SHOWING MORE GOODS
In a great majority of cases it is possible to close the sale after having shown the first or second pair of shoes, provided the sale is properly taken in hand by the salesman. The difficult case, however, is when the customer, after having looked over several styles, will make some such remark as “I’ll call again—I didn’t intend to buy today, anyway.” The easiest thing for the salesman to do under these circumstances is to reply, “Very well,” and to consider the matter closed. But that is not salesmanship.
Many times when the customer makes such a suggestion it means that he is dissatisfied with the service he has received—either he has lost confidence in the salesman or he has been misjudged concerning the style of shoe he should have been shown. When once he has left the store without having been satisfied it means that it will be doubly hard to get him to return. He has the feeling that the salesman, and hence the store, has not been able to serve him, and in all likelihood he will go elsewhere to look for the goods he needs.
The time for the salesman to “nail” the sale is when he has his customer face to face before him. Although when he made the statement that he would return, the customer may have had every intention of doing so, he is inclined to go elsewhere, almost unconsciously, because he has in mind his need for the shoes and the fact that he has not yet bought them. Therefore he is attracted to the next store he passes—and the sale is lost. Very often the second store is no better equipped and stocked to give him service than the first. The difference is that he is shown more goods. The salesman’s cue when the customer says “I’ll be back” is to get into action at once, and to let him realize that there are more styles to be shown and that it is a pleasure to show them.
Even though the customer should say, “Never mind about showing me any more shoes today,” the salesman should not consider that his efforts have failed. What he needs to do is to build up again the confidence of his customer. A positive suggestion, such as “It’s no trouble at all—I believe I know now just the style you have in mind,” will reassure the customer and cause him to wait while the salesman goes to get another style. Quick action and an air of assurance will do more than anything else to win the customer under such circumstances.
Someone has written a short rhyme that tells a long story about showing the goods. These verses may not represent Shakespearian excellence from the standpoint of English literature, but they do represent the height of good sense from the standpoint of successful merchandising.