Retail Shoe Salesmanship

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

Frank Butterworth, store sales manager for the Regal Shoe Company, makes some practical suggestions concerning adjustments:

Our policy, like that of other progressive retailers, is that “the customer is always right.” We have confidence that the average American wants to play fair. For that reason we make it a general custom to let the customer adjust his own complaint. Experience has shown that our idea of what is a reasonable amount to be allowed on a claim is often lower than the customer’s estimate. On the other hand there are just as many cases where the actual cost of settling a claim is less when the adjustment is left to the customer. After making settlement of the claim our policy is always to resell the worn shoes to the customer. We believe that even in their unsatisfactory condition, they are worth more to the customer than to anyone else and that it is to the advantage of the customer, ourselves and the whole shoe industry to get all the use possible out of every foot of leather that goes into shoes.

CO-OPERATION

TEAM WORK

Co-operation is a matter of pulling together so as to produce the best results for everyone concerned. It requires that everyone in the organization shall work as a unit for the common good of the customer, the store and each person in the store. A salesman cannot hope for results by trying to work independently of his fellow workers, the office, the management and the whole store system.

A most important feature of co-operation is that called for in cases where it is necessary to turn over a customer to some other salesman to complete the sale. It is a valuable salesman who realizes, even before the customer himself, that there is a lack of interest or confidence on the part of the customer. There are times when he should be turned over from one salesman to another. When the customer first shows any restlessness and is not just satisfied with this, that or the other style that has been shown him the salesman has his first cue. He should not wait until he has shown the entire stock of merchandise. He owes it to his team partner to leave something for him to work with.

The transferring of a customer to another salesman does not necessarily mean that the second man is more capable than the first. If the sale is completed by the turnover man it may mean simply that his manner of approach and selling talk is more to the liking of that particular customer. People have special preferences for different styles of clothes or kinds of reading. Even the best of salesmen will have their occasional difficulties due simply to the fact that their personalities or methods of selling do not harmonize with the views and preferences of the customer. As a general rule the salesman who turns business to his team partner will often find that there are just as many instances when his partner will find it necessary to do likewise. For this reason the question is not so much one of salesmanship as it is of giving the customer the kind of service that pleases him most and that secures his business.

The salesman would not be doing himself full justice if he did not make a special effort to determine for his own good whether there had been any part of his selling effort that was weak and that may have been responsible for the customer’s lack of confidence. Perhaps he had misjudged what was wanted in the matter of style or quality or perhaps he had not been positive enough in his efforts. He may have been only lukewarm with the customer who needed to be assisted in making a decision or he may have been too insistent with the man who preferred to do his own deciding. It is well for the salesman to learn these things at the time so that he will be in a position to profit by the experience and steadily improve the quality of his work. A few minutes spent in going over the circumstances with the salesman who completed the sale will be found to be well worth the time and effort from the standpoint of better business made possible through the ability to understand and serve all classes of customers.

PULLING TOGETHER WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS

The management of the store or department may provide for team work among the salesmen but it is for the men themselves to determine the degree of success they are to have in working together. No man can be a genuine success who cannot pull together with the men around him. Friction among the men and women who make up a business organization is like friction between parts making up a machine. It results in wearing out the parts that are not working properly and it retards the work of the whole machine. Any man in the organization who tries to work alone and in disregard of the other parts of the business machine is bound to cause friction, and as a result of this he will wear himself out and limit the advancement to which he would otherwise be entitled.