Every man in business today should realize the important fact that his work, no matter what the nature of it may be, is not a cut and dried process or method to be accepted and worked upon as handed down by those who preceded him. Rather, it is a responsibility and an opportunity. He should, of course, take advantage of the experience of those who have preceded him in the work, but that should be to him simply the starting point from which he may begin to develop his own ideas and improvements. When a man gets into the habit of regarding his work as an opportunity rather than a task he naturally takes a personal responsibility in developing himself and improving the quality of his work. Whatever he does will have behind it a purpose. The man will work with his eyes open to opportunities for improvement. This does not mean, however, that he will take the attitude of criticizing or fault finding, but rather the attitude of working with his fellow workers and the management for the good of all concerned.
Too often we learn of the man of ability, who because of his modesty, hesitates to make known his ideas for improvements. He perhaps has the feeling that he is not able to contribute anything that his boss does not already know, and may never come to the point of making his ideas known. In doing this, he is of course working against his own best interests and those of the business. He should get himself into the habit of airing his views on anything that has to do with the interests of the business. He should get into the habit of talking with those in authority. His first suggestion, perhaps, may not be entirely workable but he will at least have the satisfaction of knowing why, and he will be the better informed in working out his second and third suggestions. All this calls for the putting forth of some extra effort and the use of brains, but it spells the difference between the man who is able to shoulder responsibility and the one who simply follows instructions. The difference is well worth the extra effort to the man who has the faith in himself to plan definitely his success.
THE SALESMAN AS A CONSULTING EXPERT
The twentieth century is an age of specialists—men who are experts in a particular branch of important work. The time was when a man was classified as a doctor; now he is a specialist in cases having to do with the treatment of the eye, the throat, the stomach, the feet or more than a dozen other of the specialized branches into which the profession is today divided. The lawyer also is a specialist. He may be an expert in real estate law, insurance law, trade mark law, or admiralty law, but he is a specialist or expert in some one particular subject and he is in demand because he is recognized as an authority by people desiring information and advice in his particular field.
In the same way the shoe salesman should aim to make himself an expert in his field of work. He should know the subjects of correct fitting, the processes of manufacture and the special advantages of each from the standpoint of the customer, the materials used and their particular points of merit—all these things and more he should know intimately because they have a very direct bearing upon the quality and success of his selling work. When the shoe salesman places his work upon such a level that the customer may consult him for advice and suggestion concerning style, service and fit he will then find himself in the same demand and of like importance to experts in other fields of business life. The opportunity is open. Only now are the people beginning to realize the possibilities of genuine service and advice to be had in the way of correct fitting and suggestion concerning styles and qualities. The salesman who is willing to meet the demand by preparing to establish himself in his work as a consulting expert is assured of a future limited in the degree of success by nothing but the standard he sets for himself.
CONCLUSION
Accomplishment in business or in any other field of endeavor is to a large extent a state of mind. It requires first of all that the man shall have a strong, healthy determination to succeed and confidence in his ability to do so. It requires also that he shall be willing to supply himself with the necessary tools to build success, in the same way that the shoemaker provides himself with the necessary tools to make a pair of shoes.
The Training Course for Retail Shoe Salesmen is the salesman’s kit of tools with which he may build for himself success in his work. But he must learn to use the tools. In other words, he must first read the Course and secondly he must make it a part of his daily selling work to apply the principles. The suggestions made are practical and workable. They are taken from the experience of men who have succeeded and therefore they are not simply opinions but proven facts.
A man’s development is not something to be completed in a day or a week. It is a gradual process of growth. The reader will do well to refer back to this volume from time to time for the purpose of refreshing his memory on the different matters bearing upon shoe salesmanship and self development. In this way he will be in a position to determine the extent of his progress along the lines suggested and, what is still more important, he will be encouraged to renew his efforts in the knowledge of his definite progress already made toward the greater success that awaits him.
THE·PLIMPTON·PRESS