y% f-\rjrv A Try f* Tp Y T T'R. T /*"n RETAIL SELLING NORTON 1 s. s. A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING BY HELEN RICH NORTON H FORMERLY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, PRINCE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION FOR STORE SERVICE, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS GINN AND COMPANY BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO LONDON ATLANTA DALLAS COLUMBUS SAN FRANCISCO* V COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY HELEN RICH NORTON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED n GINN AND COMPANY PRO- PRIETORS BOSTON U.S.A. PREFACE As life is sustained by industry, and industry is bound up with the operations of trade, the distribution of commodities is a widely comprehensive subject embracing in its scope such great divisions as art, science, manufacture, language, mathematics, history, commerce, ethics, economics, psychol- ogy, and sociology. The far-reaching educational possibilities of a course in retail selling are limited only by the resources of the teacher and the pupils ; and a treatment of the sub- ject from the commercial standpoint exclusively would be as narrow and one-sided as a presentation of its ethical or psychological aspects alone. It is hoped that this book the outgrowth of eight years' experience in teaching classes in salesmanship will be interesting and profitable to students of this subject in both schools and stores. The author has endeavored to make clear her own conviction that selling is a desirable means of earning a livelihood, by showing that it brings both eco- nomic and personal satisfaction ; that it offers opportunities for education in matters of broad and vital interest; and that it unquestionably affords a field for needed service. If by giving to those for whom it is written a better under- standing of the requirements of their work, and by develop- ing a professional spirit toward it, the book helps them to do this work with greater zest ; and if it also enables them to interpret the lessons of industry in a way that will enrich both life and labor, its purpose will have been fulfilled. In the preparation of the manuscript the author has had the benefit of most helpful advice and criticism from V 414876 vi A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING Mrs. Lucinda W. Prince, the far-sighted leader of the type of education of which this book is a modest exponent, and the director of the Prince School of Education for Store Service. The author has been privileged to work under Mrs. Prince's guidance in this school, and she feels that any degree of suc- cess which she may have attained in her own teaching is due in large measure to the vision, insight, and direction of this gifted educator, to whom grateful acknowledgment is now made. The thanks of the author are also due to Miss Bernice M. Cannon, Educational Director, William Eilene's Sons Company, for her careful reading of the proof ; to Miss Lucille Eaton Hill, formerly director of physical education at Wellesley College, for the points in correct sitting and standing positions ; to Mrs. Ethel P. Thore for help with the section on the display of merchandise; and to Miss Elizabeth Harris for assistance with the Index. For their courtesy in permitting the use of material for illustrations, acknowledgment is made to the following : The Emporium, San Francisco ; L. S. Ayres and Company, Indianapolis ; The Halle Brothers Company, Cleveland ; Best and Company, and Rogers, Peet Company, New York ; R. II . White Company, William Filene's Sons Company, Shreve, Crump and Low Company, Carbone Incorporated, the Prince School of Education for Store Service, and the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, Boston. Appreciation is also expressed to the individuals and pub- lishers who permitted quotations from their works and to many friends, fellow-workers, and former pupils for valuable suggestions and for many of the anecdotes used in illustra- tion. The author is further indebted to her mother, whose reading of the manuscript resulted in needed corrections. BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS FOREWORD TO HIGH-SCHOOL TEACHERS This book aims to set forth the leading principles of the topics given as chapter headings and to suggest, through questions and assignments, the development and expansion of different aspects of retail selling. It does not attempt an exhaustive treatment of any phase of the subject. It is believed that pupils of high-school standing will be able to answer all the questions either by looking into their own experience or by a reasonable amount of investigation under the direction of a qualified teacher. The purpose of the book will be in nowise deflected if the chapters are not studied in the order given, but it is recom- mended that Chapters VI, VII, and VIII be taken in order because they represent three logical steps in the development of a sale. It is urged that high-school courses in retail selling be conducted in cooperation with local stores, making it pos- sible for high-school pupils to gain practical experience at least on Saturdays. One period each week should be devoted to class discussion of this laboratory work, as it may be termed, and a written report of the weekly store experi- ence should be required. This report is of value as a means of stimulating observation and of increasing the permanency of impressions, and it also provides a subject of undoubted interest and vitality for written composition. viii A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING A card catalogue of pupils' store work, with a card for each day of employment, is convenient for reference and tabulation. The following form is suggested : NAME DATK. STORE KIND OF WORK DEPT. IF SELLING, NO. OF SALES... TOTAL AMOUNT OF SALES._. WAGES REMARKS.- The face of the card may be rilled out by the pupil, the back being reserved for the teacher's estimate and for the report of the floor manager or the superintendent. In order that the teacher may be fully cognizant of the systems, policies, and conditions of the stores in which his pupils work, he should, if possible, obtain actual experience as a worker in each of the cooperating stores. The study of store system should occupy one period each week. Sales books of the various cooperating stores may usually be obtained for this exercise ; but if this seems to be impracticable, a sales check embodying the leading points in the systems of all stores may be printed for use in the class- room. In connection with the study of system a good deal of drill in arithmetic, especially addition and fractions, has been found advisable. FOREWORD ix The demonstration sale may be employed with good effect in high-school classes. Merchandise borrowed from stores, collected from the pupils, or lent by the Household Arts Department of the school provides the necessary equipment. A teacher, a pupil, or an interested outsider may serve as customer. For a full explanation of the purpose of the demonstration sale and the method of conducting it as a class exercise at the Prince School of Education for Store Service (where it originated), the teacher is referred to Bulletin No. 9, 1917, "Department-Store Education," published by the United States Bureau of Education and obtainable for fifteen cents from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. Collections of illustrative material are extremely helpful and should be started as soon as a course in retail selling is established. The aid of pupils should be enlisted in the assembling of specimens, exhibits, pictures, pamphlets, clip- pings, and advertisements of interest in the study of merchan- dise and retail selling. Trade journals will be found of great value in furnishing subjects for special topics and class discussions. If it is possible to secure an appropriation for periodicals, those deemed most useful should be taken regularly. Reference books, trade journals, and advertising matter, together with first-hand acquaintance with local stores, will constitute the chief sources of information for merchan- dise studies. One article or line of merchandise should be presented in detail each term as a special topic. Careful attention should be given to both form and content of these studies. In the Appendix are given lists of books and trade journals which the author has found helpful in the teaching of retail x A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING selling and related subjects. The few references to general literature are merely suggestive of a method of interesting pupils in good reading through the vocational application. The subject of salesmanship, with its wide range of in- terests, presents endless possibilities as a means of develop- ing an appreciation of literature. All experiences, anecdotes, and advertisements cited in the text are absolutely authentic unless there is specific indication to the contrary. In organizing a cooperative plan with local stores and as a guide in determining what should be included in the course of study, the high-school teacher of retail selling will find invaluable Bulletin No. 22, " Retail Selling," by Lucinda W. Prince, issued in Commercial Education Series No. i by the Federal Board of Vocational Education, Washington, D.C. This bulletin treats comprehensively all phases of the subject from the standpoint of the author's experience in establishing retail selling as a high-school course in the Boston schools. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. STORES AND STOREKEEPING i II. THE SALES CHECK AND OTHER FORMS 19 III. APPEARANCE AND DEPORTMENT OF SALESPEOPLE . . 38 IV. DIRECTING CUSTOMERS 53 V. THE MERCHANDISE : ITS CARE, ARRANGEMENT, AND DISPLAY . . .... 61 VI. APPROACHING CUSTOMERS AND STARTING SALES . . 86 VII. SELLING POINTS AND THEIR PRESENTATION .... 100 VIII. CONCLUDING SALES 128 IX. SUGGESTION AND SUBSTITUTION 144 X. EXCHANGES .... 158 XI. SERVICE 172 XII. CUSTOMERS 187 XIII. USE OF RESOURCES 204 XIV. ADVERTISING ' . 218 XV. STORE ORGANIZATION 247 APPENDIX SUBJECTS FOR THEMES AND SPECIAL TOPICS ..... 265 BOOKS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 267 GENERAL REFERENCES 268 FRENCH TERMS SALESPEOPLE SHOULD KNOW 272 INDEX -277 XI A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING - v: ''" CHAPTER I STORES AND STOREKEEPING The old policy. Within a century the business of store- keeping has undergone marked changes, no departure from the earlier practice being more important or more noticeable than the present tendency to absolute honesty in buying and selling. For more than half of the nineteenth century fixed prices were unknown. Bargaining was a universal custom. Goods were marked with two sets of letters : one gave the cost of an article to the merchant ; the other, the lowest price for which the article might be sold. As neither set of signs was intelligible to the customer, he was at the mercy of a shrewd salesman whose success, in the estima- tion of his employer, was in proportion to his unscrupulous- ness. The "asking" price always an excessive sum which few would be so foolish as to pay and the "taking" price that which would be ultimately accepted, if necessary were often widely separated, so much so that time was wasted and distrust engendered while a price which neither party to the transaction considered robbery was agreed upon. As a matter of course every salesman tried to wring from 2 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING the customer a sum as near the "asking" price as pos- sible. Sometimes the difference between the amount finally obtained and the "taking" price was conferred upon the astute salesman as a bonus, a practice which naturally encouraged extortion. .The most able salesman, according to the standard ;of those days, was the one who gave the least possible value in return for the customer's money. Tne worth" of ' honesty as a controlling policy was appar- ently utterly disregarded. A man was justified in making any statement, no matter how false, that would sell the goods. There is an old story of a customer who desired to purchase an India shawl like one worn by a prominent social leader. The clerk showed her one at $400. It was contemptu- ously pushed aside as too cheap. This being the costliest one in the place, the man behind the counter was non- plused, but only for a moment ! Whisking it up and disappearing behind a pile of prints, he returned with the same shawl, priced at $1000, and promptly completed the sale. 1 This is probably not an exaggerated instance of the busi- ness methods of sixty years ago. Some merchants employed men called "barkers," whose dutyjt was to force people inside who had no intention of entering the store. Once within, it was made difficult, if not impossible, for them to escape without a purchase. With- out compunction salespeople worked off, on the ignorant and ingenuous, old or imperfect merchandise at the price of desirable new goods, such tactics being accounted greatly to their credit. That some merchants were, however, inclined 1 From the " Golden Book of the Wanamaker Stores." STORES AND STOREKEEPING 3 toward honest methods even in those times is shown by the concluding paragraph of an advertisement which appeared in the New York Tribune in June, 1849 : B - and C- - trust that an inspection of the above [merchandise] and of their entire stock will prove advan- tageous to those wishing the best stock at the lowest prices. An examination will not imply the slightest obligation to purchase, and every article will be truthfully represented^ Higher prices in the old days. Merchandise cost more in those earlier days than it does now (except when war, catas- trophe, or some other abnormal event greatly lowers the purchasing power of a dollar), one reason being that much of it was imported. A merchant wrote thus concerning the period 1818-1832 : Nearly all dry goods were imported ; our calicoes or prints came in square hair trunks, containing fifty pieces each ; very few goods came in boxes they were either in trunks or in bales. We had a few domestic cottons, but they were all woven by hand. Power looms were not introduced until a few years later. Our common cottons were all from India, and called India "hum-hums"; they had very strange names such as Bafturs, Gurros, etc. . . . Our cloths and cassimeres were all imported. Large quantities of silks from 1 It is interesting to compare with this a notice which recently appeared in the several departments of a well-known Eastern store. A parallel idea is more fully and forcibly expressed in these words : Looking incurs no obligation to buy. Many customers are afraid of hurting a salesperson's feelings and hence take something they do not want and often do not keep. We much prefer that our customers say " I will not purchase to-day " than buy because the salesperson has been courteous and attentive. Don't be afraid to say " No ! " 4 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING France and Italy, and beautiful crepes and satins for ladies' wear, were brought from India and China. 1 The higher prices of the past century are also partly accounted for by the fact that manufacturing was then less well developed than now ; the volume of business was much smaller ; trade was more seasonal ; fashions changed less fre- quently ; competition was less keen ; in general, the quality of goods was better. Another contributing cause of great importance was the organization of trade. In its passage from the producer to the consumer merchandise was handled by many agencies commonly known as " middlemen," and the percentage which each agent received for his services inevitably increased the cost of the goods to the merchant. To a great extent middlemen's profits are now eliminated by the direct dealing of retailers with manufacturers. Some firms further cheapen production by manufacturing certain lines of goods for themselves, in this way combining manufacturing and retailing in one business. Working conditions. Conditions of employment have changed greatly in a hundred years. All work in mercan- tile establishments was done exclusively by men and boys until about 1855, when women were first given employment in stores. Public opinion promptly rose against this inno- vation, for the entrance of women into the realm of business was considered both undignified and improper. It is said that an attempt was made to boycott the store of a certain Maine merchant who was the first in the town of Saco to take the opprobrious step of hiring female help. He is said 1 This quotation and the one on the. next page are from " William E. Dodge : The Christian Merchant," by Carlos Martyn. Copyright by Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York. STORES AND STOREKEEPING 5 to have defended himself by stating his belief that " woman is the natural equal of man, and that if given the same opportunity and training she will prove his equal in all the walks of life in which physical strength and endurance are not the only requisites for a successful career." Boys usually began a mercantile career when very young by serving a period of apprenticeship, during which time they were paid little or nothing, although they worked hard for considerably more than an eight-hour day at every con- ceivable kind of job. Mr. William E. Dodge, a successful New York merchant of the nineteenth century, described his experiences when a lad of thirteen, just entering the business world, as follows : I had to go every morning to Vandewater Street for the keys, as my employers must have them in case of fire in the night. There was much ambition among the young men as to who should have his store opened first, and I used to be up soon after light, walk to Vandewater Street, and then to the store very early. It had to be sprinkled with water, which I brought the evening before from the old pump at the corner of Peck Slip and Pearl Street, then carefully swept and dusted. Then came sprinkling the sidewalk and street, and sweeping to the center a heap for the dirt cart to remove. This done, one of the older clerks would come, and I would be permitted to go home for breakfast. In winter the wood was to be carried and piled in the cellar, fires were to be made, and lamps trimmed. Custom, competition, changed conditions and standards of living, and, perhaps most influential of all, an altered point of view resulting in needed labor legislation, have made the lot of the young worker incomparably easier, safer, pleasanter, and more remunerative than it was even a generation ago. 6 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING Evolution of the department store. What was the fore- runner of the modern department store ? Some writers assert that it was the natural outgrowth of the "one-line'' specialty house, it being manifest that several lines brought together under one roof could be operated more cheaply than single lines in separate stores. Others, and they are in the majority, trace its origin to the general, or crossroads, store of rural districts. The village store has been often ridi- culed for its motley assortment of wares, tea and shoe strings, gingham and schoolbooks, sugar and pencils, side by side, many unrelated articles assembled in a room or two. Yet a department store is an elaborate development of the idea and principle of the country store and occupies in the community a position of usefulness and convenience very like that of its modest progenitor. Mr. Edward A. Filene of Boston explains the evolution of the department store as follows : l The small general store was one of the first ways of as- sembling goods that were generally wanted but which were made at a distance, the purpose being to make it easier for people to come to a central place to select what they wanted. The department store was a later evolution. Why should it have come at all when the country store had the stock and the advantage of being in the field long ahead of the depart- ment store ? The chief reason is that the country store, be- ing a small store, dealt with a limited patronage. It could buy only in small quantities, and the cost of the articles it sold was largely increased by an unnecessary number of mid- dlemen between the producer and itself. The country store bought of a local jobber or near-by city jobber, who usually 1 From a lecture delivered before the Filene Cooperative Association, June, 1916. STORES AND STOREKEEPING 9 bought of a big jobber, who in turn bought of the manufac- turer's agent; so that four steps were involved from the manufacturer to the country store. Moreover, because it was possible to get goods in very small quantities, . . . the number of small stores was excessive and the variety and amount of stock in each such store not big. This small-store method of distribution, with its excessive number of stores and limitations on its stock, was expensive and allowed the coming of the department store, a more . successful method of doing business. For the department store makes possible the buying or producing of goods in large quantities and tends more and more to eliminate the middleman. It is aided by the fact that it can sell goods in larger quantities ; its publicity is larger and more easily accomplished, coming in part from its location and the size of the building the store occupies. . . . The percentage of expense allowed for publicity in big stores permits of pages and double pages in the newspapers and forces the name upon the attention of people, while the same percentage allowed by the small stores gives them only a small adver- tisement which is often lost among the very extensive advertisements of the big stores. 1 Pioneer department stores. The Bon Marche in Paris, established by M. Aristide Boucicaut in 1863 (but not departmentalized until 1869), is generally conceded to have been the first department store in the world. There appears to exist some doubt as to the first store in the United States to be established on department-store lines. This distinction is conferred by many upon the A. T. Stewart store (now 1 Mr. Filene has since declared that " even with all of these advantages in retail distribution through the department store, there is too large an increase in the price of goods from producer to consumer. Unless we study to eliminate some of these expenses, other types of stores, like the chain stores, perhaps, will largely supersede the department store." 