Retail Shoe Salesmanship

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

Later in the Course will be taken up the comparative importance of different kinds of leather, the advantages of one over the other, a study of cloth fabrics that go into shoes and the “why and wherefore” of each of them, a discussion of rubber, fibre and a dozen other materials that have important parts to play in their own special ways. To have a knowledge of the goods means to have an understanding of how shoes should be fitted, of how they are made, an understanding of styles and how they are originated and introduced. The shoe salesman who is in business for a future must know these things and he will get results in proportion as he learns these facts. They will all be fully treated in following sections of the Course but are mentioned here to show how closely they tie-up to the salesman’s everyday work in serving his customers.

The best salesmen are those who know most about their product and their business and no one can be permanently successful without such a knowledge.

STYLES

One of the powerful forces to stimulate the customer’s desire to buy is the wish to have something out of the ordinary in appearance. This is another variation of the demand for variety that has been mentioned before. To give the customer what is wanted in footwear variety calls for the steady changing of styles season after season.

A thorough understanding of conditions of fashion demand that good taste must be represented in footwear styles. Occasionally there will be a demand for freak styles that do not meet the generally accepted idea of good taste and common sense, but these constitute the exception. The shoe business of the country is conducted on sound principles. It requires foresight to anticipate the wishes of the public and to have styles ready to supply when the demand is made. A high degree of good judgment and common sense is needed. For instance, a manufacturer, in making up his lines of women’s shoes for a coming season, must take into account the colors of dress goods that will be popular at that time, in order that he may be in a position to harmonize the leather or cloth in the shoe with the costume. He must take into consideration the length of the skirts to be worn and plan his styles accordingly. The weaves and qualities of shoe fabrics must be considered, and so on all along the line. All this must be planned in advance in order that the salesman may have on his shelves the goods that are wanted and when they are wanted.

Styles are a necessary feature to the success of a shoe business, but unless they are properly understood by the shoe salesman they may act with a “back kick,” like a rifle in the hands of an amateur. The true facts are clearly brought out in an article that appeared recently in a booklet for the salespeople of a progressive mercantile company:

Merchandise that has its value based on style loses its value as the season advances and something else is produced to take its place. Seasonal merchandise must be sold during the period in which it was intended to serve its purpose.

Sales on style merchandise are not only justified but essential. The price of this character of goods is based on the newness of style, and merchandise loses its value when this feature is eliminated.

Sales are a necessity to keep a stock clear of all odds and ends. To allow goods to remain in stock beyond the period during which they should have been sold is only creating losses in the end. No one serves the firm better than the salesman who always makes special efforts to have stocks clean.

From this it is clear that for the salesman to give the best service, both to the customer and the house he represents, it is essential that he have a thorough working knowledge of his stock. The fact is often overlooked that it is from the last pairs of shoes in a line that the proprietor gets his profit. If these are not sold they become dead stock and their value decreases the longer they continue to lie on the shelves.