In selling home furnishings avoid questions which will force the buyer to make definite commitments in advance as to her tastes or the amount of money she is prepared to spend. In the first place, it is probable that if she had fixed ideas on these subjects she would have told you exactly what she wanted at once. If you force her by direct questions to make a statement, she may feel impelled to abide by it later; you thereby have placed yourself and your stock under an unnecessary handicap.
In the second place you run the risk of annoying her, since few women welcome a direct question at the beginning of a sales interview as to how much they are prepared to spend. Finally, such questions may be so clumsy and amateurish in technique as to under-mine a customer's confidence in your ability. Your questions at the outset should be directed toward determining her needs. If such questions are skillfully put, she will welcome them as evidence that you are trying to help her buy economically and intelligently.
THE ALL-IMPORTANT INTERVIEW
Upon leaving the elevator take your customer directly to an easy chair which you know to be good-looking and comfortable, conservative both in design and coloring, and neither your cheapest nor your most costly quality. By choosing a conservative rather than an extreme style you run no risk of impairing her confidence in your taste and judgment, and by picking a piece in the middle price range you run no risk of offending her if she is in the market for a costly chair, or of alarming her if she is a buyer for a cheap chair. Moreover, you are in the safe position of being able to shift ground in either direction without loss of prestige. Don't ask her how she likes this chair, and don't make any flattering comments on it. Merely say, in effect: "I don't know how close this particular chair comes to what you have in mind; but at least it is attractive and comfortable. If you care to sit down in it for a moment, and to tell me a little about your requirements, or about your room, perhaps I can save you the time and trouble of looking at a great number of unsuitable pieces. Is the chair for your living room?" If the answer is "Yes," proceed: "Then it will of course have to fit in with your other things in that room."
At this point you may wish to draw up a small table and lay the living-room floor plan[1] on it with the first page so placed that the customer can easily see it. Then draw up a chair for yourself. It is important to move with a poise and assurance which will cause the buyer to know you are following the usual procedure. By the time you are seated she will likely have read enough of the first page to be interested and awaiting your next move.
OPENING THE INTERVIEW
In many simple sales it will be unnecessary to ask many questions, or to enter the answers on the plan. Since you cannot know this at the start of the interview, however, it is usually wise to show the plan, even if you make no actual use of it. The effect of this procedure catches interest, places the transaction on a more professional basis, and helps create confidence in yourself and your store as skillful and competent advisers in the selection of furniture.