10 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING occupied by John Wanamaker) of New York City. In 1862 Mr. Stewart, a native Irishman, who had been a merchant in New York since 1823, built a store in which he conducted a very successful business on a scale large for the times. The limit of the building was set at six stories because that was thought to be the greatest height compatible with safety. Other well-known department stores established about this time or a few years later were the Jordan Marsh Company of Boston, R. H. Macy and Company of New York, John Wanamaker of Philadelphia, and Marshall Field and Company of Chicago. Influence of the Centennial Exposition. Mr. Wanamaker, the founder of the business which bears his name, considers that the Centennial Exposition, held in Philadelphia in 1876, was an important factor in the development of the depart- ment-store enterprise. On this point he has said : The Centennial Exposition of 1876 was, in my judgment, the moving cause of a departure toward general business by single ownership. The rising tide of popular desire to as- semble under one roof articles used in every home and with freedom to purchase was a constant suggestion in 1876. And again : The Centennial Exhibition . . . opened a new vision to the people of the United States. It was the corner stone upon which manufacturers everywhere rebuilt their businesses to new fabrics, new fashions and more courageous undertakings by reason of the lessons taught them from the exhibits of the nations of the world. The continuing outgrowth of that exhibition has revolutionized the methods of almost every class of mercantile business in the United States. 1 1 " Corporations and Public Welfare," in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. XV, Supplement, May, 1900. STORES AND STOREKEEPING II The mail-order house.. Two other types of stores, the mail-order house and the chain store, are of great interest to the student of retail trade because of their unique organ- ization and also because in the lines which they carry they are formidable competitors of department stores. The mail- order house, as its name implies, deals with its customers by mail. It buys in large quantities, carries staple goods, and, to a great extent, requires cash payments. Its trade is not affected by the weather. Many of the large expenses and risks of the regular retail stores are eliminated. No wonder the mail-order house flourishes with the added ad- vantages, gained in recent years, of rural free delivery and of the cheaper shipping rates of the parcel-post system. 1 Chain stores. The expression " chain stores " or " chain systems " relates to a series of stores operating under one management in many different centers. These stores spe- cialize for the most part on one line of merchandise or on a few lines, though in some cases notably the five-and-ten- cent stores specialization is more a matter of price than of merchandise. Quantity-buying is an important factor in the success of this type of business as in the mail-order house. Another reason for its prosperity lies in the fact that the name alone of any well-known chain system be it store, restaurant, or agency has untold advertising value because of its familiarity and because it stands for a definite and well-understood kind of service. The store as a service center. All types of stores exist pri- marily for the financial profit of the owners of the business, 1 For an interesting discussion of the competition of the country store with the mail-order house, see " The Country Store," by Charles Moreau Harger, in the Atlantic Monthly, Vol. XCV, pp. 91-98. 12 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING but certainly a modern department store should not be regarded by the public as merely a money-making institu- tion. It is a helpful, convenient, timesaving center, giving service of many kinds. Under its expansive roof nearly every material need may be satisfied, and expert advice on a variety of subjects may be had for the asking. Customers' needs are anticipated months in advance, and every effort is made to secure the most desirable merchandise, to be available at the right time and to be sold at fair prices. The good values offered by stores to-day, especially in ready-made clothing, frequently cause amazement. People gladly avail themselves of the opportunity to buy clothing which they could not reproduce at the same cost and which often has a style and distinction not easily attained by amateurs. It is the constant endeavor of store managers to make the task of buying commodities as easy, pleasant, convenient, and satisfactory as possible, and in so doing they serve the public in matters of everyday importance. The human opportunity in store work. The attitude of the management toward the hundreds of workers employed in a store is seldom, nowadays, that of the hard taskmaster. Cooperation, rather than compulsion, is the guiding principle in the conduct of a department store, which is in reality a social center, a small world, in which lessons of fundamental importance may be learned. Young people who plan to undertake store work should endeavor to see and to appre- ciate from the first not simply the commercial possibilities in their positions but also the human opportunity so abun- dantly present in their relations with customers and fellow- workers. Nowhere will be found a more fruitful field for the study of human nature ; nowhere will a spirit of helpfulness, STORES AND STOREKEEPING 13 an attitude of gracious dignity, yield more satisfying returns. For a department store is a big economic organization, con- trolled, in the great majority of cases, by men of integrity and high purpose, and ministering in a most vital way to the needs of the people. Three famous American merchants. In closing this chap- ter it is fitting to mention three eminent American mer- chants to whose genius modern retail trade owes some of its most progressive policies. ALEXANDER T. STEWART (1802-1876), to whom refer- ence has already been made, was the foremost merchant of his time in this country. His store was stocked with the best to be had in the lines represented, and anything bought at Stewart's was considered standard and was highly prized. Mr. Stewart's judgment of goods has been characterized as supreme. He was sensitive to fine distinctions in texture, touch, and color ; his taste was excellent ; he knew values. To-day he would be called a good merchandiser. He was ahead of his times in his uncompromising stand on two important principles : 1. To have but one price. 2. To tell the truth regarding everything he sold. Salesmen who attempted to bargain with customers or who made false statements were summarily discharged, although such methods were commonly employed in other stores. Mr. Stewart gave as close personal supervision to the small details of his business as to the large administrative problems. In these days when the proprietor of a store is seldom seen on the floor among his patrons, it is interesting to know that for many years Mr. Stewart made it a rule to greet his cus- tomers personally, inquire their wishes, conduct them to the desired section, and accompany them to the door when they 14 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING left. The policy of giving a 10 per cent discount to clergy- men and school-teachers is said to have been introduced by Mr. Stewart. MARSHALL FIELD (1835-1906) went to Chicago in 1856 and became a salesman in a wholesale dry-goods house. Ten years from that time, when the population of Chicago had increased fivefold, Mr. Field was established in business. Endowed with extraordinary executive ability, sound judg- ment in financial matters, and an imagination which enabled him to anticipate situations, he built up what is said to be the largest retail business in the world. He has been de- scribed as the greatest mercantile genius that ever lived. Early in his career he learned to analyze the causes of failure and to apply scientific methods to the business of buying and selling. It is said that he never owed and never borrowed a dollar and that his immense fortune was acquired without resort to dishonorable business practice. Two of Mr. Field's fundamental principles were the avoidance of debt and a strict safeguarding of credit. His merchandising policy is expressed in the phrase, " Better the quality at the price," a policy which has been developed in part by the establish- ment of factories, both here and abroad, controlled by Mar- shall Field and Company. Mr. Field was a benefactor of many institutions, but he is chiefly remembered as a sover- eign merchant, and the vast store which bears his name is his greatest monument. JOHN WANAMAKER (1837- ). Ever since Mr. Wana- maker established his large store in Philadelphia in 1876 he has been a leading figure in the mercantile world. His business career may be said to have begun in 1861, when he became a partner in the prosecution of a successful clothing business. At this time, when moral standards in business were still on a questionable basis, Mr. Wanamaker took a resolute stand for honest dealing and initiated many STORES AND STOREKEEPING 15 progressive policies which are now widely prevalent. In 1865 he established the fixed-price principle and in the same year promulgated the revolutionizing idea of return of goods and refund of purchase money. In 1896 he instituted the summer Saturday half-holiday. In 1896, also, Mr. Wan- amaker bought the A. T. Stewart business and opened his New York store in the original Stewart building. A complete enumeration of Mr. Wanamaker's reforms and innovations cannot be given here, but there is no doubt that his sound and advanced policies have profoundly influenced the devel- opment of modern business conditions. Once, when asked for a sketch of his life, he replied by telegraph, " Thinking, trying, toiling, and trusting in God is all of my biography." QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Give the exact names of all the department stores in this city. 2. Make a classification of these stores on the basis of grade of merchandise carried ; for example, high, medium, and low-priced. 3. Name a leading specialty shop, or " one-line " house, in this city for the following kinds of merchandise : Rugs and carpets Office supplies Furniture Sporting goods Leather goods Fine laces and embroideries Oriental goods Cutlery Pictures Millinery Glass and china Art embroidery Stationery Books Trunks and bags Music Kitchen goods Waists Gloves Rubber goods Confectionery Shoes Optical goods Men's clothing 4. Compare a department store with a large five-and-ten-cent store. What advantages are offered by the latter ? Name any features which seem undesirable. 1 6 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 5. What kinds of goods are excluded from most department stores ? 6. What advantages besides a saving of time and certain conveniences are enjoyed by patrons of department stores? 7. Give the names and locations of two well-known mail- order houses. 8. Give the names of chain stores dealing in merchandise of the following types : LOtM^J " Five-and-ten-cent goods Drugs OUj Groceries Tea Shoes 9. What do you consider the most distinctive feature of each of the chain stores mentioned ? 10. What is barter? Name any countries in which this custom is still prevalent. 11. In what European countries is the bargaining system still in use ? 12. Report anything you have heard, or know from personal observation, concerning the following famous stores : Marshall Field's, Chicago John Wanamaker's, Philadelphia and New York Selfridge's, London Liberty and Company, London Bon Marche, Paris 13. Before the introduction of modern methods of retailing, it is said that the attitude of merchants was expressed by the Latin words caveat emptor. What is the meaning of these words? Explain their application. 14. Name some lines of merchandise for which the demand is distinctly seasonal. STORES AND STOREKEEPING 17 15. Try to account for the fact that trade was more seasonal (there were more months of dull business) sixty years ago than at the present time. 16. Justify the high prices charged for imported merchandise. 17. Express your views concerning the frequent changes of fashion of to-day. Consider the question from the standpoint of (i) business; (2) economy; (3) ethics. 18. Give three reasons why department-store work, especially selling, is suited to women. 19. Why do you think it was considered unsuitable work for women sixty years ago ? 20. What did the Centennial Exposition celebrate ? Why was it held in Philadelphia ? 21. Explain how, according to Mr. Wanamaker's theory, the Centennial Exposition stimulated business. 22. What other great expositions have been held in this country since 1876 ? What did they celebrate? 23. Give the names of business men who have attained emi- nence in this city. State any striking characteristics which might account for their success. ASSIGNMENTS 1. In your notebook make a tabulated comparison of the country general store and the city department store with which you are most familiar. Give the name and location of the store in each case. If you are not personally acquainted with a typical country store, a suburban dry-goods store may be substituted. The topics listed below should be covered. Add any other topics which may occur to you. a. Size (that is, number of floors) ; approximate area covered b. External appearance Style of architecture Surroundings Entrance 1 8 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING c. Internal appearance Arrangement of merchandise Lighting Heating Orderliness and cleanliness Atmosphere or spirit d. Grade of merchandise carried (Quote a few comparative prices, if possible) e. Competition f. Personal element in transactions Relate incidents illustrative of favors shown or special service rendered, if possible g. Characterize the place in the community which each store fills h. Summarize, giving the advantages and disadvantages, as you see them, of each class of store as A place of employment A place of purchase If possible, illustrate your outline with kodak pictures or with sketches of the exterior and interior of each store. 2. Obtain a mail-order house catalogue, read the introductory matter carefully, and look over the pages describing the merchan- dise. Write a paper comparing the mail-order house with the department store from the customer's standpoint. CHAPTER II THE SALES CHECK AND OTHER FORMS Wherever large numbers of people are involved in any enterprise a more or less elaborate system of record-keeping becomes necessary. Public-school authorities, for example, demand frequent, detailed reports of the deportment, attend- ance, and scholarship of the many pupils in annual school attendance. Librarians make use of a careful card system in keeping track of the books lent to residents. Those who wish to enjoy the privileges of these and other public institu- tions are obliged to conform to certain rules, for a system of some kind is absolutely necessary if order is to prevail. The sales book. Full and accurate records are of particular importance when money is handled. For department stores the methodical sales book has been evolved as the most satis- factory means of recording the essential facts of every sale. To the uninitiated the filling out of a sales check may seem to be useless red tape. Salespeople sometimes rebel against the labor inevitably bound up with its operation, and customers often chafe when subjected to unavoidable delays occasioned by the exactions of the system. It is unfortunate that the function of the sales check as protection to customer, salesperson, and firm is not more generally understood. A brief description of the different parts of the sales book - the familiar symbol of stores both large and small is a necessary preliminary to the explanation of its use. Since 19 20 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING the books used by different stores vary in respect to many details, only a general description will be attempted here. Parts of the sales book. There is first the cover, usually stoutly constructed of cardboard and leather. Inside, held in place by a metal-spring device, is the series of sales checks, or, as the arrangement is sometimes designated, " the book." A sheet called variously a record, tally, or index, on which the amount of each sale is recorded, is inserted somewhere in the cover. The sales must be totaled at the end of the day. A sheet of carbon paper insures two copies of the sales record. If a third copy is required, a double-faced carbon and a set of tissue sheets are provided. In the first case, the sale is said to be made out in duplicate ; in the second,* in triplicate. In some stores three different forms of sales check are in use, according to the kind of sale, whether cash, charge, or C.O.D. Many stores use two forms : one for cash sales and another for charge and C.O.D. sales; while a simple system, and one which is convenient from the standpoint of the salesperson, provides one slip so arranged as to meet the requirements of all sales. Parts of the sales check. The sales check used by depart- ment stores is usually made up of six different parts. These parts are, in general, as follows : ORIGINAL CHECK 1. Shipping ticket : pasted on outside of bundle if purchase is sent ; not used otherwise. 2. Sales ticket : the store's record; filed in auditing office. 3. Cashiers voucher or receipt: record kept by cashier and used in balancing accounts at night; ultimately turned over to auditing office. NAME OF STORE IZ X D37690 NAME I^AA^ ^^^..^.^Ml^L. tJtiteM "EP'T SUES 0. 0*TE EITM PUPS How Sold or m't he'd &_ .O^ SO TOTAL O CASHIER'S VOUCHER IZ ^ SOIB or mOUIIT HEC'O TOTU MOOHT OF SALE //^79 A TYPICAL DEPARTMENT-STORE SALES CHECK A charge-sent sale THE SALES CHECK AND OTHER FORMS 23 DUPLICATE CHECK 1. Duplicate of shipping ticket: if made out, filed in shipping department for reference. 2. Duplicate of sales ticket: wrapped with merchandise purchased. 3. Salesperson's voucher or receipt : salesperson obtains this from cashier after it has been stamped and preserves it the specified length of time. The sales check as protection. It will be seen that every person concerned in a sale of merchandise has something to show for it. The customer finds a receipt in his bundle ; the salesperson and cashier have their vouchers ; if the goods are sent, the shipping department has its record ; and finally, the firm, through the auditing office, receives the details of the transaction and may, at any time, ascertain the true con- dition of the business from the records drawn off from the checks. Thus, in case of a dispute or misunderstanding, it is a relatively simple matter to establish the facts, to place responsibility for errors, and to correct them. The system is so carefully guarded at every point that it is difficult to vio- late. Salespeople are sometimes unmindful of the protection thus afforded, failing to realize that an employee who follows all rules and carries out his part of the system with fidelity to every detail is ordinarily beyond suspicion. Specific facts called for. A study of the sales check of any department store will reveal the fact that certain information is always called for and must be supplied in spaces set apart for the purpose. Some facts are recorded more than once. A typical sales check calls for 1. Salesperson's number (sometimes stamped or perforated). 2. Department number (sometimes stamped or perforated). 3. Number of extra or private packages inclosed. 24 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 4. Amount of money received or, if not a cash purchase, the kind of sale. 5. Total amount of sale. 6. Quantity sold. 7. Name of article sold. 8. Price of article sold. 9. Date. A serial number indicates the special issue or edition of sales checks to which a given check belongs, and another number indicates the place of each check in the series of fifty of which every book is composed. Some checks call for one or more of these additional facts : 1. Total number of pieces sold. 2. Model (or style) number of article sold. 3. Invoice number. In all except cash sales, in which the bundle is delivered to the customer in person at the store (known as " cash delivered " or " cash take " sales), names and addresses must be obtained. Other information, such as suite number or room number, special means of transportation, and the name of the person who made the purchase, may be required in certain cases. The sales check, in its present form, is the product of long and careful study of the needs of large stores. Each space is arranged as it is because of a good reason based on experi- ence. If a question of legality should arise concerning a sales transaction, the sales checks involved might be taken into court as constituting " books of original entry." This in itself is enough to show how extremely important it is that checks be made out accurately and clearly. Aside from the possibility of legal proceedings, careful work on the part THE SALES CHECK AND OTHER FORMS 25 of all who have any connection with the sales checks is necessary to the successful operation of the system. An understanding of the prescribed forms, the reasons back of them, and the correct way to make them out to the smallest detail is most essential. Those who write the checks must write legibly. And finally, a good, well-pointed pencil is the indispensable tool which the good workman will not neglect or overlook. Important rules. Of store rules one of the most rigid is the following : Sales checks must not be altered or erased. If an error is made or a change is necessary, call a floor manager and ask him to make the check void. A new check may then be made out. The reason for this rule is clear. If any except authorized persons were allowed to make changes in the checks after they were made out, no dependence could be placed on the records, and the way would be opened for malprac- tice and abuse of the system. Moreover, hurried erasures and the careless marking over of letters and figures in- crease the difficulties of office workers and often lead to dis- astrous guesswork on their part. Another important rule is that requiring salespeople to read back to the customer the name and address, when they are given. In addition, sales- people are advised, and often required, to show the address as they have written it. In this way the address is veri- fied in two ways by appealing to the customer through the ear and through the eye. The following authentic cases of carelessness, first, in listening, and second, in failure to verify the address, show how necessary it is to take every precaution. 