The investigation also showed that 32 percent of the pillows in use by these families had been slept on for over 25 years. This may indicate that over 25 million pillows in the United States have been similarly used beyond the state of true comfort-giving usefulness. Twenty-seven percent of the bed springs were found to be more than 16 years old.
YOU MUST KNOW YOUR MERCHANDISE
The first step then in becoming an able salesman of sleeping equipment is to learn everything that you can about the mattresses, pillows, springs, studio couches, and sofa beds sold in your store. Because the consumer usually is not well informed, the salesman should know everything about the merchandise which he recommends.
Only after he knows his merchandise, its component parts, the quality of its manufacture, its life expectancy, resiliency, and its other characteristics in use, can he become a successful salesman capable of handling quality merchandise, rather than an order taker who is able to move only "bargain" promotions.
In the following pages you will find much general information about the various types of sleeping equipment. In a field, however, where each manufacturer is stressing individual and patented constructions and units, no one bulletin can provide all the information you need. You must continuously study the literature provided by the manufacturers of the goods on your floor. Furthermore, never lose an opportunity to talk to manufacturers' salesmen. They are specialists and can give you detailed information which will enable you to explain the qualities of their merchandise.
SELL THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD REST
You should also know something about the physiology of sleep. Talk to your store's physician, if there is one, or to your family doctor. The medical profession has in recent years discovered a great many new facts about sleep and it will help you to sell quality bedding to know them.
You should not try to pose as a medical authority, but you certainly should be able to discuss intelligently the effects of sleep on the mind and body, the need for proper rest, and the general results of insomnia. If your store has a book department, read the various volumes on rest and relaxation. Recent books of this type include You Can Sleep Well, by Edmund Jacobson, M. D., and Sleep, by Ray Giles.
As you learn more about sleep equipment, you will discover that the major improvements in bedding date back only a comparatively few years and that many of your customers do not appreciate how much scientific research and manufacturing care go into the production of the springs and mattresses which are now on your floor.
These and the other interesting facts that you will learn in your reading and conversation with manufacturers' salesmen will convince you that in sleeping equipment you are selling one of the most important items of merchandise the average family ever selects. It is now possible for you to conduct the bedding sale so that you impress on the customer (1) the importance of the purchase and (2) that she should buy the equipment that will give the sleeper the most comfortable rest.