Retail Shoe Salesmanship

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

SELLING P.M. GOODS

PURPOSE OF THE P.M.

Among retail merchants there has in the past been a great deal of discussion concerning the advantages and disadvantages of the system of offering the salesman special premiums for the sale of certain of the goods in stock. Probably every shoe salesman knows that P.M. is an abbreviation for the term Premium Merchandise, Premium Money, or, as it is sometimes known to the salesman, “pin money.” It represents a special commission offered the salesman for the sale of certain specified goods.

In every store there is some of the stock that calls for extra effort and skill on the part of the salesman in disposing of it. The goods may be slow-selling lines, discontinued or broken styles, extreme sizes and widths, or in some instances the premium may be placed on certain grades of higher priced goods. Whatever the reason may be in the individual case, the premium is offered as an incentive to the salesman to put forth extra effort to move the P.M. stock. From the standpoint of good merchandising it is important for the retailer to turn over his stock as quickly and as often as possible for the reason, as already mentioned, that the profit is made only when the goods are sold and that capital tied up in dead stock is wasteful.

By keeping a daily record of sales according to sizes and styles, the manager is able to tell at a glance just which goods are moving and which are the “shelf-warmers.” Some stores, when it is found that a shoe has not moved within thirty or sixty days, immediately make inquiries to determine the reason. If it is found that there have been objections to the shoe, expressed by the customer, and if the management decides that these will permanently interfere with sales, the goods are at once classed as P.M.’s and arrangements are made to dispose of them promptly. The truth is that the longer goods of this kind remain in stock the more difficult it will be finally to get rid of them.

ADVANTAGES

In favor of the premium system may be mentioned the fact that it is an effective means of keeping the shelves clean, at all times, of dead stock. To the house it means a smaller profit on the sale as a result of the extra commission paid the salesman, but this is more than overbalanced by the fact that goods are being steadily kept moving and that there would result an even greater loss if they were allowed to remain in stock indefinitely.

The particular advantage to the salesman is that he is encouraged to sell goods that require on his part a higher degree of salesmanship than that called for in selling the popular lines. Then, of course, there is the evident advantage he has to increase his earnings to the extent of the premium.

DISADVANTAGES

It is not to be expected that the P.M. system has all advantages in its favor, and none of the disadvantages to offset them. Indeed, there are many retailers today who are very strongly opposed to the premium system and who will not introduce it into their own organizations, on the ground that it works against the best interests of the customer. The opposition is based on the claim that the tendency to earn the reward is so great on the part of the salesman that there is the likelihood that the customer will be prevailed upon to buy goods that are not best suited to his needs. In other words, the inexperienced salesman will have foremost in his mind the fact that a certain shoe bears a P.M., and in order to earn this for himself he will adopt the short-sighted policy of selling the shoe to the customer, even though he may know it to be the one not best suited.

If the salesman should allow himself to be influenced in this way in order to earn a small commission, it is certainly true that the premium system would be a failure. It would be a great deal better to have the dead stock on the shelves than to allow the customers to be badly served. The result would be to lose the customer, and this, of course, would be fatal to the business if the system were allowed to continue. It is from “repeat” business that the store makes its soundest profits, and it is also from “repeat” business that the salesman establishes himself as a big sales producer. He cannot afford to allow a small temporary gain in the form of a premium to stand in the way of his future development and success as a salesman.

SALESMAN’S ATTITUDE TOWARD P.M.’S

Mr. Willson of Rice & Hutchins makes the following suggestions concerning the salesman’s proper attitude toward premium goods:

In his service to the customer, the successful salesman will consider first, the customer’s interests; second, the firm’s; and finally, his own. This is the basis of true service.

As we serve, so shall we profit.

Service and not self is the basis on which the success of present-day business is built. The salesman who has set a high standard for himself will use P.M.’s in the proper way—as an incentive to learn the stock and to improve the quality of his own work. The broadest minds in the retail merchandising field will tell you that the most capable salesman will sell, first, the goods that have been in stock the longest, discontinued or broken styles and the higher grades of merchandise—whenever these goods will properly serve to satisfy the purchaser.

The P.M. system is intended as a means of stimulating the salesman’s ability to serve and to satisfy the customer. If you, as a salesman, do not plan for the steady improvement of your work day by day, you will fail, whether you are working on the P.M. system or any other system.

When properly understood by the salesman, the premium plan encourages better service, better business, better salesmen, bigger profits for the store and bigger earnings for the salesman.