26 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING CORRECT NAME NAME WRITTEN BY SALESPERSON S. H. Eldridge S. H. L. Rich Charles Eastman Charles E. Smith A. A. Cutting A. A. Patten F. A. L. Potter F. A. O'Connor J. J. Bartlett J. J. Barclay S. J. Boylan F. H. Bailey When such errors occur, and they are all too common, the merchandise is held until the difficulty is discovered and corrected. But in the meantime customers become impatient, may refuse to accept the goods when finally delivered, and may even withdraw their accounts if the delay has caused great inconvenience. When a common name like Smith or Brown is given, special care should be taken to get the initials precisely right. There might be many Smiths and Browns among a store's charge customers, and a slight inaccuracy in any one of the names would be likely to give rise to much trouble and delay. In some stores the use of the word " city " as the final word of the address is prohibited because it has been found to cause misunderstanding and confusion. In one case this word was so badly written as to be taken for " California," and in another case it became involved with the figures and was taken for a figure, the amount of the sale being actually increased one dollar thereby. Care should also be taken in the matter of giving the correct name to an article sold. When a customer found the item " i Brush " on his bill the first of the month, he returned the bill for adjustment, asserting that he had not bought a brush. It was found that the item with which he THE SALES CHECK AND OTHER FORMS 27 was charged was a book entitled " The Sagebrush Parson." Under the circumstances an item reading " i Book " would have been far more intelligible to the customer than "i Brush," but the best form would have been " i Book- ' The Sagebrush Parson.' " Here is another striking example from the same depart- ment. An item on a customer's bill read "Groceries, $1.35." She reported to the office that she had never bought gro- ceries at the store in question. The head of the adjustment department looked up the original charge check and found that it read " i puddin', $1.35." He showed the check to the customer, but she insisted that she had purchased no groceries. He then noticed the department number on the check, which was that of the book department. The customer had bought a copy of " Puddin' Head Wilson." Investigations necessary for the adjustment of such matters entail much expense and are a source of great annoyance to customers. Common forms of the sales check. The simplest forms of sales are the following : 1. Cash take, or cash delivered: the customer pays for the merchandise and takes it out of the store with him. 2. Cash sent : the customer pays for the merchandise, but the store delivers it at his home. 3. Charge sent : the merchandise is charged and sent to the customer's home. 4. C. O. D. : like a charge-sent sale except that the customer pays for the merchandise when it is delivered at his home. Certain sales cannot be accepted at the desk until they are authorized by a floor manager. Such sales involve an element of risk, or require special arrangements or an 28 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING assumption of authority not within the province of a sales- person. It may be said in general that any irregular sale must be submitted to the floor manager for authorization. Sales requiring authorization. In most stores the floor manager's signature is required for the following kinds of sales : l 1 . Merchandise charged to one address and sent to another. 2. Merchandise charged and delivered over the counter with- out identification coin. 3. Discount sales to clergymen, dressmakers, institutions, employees of the house, etc. 4. Future (or future-date) sales. Merchandise held by the store until a certain date at the customers request. 5. Part paid C. O.D. Customers sometimes make a deposit on merchandise bought, paying the balance due when the goods are delivered. Some stores require a deposit on all C. O. D. purchases. 6. Allowance of price on damaged or imperfect goods ("As Is"). 7. Even and uneven exchanges, including credit slips. 8. Extra or private packages to be inclosed with a purchase made in the store. 9. Void checks. 10. Price tags removed and sales checks not inclosed with merchandise. 11. Customer's own property or goods. Applies chiefly to repairs. 12. Merchandise worn or taken out of the store without being wrapped. 1 Students should copy these headings into their notebooks, and as they learn the significance of each sale, they should explain in writing why the signature is needed in each case. Concrete examples should be given. The list is by no means exhaustive, but covers the forms commonly met in department stores. THE SALES CHECK AND OTHER FORMS 29 1 3 . Special delivery. 14. Check, money order, express order, or traveler's order given in payment. , 15. C.O.JD. Allow examination. A customer may keep mer- chandise for a specified period, at the expiration of which the driver calls and receives either the merchandise or its cash value. 1 6. Deposit sales. On payment of a deposit merchandise may sometimes be held in the store until a certain date when the customer pays the full amount due. The transfer. One type of sale, known variously as a traveler, transfer, shopping card, or till-book sale, requires special explanation. The term "transfer" will be used here, as that expression seems as logical as any. A transfer is planned with particular reference to two types of sales : 1 . One in which the customer lives at some distance from the city and intends to buy more than one article. 2. One in which the customer, irrespective of residence, intends to buy several articles. These two cases will be clearer if examples are given. A customer comes to a city from a small town thirty miles distant for a day's shopping. As time is limited and there is much to do, it is not practicable to go about from store to store buying one article here and another there. If the goods are satisfactory, the customer will buy as much as possible in one store. A good illustration of the second case is that of a mother who brought with her to a toy department the letters which her five children had written to Santa Claus telling what they wanted for Christmas. This customer bought every one of the twenty articles on the lists, spending nearly two hours in the big department while she made the selection. 30 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING In both of the situations described, it would be to the customer's advantage to use a transfer, because 1. This provides for the assembling of the purchases at a central desk, where they are wrapped securely in one bundle. 2. If it is a cash sale, the total amount due is paid at the end instead of separate payments being made as each section is visited. 3. If the goods are to be sent, they reach the customer's home at one time and all together instead of in separate lots delivered at different times. Thus, convenience and a saving of time are the advantages enjoyed by the user of the transfer. To the store the benefits are the following : 1. A saving of labor and of wrapping materials, since one large bundle is wrapped instead of many small ones. 2. A saving on express charges in the event of sent sales. 3. The tendency on the part of a customer who buys on a transfer to purchase as much as possible in one store instead of going elsewhere for some of her needs. The want, or call, slip. Another form which salespeople should understand and use is the want, or call, slip, to be filled out whenever a customer asks for something which the department or the store is unable to supply. Eventually these slips are turned over to the merchandise manager and the buyer of the department concerned, to whom they indicate the demand for stock which is not car- ried. They may also show that certain lines of goods which had been dropped should be re-ordered. Salespeople who do not understand the significance of this slip sometimes fail to give the needed facts in form sufficiently clear, full, and explicit. Spaces are usually provided for such items as size, color, style, price, and material, and a few lines are left no Ul Q I 1 i ^ ^> > h- z I o X 3 1 THE SALES CHECK AND OTHER FORMS 33 blank for any special description of the article called for or any helpful information given by the customer, such as the fact that the article desired may be bought at some other store at a certain price. "Was the sale lost?" and " Did you substitute ? ". or " What merchandise was substi- tuted," are questions sometimes asked. Some slips provide blanks for the customer's name, address, and telephone number, so that notification may be sent, if desired, when the article is received in stock. Whatever the form, the slip should be filled out as intelligently and completely as pos- sible. Every call should be recorded, even though some may seem unimportant ; and if there are several calls for the same article during the day, either a separate slip should be made out for each one or the number of calls for the article in question should be recorded on a single slip according to directions. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. How should the carbon sheet be placed in relation ts- the edges of a sales check ? Why ? 2. What kind of pencil number, price, and length do you recommend for the writing of sales checks ? 3. Why is it advisable to have at least two pencils ready for use at the beginning of a day of selling ? 4. Describe the proper way to sharpen a pencil. 5. Obtain a tally sheet (or record) from your teacher or from a store, and explain its use fully. 6. In what different forms may the date be written ? What is the most approved form for a sales check ? Why ? 7. Make a set of figures, then criticize your performance from the standpoint of clearness. Give a few minutes' daily practice to the making of any figures which are not perfectly clear. 34 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 8. Explain the importance of recording the suite number of a customer who lives in an apartment house. What should be recorded if a customer is staying at a hotel? Why? 9. In certain departments of some stores the article bought by a customer is placed with the sales check in a cloth bag, in which it is transferred to the examiner's desk. What are the advantages of such an arrangement ? Do you see any disadvan- tages in it ? 10. Why may not a salesperson destroy an imperfect check instead of having it made void by the floor manager ? 11. What errors are likely to be made in sales checks through the carelessness of salespeople ? 12. In repeating the street number, why is it advisable to use the method of the telephone, saying " three-one-six " instead of " three sixteen " ? 13. Write the names and complete addresses of six of your friends. Underline those words or parts of words which are diffi- cult to spell. Inclose in brackets those which might easily be misunderstood. 14. Make a list of names of your city streets which might be confused because of similarity in sound. 15. Make a similar list of suburbs and towns. 16. Study carefully the abbreviations of the na*mes of all the states in the Union, placing in groups those which look most alike. 17. Salespeople are sometimes required to print the capital letters in an address. Try this method with your own address. What advantages has the plan? Are there any disadvantages? 18. What is meant by a model number ? an invoice number ? 19. Suggest* ways in which the use of the word " city " for the name of a place might cause misunderstanding. 20. Outline the probable steps taken in investigating the item " i Brush." 21. Who was chiefly responsible for this needless expenditure of time and effort ? THE SALES CHECK AND OTHER FORMS 35 22. How is the number of pieces estimated in the following ? A man's suit A tool chest containing tools A pair of stockings A pair of shoes A pair of gloves A box of handkerchiefs A nest of blocks A box of envelopes A set of books A set of golf sticks 23. After you have completed a sale, what may you do to prepare your book for the next sale ? 24. Count the number of Smiths listed in the telephone book. Do you find any subscribers of this name having the same, or nearly the same, initials ? 25. Salespeople should stand as erect as possible when making out sales checks. Why is a salesperson at a physical disadvantage when he bends far over his book in order to write on a low counter ? What are any other disadvantages of such a position ? 26. Why is it desirable that the salesperson's line of vision be more nearly on a level with his customer's ? 27. Why should the amount of money received from the customer be "named back" by the salesperson? 28. In ascertaining the kind of sale, which form of inquiry is better : a. " Cash ? " or " Do you wish to pay for this ? " b. " Charge ? " or " Have you an account ? " Give reasons in each case. 29. What is an identification coin ? 30. Why must a salesperson see the coin and copy the number ? 31. What reasons for future-date sales can you suggest ? 32. At what season of the year are future-date sales most likely to occur ? Why ? 33. In the case of sale goods sent C.O.D. a deposit of 25 per cent of the value (part payment) is sometimes required. What is the reason for this ? Some stores require a similar deposit when goods are set aside or reserved. Why ? 36 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 34. Why is the signature of the buyer, as well as that of the floor manager, usually required for allowance of price on goods which are imperfect ? 35. What is meant by an uneven exchange ? Give an example. 36. In most stores salespeople are required to call a floor manager to open a package containing merchandise brought in for credit or exchange. Why should the package not be opened by the salesperson ? 37. Account for the following restrictions imposed by some stores with reference to the inclosure of private packages : a. Packages containing breakable, perishable, or inflammable articles not accepted. b. No bulky merchandise sent that was bought in other stores. c. Goods bought in the bargain basement not sent with merchandise bought upstairs in the same store. 38. A salesperson is sometimes required to write the customer's name and address on a private package which is to be inclosed. Give a reason for this rule. 39. At what season of the year are salespeople most likely to be requested to remove price tags and omit sales checks ? 40. Why are examiners required to look at the price tag and com- pare it with the record on the sales check before wrapping bundles ? 41. When a customer takes merchandise out of the store with- out having it wrapped, why is he advised to keep the sales check (his receipt) in sight until he has passed out of the store ? 42. How does a bank check differ from a money order ? 43. Why must a floor manager be called when either is offered in payment ? 44. Find out 'the average cost of delivery of a bundle within the ten-mile limit. 45. Discuss the relative advantages of express and parcel post. 46. Compare the fruit vender's system of making sales and disposing of cash receipts with that of a department store. Why must the latter be far more elaborate ? THE SALES CHECK AND OTHER FORMS 37 47. What advantages has the fruit vender's easy-going method? What disadvantages ? 48. Under what conditions is a cash register more satisfactory for sales records than a sales book ? 49. Name six departments in which you have observed cash registers in use. NOTE TO TEACHER. In connection with this lesson, drill should be given in the writing of the simplest forms of the sales check, such as cash delivered, cash sent, charge sent. The more complicated forms should be studied in later lessons. For at least one sale in each exercise, pupils should be required to stand and write with only the cover of the sales book for support. ASSIGNMENTS i 1. Begin a collection of sales checks or parts of checks from as many different stores as possible. Blank sales checks are not given away (unless canceled), but if you or any member of your family make a purchase, save the slips from the inside and out- side of the bundle. Paste the slips into your notebook and label them. Study carefully the points covered by each and observe critically the way in which each check is written. Compare each check with the sales check which you use in school. 2. Observe and make a written report on the making out of a sales check by a salesperson in at least three different stores, keeping the following points in mind : a. Speed of writing. b. Position while writing. c. Condition of pencil. d. If address is taken, (1) Is it read back? (2) Is it shown ? (3) , Is it clearly enunciated ? e. Legibility of writing. In general, criticize this part of the salesperson's work from the standpoint of good form. CHAPTER III APPEARANCE AND DEPORTMENT OF SALESPEOPLE Upon entering a store one is conscious of a certain char- acter or personality which distinguishes that store from all others. One store, for instance, may be described as exclusive or elegant, another as homelike and democratic, while a third may seem cheap and tawdry in contrast with a neighboring unobtrusive establishment where everything is in quiet, good taste. This difference in atmosphere may be accounted for in various ways. The spirit and policy of the management influence it to some extent ; the character of the merchandise and tastefulness of the display are other factors ; but perhaps no one element has more to do with giving a store its tone than the salespeople behind its counters. Personality and character cannot be apprehended in a momentary glance ; but only a very little time is needed to judge of a person's appearance, and those who know us only superficially get their chief impression of us perhaps their only one from the important externals of appearance. Proper clothing for work. The provision of proper cloth- ing, that which is suited in all ways to the work undertaken, is a matter which every salesperson, man or woman, should consider seriously. An employer has a right to demand of his workers the very best of which they are capable in appearance, as in effort and interest. It is quite possible that after taking a position a salesperson may be obliged to 38 APPEARANCE OF SALESPEOPLE 39 spend the greater part of his clothing budget on clothes to be worn during working hours, and that the portion of the wardrobe which hitherto had perhaps seemed the more im- portant, apparel worn evenings and Sundays, may suffer in consequence. If any part of the wardrobe is to be sacrificed, it must certainly not be the business garb. The clothes selected for business should be of serviceable material, well- cut and well-made, of no conspicuous color or style, and should be fashioned to suit the personality and build of the wearer. A selling position is more exacting in its clothing require- ments than some other business positions, because a sales- person is on view all the time and subject to the scrutiny of a critical public., Moreover, if ready-made clothing is being sold, the salesperson whose own clothing is shabby, or un- tidy, or in poor taste suffers by contrast. There is also the question of bright colors to be considered. Most stores require their salespeople to wear black or very dark colors during the greater part of the year, because uniformity looks well and also because dark, neutral tones make a good background for the merchandise, which necessarily represents a wide range of color. Dress requirements. In an effort to bring about a certain standard of dress for salespeople, definite rules and require- ments have been laid down by most stores. In general, saleswomen are asked to avoid wearing the following : 1. Bright colors in every detail of the costume. (Dresses of black or navy blue are required in many stores except during the summer, when white waists may be worn.) 2. Bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. 3. Badges and campaign buttons. 40 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING As custom permits less variety in the garb of men than in that of women, they are in less danger of offending the canons of good taste and propriety in respect to clothing, yet one large store has found it necessary to insert the following in its book of rules : Men will avoid unusual color combinations of hosiery and neckwear, and loud, flashy apparel. When not wearing vests in warm weather, they will always keep their coats buttoned. They will be no less careful than the women in avoiding extreme styles in dress, unbusinesslike jewelry, campaign buttons, and strong perfumery. Dignity of uniformity. Stores in which rules concerning dress are enforced have a certain dignity which is always a by-product of uniformity. The reasons for such dress requirements are not always understood, and sometimes salespeople, more especially the women, object to appearing in the sober colors, serviceable materials, and conservative styles which the store managers consider appropriate. Yet these objectors would never think of questioning the costume prescribed by many churches for the choir, nor would they take exception to the black academic cap and gown of colleges and universities or to the plain, formal, but almost universally becoming uniform which nurses adopt with pride upon graduation from a training school. And when the khaki-clad soldier appears, does not that uniform, which pro- claims the wearer a man who is ready to give his life for ~ his country, command respectful admiration ? The uniform demanded by any calling should be regarded as elevating rather than degrading the wearer, who, in assuming certain garb, gives evidence of the possession of certain qualities needed in a given line of work. APPEARANCE OF SALESPEOPLE 41 Cleanliness and neatness. The color and style of costume are not the only points to be emphasized if a salesperson is to present an attractive appearance. Cleanliness of person and clothing are equally important. In cities, where dust and smoke continually fill the air, it is difficult to keep clean, and it is absolutely imperative to set apart a certain portion of the daily schedule, at night or in the morning, for the cleansing and refreshment of the body. Special attention should be given to the hands, which are made prominent by the showing of merchandise, and to the teeth, which have much to do with health and attractiveness. When the outer clothing is removed, small repairs should be made and any necessary cleaning done. The clothing should next be brushed and then placed or hung near an open window for thorough freshening and airing. Personal standards in relation to work. A store superin- tendent, testifying to the importance of personal neatness among the selling force, referred to a certain applicant for a selling position in this way : Her hair was neatly dressed, her clothes were well-brushed ; she wore good shoes with straight heels, but there were spots on the front of her blouse. I knew that a woman capable of such laxness when she was seeking a position would never have the right feeling for her stock. And so of course I had to reject her. This very point of the relation of personal standards of neatness to. good stock-keeping was exemplified not long ago in a rather good little store doing a large business in news- papers, periodicals, and books and carrying in addition a stock of stationery and office supplies. This store is presided over by a man who shuffles about in unpolished, much-worn, 42 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING down-at-the-heel shoes ; his hands are never clean, and his loose clothing, none too clean, has not been pressed for many a day. When a customer bought a bottle of ink of him she was not surprised, in view of the proprietor's appearance, to find the bottle covered with a thick layer of dust. One would suppose that under such circumstances the salesman would apologize for the dust and would make haste to remove it at once. Not so, however, in this case. He placed the bottle on the counter before the customer, took the money, made change at the cash register, and allowed the customer to take the bottle just as it was, unwrapped, out of the store. She tried to teach him a lesson by attempt- ing to blow off some of the dust as she picked up the bottle from the counter. Such poor housekeeping is an offense and a discourtesy. The influence of good appearance. It is important, then, to cultivate a good appearance in order to meet the obliga- tions of a position which brings the worker into contact with the public. It is also important to do so in order to impress customers agreeably and to make them feel that the person serving them respects his merchandise and takes good care of it. And a third reason for strict attention to the de- tails of personal appearance is the effect upon the individual himself. A missing button, a grease spot in a conspicuous place, the knowledge that a certain detail of clothing is not right, may have a disastrous influence on an entire day's work, because the wearer of the defective garment is annoyed and disturbed by the consciousness that he is not up to the stand- ard in dress. A person who knows that he is well-dressed, clean, and neat has a sense of self-respect and enjoys a mental ease, which contribute not a little to his efficiency. APPEARANCE OF SALESPEOPLE 43 Physical attitude. It should be noted that the effect of good looks and of tasteful and appropriate dressing is greatly heightened by correct carriage of the head and body. A person who lacks physical beauty, yet holds himself well and uses his body with freedom and natural grace because his muscles are strong and well controlled, may achieve a distinction which neither beauty nor fine raiment alone can give. The physical position assumed by salespeople has much to do with their power to attract customers. A sales- person who is well " set up," alert in bearing, businesslike and responsive in attitude, naturally draws customers, because he seems to be ready for his work and equal to its demands. The illustrations on page 45 show correct standing and sitting positions. The points to be emphasized in each. case are as follows : SITTING POSITION 1. Lower part of back pressed against the back of the chair. 