Retail Shoe Salesmanship

by George F. Hamilton; Frank Butterworth; H. T. Conner; A. H. Geuting

KEEPING UP STEAM

The manager in one of the big stores in the West recently made the statement that the way he and his men keep themselves up to snuff in their enthusiasm and selling effort is to begin each morning as though it were the first morning on the job, with as many new things to learn and to do that day as there were on the first day. To keep up steam means that the man should take an inventory of himself to see what progress he has made or how much better a salesman he is today than he was a week ago or a month or a year ago. If he had a good book last week he should use that as a mark to shoot at this week, rather than as a reason why he can afford to let up on his effort for a few days. Yesterday’s record is past and so he should forget it except in so far as it may serve as a stimulus to fresh effort.

In speaking of “books,” many successful retail shoe buyers and managers look upon these records of daily sales as bugbears threatening the true spirit of the shoe salesman’s service. No satisfactory substitute has as yet been found for the sales book, and so the average store management has to accept the situation and make the best of it. It is true that the mere fact of a book being kept has an influence on the salesman which, if not carefully guarded against, will result in his giving each customer a short measure of service. If the mind of the clerk is on his book primarily it does not make for the best attention to the fine points of service. It is a delicate question. The successful salesman gives no particular thought to his book but rather devotes one hundred per cent of himself to serving his customers; letting the book take care of itself. Such salesmen, as a matter of fact, do not need to worry about their books—they are certain to be successful. It is recommended to all shoe salesmen that they devote the fullest attention to service; knowing full well that perfection in service will certainly produce satisfied customers and increasing books.

To repeat, there is no standing still; we are either going ahead or moving backward, and the only sure way to prevent back-sliding is to make each day count for something more than the one that preceded. This is a matter of keeping up steam.

The position of the salesman should be somewhere between the buyer and the seller. He owes it to the customer to serve his best interest; to do everything possible to give him every advantage in the bargain. On the other hand, the salesman is the representative of the house that employs him and he is certainly expected to back it up at every turn.

The salesman who takes his job seriously, and such a man is the only one who makes anything out of his job, recognizes this responsibility at once. At first there might seem to be a gap between both sides of the bargain that would make the salesman’s double loyalty impossible. But high class business methods of the day have brought closely together these two interests. There is a mutual understanding that only as they are both well served can there be permanent satisfaction. The house cannot give service if it conducts its business at a loss and the customer will not be pleased and will not continue his business unless he gets full value in what he buys. When taken in this light the salesman’s responsibility as the connecting link between the seller and the buyer is one of double service, and incidentally there is a double advantage. A well-served customer means a steady customer and that in turn means more business and bigger earnings for the salesman and the store.

No business organization would be so foolish as to hold itself out as being perfect. It is operated by human beings rather than by machines, and that implies there are always bound to be some mistakes. The best the house can do is to make every effort to reduce mistakes to a minimum. In quality of goods and in quality of service there is the possibility of an occasional slip-up, and right here the salesman is called in to show his loyalty and enthusiasm in the face of what might develop to be the loss of profitable business. The weak or unsteady man is bowled over in the face of opposition but the strong man is made better and stronger by it. Every reasonable customer is willing to accept an explanation of the true facts, and is glad to know that he has not purposely been taken advantage of.

Have faith in the goods and the house, recognize the possibility of error and go out of your way to set the customer right when the “kick” is registered.