Retail Shoe Salesmanship

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

CHAPTER VII
DIFFERENT TYPES OF CUSTOMERS

VARIETY AMONG PEOPLE

Just as there are no two people exactly alike in physical appearance, just as there are no two sunsets, trees or no two blades of grass exactly alike, there are no two people of like personality and mental development. Variety is a law of nature. One of the greatest wonders of all creation is that such a range of variety is possible year after year and century after century, without duplication. Glancing at a field of daisies or a bouquet of violets the first impression might be that they are all alike, but we find, of course, that each one is different in the length of its stem, the size of its petals and color shadings. As the saying goes, “Variety is the spice of life.” It is variety that prevents life from becoming monotonous, by presenting things of everyday life in changed forms and relationships. Among people the variety of nature and disposition is the one thing that sets the art of salesmanship apart from monotonous, machine-like operations and establishes it as an occupation calling for brains and skill.

Someone may say, “How I wish all customers were like Mrs. Brown or Mrs. Smith, who always know what they want, who buy without any fuss and are out of the store again in less time than another customer takes to decide on the color or style!” That sounds as though it might be an ideal condition except for the fact that it would put selling on a plane of service with that offered by the slot machine. The salesman would become a mere human shoe-handling machine. The sale to Mrs. Brown is a pleasure to the salesman simply because it is one of a variety; all of which have been different in some respects and most of them calling for a higher degree of personal salesmanship. There are some manufacturing companies today that have built up such a steady demand for their goods that the salesman supplying the retailer is often required simply to look over the dealer’s shelves to see what is needed to make up the complete stock, make out his order for the required goods and have it signed by the retailer. Fine business for the wholesaler and the dealer! But the salesman runs the risk of becoming a mere stock-keeper; and his pay is regulated accordingly.

HUMAN NATURE

An understanding of human nature is of especial importance to people who sell. Every shoe salesman has recognized the fact that there is among customers a variety of personality or dispositions. One person is continually in a hurry; another person, although he may have just as much to do, is never rushed. One person is happy as a matter of habit; another will appear to be weighted with the cares of the world—and so it goes, each one contributing to build up variety in human nature.

The study of human nature is known also as character reading and as psychology. The purpose of this study is to bring about a clearer understanding of the laws governing the operation of the human mind. There is a relationship between a person’s disposition and his physical appearance as shown by the features of his face, the shape of his head and such like. The science of analyzing these signs is known as character reading or character analysis. People who make a special study of these things are sometimes able to show remarkable results in reading and understanding people at first sight. Everybody acquires the habit, more or less, of “sizing-up” a person who is met for the first time. To the salesman the ability to do this is a special advantage in that it enables him at once to understand a customer and to govern his effort to sell accordingly.

Without knowing anything about the details of character reading as they relate to a study of the proportions and relationship of a person’s nose, chin, mouth, and so forth, most of us learn to understand people simply through the impression they make upon us as we meet them. A person’s general manner of approach, the expression and tone of voice, come to mean a great deal to us in an effort to understand those with whom we come in contact. A broad suggestion on this point is that the salesman should confine at least his first effort at reading human nature to that of taking a genuine interest in each customer. He should base his effort to serve upon personal impressions rather than upon any attempt at analyzing the customer according to a series of rules. Only after having made a special study of psychology or character reading would he be in a position to get results from these sources. Without belittling any of these things it is safe to say that a goodly share of success in all retail selling is based upon the policy of considering each customer, first of all as a fellow human being, and of backing this up with a genuine effort to serve him well.

TUNING-UP TO THE CUSTOMER

Everyone has had the experience at some time or other of listening to amateur musicians who attempted to produce in harmony without first having tuned-up to the proper key. Although their efforts and interest may have been every bit as sincere, although the motions may have been the same and notes of music the same as those played by an artist, the effect produced could be nothing but discord, and the more persistent the effort to continue the more displeasing would be the result. The position of the salesman in relation to the customer is precisely the same. Unless he is, at the outset, able to understand something of the nature of the customer and the manner in which each one should be treated, there will surely result a lack of harmony that will end in killing the sale.