2. Muscles of neck and spine stretched up. 3. Arms and hands, free from tension, rest in the lap. 4. Shoulder blades may rest against the flat upper back of the chair. 5. Feet supported in correct position. STANDING POSITION 1. Feet, separated and parallel, point straight forward. 2. Feet equally support weight. 3. Muscles of neck and spine stretched up. 4. Arms, free from tension, hang naturally at the sides. Salespeople are on their feet the greater part of the time, yet they may sit when not busy. Some of the employees 44 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING who work at desks are seated much of the day, while the work of others requires them generally to stand. It is im- portant that all, both salespeople and office workers, learn to stand and sit correctly, for these positions influence not only appearance but health as well. Conduct of salespeople. Suggestions regarding the con- duct of salespeople might seem to be unnecessary, yet there is ample evidence that many have given insufficient thought to the customs and manners demanded by their position. As in any other public place, dignity, self-control, and courtesy are of great importance. The necessity for the exercise of these qualities will perhaps be more apparent if a crowded elevator be considered, a car in which both employees and customers are carried as passengers. If the employees are inconsiderate and self-seeking, if their speech or attitude betrays vulgarity, if they, as representatives of the store, show by their actions that they lack a sense of propriety, by so much is the cus- tomer's estimation of the store lowered. The contact of cus- tomers with salespeople at the counters is a like influence in the formation of impressions. Conversation. If salespeople are permitted to converse among themselves when not busy, they should do so in quiet tones and without undue absorption, lest the approach of cus- tomers be unobserved. They should not gather together in close, confidential groups nor should their backs be turned to the counters or tables. Customers frequently complain of the way in which they are kept waiting while a personal conversation among salespeople is finished, or they say, if they are reluctantly approached, it is evident that the subject of the conversation is more on the salesperson's mind than the need of the customer. APPEARANCE OF SALESPEOPLE 47 Comment on the salesmanship and the lack of courtesy displayed in the following incident : A lady entering the notion department of a store found all the salespeople gathered in one spot, listening with absorbed interest while one of the group narrated a per- sonal experience. As no one appeared to notice her, the customer, after a few moments' delay, approached one of the girls with the remark that she would like to look at braids. The girl who was telling the story turned abruptly, withdrew from a shelf a large box containing many varieties of braid and placed it on top of other merchandise on the counter. After removing the cover, she returned to her audience and, with back turned to the customer, remarked in clearly audible tones, " Well, the next night he intro- duced me to his mother." The customer, after a superficial examination of the braids, left the store. Loud calling. Calling, conversing, and giving directions in loud, strident tones to persons at some distance add to the noise and confusion of a store and increase the nerve strain for salespeople and customers. It is sometimes neces- sary to raise the voice to obtain a floor manager, but there is seldom any other reason for so doing. Instead of shout- ing vociferously to a messenger, " Gracie, come here and take this bundle, quick; the lady's in a hurry," it would be pleasanter for the customer and better form on the part of the salesperson to secure the services of the messenger in a less conspicuous way. Personal comment. A tendency of salespeople to make comments on the appearance, behavior, and purpose of cus- tomers is greatly to be deprecated. Too often such remarks are overheard by patrons. Why might the following com- ments drive away another customer who overheard them ? 48 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING " Is n't she terrible ? I can't do a thing with her." " He says he 's in a hurry. Well, so am I." [In a leather-goods section.] " Everyone who comes along disturbs my bags." " Say, what do you think of my customer's hat ? " " Don't bother with her ; she 's just looking." If a situation seems to call for disparaging remarks, they should not be made within the hearing of customers. A man returned a lamp chimney to the grocery store at which his wife had bought it the preceding day, explaining that it had cracked within ten minutes after the lamp was lighted, and asking for another in its place. With a good deal of reluctance the salesman provided a second chimney which, unfortunately, behaved in the same manner as the first. When the customer returned the second time he was considerably annoyed by the salesman's unpleasant attitude, so much so, indeed, that he asked to see the proprietor, who, upon hearing the customer's experience, said to the sales- man, " Give the gentleman another chimney." Standing only a short distance from the customer, the salesman took it upon himself to protest : " If you go on that way, every- body will be coming back for chimneys and everything else." In no uncertain tone the proprietor repeated, " Give the gentleman another chimney," and this time the salesman obeyed orders. But neither the customer nor his wife will ever trade with that salesman again. , Sometimes feelings of weariness, disappointment, or re- sentment are expressed in the presence of customers. Such remarks as "You took my sale! " " I shall be thankful if the store ever closes ! " create an unpleasant atmosphere to which customers are likely to react unfavorably. There should be avoidance of anything in speech or in manner which might seem to imply correction or discipline APPEARANCE OF SALESPEOPLE 49 of patrons of the store. Selling goods, not the training of customers, is the function of a salesperson, who may, how- ever, by example and intelligent service teach and train a great deal. When a customer who had meant to ask for nickel-plated fixtures and thought he had done so was shown brass fixtures, he resented the salesperson's remark, "You did not ask for nickel-plated fixtures ; you asked for brass." When there is nothing of importance at issue, it is better to be misunderstood than to cause offense. A spirit of con- ciliation is far more favorable to the winning of sales than a spirit of combativeness. Meeting customers in a store is like meeting people any- where, in the essentials of conduct involved, but no purely social relation can be more exacting in its requirements than a business position, the holder of which shares with all his fellow-workers responsibility for the good name and pros- perity of his employer. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Why do some firms request their salespeople to wear black rather than dark colors, such as blue or brown ? 2. Show that dressing in black is economical. 3. How should moderation in dressing be shown in connection with the present styles ? 4. What is your opinion as to the advisability of extreme styles for people in business ? 5. Discuss the relative expense of conservative dressing and extreme dressing. 6. What woolen materials are best suited to business wear, and why? 7. What materials are practical and suitable for business wear in hot weather ? 50 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 8. Why should campaign buttons not be worn ? 9. Give two reasons why jewelry should not be worn merely for ornament by salespeople when at work. 10. Why are ties, collars, and belts of bright colors prohibited ? 11. Give your opinion as to the use of perfumes and perfumed soaps. 12. Why is it advisable to keep the finger nails fairly short for store work ? 13. Why should nails not be manicured in public ? 14. Why should salespeople give special attention to the selec- tion of proper shoes for their work ? 15. Read "The Human Mechanism," by Hough and Sedgwick, Part II, chap, xxiv, Hygiene of the Feet, and then explain what is meant by a hygienic shoe. 16. Why do skaters, mountain climbers, and little children wear shoes based on a hygienic last ? 17. What type of shoe do you consider best suited to the needs of a salesperson, and why ? 18. Why is patent leather an unsuitable material for shoes worn all day by a salesperson ? 19. How do polish, re-soling, and straightening the heels improve the appearance and prolong the life of shoes ? 20. Why are very cheap shoes usually the most expensive in the end? 21. Give three reasons for the importance of caring for the teeth. 22. Explain the proper way to brush the teeth. How often should they be brushed? 23. How often is it advisable to have the teeth examined by a dentist? 24. Look up the words " courtesy " and " dignity " in a large dictionary ; note the derivation in each case and explain why the possession of these qualities is advantageous to a salesperson. 25. Under what circumstances is personal conversation among salespeople permissible ? not permissible ? APPEARANCE OF -SALESPEOPLE 5 1 26. Give your opinion as to the propriety of addressing fellow- employees by their given names in the presence of customers. 27. How can a new salesperson's first day be made pleasant and easy ? 28. A customer entering a department and finding several sales- people at liberty frequently selects and approaches one. What may influence this selection ? 29. What, in your opinion, are the chief characteristics of an attractive personality ? 30. What do you think a superintendent would wish to know about you if you applied to him for a position as salesperson ? 31. What would you wish .to know about the store and the position? 32. What would you do in preparation for such an interview ? 33. How could you save the superintendent's time ? ASSIGNMENTS 1. Visit two stores distinctly different in character and take brief notes on the impression made upon you by the salespeople. Use this outline : Uniformity of dress Use of color (if any) Use of jewelry Tendency to extreme fashions Neatness of clothing and person Physical position and action Shoes, if visible Deportment 2. Enter brief notes in outline form in your notebook, then write in the form of a composition the answer to this question : If you were the proprietor of a store, how should you wish your salespeople to look ? Answer as fully as possible. 52 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 3. Ask your teacher how you can improve your standing, walk- ing, and sitting positions. If exercises are prescribed, practice them daily. 4. Observe the positions and motions of men and women everywhere. Make sketches, if you can, showing violations of any of the points included in the outlines on page 43. 5. Explain in writing the importance of the points given in these outlines and mention specifically the bearing of each on (i) appearance and (2) health. 6. Observe, if possible, uniforms worn by any of the following groups of workers : f elevator operators In a store : -I porters (^younger workers (" juniors ") In a restaurant : waitresses In a hospital or dispensary : nurses Make a written report of your observations and comment on the suitability of the costume for the work to be done in each case. CHAPTER IV DIRECTING CUSTOMERS The economic principle of division of labor is exemplified by the specialized groups of employees in a department store. Cashiers handle money from sales ; salespeople sell mer- chandise ; examiners inspect sales checks and wrap goods ; expressmen deliver purchases. In theory there is no over- lapping of responsibility among the different units, but in actual practice one group often shares some part of the work of another group closely related to it. This may be due to a spirit of kindness, as when a cashier, observing that an examiner is behind in her work, helps to clear the desk of parcels ; to the demands of an emergency which might necessitate the transfer of a stock boy to the delivery de- partment ; or to a tacitly understood division of responsi- bility brought about by circumstances. Such a case is the function which customers thrust upon salespeople in appeal- ing to them for all sorts of information. It is the duty of floor managers to answer questions about the store and its resources, but since many customers fail to discriminate between an official authorized to do a certain thing and an- other person who may or may not serve the purpose equally well, it often devolves upon salespeople to answer inquiries. Influence of misdirection. We need only look into our own experience to realize that although the directing of cus- tomers seems a small matter in itself, it may have important 53 54 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING consequences for the business in its influence on the public. Careless or vague responses antagonize customers, making them unreasonable and hard to satisfy ; many times poor work of this kind leads to loss of patronage. Entirely justi- fied was the annoyance of a customer who, wishing to look at card tables, visited by direction five different floors before he succeeded in finding them. A lady who desired a certain kind of athletic cap was sent from the street floor of one building to the third floor of the next, only to find that she had been within a few steps of the proper section in the first place, a discovery which so vexed her that she declared she would leave the store and buy the cap at a sporting- goods specialty house rather than retrace her steps. Another customer, who wanted blackboard cloth, was sent first to the black dress-goods section and then to the fourth floor, where only toy blackboards were sold. Although the store carried the desired material, she became discouraged and left with- out it. She was tired out with searching, and the failure of several persons to direct her properly had made her lose confidence in all. Business is thus diverted from a store to its competitors. Learning the location of merchandise. Since the directing of customers becomes inevitably a part of the work of a salesperson, careful preparation should be made for it. The query most frequently made concerns the location of mer- chandise, and therefore a detailed knowledge of the store's departments is necessary. A plan for acquiring this knowl- edge may be outlined as follows : First, learn your own department thoroughly. Second, learn the lines of merchandise carried on each floor of the store. DIRECTING CUSTOMERS 55 Third, learn the details of the departments nearest your section and of those whose merchandise is closely related to yours. Fourth, gradually master the most important details of all departments. Learning the departments according to this or some other scheme is by no means an impossible task, and if the labor is undertaken systematically, the fund of knowledge grows surprisingly fast. The question of time for making such a survey and study naturally arises. Each one must needs plan this out for himself, adopting the best method under exist- ing conditions, and if the floor manager understands what is being attempted, he will be glad to help accomplish the end. Salespeople are ordinarily allowed shopping time at the be- ginning and end of the day, and since they do not make pur- chases every day, this time may frequently be utilized for a study of the store. By keeping their eyes open and cultivating their powers of observation, they may learn much as they pass through and go about the store. In order to gain familiarity with different parts of the establishment, it is wise to vary the daily trip to and from lunch rooms and locker rooms. Those who apply themselves intelligently to the task of learning all about a store will utilize the directory which, for the convenience of the public, is frequently placed near the elevators. This alphabetical list of the merchandise carried by the store, and its location, may be easily studied while one is waiting for the car. Even more accessible are the classi- fied lists of leading departments, arranged according to floors, sometimes printed on the back of the sales checks, sometimes in the form of a pamphlet small enough to be inserted in the sales book. These lists may be conveniently memorized at odd moments during the day. If advantage 56 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING is taken of these and other simple opportunities for acquiring the needed information, mastery of the whole store will be gained with comparatively little effort. It is advisable to form early the habit of keeping certain records in a notebook of a size easily carried in the pocket. For instance, a list of the most important articles carried in a given department may be jotted down and reviewed until the names of the articles are perfectly familiar. As oppor- tunity is presented, similar lists may be compiled for other departments and learned after the same manner. On dull days and in leisure moments salespeople may drill each other on the location of merchandise, thus training themselves in asking as well as answering questions. Accuracy and courtesy in giving directions. Accuracy, then, may be considered the first essential in directing cus- tomers, and the second is courtesy. A gracious manner, the outward expression of a willing spirit, creates an atmos- phere of friendliness which is favorable to the transaction of business. Moreover, by answering a question in the best form and manner a salesman may win a new friend and a permanent customer for himself, perhaps not on the occa- sion of the inquiry, but later, when circumstances bring the inquirer back to that same section. He has also the satis- faction of knowing that he has done his part in developing the day's business. In giving directions it is important to look directly at the customer, into the eyes, if possible, and to speak distinctly and slowly. The voice and the face should express interest, willingness, and pleasure in the service. A blank countenance, averted glance, and meager, mumbled answer indicate a lack of breeding and intelligence. DIRECTING CUSTOMERS 57 Clearness essential. Terms not clearly intelligible to per- sons unfamiliar* with the store should be explained. Such expressions as "the annex," "the other building," "the gray room," "the balcony," "the mezzanine floor," "the new wing," may be commonly current among employees and habitual customers but only add to the confusion and perplexity of casual customers and strangers. Again, instead of being enlightened, customers are often obliged to ask again and again when told to take the " next aisle over " or to go "three sections down" or "way down in the back." Once inside the store many persons fail to distinguish the back from the front ; they do not know where to begin counting the aisles and sections and are ignorant of the area covered by a given section or department. Even floor managers sometimes fail to respond intelligently or even courteously when appealed to for guidance. One such official replied to a customer who had asked for a certain department, " Keep on going," a remark as curt as it was unenlightening. Thus clearness is the third essential in the giving of directions, and it should be cultivated at all times. It is well to assume that the person who makes an inquiry is a stranger in the store, for it is better to give too much information than not enough. While most of the questions asked by customers concern the store, its merchandise, or its service, there are always some questions, usually from tourists, about the city. For the benefit of patrons of the store, as well as for their own good, salespeople should inform themselves as to the best way to reach the city's most important public buildings, places of amusement, stations, resorts, parks, and other places of special interest. 58 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS- 1. Give examples from your own experience as a customer, illustrating the inconvenience and unpleasantness resulting from inaccurate directions. 2. What lines of merchandise are usually found on the street floor of a department store ? What is the basis of selection ? 