirit of true service would bring on failure regardless of a high standard of merchandise.”
Interruptions are often due to the fact that the salesman’s work is not properly organized. He may have passed along the preceding order without the proper instructions, or he may set it aside with the intention of completing it later, and as a result may be holding up the work of someone else. In consequence it becomes necessary, perhaps, that he be interrupted when serving the next customer and thus his effectiveness as a first-class salesman is reduced. The remedy is to organize the sale from the time the customer is approached until the charge is entered and the goods are passed along for delivery. Get the whole transaction completed and out of the way so that the next customer may have undivided attention.