THE ALL-IMPORTANT INTERVIEW
Upon leaving the elevator take your customer directly to an easy chair which you know to be good-looking and comfortable, conservative both in design and coloring, and neither your cheapest nor your most costly quality. By choosing a conservative rather than an extreme style you run no risk of impairing her confidence in your taste and judgment, and by picking a piece in the middle price range you run no risk of offending her if she is in the market for a costly chair, or of alarming her if she is a buyer for a cheap chair. Moreover, you are in the safe position of being able to shift ground in either direction without loss of prestige. Don't ask her how she likes this chair, and don't make any flattering comments on it. Merely say, in effect: "I don't know how close this particular chair comes to what you have in mind; but at least it is attractive and comfortable. If you care to sit down in it for a moment, and to tell me a little about your requirements, or about your room, perhaps I can save you the time and trouble of looking at a great number of unsuitable pieces. Is the chair for your living room?" If the answer is "Yes," proceed: "Then it will of course have to fit in with your other things in that room."
At this point you may wish to draw up a small table and lay the living-room floor plan[1] on it with the first page so placed that the customer can easily see it. Then draw up a chair for yourself. It is important to move with a poise and assurance which will cause the buyer to know you are following the usual procedure. By the time you are seated she will likely have read enough of the first page to be interested and awaiting your next move.
OPENING THE INTERVIEW
In many simple sales it will be unnecessary to ask many questions, or to enter the answers on the plan. Since you cannot know this at the start of the interview, however, it is usually wise to show the plan, even if you make no actual use of it. The effect of this procedure catches interest, places the transaction on a more professional basis, and helps create confidence in yourself and your store as skillful and competent advisers in the selection of furniture.
Figure 4.—Room arrangement plan
Note to salesperson.—If you do not have a floor plan and have not seen the room in question, take blank paper and pencil. Block in window and door openings and location of "other" furniture. Then proceed as suggested, recommending nothing that will not enhance the attractiveness of the room for its particular use. Always date your sketch; place upon it the name of your customer, and file for later reference.
If you decide to use the plan, spread it on the table, and say, in effect: "This device helps us to serve our patrons who are interested in buying furniture that will add to the comfort and beauty of their homes. In your own case, for example, we have scores of chairs that are good looking and that are good values. Yet, if you were to look at all of them you would undoubtedly find that some are too large or too small and that the great majority will not harmonize perfectly in design, style, or coloring with the other things in your own particular room. By using this device you can give me a clear picture of your room as you want it to look. Then I can show you only such pieces as promise to meet your requirements, and you in turn may select the one chair that seems most suitable. Do you have a guest chair in mind, or one for the special use of a member of the family? If for a member of the family, the sex, size, and individual preference must be taken into account; if for guests, the general decorative character of the room only.
"The new chair will be seen against the background of the walls and the floor coverings, and as a part of the group to which it belongs. Hence, we must be sure it will harmonize with these other elements. Your rug, for example, is——?" Enter important information which is given on the floor plan under the heading "Floor covering." Information needed includes the type of rug (which may give you an idea of the buyer's price level); coloring; and type of design (which will indicate to you the characteristic features of the new chair necessary to insure harmony). Then proceed in the same way with the walls, woodwork, draperies, and principal upholstery fabrics.
If by this time your customer shows signs of impatience, you may wish to say in effect that you can show her several chairs that will fill the requirements admirably. Then go to work.
UTILIZING THE CUSTOMER'S ANSWERS
If, on the other hand, the buyer clearly is interested, ask for the size of her room and for the description and location of her other furniture, and block in the information on the floor plan, using the method shown in the typical floor plan, page [21]. Here the best procedure is to start from the point of intersection of the 2 heavy lines, or axes, and count in 4 directions, using the scale of ¼-inch square for each foot. For example, if the room is 16 × 24 feet, count 12 squares from the center in both directions to locate the end walls, and 8 squares in both directions to locate the side walls. When this information is recorded you will get an idea as to the correct size and proper location for the new chair. Be sure to locate windows and doors accurately and indicate the exposure of the room with reference to the compass points.
These preliminaries when completed will give a clear picture of the room, a fair idea of your customer's price range, and a good start toward her confidence. Thank her and introduce yourself simply by saying, "I am Mr. Smith. If you are pleased by what I have shown you today, I shall hope to see you again as other living-room needs arise. May I fill in your name and address, so that this plan may be filed for use when you are next in the store?"
USE JUDGMENT IN SHOWING MERCHANDISE
You must be guided by your best judgment. If you have reason to think the customer has confidence in you, show first the particular chair that you honestly believe is best for her purpose, introducing it with a brief, pointed, and purely impersonal comment on its beauty, style, and peculiar fitness for her own purpose. Don't use superlatives. She may not like this piece well enough to buy it immediately, in which case you will be seriously handicapped in trying to interest her in another one. If, on the contrary, you do not feel assured of her complete confidence, probably it will be wiser to show your second or third best piece first, holding the best in reserve.
As soon as you detect signs of real interest in a chair, build up a little group based on the principles of harmony which are stated and illustrated in unit VII, page [142]. In some cases a small table will be enough; but usually it will be better to use a larger table, a lamp, and often a small rug and a length or two of drapery fabrics, if you stock them. The purpose of this procedure is to help the customer see your chair as an integral part of her own room and to emphasize its desirability as a means of making that room more attractive. If she already has the pieces necessary to form a complete group when the chair is added, select pieces as nearly like her own as possible. If not, select pieces that harmonize perfectly with the chair. Don't tell her that she ought to have these pieces. Merely show them without comment, and defer any attempt to sell anything more than an easy chair until after the chair has been sold.