3. Why are suits, coats, and gowns ordinarily placed above the street floor? 4. What other departments are usually found above the street floor? Why? 5. W T hat departments are most conspicuous from the main entrance of two different stores with which you are familiar? 6. Locate in these same two stores the following departments : Trunks Shoes Hardware Athletic goods Books Men's furnishings Cameras Baskets Drugs Art embroidery Umbrellas Sweaters Music Leather goods Baby carriages Lamps Pictures Pocket cutlery 7 . What, besides shoes, will be found in a shoe department ? What, besides writing paper, in a stationery department ? What, besides pictures, in a picture store? 8. If a salesperson is uncertain about the location of any article or line of merchandise, what should he do when asked about it ? Why is it inadvisable to guess ? 9. Give your opinion as to the use of gestures in directing customers to different parts of the store. 10. What is a mezzanine floor? From what language is this word taken ? 11. Why are the auditing and executive offices usually near the top of the store building ? 12. Why is the shipping department usually in the basement ? DIRECTING CUSTOMERS 59 13. In what part of the building is the restaurant usually located, and why? 14. Imagining yourself a salesperson in the men's glove depart- ment of a certain store (name the one that you select), direct a customer as clearly and concisely as possible to the following departments : a. Post office (in the store) f. Parcel-checking desk b. Nearest public telephone g. Information bureau c. Waiting room h. Superintendent's office d. Drinking fountain /. Lost and found office e. Office for payment of bills j. Adjustment office 15. How are fire exits indicated? Why are they so carefully marked ? 16. Name the public buildings in this city for which tourists are most likely to ask. 17. Make a list of the most popular resorts, and tell how they may most easily be reached. 18. Make a list of any places of historical, educational, or artistic importance in or near this city, stating briefly their location and why they are of interest. 19. Why do customers so often ask questions of salespeople rather than of floor managers ? 20. What should be your attitude toward a customer who seeks only information ? 21. State fully what you would do if you overheard an employee giving an inaccurate direction. ASSIGNMENTS Record in your notebook a study of the general plan of any large store with which you are familiar. i . Sketch the plan of the street floor showing all exits and entrances, elevators, and stairways. Indicate and name the streets which bound the store and show, by means of arrows, the position of the store in 60 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING relation to the points of the compass. Indicate the exact location of all the departments on the street floor. If you do not understand how to get the right proportions, ask your teacher to help you. Use india ink, if possible, for your finished plan. 2. State in outline form what merchandise is carried or what work done on all the other floors of the store, or 3. Make a diagrammatic cross section of the main part of the store, indicating in some way the activities of the different levels. 4. Misdirection often occurs because not enough care is taken to find out the customer's exact need. For example, if lamps are asked for it is necessary to know what kind of. lamp is desired whether a kerosene, gas, electric, or alcohol lamp. Make similar subheadings for the following articles : Screens Paints Curtains Frames Bags Brushes Paper Pins Cards Scarfs Hooks Trimmings CHAPTER V THE MERCHANDISE ITS CARE, ARRANGEMENT, AND DISPLAY The stock or merchandise of a store represents the investment of the firm's money or its capital. If the mer- chandise is sold or " turned " within a reasonable length of time at the price originally set by the buyer of the goods, the investment ordinarily yields a satisfactory rate of interest or a good profit is made. Many departments turn stock, or make a turnover, four times a year, while the stock of some departments is converted into money much oftener. Every merchant wishes to turn his stock as often as pos- sible, because this is a profitable way of doing business. An example may make this point clearer. A merchandise " turnover. " Suppose a dealer hires two men, A and B, to sell picture post cards in two different parts of the city. Each man, with a stall and $50 worth of stock, starts business Monday morning. A, in a favorable location, and of more than average ability, sells out his stock in two days, and on Wednesday begins again with a fresh line valued, as before, at $50. He is again sold out on Thursday night, and his stall on Friday is stocked with a third $50 lot of cards, which is sold out Saturday. The cards were sold at a 25 per cent gross profit to the dealer; the weekly rental for the stall was $5 ; the salesman A was 61 62 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING paid $i a day. At the end of the week the statement of A's business ran thus : Receipts from sales $150 plus 25 per cent . . . $187.50 Expenses Investment in stock $150.00 Wages 6.00 Rent 5.00 161.00 Net profit $26.50 B, on the other hand, with the same amount of stock at the outset, sold out only twice in a week's time. Rental, wages, and gross profit were the same as in A's case, but conditions were less favorable to business. On Saturday night B's account stood thus : Receipts from sales $100 plus 25 per cent . . . $125.00 Expenses Investment in stock $100.00 Wages 6.00 Rent 5.00 1 1 1. oo Net profit $14.00 In this situation it is assumed that no stock was lost, soiled, stolen, or in any other way rendered unsalable, and that there were no extra expenses, such as repairs to the stall, the installation of a cash register, or the procuring of a license. The problem has been set forth in its simplest terms to show that the turnover of stock effected three times in one week yields a larger profit than if made only twice. A returned the dealer a profit of $26.50 as against $14 turned in by B. It is apparent that if the dealer in- creased A's wages to $10 or even $12 a week, A would still be making more money for him than B. THE MERCHANDISE 63 While the stock of any one department in a large store is seldom entirely closed out, the buyer usually becomes alarmed unless it "moves" quickly, and frequently, under such cir- cumstances, deems it wise to reduce the price. Without the inducement of a low price, merchandise may remain so long on the shelves as to be difficult of sale, for customers expect and demand fresh, new merchandise, and as long as stock is unsold, it is " dead " stock, bringing in no profit, occupying storage space, and usually depreciating in value. There are many possible explanations of slow-moving stock. Three important causes may be poor buying, poor selling, poor^tocj^keeping. This chapter will treat of the salesperson's responsibility for the care of his stock and its resulting salability. The care of stock ; good housekeeping. Since the details of stock-keeping vary greatly with the merchandise, the present consideration of the subject must be somewhat general. In the first place, if stock is to be kept clean, the immediate envi- ronment must be clean, which means that shelves, racks, drawers, cases, boxes, and fixtures should be given frequent and careful attention. If repairs are needed or any work is demanded which is not within the province of a salesperson, it should be reported to the proper authority at once. But simply speaking of a needed bit of work does not always suf- fice ; the person reporting it should feel responsible for it until he sees it done. At regular intervals once every week or two a house-cleaning should take place. Everything should be removed from the shelves so that the corners can be cleaned. All waste paper, empty boxes, old covers, and other trash should be cleared out. Boxes should be dusted, top, bottom, and sides ; cloth-covered boxes may be advantageously wiped 64 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING with a damp cloth. Drawers should be removed, emptied of their contents, and carefully cleaned. Merchandise some- times becomes lodged behind and under drawers and is prac- tically lost because the drawers are almost never taken out. An extreme but true instance of the loss which may result from carelessness in some of these respects is the following : A saleswoman was assigned to a trimming department which carried a great variety of stock, some of it high-priced. The stock was kept in boxes which were placed on shelves running to within a short distance from the floor. As the space between the shelves was narrow and the boxes were crowded closely together, the task of cleaning the depart ment was a troublesome one and none of the salespeople cared to undertake, it. The new saleswoman, however, observing the untidy and neglected appearance of the section, resolved upon a house-cleaning. Removing all the boxes from the shelves, she collected from obscure corners and from the floor under the lowest shelf (where a yardstick was an effec- tive &\\y)Jive bushel baskets full of stock which had become so soiled and rumpled that it had to be burned. She found also five yards of real ermine trimming which had been walked over and kicked under the counter. This trimming had been valued at $7 a yard. In another place she discov- ered several boxes of swan's-down trimming in which mice had nested and raised families. In all stock work it is important to have the right kind of tools, and salespeople should endeavor to supply themselves with whatever may be needed for the satisfactory performance of their duties. Time for stock work. The best time for stock work is the first hour or two in the morning, when there is usually little business, but rmich may be accomplished at odd moments THE MERCHANDISE 65 during the day ; in fact, a systematic stock-keeper is able to do a great deal of this necessary work right along with his selling. A salesman in the stationery department, for example, keeps his stock constantly replenished from the reserve supply so that he is never "out" at a particularly busy time, when delay would be annoying ; he is careful to replace covers on boxes before any confusion and mixing can occur ; and he keeps the counters and cases orderly and attractive by a few touches after each sale. In this way the section never looks cluttered, and the stock is protected from much injurious handling. Repairs. In garment departments salespeople are often called upon to do some sewing. The stock, in this case, should be inspected every day for needed repairs. If missing hooks and eyes, loose fastenings, rips, and hanging buttons are given prompt attention, the work is not burdensome for any- one; but if these details are neglected, much trouble may be caused the workroom at an inconvenient time, or a sale may be lost because the merchandise is not in perfect condition when shown to a customer. Give two possible reasons why the customer returned the gown of the following incident : A $29.50 white net dress had been sold and was to be sent by special delivery from Boston to a town in New Hamp- shire. The examiner at the desk, discovering that one part of a snap fastener was missing from the girdle, reported it, and the dress was sent to the workroom, where it remained for fifteen or twenty minutes. As the skirt was being care- fully folded in the box, the fact that it had become soiled around the bottom from dragging over the floor was evident. The dress was again sent away for about twenty minutes. When it returned, slightly improved in appearance, it had a strong odor of gasoline. It was hung in the open window 66 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING a few minutes, but the day was damp and cloudy con- ditions unfavorable for the removal of odors. The box was sent to the shipping room just before the closing hour of the store. Protection of merchandise. The care of very delicate merchandise is always a difficult problem. Even though space is adequate and salespeople are careful, it is hard to keep such stock immaculate. Many precautions may, how- ever, be taken, such as a cheesecloth binding around the bottom of an evening coat or gown and similar protection for white collars and cuffs. Tissue paper may often be used to advantage. Anyone working in a department which carries high-priced, perishable merchandise should devise protective measures for safeguarding it. It is frequently advisable to place a cloth or a piece of paper under such goods when showing it to a customer, as in the case of light-colored coats and bonnets for children or beautiful silks and satins. Wrapped merchandise. Manufacturers, realizing that clean merchandise sells twice as quickly as does that of rather doubtful appearance, send out many articles nowadays in "shield" (or "sanitary") packages, each article being wrapped separately in tissue or oiled paper and sealed. So long as the wrapping is unbroken, customers may be sure that the con- tents are absolutely fresh a good selling point, especially when toilet goods are concerned or articles intended for little children, such as toys of rubber or celluloid. Lost parts. A serious result of careless stock-keeping in certain departments is the loss of important parts, for ex- ample, the key to a jewel box, one or two paints from a paint box, a v tool from a tool chest, a dish from a tea set. THE MERCHANDISE 67 Those who sell things which come in sets, sections, or parts should be as careful to keep track of the individual parts as of the complete article. Customers are not likely to be willing to buy incomplete sets, and many times they will not or cannot wait until missing parts can be replaced. Moreover, it is sometimes impossible to procure duplicate parts. Care- lessness in regard to this aspect of stock-keeping is not only wasteful but usually involves disappointment to customers as well and indicates a lack of competency which is poor advertising for a store. It is poor service, also, as is illus- trated by the case of a customer who was about to buy an expensive set of imported building blocks when it was dis- covered that the book of illustrations showing how to use the blocks had been lost. It was the only set of its kind in the store. Another customer was greatly disappointed because he could not get the game " ringtoss " for a Christmas present. There was one set in stock, but this one, it appeared, had no stick an essential part of the game. Handling merchandise. The careful handling of merchan- dise by salespeople is of importance for two reasons : 1. When treated with care, it is less likely to become shopworn and of lessened value. 2. The salesperson's feeling of respect and regard for the merchandise, as indicated by careful handling, impresses the cus- tomer favorably, inspiring added confidence in it. The fact that a salesperson touches an article as if it were excellent, valuable, or to be admired makes a customer feel that it is so and increases its desirability in his eyes. The negative side of this principle is well illustrated by the average bargain table. The usual policy dictates that the low-priced merchandise piled upon the table shall be allowed 68 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING to appear disorderly and unattractive, and as the tables are frequently overloaded with stock, the busy hands of eager bargain hunters soon make of the pile a disorganized, al- most unrecognizable mass through which customers and salespeople alike pull, twist, and strain the merchandise in their search for the " best values." Rare, indeed, is the customer who treats such stock with respect, for it does not command respect. Stock-keeping and salesmanship. A writer in the Pub- lishers Weekly relates an incident which is quoted in full because it brings out clearly how appearance of the stock and the way it is handled may be deciding factors in a sale. A man was overheard discussing his quest for an umbrella. He said he had gone into a shop that had always been regarded as a foremost retail establishment for this line of merchandise, and after selecting a silk umbrella of high price, he turned his attention to an examination of the han- dles. But every handle in the establishment was cheap so cheap in appearance that he had gone out without making a purchase at all, giving the excuse that he would first find out whether the man for whom he intended the umbrella really needed one. As a matter of fact, however, this man wanted the umbrella himself. He then went to another establishment a very small shop farther down the street and had found just what he wanted. The handle^ were so much more attractive, he said, that he could not understand why the large establishment, with only cheap handles, had a so much greater reputation than the small one, which appeared to have only fine handles, whether for high-price, medium-price, or low-price umbrellas. But the explanation which the umbrella purchaser sought might have been supplied by the man who overheard him. . The facts in the case were that the large shop carried stock ffi 14. Yes, sir. 15. May I assist you ? 1 6. Are you looking or do you want to buy ? 17. Do you wish attention, lady ? 1 8. Can I interest you in aprons? 19. Did you want something ? 20. What can I do for you, madam ? 2 1 . Sanitary toothbrush ? 22. Something you wanted to buy ? 23. Can I tempt you with anything to-day ? 24. Something I could show you ? 25. That's $1.25. How do you like it? 26. Do you wish to be served ? 27. May I serve you? 28. Have you been served ? APPROACHING CUSTOMERS 93 " Serving " customers. The use of the word "serve" applied to the act of assisting customers is displeasing to some persons ; they consider the expression too suggestive of serving food in a restaurant to be appropriate. This is simply a matter of emphasizing one set of associations with a word which is capable of many interpretations and which really signifies the praiseworthy act of ministering unselfishly to the needs of others. Since the service ideal is now prominently featured in advertising and is expressed in numerous practical ways in stores, the verb " to serve " seems to many sales- people the natural term to use in reference to their dealings with customers. It is unquestionably as dignified as the expression " to wait on trade " or "to wait on customers," both of which phrases are often heard, and in England " serving customers " is an expression in common use. As the word is studied and as its application to the highest aspects of things is noted, its worth and desirability are in- creasingly felt. An effort should be made to vary the introductory phrase, for no expression, however good, can be used repeatedly without becoming mechanical and meaningless. Again, under certain circumstances, no words of greeting may be needed to start a sale, as when a customer states his errand at the outset or manifests great interest in a certain article on display. In such cases the merchandise should be brought forth for immediate inspection and should always be shown with as little delay as possible. Questioning customers. But it is sometimes perplexing to know what to show to a customer who gives no clue as to the price he wishes to pay or any other leading point about his prospective purchase, and so it happens that some 94 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING salespeople fall into the unfortunate habit of questioning customers after this fashion : Did you want to go as high as $2 ? Something about twenty-five cents ? About how much do you want to pay ? This practice is open to severe criticism and wrecks many sales at the very beginning. Frequently customers do not know what they will pay until they see the merchandise, and some do not care to commit themselves by answering such a direct question. To some persons this type of salesman- ship seems impertinent. As it is an unsatisfactory and often disastrous method of attempting to discover a customer's intention, it should be avoided. The best solution of this problem and one which is generally applicable is to show medium-priced goods first. When this is done, the customer ordinarily makes some comment indicating that the mer- chandise shown is of satisfactory grade or that a different quality is desired, more or less expensive as the case may be. This is a tactful and also a reasonable way of handling the delicate matter of price, because it provides a basis of mutual understanding without unwelcome reference to dollars and cents. It is also advisable to avoid catechizing customers in an effort to ascertain the size desired. Size is a sore point with many persons, especially women ; and since some have a mistaken idea of their requirements, it is better not to raise a debatable question. Those who sell in garment de- partments may easily train themselves to gauge the proper size by unobtrusive observation. In cases of doubt, without raising the question or stopping for argument, the customer's APPROACHING CUSTOMERS 95 measure may be taken, and if this is done deftly and incon- spicuously it will rarely cause annoyance. The salesperson's study of the customer. It is evident that a customer's first swift impression of a store and the service rendered by its salespeople may have a deciding influence upon the sale. Now reverse the situation and consider how the salesman's first impression of the customer may affect his salesmanship. A single glance will reveal much. The cus- tomer's approximate age, build, coloring, and taste in clothes may be observed and, more helpful than anything else as a guide to subsequent selling, his mood or spirit. The advan- tage of this preliminary observation is that a moment is afforded for preparation and adjustment a great assistance if a customer happens to be exceptional in any way. One thing which cannot be judged by external signs is a person's financial condition. It is unwise to speculate as to whether a customer will spend much or little. Dress is not a reliable measure of worldly wealth, and attempts to judge customers by the clothes they wear will lead to many false conclusions. Persons in straitened circumstances may spend money liberally on occasion, while some of great wealth who have a hoarding tendency are chary of all expenditures. When customers are present in numbers, some salespeople elect to serve the ones who they believe will be heavy buyers. It is impossible to appraise customers in this way, and it is a low order of salesmanship which allows a sales- man to pick and choose among a store's patrons. The salesman who takes customers in turn will find himself ultimately as well off as the one who makes use of the selective process, and in so doing he will win the respect and loyalty of those whom he serves and of his associates. 