Retail Shoe Salesmanship

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

IN A HURRY

Certain customers there are who are required at times to make purchases in a hurry. When a man has ten minutes to use in buying a pair of shoes, and is on his way to catch the limited train from New York to Chicago that leaves twenty minutes later, he is in a hurry. It is safe to say, too, that he needs the shoes pretty badly. There is nothing the salesman can do under these conditions that will please the customer so much as to cut through all the red tape, get right down to business and get the customer started on his way again before the ten minutes are up. Excitement would not do it. This would result in the salesman being unable to think clearly and it would mean also that the customer in excitement would probably take whatever was offered—and repent later. Someone has said that what the salesman needs under these conditions is to be “cool-headed and hot-footed.”

However, when a customer, especially a man, it not actually in a hurry it is promptness and dispatch that he wants rather than “pushing.” The distinction between these was clearly brought out in a recent article:

All men like promptness and dispatch, but few of them want to be hurried. It is important to keep in mind the difference between hurrying the customer and waiting on him with speed.

Quick, nervous movements or speech on the salesman’s part do not indicate quick service; they only confuse or annoy the customer. The salesman who puts the least extra motions in his work, the fewest words and the keenest attention, is the one who will serve quickly and best.

Help the man to make his choice without seeming to be patronizing; try to anticipate his course of thought without interrupting him. When he steps up in front of you act able to hurry, but do not suggest hurrying. This is the safe way because, while men do not like to waste time, few of them, except on special occasions like catching a train or keeping an appointment, are in such a hurry that they want to be shot through the selling process as though they were getting into a lifeboat.

Reflect confidence in your ability to save the customer’s time rather than the ability to speed him out of the department.

“ONLY LOOKING”

There are a few women who take keen enjoyment in a form of indoor amusement known as “shopping.” This may be nothing more than a desire to use what would otherwise be a dull morning by attending a variety show of merchandise. Such a woman may pass from one department of a store to another trying on pretty clothes in each one, and with no thought to buy.

After some experience on the floor the salesman soon learns to distinguish between the customer who comes for business and the “looker” who has come to be entertained at the expense of the salesman’s time and effort while other customers are waiting to be served. On learning that there is no possibility of making a sale, it is for the salesman to suggest, perhaps, that he has shown the principal range of styles and that if there is nothing satisfactory among them the lady might call later and find what she is looking for. The salesman should, of course, offer the usual courtesy extended to customers and should make no intimation of the fact that he does not care to spend further time showing goods. Skillful salesmanship has often been accountable for sales in those cases where there had originally been no intention to buy. Rather than run the risk of missing a sale it is much better for the salesman to continue his effort for a while even after he has become convinced that a purchase is not even being considered. The idle “looker” today may later be ready and able to buy. Therefore whatever goods are shown should be shown to advantage in order that they may make the most favorable impression.