STUDYING THE CUSTOMER
H. B. Scates, shoe buyer and division manager for William Filene’s Sons Company, Boston, mentions an incident that brings out clearly the basis of service and the relationship that should exist in the mind of the salesman in his selling effort. Mr. Scates, in a series of talks, had been speaking to some of the salespeople on the advisability of studying and understanding the customer so as to establish a better working basis of service. After one of these talks had been completed one of the young ladies spoke to Mr. Scates, explaining that there were a number of things she did not understand and asked if he could explain them in direct relation to her everyday work. This gave him the cue as to where he had been wrong and he sat down with this girl and had the following conversation with her:
“Your married sister buys her children’s shoes from you, doesn’t she?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“How do you go about to sell her?”
“Well, of course, I know about what kind of shoes she wants, how much she can afford to spend, and after I find out just what she wants the shoes for, dress or everyday wear, I show her the kinds we have that she ought to buy.”
“What do you mean by the kind she ought to buy,” he then asked.
“Well, you know we have some kinds of dress shoes that are perishable and really not economical, and we have some everyday shoes that will wear longer than others, and I always tell her about these things and advise her how to get the most for her money.”
“Now,” he said, “you have told me how to be a good salesperson, instead of having me tell you. And I will carry the idea a little further for you. In case of your sister, you tell the truth about the merchandise, you show a genuine interest, you take real pleasure in handling and fitting the youngster because she is your little niece, and you have given them 100 per cent of real service and the benefit of all you know about shoes and our particular stock.
“Treat every customer with the same interest as you would your own intimate friends, and you can’t lose.”
There is a big thought expressed in what Mr. Scates has said. The matter of studying the customer is not a cold, calculating process but one of human friendliness. The effort to please that a person makes in serving an intimate friend is not forced and unnatural, but a genuine, whole-hearted desire to be of assistance. To that extent each customer should be considered by the salesman as an intimate friend and should be served accordingly.
In selling to a steady customer there is a special advantage in that the salesman knows the man he is serving, his preferences and also something of his price limitations. With the new customer a very good indication is in the person’s appearance, although there are exceptions to this rule, as will be pointed out. The man or woman who is simply and neatly dressed will probably not be interested in the extremes of style. A fair indication may be had also from the quality of the clothes and especially the quality of the shoe that is being worn. It is safe in many instances to show something of slightly better quality on the assumption that the customer is not wearing the best he has, or perhaps, that he is more prosperous now than he was when he made the last purchase. At any rate, it is better to come down on the quality of shoe offered than to have the customer request that he be shown something better.
A customer, man or woman, dressed in the extreme of style will almost invariably expect to be served with footwear of the same general nature. Such a person will require a change of style from that last purchased or from the one he or she is wearing. Any attempt to fix a general rule on this point would be difficult, except to suggest offering the extreme styles with some variation of appearance as compared with the shoe being worn.