96 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. What spirit does the motto quoted on page 86 express ? 2. Relate a shopping experience which you remember agree- ably, bringing out especially the points which, at the beginning of the sale, impressed you pleasantly. 3. Relate similarly an experience which left you with an un- favorable impression of the store and the salesperson. 4. Why are salespeople sometimes very slow about approach- ing customers ? 5. What may be the unfortunate results of a slow approach ? 6. How do you, as a customer, like to be approached ? 7. Is there any danger of " overdoing " the approach, and if so, in what respect? 8. What should a salesperson immediately do if he is seated when a customer approaches ? if he is talking with a fellow- worker ? 9. What is your feeling in regard to the use of " Good morn- ing " as a greeting to a customer ? 10. What is your opinion regarding the use of " madam " ? 11. Why should terms of endearment not be addressed to a customer ? 12. Why should dignity characterize dealings with customers? 13. How may a personal record of customers' names and addresses be of advantage to you in writing sales checks ? 14. In what ways may such a record be of service to the charge office ? 15. Comment freely on the methods reported by the successful saleswoman of coats. Do you take exception to her practice in any particular? 16. Suggest ways of training your memory to retain names and addresses. 17. Why is it usually inadvisable to start a sale by stating the price of an article ? Give two reasons. APPROACHING CUSTOMERS 97 18. What would you do if a second customer should approach you while you were engaged in serving a patron ? 19. How would you proceed if the second customer were unpleasantly insistent about being served at once ? 20. Under what circumstances is it advisable to attempt to serve two customers at once? 21. Explain by means of a concrete example how this may be done successfully. 22. How may the approach to a customer at a bargain table differ from that in an automobile or piano salesroom ? 23. What courtesies might be shown in the latter case which would not be possible in the former ? 24. Why should merchandise be shown to a customer as soon as possible ? 25. Why is prompt service advantageous to the salesperson who renders it? 26. Prove that it is poor policy to ask a customer how much he wishes to pay by citing an instance when you paid more for an article than you expected to when you began looking for it. 27. Why is it usually inadvisable to show the lowest-priced merchandise first? the highest-priced? 28. If you believe that a customer who has been wearing a shoe or a glove of a certain size requires a larger size, by what arguments can you persuade this customer to try a larger size ? 29. Why is the exercise of tact essential in the situation presented in the preceding question ? 30. Why. in many cases, do shoe manufacturers indicate the size of shoe in a manner unintelligible to customers ? 31. How do shoe salesmen usually ascertain the size of shoe required by a customer? 32. W 7 hy is it poor salesmanship to sell a customer a garment of unsuitable size ? Give three reasons. 33. In what departments would it be desirable to have a tape measure of your own ? Why ? 98 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 34. Why is it important to study customers as they approach ? 35. How does observation of a customer's mood or state of mind help you to" prepare for a sale ? 36. What would be your mental attitude toward a customer who was dressed in deep mourning ? who appeared to be in a great hurry ? who seemed absent-minded ? who seemed worried ? who was timid ? who was overdressed ? who referred to a shopping list ? ASSIGNMENTS 1. Rewrite the notice " Patrons will confer a favor on the management by not loitering" in such a way as to convey the idea intended without loss of courtesy. 2. Either originate a slogan or find an actual example to com- pare with each of the following genuine examples quoted from advertisements : A clothing store : " Where the styles come from." A grocery store : " Good things to eat." A department store : " The store accommodating." A specialty shop : " The specialty shop of originations." An arts-and-crafts shop : " Honest work ennobles." In each case state whether you consider your own contribution or the one given here the better, with reasons. 3. The following authentic experience is quoted from a letter which was printed on the editorial page of a leading newspaper : One morning I arrived at the shopping district a little before the time for opening. The door of the shop, however, stood open, and I entered. I was immediately followed, I may say attacked, by a young lady who informed me that the shop was not open and there would be no one to wait on me. I paid not much atten- tion to her and walked on, but she followed me, repeating her information in various tones of irritable sharpness. By and by I met a man who saw what the trouble was and, offering me a chair, said civilly, " Be kind enough to be seated, madam ; the shop will be open in a very few minutes." APPROACHING CUSTOMERS 99 4. In the form of a monologue of not fewer than one hundred words, relate this incident as the discourteous girl might have reported it to a friend a few minutes later. Try to bring out the mistaken personal attitude which would find expression in such behavior. 5. Walk all about the street floor of a department store and ride in the elevators. Note every detail which you think would give a customer a pleasant " entering impression." Make a list of these points. Make another list of details which would give an unpleasant entering impression. CHAPTER VII SELLING POINTS AND THEIR PRESENTATION No one takes much interest in baseball, tennis, or golf unless he knows the rules of the game, the end which is sought, and unless he has some appreciation of the players' skill. If he learns to play the game himself his interest in it grows rapidly, he thinks and talks about it, and he plays as often as he can. Enthusiasm for the game develops as an outgrowth of knowledge and experience. The player's enthusiastic descriptions of the sport may lead others to take it up. Enthusiasm springing from actual knowledge is always a powerful factor, and in salesmanship it is perhaps more productive of results than any other one quality. A familiar expression, "the contagion of enthusiasm," suggests the rapid spread of this quickening spirit from one person to another. A salesman who arouses a customer's interest to the pitch of enthusiasm has usually won the customer, but he does this effectually only when he knows his merchandise thoroughly and is willing and able to give the customer the full benefit of his knowledge. Learning the merchandise. It is the first duty of a sales- man to learn all that he can about the stock he is given to sell, not simply its arrangement in drawers or on shelves and its price, but also its history or manufacture and its essential characteristics or selling points. The sources of Underwood & Underwood, New York WEAVING CASHMERE SHAWLS IN INDIA 101 SELLING POINTS 103 information will at first be the buyer and the experienced salespeople in the department, the knowledge thus gained being supplemented by intelligent examination of the goods and by study of labels on merchandise, of advertising matter sent out by manufacturers, of trade journals, and of refer- ence books to be found in public libraries. Customers as teachers. Much may also be gained by thoughtful attention to customers' comments. A man who had never been abroad succeeded to the headship of a retail business dealing exclusively in unusual and choice articles imported from Europe and the Orient. The stock included pictures, hangings, odd pieces of furniture, rare textiles, jars, vases, fine examples of the craftsmanship of workers in leather and metals, and many articles not easily classified, and best ex- pressed by the French phrase objets d'art. The new proprietor brought to his work an innate love of beauty and a sensitive- ness to color values but not much knowledge of the history or natural setting of the beautiful merchandise offered for sale. But among the customers of the unique shop were many traveled people who talked with pleasure of the memories awakened by a copy of a famous painting ; a garden seat carved out of stone ; the delicate tracery of a wrought-iron sconce ; a binding of finely tooled leather. This man listened with a receptive mind to the observations and reminiscences of his patrons ; he not only listened, but as soon as he had a free moment he recorded the information so easily gained. Later he verified certain points and increased his knowledge of them by reading ; and finally, he took pains to remember all that he had learned and to make use of it when selling goods. Solely through his own efforts he became a well- informed man, a recognized expert in a highly specialized 104 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING line of business. In this way his work became a means of broad education, and this may be true in relation to any kind of merchandise, for any commodity may constitute a life study in itself. Study of a handkerchief. Since it is impossible to foresee what points customers will emphasize, what objections will be made, what questions asked, a salesman can never know too much about his merchandise. Without attempting an ex- haustive treatment of any line of goods, an outline is given of some of the points which might arise in connection with one familiar article a handkerchief. A. Name of article 1. Foreign equivalents 2. Derivation of word 3. History of article B. Material 1. Linen a. Kinds 2. Cotton a. Kinds 3. Silk a. Kinds 4. Novelties a. Kinds C. Quality and texture of material (list of ten or twelve adjectives which might suitably be used) D. Durability E. Finish i. Hems a. Standard widths b. Prevailing fashionable width c. Proper widths for mourning d. Hemstitching e. Plain turned hem (1) Colored (2) White SELLING POINTS 105 / Rolled edge g. Buttonholed edge h. Drawn work F. Workmanship 1. Hand 2. Machine G. Style 1. Tape borders a. Meaning of term b. Varieties 2. Embroidered a. Border b. Corners (one or more) c. Hem d. All-over e. Kinds of embroidery (1) Hand (2) Machine (3) Hand-loom machine f. Beauty of design H. Initials i. Style a. Block b. Script c. Old English /. Initials and monograms to order 1. Styles 2. Prices 3. Time required to fill orders /. Sizes fmen 1. Smallest] , > for \ women 2. Largest j K. Prices i . Lowest 2. Highest 3. Grade most in demand 4. Variation (if sold by dozen) 106 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING L. Sources of supply 1. Foreign 2. Domestic M. Miscellaneous uses of handkerchiefs 1. Collar-and-cuff sets 2. Bags 3. Cases, etc. SPECIAL QUESTIONS 1. Are colored hems, initials, embroidery, and printed patterns guaranteed fadeless ? 2. How may a cotton handkerchief be distinguished from one made of linen ? 3. A linen handkerchief costs more than a cotton one. Is it worth the difference in price ? 4. What is the correct way to launder handkerchiefs to prevent them from becoming yellow ? 5. How may hand embroidery be distinguished from machine embroidery ? How may hand hemstitching be distinguished from machine hemstitching? 6. Are silk handkerchiefs practical ? 7. Give three reasons why linen is the most desirable of all materials for a handkerchief. After the points included in the outline have been mas- tered, the background of the subject should be investigated, -especially the history of flax its use by the ancient Egyp- tians, who spun incredibly fine yarn of such strength that beautiful specimens of linen wrapped around their mummies are preserved to us to-day, and the discovery of fragments of linen yarn and cloth among the relics of the lake dwellers. There should be knowledge of the countries in which flax grows (chiefly Russia, Belgium, and the British Isles), and it should be possible to visualize its appearance in the field, each slender gray-green stalk topped by a blue blossom so Underwood & Underwood, New York RETTING FLAX IN THE RIVER LYS, BELGIUM 107 SELLING POINTS 109 delicate and ethereal that the poet Longfellow called it the " fairy flax." The beauty and worth of a piece of linen cannot be appreciated until the difficulties of its laborious manufacture are understood : how the long, clean, strong fiber can be released only by a fermenting process called retting, carried on in stagnant pools or slow-flowing streams, and is later freed from bits of bark and stalk by a dusty, choking process of beating. That the spinning and weaving of the finest yarns is sometimes done in dark, damp cellars is another factor in the singularly disagreeable, unwholesome work of making linen. When the story has been read to the end, it will not be hard to justify the price of the choicest handkerchief. Use of reference books. Information concerning the liter- ature, art, history, geography, customs, and costumes of different countries should be gathered as new styles are brought out and new merchandise assembled from all parts of the world. Store libraries should include among their reference books a French as well as an English dictionary, a good encyclopedia, an atlas, volumes on the history of costume, and a general history. Such books, if not available elsewhere, may be consulted at public libraries, where refer- ence librarians are always glad to help readers find the information which they seek. In accumulating a wealth of knowledge concerning His merchandise, the salesman lays up a store of information which enables him to answer objections, to explain obscure points, and to bring out with enthusiasm and confidence the finer characteristics of the goods he has to sell. He needs this information as a background for selling, and he enjoys the possession of it, but he should bear in mind that much HO A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING that he has learned is to be imparted to customers only if they seem interested and if the facts are pertinent to the discussion of the moment. It is a mistake to enter into lengthy explanations of sources and processes as a mere matter of instruction, for most customers would be bored if not antagonized by such a procedure. Significance of names. Special study is often necessary for an understanding of the names given to merchandise. When the name is taken from a foreign language, its spelling, pronunciation, and meaning should be learned. If salespeople understood as do advertisers the commer- cial value of a good name, they would give more careful attention to the names applied to their merchandise. The fact that the name alone often sells an article is illustrated by the case of a man who, dining in solitude in a restaurant on a cold wintry night, ordered from the bill of fare : " Steamed fruit pudding with sunshine sauce." To a friend who joined him later, he said, " I don't care much for steamed pudding, but that sunshine sauce ' got ' me." It is of great importance to bear in mind that different names may be applied to the same article. It is not to be expected that a salesperson will be familiar with every pos- sible name for each article in stock, but if he is asked for something of which he has never heard, he should not say "We haven't it" until he has made sure by tactful inquiry that the store does not carry the desired article under another name or that it has not something nearly enough like it to serve as a substitute. Rubbers or rubber overshoes are sometimes called " goloshes " or " gum shoes," corsets are termed " stays," and samples, " patterns " by English people ; " gum bands " is another name for rubber bands. SELLING POINTS in A correspondent wrote as follows in the Boston Evening Transcript of October 21, 1916: One morning I stopped to buy a pair of overshoes in a department store. I asked for india rubbers. The young lady whom I addressed replied in a prompt, put-an-end-to- the-matter voice, " We don't carry them." As the articles which I had all my life heard called india rubbers were dis- played in great profusion on the counters, I persisted until I met a man who condescended to understand what I wanted and brought another young lady to serve me. A little while after, I went to a shop to buy some tooth powder. I asked for it as camphorated-chalk tooth powder. The lady behind the counter had never seen or heard of such a thing. I had often bought it at that very place. Looking around, I saw what I wanted and held it out to her. The name printed on the wrapper was " Camphorated Tooth Powder." Although obviously made of chalk, the word " chalk " was not printed. I went into another shop to buy a square of thin white silk which I asked for as a handkerchief for the neck. The young lady assured me that not only they had none but they never had had anything of the sort there. Fortunately another one came forward and knew exactly what I wanted. The first one then said, " If you had called it a scarf I should have known what you wanted." I think I was right here as to the name, for most persons expect a scarf to be long and a handkerchief 'square. Again I went to buy a pair of slippers at one of the department stores. I had been in the habit of wearing slippers of black suede in the house, and they said they had none of that sort all of their house slippers had heels. They brought and showed me high-heeled slippers all covered with beads and various decorations quite unsuitable for my pur- pose, and I was obliged to go without the slippers that day. 112 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING But the next time I tried to procure them, I carried an old one with me to show what I wanted. The clerk, this time a man, kindly informed me that those were bedroom slippers. They were perfectly suitable for parlor wear, but that was the name of them. Discriminating use of selling points. It is important to select for each customer the selling points which will make the strongest individual appeal. In the purchase of a hand- kerchief the latest fashion in hem or embroidery might be the deciding factor for one person, while another would em- phasize practical qualities, such as size or texture, rather than style. In a piano the tone is a very important consideration, but some customers would be more particular about the action of the instrument, and still others would put a hand- some case above every other consideration. Some persons like to know the history of an article and the origin of a detail in style ; others care a great deal about the blending of colors and the effect of lines. That " no selling talk is ready-made " has been truly said ; the taste and inclination of the customer and his motive in buying determine what shall be emphasized. Importance of truthful statements. It is fatally easy to fall into a way of saying that which customers apparently wish to hear, of following the line of least resistance, in- stead, sometimes, of acting with perfect candor. When a person inquires : " Will it wash well ? " " Is it durable ? " 11 Do you guarantee this article? " " Is it all wool ? " " Is it imported ? " salespeople who are not much interested in their work are prone to answer "Yes," without knowing, in some cases, whether they have told the truth or not. If the haphazard answer is incorrect, the salesperson is GERSAINT S SIGNBOARD A painting by Jean Antoine Watteau, showing the origin of the famous Watteau plait, or fold SELLING POINTS . 115 guilty of misrepresentation. This is a penal offense in some states, and in at least one state (Massachusetts) an employee making a false statement is specifically included with the employer in the indictment. A fine of from $10 to $500 is imposed as a penalty for each offense pf this character. The truthful representation of merchandise in advertising and by salespeople is a fundamental principle with all reputable stores. Some firms even go so far as to offer a pecuniary reward to anyone discovering an inaccurate or false statement in their advertising, and it occasionally happens that advertising space is used to acknowledge an error and to invite customers who have bought merchandise under a misconception to re- turn it and receive their money back. Stores which take so definite a stand for honest dealing must exact undeviating truthfulness from their salespeople if such a policy is to be successfully and consistently carried out. Honest opinions. Certain inquiries involve aesthetic con- siderations. Advice is asked concerning color combinations, the becomingness of colors and styles, the relative beauty of two similar articles. These queries, because less concrete in nature than those mentioned in the preceding paragraph, are not so seriously involving, for here opinions are solicited rather than facts ; nevertheless, salespeople often dodge the question. In regard to this matter a customer has said : "When I ask a salesperson what is the best thing for me, I want him to tell me. Often he tries to find out my prefer- ence, and then says he likes that, too. Or else he says that they are all good or that it is merely a matter of taste. And so although I want an honest opinion, I get no help at all." Perhaps nowhere is it harder to obtain trustworthy advice 116 .A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING than in a millinery department. Complaint is frequently made that the average millinery salesperson shows little dis- crimination in the selection of hats, assuring the customer that everything tried on is extremely becoming. Use .of English. If knowledge of merchandise, a nice perception of the most telling points, and wise advice are to attain their greatest potential value, they must be coupled with a suitable and effective medium of expression. For personal as well as professional reasons salespeople should cultivate a careful use of English. Good speech is an indi- cation of intelligence and refinement qualities which all desire for themselves and which command the confidence and respect of customers. It is surprising how few persons, comparatively speaking, are able to ask a question, make a statement, or give an explanation in a simple, direct, forceful way, chiefly because a habit of clear and orderly thinking has not been established. A distinct mental concept must precede the clear expression of a thought. Therefore, as has been pointed out, salespeople must knoiv the facts about their merchandise before they can expect to interest customers in it or convince them of its desirable qualities. The sales- person's own vision of it, his interpretation of its values, must have an unequivocal basis. Then with the employment of suitable language to describe it, he is in possession of a genuine force in selling. It is not the long nor the short, the new nor the old word, but the exact word which makes speech effective. Many of us are satisfied with the use of current popular expressions or of words which, partially conveying our meaning, seem to answer the purpose. But slang- phrases are not understood by all persons and are offensive to others, and half-truths may give false impressions. Hence, SELLING POINTS 1 17 salesmanship which is otherwise good may be invalidated by a weak use of language. Those who lack power to express their thoughts correctly and forcefully may educate them- selves in this respect by careful observation of the language of persons who do speak well, by good reading, by use of the dictionary, and by a firm resolution to eliminate objectionable, illogical, and ungrammatical expressions. It is possible to speak with reasonable correctness and a fair degree of accuracy and yet fail to be interesting because of a monotonous use of words. Such adjectives as " pretty " and ''nice" have lost much of their original force through overuse. Variety, then, should be added to accuracy and correctness as an essential characteristic of effective language. The uncommunicative salesman. A general lack of appre- ciation of the possibilities of language is shown by the abuse or neglect of this means of communication. Some salespeople seem to be positively unwilling to talk, volun- teering no information about their merchandise unless pos- sibly a mechanical statement of price. A certain man who was extremely fond of coffee and who had been dissatisfied for some time with the brand served at his own table went to the best grocery store in town resolved to get some information about coffee and with the intention of paying a high price, if necessary, for a brand which the salesman could heartily recommend. The following conversation took place : CUSTOMER. I want some good coffee ; the coffee we have been using lacks flavor. SALESPERSON. We have coffee at 32 cents, 38 cents, 45 cents, 50 cents, and 53 cents a pound. What grade do you want? This brief, not to say curt, statement so cooled the cus- tomer's interest that he left the store and bought his coffee 118 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING elsewhere of a salesman who was both interested and intelli- gent enough to " talk up " his goods. Here is another case of a salesman who appeared reluctant to be of any service to his customer. A man went to a bookstore to order a back number of a magazine. The conversation which ensued between him and the salesman is reported literally. CUSTOMER. Do you supply back numbers of magazines? SALESPERSON. How far back ? CUSTOMER. Last December. Harper's Magazine. SALESPERSON. Well, I don't know. I might be able to get it, but it will cost a good deal. CUSTOMER. How much do you think it will cost? SALESPERSON. Well, I don't know. CUSTOMER. Do you suppose it will be as much as $i ? I should n't be willing to pay so much as that. SALESPERSON. No, it won't be so much as that. CUSTOMER. Well, if it isn't more than 50 cents I '11 take it if you can get it for me. SALESPERSON (taking out order book). What 's the name? (CUSTOMER gives ?iame.} CUSTOMER. When do you think it will come? SALESPERSON. Oh, I don't believe it will be here inside of a week. CUSTOMER. Shall I call or will you let me know when it comes ? SALESPERSON. Well . . . (Hesitates] CUSTOMER. I will call a week from to-day. SALESPERSON. All right. Talking at random. Some salespeople say altogether too much or talk at the wrong time, allowing customers no time for reflection. A calendar of the type having a quotation for each month had attracted the attention of a passer-by. He thought he SELLING POINTS 119 would buy it if the quotations pleased him, but he wished to read them all before deciding. As he turned each leaf and began to read, the salesman invariably interrupted his thought with some commendatory remark. " This is a very pretty calendar," " It is one of our most popular calendars," " The quotations are very good," he talked on, until the ex- asperated customer decided not to buy a calendar that day. The salesman's poor judgment lost the sale. Again a salesperson may seem to talk for the sake of talking, with no thought or purpose back of the words. A girl who was managing an amateur production of a play wished to purchase a pair of candlesticks for a part of the furnishing of a peasant's cottage. She did not explain what use she intended to make of the candlesticks, simply stating that she wanted something inexpensive. The sales- woman placed before her candlesticks of brass, glass, and wrought iron, remarking, as she indicated her own prefer- ence for the glass ones, " These will be the best for your purpose." Suddenly realizing that she was unaware of the customer's purpose, she asked, " What do you want them for, anyway ? " Influence of the voice. The importance of the use of the voice is often overlooked. Sensitiveness to the quality of the voice varies with individuals, but there is no doubt that everyone is consciously or unconsciously affected by the tone and expression of persons speaking to him. Americans are much and justly criticized for their un- pleasant voices, which, in many cases, express a nervousness and strain taxing to both speaker and listener. Responsibility for this defect is sometimes attributed to the climate of this country, but more often the condition is explained by the speed and energy of American life, which allows little time 120 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING for relaxation of mind or muscle and takes little account, it is said, of the cultivation of the finer personal assets. But it is, after all, not a national nor a climatic matter but an individual one. It may be that only a favored few are endowed by nature with rich and beautiful voices, but the opportunity to improve such instrument of expression as we have is open to all. Sweetness, freedom, and depth of tone, carrying quality, distinctness of utterance, agreeable and expressive modulation, these are among the vocal qualities which all should strive to acquire. The proper use and train- ing of the voice is the work of specialists, but those who earnestly desire to improve can do much for themselves. Deep breathing, a relaxed throat, and a mind and body freed from nervous tension are goals of effort. It should be re- membered that a spirit of anger, irritation, indifference, or scorn may be revealed more clearly by the voice than by words, and that even so trifling a matter as an unpleasant tone may arouse such a feeling of resentment and antagonism in a customer as to render ineffectual much good salesmanship. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. What questions might you ask or what points should you wish emphasized if you were buying one-half dozen handker- chiefs for your own use ? if you were buying a handkerchief for a Christmas ^gift ? 2. Copy the outline on handkerchiefs into your notebook and supply all the information called for so far as possible. 3. Give six good selling points about any article of clothing you have bought recently. 4. What points do you think should be brought out in the sale of a coat ? a hat ? an umbrella ? a bag for schoolbooks ? a pencil box ? a box of candy ? a pair of roller skates ? SELLING POINTS 1 21 5. Without resorting to direct questions, how may a sales- person discover the points of importance to a customer in connection with the merchandise under consideration ? 6. What features in material for a suit would appeal strongly to a practical customer ? What other characteristics might be of greater interest to an artist ? 7. How can you tell what points to emphasize in showing and explaining merchandise to different types of customers ? 8. Under what circumstances is price a significant selling point ? 9. Why may the bare statement of the price of an article, without explanation of its qualities, be detrimental to a sale ? 10. Show that popularity of an article is a good selling point under certain conditions and a poor one under others. 11. Make a list of all the selling points which might come under the head of " Workmanship " in a well-tailored suit for yourself ; under the head of " Durability " in a rug ; under the head of " Beauty " in a piece of rich crimson velvet ; under the head of " Practical Advantages " in a glass measuring cup. 12. Make a list of five adjectives which might be used appro- priately in describing A five-dollar baby-dress of white nainsook A lady's suit of navy-blue faille silk The Scribner illustrated edition of Stevenson's " Black Arrow " A fountain pen White-enameled cooking dishes A mahogany tea wagon Building blocks A " kewpie" An oilskin raincoat An alarm clock A bunch of fresh violets Canned alcohol (Any eight items may be chosen.) 122 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 13. Imagine yourself selling to a customer the one of the three following articles in which you are most interested : A canoe An electric iron A velours hat Give all the arguments which you might advance in favor of the article and answer possible objections. 14. Do you say "doughnut" or "cruller"? "spider," "skillet," or "frying-pan"? "jug" or "pitcher"? "mug" or "cup"? " glass " or " tumbler " ? Discuss these and other distinctions in words with your friends, and discover whether or not you are applying certain terms and phrases in the same way. 15. Tell why it is good salesmanship to describe and explain merchandise to customers. Give three reasons. 16. Name an article of merchandise suitably characterized by each of the following adjectives : substantial handsome charming quaint elaborate ingenious ornate filmy comforting choice pure crisp bizarre convenient elegant 17. Expressing the idea <& frailty, describe, using a different word in each case : A china cup Fresh heliotrope Rare old lace A poor grade of tissue paper 18. Pronounce the following words : athletic attack alpaca address deficit height Start a list of words often mispronounced and add to it from time to time. SELLING POINTS 123 19. Express in one word the antonym of each of the following : simple compact unique dangerous original transparent lasting theoretical conservative lustrous antique complete novel brittle striking 20. Make a list of fifteen commonly used adjectives which you consider questionable. 21. If you were unable to answer a question about your merchandise, what would you do ? 22. Look up the meaning of "slang" in a large dictionary and write the definition in your notebook. 23. How does the use of slang impoverish vocabulary? 24. Why do people use slang ? 25. What is your opinion concerning its use ? 26. Why is slang constantly changing? 27. Put in sentence form ten of the commonest errors in grammatical forms that you hear. Write the correct form after each sentence. 28. Is it better to say " Gents' Furnishings " or " Men's Fur- nishings " ? to refer to a suite of rooms as a " flat " or an " apartment " ? to speak of " pants " or " trousers " ? a " phone " or a " telephone " ? 29. Start a list in your notebook of new words learned this year. If you are uncertain about the meaning of any word, look it up in the dictionary and write the meaning after the word. 30. What is meant by clear articulation ? Illustrate, giving examples of good and bad articulation. 3 1 . Why is it desirable to articulate clearly ? 32. Why do actors and public speakers cultivate this charac- teristic of good speech? 33. In what ways can you improve your own language? In what ways can you improve your own voice ? 124 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 34. Compare " I am out of that style " with " We are out of that style." Which pronoun is preferable, and why ? 35. Why is it a mistake to try to show merchandise with a pencil in your hand ? 36. Why should a salesperson never speak disparagingly of his merchandise? 37. Why should he be equally careful not to disparage a competitor's merchandise ? 38. Discuss the cases of poor salesmanship given on pages .117-119. How would you have conducted these sales? ASSIGNMENTS 1. Explain fully in writing eighteen of the following terms. Illustrate with sketches, pictures, or samples whenever possible. Robespierre collar Russian crash Bolero jacket Copenhagen blue Directoire coat Chuddah shawl Moyen-age fashions Cashmere shawl Russian blouse Dresden china Mandarin coat Gainsborough hat Scotch tartan Van Dyck collar Tyrolean cap Shaker cape Mexican sombrero Kate Greenaway styles Roman sash Cantigalli ware Navajo blanket Madeira embroidery Brittany pottery Mission furniture Watteau plait Anatolian curtains Period furniture Persian patterns Morris chair Pompeian red India mull Sheffield plate 2. a. Consult a rhetoric for the exact meaning of the following .words : circumlocution tautology verbosity hyperbole redundancy ambiguity King WEAVING A NAVAJO BLANKET '25 SELLING POINTS 127 b. Explain the weakness of each form of expression. c. Illustrate with a sentence or paragraph the principle involved in each case, using, for the first three, answers to a customer wishing to be directed to certain parts of a store ; and, for the last three, descriptions of merchandise. d. Rewrite the sentences or paragraphs in good style. e. Enter the entire exercise in your notebook. 3. Make a list of fifteen widely advertised products whose names are suggestive of excellent selling points. Analyze the words which make each name effective and show how they strengthen the advertising of the product. 4. Originate a trade name for exploiting a new brand, make, or variety of each of the following : A bicycle brake A flavoring extract A laundry soap A weather strip Pancake flour An ice pick A hammock A perfume A lunch basket A kerosene stove Try to express in a catchword or phrase the point which you think it most important to emphasize. CHAPTER VIII CONCLUDING SALES A sale may be divided into three parts : ( I ) approaching the customer ; (2) presenting the merchandise ; (3) conclud- ing the sale. Care, thoughtfulness, and skill are required at each stage, but it is ordinarily the third stage the time when the transaction is to be terminated that is the most critical. Failure to grasp the customer's mood or meaning, an ill-timed remark, a misplaced emphasis, or a relaxation of judicious effort may result in the loss of a sale which had been well-managed to this point. The indefinite customer. Frequently customers have only very vague notions as to what they want to buy, and unless the salesperson is alive to the situation and ready to make the most of every hint and suggestion dropped by the cus- tomer, the sale is likely to be lost because the idea back of the purchase is not completely formulated in the customer's mind. Suppose a woman announces her wish to look at silk waists. She thinks she wants blue, but does not know about the style. The salesperson begins showing waist after waist, intending to continue so doing until some comment is made. But the customer, who is pleased in a way with all the waists, says little ; she gradually becomes confused as a result of seeing too many styles and, losing sight of the main issue, is uncertain whether a strictly tailored or a semi- dressy model is what she needs. Not having observed the 128 CONCLUDING SALES 129 customer closely, the salesperson does not know what to emphasize, and the customer finally says with evident dis- appointment (for she really needs a waist and has come in with the intention of buying it) that -she " will not decide to-day." A more skillful salesperson would have proceeded more slowly, would have shown less, and, having gained some clue from the customer's response to each waist displayed, would have been ready and able to help in a wise selection. The positive customer. Let us imagine another type of customer, who may show a decided preference for a style of waist which, for some reason, the salesperson would prefer not to sell to her. This hesitancy might be explained by a shortage of sizes in that model, but is more commonly born of an impulse to save a customer from buying a garment unsuited to the requirements of her age, build, or coloring. Under such circumstances a tactful effort should be made to interest her in something more appropriate. But if the customer is clearly not open to suggestion, is of the unyield- ing type that, 'knowing its own mind, will not be moved, a vigorous attempt to substitute a different style would not only be futile but would probably result in a lost sale. Determined, forceful customers resent interference with their plans. Elderly persons, also, are sometimes inclined to take amiss well-meant efforts of younger salespeople, feel- ing distrustful of their motives or lacking confidence in their judgment. The gentle art of persuasion should therefore be practiced with diplomacy. The undecided customer. What is to be done when a customer seems unable to choose the single waist which she requires from among three or four which attract her about equally ? If she had them all at home, with plenty of time 130 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING for deliberation, she would undoubtedly find one of them more satisfactory than the others. Ordinarily it is better business all around that this decision be made in the store, and it rests with the salesperson to bring this about. There are no invariable rules in salesmanship, but some suggestions may be offered for dealing with cases of this kind. I. Narrowing the sale. An observant salesperson will be able to judge which waist, on the whole, is the most attrac- tive to the customer and will gradually withdraw or lay aside at a moderate distance, one by one, the articles less admired. Then, whereas the customer's thought might have been run- ning thus : "I really like this one best, but that one has handsomer buttons " or " This is just what I need, but that one has the new pocket," her attention, instead of being scattered over consideration of the merits of four good waists, becomes centered on a comparison of two and a choice between them. This important principle of salesmanship is called narrowing the sale. II. Emphasizing the best points. The process developed in (I) may be hastened and strengthened by a reiteration of the points which had seemed previously to count most with the customer. Perhaps the color will appeal very strongly to one customer, in which case its beauty, or the attractiveness of the combination with the customer's suit, or the fact that it is new may be referred to ; the popular name of the color may be given ; the waist may be taken to the window that its hue may be more clearly seen by daylight. If becoming- ness or fit bids fair to be the deciding factor, the customer may like to try the waist on a second time ; if style is upper- most in her mind, to see the waist on someone else may help to solve her problem. CONCLUDING SALES 133 III. Exercise of judgment. The amount of talking which is wise at this juncture, the emphasis placed on certain points, and the length of time allowed for quiet reflection on the customer's part are all matters demanding the most discriminating judgment. Two essential points should be kept in mind : ( I ) there should be no appearance of over- urging, lest a customer feel that she has been driven into a purchase against her will, and (2) the salesperson's comments should be brief, pointed, and not continuous. Broadening the customer's outlook. A sale is sometimes lost because a customer looks at an article from only one point of view, and that a very limited one. If no one takes the trouble to present the wide and interesting possibilities of the merchandise under consideration, some persons fail to see its value or its desirability. A salesman should keep it constantly in mind that the average customer has little imagination and should try to picture to himself the varying circumstances which might be connected with the use of any article which he is given to sell. Such visualizing of the article will suggest additional arguments and will make it possible to bring out points which might not occur to a customer until long afterward. Suppose that a cream-whipper is the object of a sale. One naturally thinks of the many ways in which whipped cream is served ; of the saving of labor effected by the use of a mechanical whipper ; of the fact that the same amount of cream goes farther whipped than plain ; that a good cream-whipper is more convenient, quicker, and neater than an egg-beater; that having only one function to perform it is always ready for use ; that whipped cream adds to the delicacy, daintiness, and appetiz- ing appearance of a dessert, etc. The intelligent presentation 134 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING of new, valid arguments brings out the desirability of the con- venient tool and wins the customer by conviction. Demonstrating the merchandise. Another way of stimu- lating a customer's imagination and interest is by showing a piece of merchandise in combination with something else with which it may appropriately be used. The more closely this combination approximates the customer's intended use of the material, the better. For example, if dainty lace to trim a summer dress is desired, the edge may be shown with a piece of fine muslin, lawn, or organdie. The beauty and usability of vases and flower-holders is brought out by an artistic arrangement of flowers in them. Book-ends look better and are more suggestive if good, well-bound books are placed between them they would never be set up with- out books in a person's home. A breakfast-set tastefully arranged on a small table as if about to be used makes a stronger appeal to a housewife than do the different pieces piled on a shelf. This method of selling, which strongly sug- gests the use of the merchandise, is a kind of simple demon- stration, and everything can be demonstrated to some extent. Concentration born of interest. It is difficult to hold unde- cided customers and slow buyers and sell anything to them unless undivided attention is given to the problem. This concentration is hard for those whose thoughts seem to stray involuntarily to irrelevant topics. Home and school training and self-discipline may avail much in teaching thought- direction and thought-control, but perhaps the essence of the whole matter is summed up in the one word interest. This is illustrated by the common experience of becoming so absorbed in a play or a book or in the performance of a master musician as to become oblivious to everything else CONCLUDING SALES 135 for the time being. Salespeople who are genuinely inter- ested in their merchandise because they have studied it enough to appreciate it, and who are imbued with the modern spirit of business, service to customers, will seldom lack that concentration which counts so much in successful selling. Interruptions. The most earnest efforts to achieve con- centration may, however, be set at naught by unfortunate interruptions, of which the following are common examples : (i) customers inconsiderately ask all sorts of questions of salespeople who are engrossed in sales ; (2) salespeople make unnecessary remarks to co-workers and so divert atten- tion at critical moments ; (3) a salesman is sometimes called to the telephone when about to consummate a sale. In the first case courtesy demands that a customer be politely answered, but the reply may be as brief as is con- sistent with good service ; the second case need not occur many times if the salesman will take a dignified stand with his fellow-workers in regard to the seriousness of his work ; in the third case the call must be answered, and circum- stances will dictate how best to serve the waiting customer. Self-control and resourcefulness are valuable allies in such unexpected situations, enabling one to do the right thing at the right moment without nervous or mental perturbation. Meeting difficulties. It is to be feared that sales are sometimes lost because salespeople are too indolent or too indifferent to do their full part in meeting objections, pro- curing information, or seeking the help of a higher authority. The sale recounted in the following incident would have been lost if the salesman had not taken the trouble to meet with authority the difficulties raised by the customer. 136 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING A child's mahogany chair was desired. There were only three chairs in stock, and as all had been on display they were somewhat rubbed and dulled from handling. The cus- tomer selected the one which she liked best, and said she would take the chair if the price were lowered on account of its shopworn appearance. Although the salesman knew that the policy of the house prohibited the marking down of any piece of merchandise in the presence of a customer, he offered to see the buyer about it. Before leaving for this purpose he took pains to have the customer comfortably seated. He soon brought back authoritative word that the chair could not be reduced, but that before delivering it the store would have it well rubbed and polished, restoring its original freshness. As the customer had intended to take it with her in her automobile, she objected to the delay which this treatment would entail. " What would they put on to freshen it ? " she asked. " A light furniture oil such as you use for rubbing up tables and chairs in your home," was the reply. " Well, then, I* '11 take it and have it done at home rather than wait." The sale was concluded easily and pleasantly and seemingly to the customer's entire satisfaction. Unpleasant publicity. A salesman occasionally obtains desired information so awkwardly, discourteously, or unwill- ingly that a customer loses all interest in the article which had at first seemed attractive. A customer wished to get a soap dish to go in a green- and-white bathroom. She had selected a plain white-enameled one, and was about to pay for it when she noticed on another table a similar dish in green and white. " There," she said to herself, " if that is n't too expensive, I '11 get that." She inquired the price, but the salesgirl did not know. CONCLUDING SALES 137 Another salesgirl near by did not know. Then the first girl shouted to a man far away in the rear of the department : " Say, what is the price of this green soap dish ? The lady does n't want to buy it, but she wants to know the price." The customer did not buy it. Excuses for not buying. Many excuses are offered for not purchasing merchandise which has been examined, and sometimes these statements are merely roundabout ways of saying, " I do not want it." Such remarks should always be taken in a professional rather than a personal spirit, without manifestation of disappointment, and nearly always some fitting response may be made which will leave a good impression and may lead to the customer's return. A list of specimen excuses is given. The student is asked to consider what reply, if any, may be made with good effect, keeping always in mind the possibility of winning a sale even at this point, or, if the customer is not to be won, the importance of impressing him in such a way that he may wish to return at some time in the future. 1. I am in too much of a hurry to decide to-day. 2. I want to look elsewhere first. 3. I can get it cheaper at A's. 4. I will ask a friend to come in and look at it. 5. It is more than I expected to pay. 6. I have n't enough money with me to get it to-day. 7. I will wait until the goods are marked down. 8. I want my husband to see it. 9. I won't decide to-day. 10. I am looking up the matter for a friend. 11. I am too tired to know what I want. 12. I can't get it until I know whether it matches my goods. 13. It is different from the make you carried last year. 138 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 14. I must think it over. 15. I think I will buy the goods and have my dressmaker make me something. 1 6. It does n't fit well enough. 17. The new styles seem so queer. 1 8. Everything is so expensive. 19. I have brought the wrong glasses and can't see very well. 20. I prefer to get this at B's if I can, because I have a charge account there. 21. I want something nicer. 22. This is not the color I had in mind. 23. I want to look in the basement before deciding. 24. I don't want to pay for alterations. Courtesy at end of sale. Salespeople should be mindful of customers and attentive to their needs as long as they remain in the department. The delay incident to wrapping bundles and obtaining change should be made to seem as short as possible by the showing of new merchandise or of advertising matter, or by conversation if customers are so inclined. But if a salesman is not at liberty to stay with a customer at this stage because others are waiting to be served, he should keep the former patron in mind until bundle and change are delivered ; that is, until the sale is actually completed. Customers should be helped with their wraps, their bundles, and their children. As at the beginning of the sale there should always be an expressed or implied greeting, so at the end, in addition to " Thank you," farewell should be ex- pressed by a smile and slight inclination of the head. Some salespeople say " Good morning " or " Good afternoon " as a customer is leaving. This polite custom is very generally practiced in foreign countries, but, oddly enough, it is not always regarded with favor in the United States. CONCLUDING SALES 139 A courteous leave-taking will go a long way toward making a customer forgive and forget mistakes, disappointments, and omissions in service. The proprietor of a certain drug store laid the foundation for future business with at least one customer by his politeness at the end of an interview. The customer had asked for a staple article which he was unable to supply. He expressed regret that the stock which he had just taken over was incomplete, then, courteously opening the door and smiling, he remarked, " Thank you for coming in." Final impression. It is at the conclusion of the sale that the customer receives his final impression of the person who has served him, of the department, and possibly of the store as a whole. It is of the utmost importance that his mind be filled with pleasant memories of the transaction. Certain ideas and associations are linked with every experience. The mere words " Fourth of July " must bring to the mind of every American many ideas, memories, and pictures. Firecrackers, the Stars and Stripes floating in the breeze, fireworks illuminating and enlivening a warm summer eve- ning, a picnic, a dinner of salmon and green peas, such are some of the agreeable memories evoked by the phrase. To some, however, the recollection of the Fourth of July can never be happy because of some accident or loss which occurred on that day, some distressing experience which the date never fails to recall. The psychological principle of the association of ideas is highly applicable to salesmanship. Why is it that a customer will go year after year to the same store and the same sales- man for shoes, when perhaps another store, more conveniently located, carries the same goods or a line equally satisfactory ? It is because shoes are associated in that customer's mind 140 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING with a certain store, department, and salesman, and the service has always been so good that he would not think of going elsewhere to supply his need. When a purchase of any article of clothing, a hat, for instance, is being discussed by two friends, how often one of them remarks : "I always go to Miss C for my hats. She seems to know just what I ought to have." To quote a well-known advertisement, " There 's a reason." QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Why is it usually better that a customer make a selection of merchandise in the store than at home ? 2. What advantages do you see in home selection? What disadvantages ? 3. What does sending goods " on approval " mean ? 4. Why should salespeople talk comparatively little when trying to close sales ? 5. Why is it inadvisable to continue presenting arguments after a customer has decided to purchase ? 6. What different uses for a thermos bottle might you suggest to a customer who was carefully considering the purchase of one ? an electric flash light ? a middy blouse ? a jackknife ? 7. Explain how you would demonstrate the desirable qualities of a magnifying glass, a fountain pen, a baseball glove, an umbrella, a pack of playing cards, drapery curtains. 8. Describe a time when you were so completely absorbed as to forget everything but your main interest. Analyze the reasons for your absorption. 9. If a customer who interrupts a sale wishes more help or information than you can give him at the time, what should you do ? 10. If before you had finished with a customer a second one should ask you to wait on him because he was in a hurry, what would be your policy ? CONCLUDING SALES 141 11. Show by means of concrete examples that a salesperson might sometimes be justified in interrupting the sale of a fellow- worker. 12. How may a necessary interruption be managed courteously ? 13. Give examples of unnecessary interruptions. What should be the attitude of the salesperson addressed under the circum- stances described? 14. If you were called to the telephone while serving a cus- tomer, what would you say upon leaving the customer ? 15. If you feel that you are failing with a customer, yet think that he desires to purchase, what should you do ? 16. Under what circumstances might it be advisable for a salesperson to leave a customer for a short time during the last part of a sale ? 17. Mention three cases in which the advantage of immediate buying might be a forceful argument in closing a sale. 18. What is meant by " anticipating objections " ? Give three examples to show how this may be done. 19. From the standpoint of convincingness, discuss the relative merits of the following positive and negative statements : a. It is fast color. It will not fade. b. This is a new model. This is not a last year's model. c. Is this the pattern you wish ? This is n't the pattern you had in mind, is it ? d. These paints are safe for children. These paints will not poison your child. 20. What should be done in case of prolonged delay in the wrapping of bundles or the return of change ? .21. Describe the most approved method of counting back change, assuming for purposes of illustration that a customer had handed you a $2 bill in payment for a 5y-cent purchase. 22. What are the merits of the method described ? 142 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 23. Why is it a good plan to show merchandise to a customer who is waiting for a parcel or change ? 24. What kind of merchandise would you select as best suited for this filling-in time ? 25. In a charge sale is it necessary to mention the price of an article sold if a customer does not inquire ? Give reasons for your answer. 26. If you think the price should be mentioned under these circumstances, how may it be brought in unobtrusively ? 27. If a customer has several small bundles, what courteous suggestion may be made ? 28. If after a customer has departed you discover that he has left some of his possessions, what should you do ? 29. Why is it right to express gratitude to customers who purchase ? 30. What is your feeling in regard to the greeting " Good morning " or " Good afternoon " at the end of a sale ? 31. Which is better : " Come in again, won't you ? " or " I hope you will come again." Why ? ASSIGNMENTS 1. Observe a sale in three different stores : a. A 5-and-io-cent store. b. A grocery store. c. A department store. 2. Note carefully all points in the closing of the sale and write a critical description of this part of each transaction. Include the following topics if possible : a. What factors appeared to influence the customer's decision ? b. Did the customer seem satisfied at the end ? c. If any interruptions occurred, state what they were and how they were handled. d. What was done to fill in any time of waiting for change or parcel ? CONCLUDING SALES 143 e. How was the sale acknowledged at the end? f. In what ways was the customer shown courtesy ? g. If you had been the salesperson, what should you have done differently ? h. What was the most commendable point in each sale ? What was the least commendable? 3. Bearing in mind that the last thing said or done usually leaves a deep impression, consider " courteous closings " this week. a. Explain what you mean by a courteous ending of a telephone conversation. Give an example. b. How may courtesy be shown in leaving an elevator ? a street car ? c. If you were applying for a position, what would courtesy demand of you at the end of the interview ? d. Discuss any experience of the week which has impressed you with the value of a courteous leave-taking or ending. e. Sum up the points made in the answers to the preceding ques- tions and apply them to a sale. CHAPTER IX SUGGESTION AND SUBSTITUTION " What is the value of window displays ? " Without giv- ing much thought to the matter the average person would probably answer, " To attract the attention of customers." This is true, but it is not the whole truth. If merchandise on display in a window is attractive enough to cause a woman to stop and look at it, she will almost invariably think of herself, her family, or her friends in connection with it. If it is a suit display she will presumably begin to consider the purchase of a suit for herself, and if the styles exhibited please her, the chances are good that she will buy a suit in that store. If toilet goods or small wares are shown, most observers will note something long needed which they will decide to purchase on the spot before it is again forgotten. A display of kitchen goods at " ten per cent off " is a re- minder that it is a good plan to buy needed utensils when prices are especially low. In other words, window displays are chiefly valuable for their suggestive power. Starting sales by suggestion. Suggestive selling, or sell- ing by suggestion, is one of the most interesting opportuni- ties in salesmanship. It may sometimes be effectively applied in starting a sale. The wares of demonstrators would re- ceive scant attention if they were not somewhat aggressively exploited by their agents, who invite attention by offering samples of their goods. While a prospective customer sips 144 145 SUGGESTION AND SUBSTITUTION 147 a cup of coffee or munches a biscuit, the demonstrator sets forth the merits of his commodity. If such an invitation to buy is not made unpleasantly urgent, the method is entirely legitimate and is productive of excellent results. A customer who appears to have time at his command but who expresses no specific desire to be shown a certain line of merchandise may become interested and may pur- chase something if the suggestion is presented in an attrac- tive and reasonable way. Suppose such a person, a woman, has wandered into a linen section. She may have no ex- pectation of buying anything, but she likes linens and there- fore takes pleasure in looking about the department. At a favorable moment a salesman may inquire: "Have you seen the new line of Webb's towels which we have just received from Belfast? They are extra heavy huck, good size, and remarkably good value at $3 a dozen." Or he may speak of a " new luncheon set, serviceable, yet dainty, of fine, firm linen with hand-embroidered edge." In addition to describ- ing the merchandise, he will, of course, show it. No sale may result at the time, but in the long run the effort will not be wasted. Two kinds of merchandise may be so arranged as to sell each other by suggesting the desirability of the combination. This principle is delightfully illustrated in the charming flower shop shown on page 145. So perfect is the arrange- ment of flowers in the beautiful baskets, jars, and vases carried by the shop that flowers and receptacles are alike irresistible. In this case it may seem that the merchandise does all the suggesting, but its suggestive power is due to the artistic sense and imagination of the person who arranged the display, knowing what would attract the public. 148 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING Continuing sales by suggestion. In many cases sales are started readily enough by a customer's asking for a definite thing which is easily supplied, but sales may frequently be continued by a skillful use of suggestion. A man, for exam- ple, buys a sweater at a sporting-goods house. He explains that a heavier grade than is first shown is needed because he is going on a two weeks' fishing trip and will require a very warm garment. This hint is enough for the sales- man. Being an experienced angler himself, he readily pic- tures the conditions which the customer will meet the mild discomforts and occasional bad luck which accompany such excursions as well as their delightful and exhilarating features. With genuine enthusiasm he suggests one thing after another which he knows to be useful to fishermen and campers. Some of the articles mentioned have been already obtained, but he succeeds in selling, in addition to the sweater, an oilskin coat, a compass, a light, folding lantern, a prepara- tion to ward off mosquitoes, and a cheap watch with a leather fob. The customer is delighted with his purchases ; his holi- day mood is heightened ; and he feels that the salesman who threw himself so heartily int.o the situation is a friend for life. In such simple and natural ways customers are agree- ably led to make purchases which might otherwise not have been made at all or, more likely, would have been made at a later day in another store. Avoidance of overper suasion. Suggestive selling becomes unethical when goods are pressed so urgently that a customer buys against his will and judgment. This is one of the most serious errors which a salesman can commit. The goods should be presented as being merely of possible interest and use, and the response of the customer should dictate further SUGGESTION AND SUBSTITUTION 149 action. Thus handled, suggestion may prove a real service in reminding customers of needs overlooked or in bring- ing to their attention new merchandise which they are glad to possess. Many a customer is grateful for help so easily obtained. A saleswoman in a children's clothing department related this experience : While on their way to the matinee, two ladies were attracted by a child's dress displayed in our window. It was of smocked chambray and was specially priced at $1.50. They came to the department, and after examining the dress with a good deal of care, bought four of that style. Unaware that they were intending to go to the theater, I suggested other dresses and one lady said to the other, " This is so interesting and the young lady seems so willing to show us everything, let 's give up the matinee." The fact that they were seated in comfortable chairs and that the department was quiet and orderly may have been partly responsible for their decision to remain in the store. As I showed various models the customers expressed surprise; they had not known that there were so many pretty styles and materials, they said. I sold four more gingham dresses at $1.95 up- wards, a French linen dress at $5, and two middy blouses and skirts. One of the customers was so pleased with our merchandise that she opened an account. Cooperation with other departments. Suggestive selling has more than one application. The most valuable sales- people are interested not alone in increasing their own sales and the business of their own departments but also in ex- tending the business and usefulness of the store as a whole. Salespeople should form the habit of thinking of the mer- chandise which they are asked to sell in relation to other 150 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING lines of goods with which it is closely associated. A great many women buy a suit in the spring and another in the autumn. Nearly always a waist and gloves to go with the suit are purchased within a month. It is obvious that a cus- tomer will save time and trouble by selecting the waist and gloves immediately after buying the suit, while she can easily try them with it. If this is done, this unit of clothing, as it may be called, will all be ready at the same time, and the customer will not be subjected to the inconvenience of buy- ing something in a hurry to meet an unexpected demand. Salespeople who have a practical and thorough under- standing of all phases of their work, and who really take pleasure in helping customers find the thing which best meets their needs, are often able to make suggestions which are gratefully accepted. That such thoughtful service may sometimes involve personal sacrifice is shown by the following incident : The parents of a young lady about to be married set out to buy her wedding veil, as she was unable to attend to this purchase herself. When, many years before, her mother had procured her own wedding veil, she had bought the requisite amount of tulle, and the veil had been fashioned at home. So she and her husband went to the veiling department prepared to repeat this experience. The girl who waited on them said she had the material and would be glad to sell it to them, but that most people preferred to buy the veils all made, ready to wear. This caused less trouble, and the veil was sure to be right. She referred them to the wedding- outfit section on another floor and suggested that they ask for Miss S. As the advice seemed good, the parents followed it and secured the services of Miss S., who first gave them chairs, then asked which girl on the floor was most like their daughter in appearance. The girl selected served as model, SUGGESTION AND SUBSTITUTION 151 and the sale was soon made, so pleasantly, comfortably, and competently that the parents related the experience to their friends, always mentioning the two "exceptionally nice girls" who had served them so well. It is thoughtful salesmanship like this which wins the confidence and good-will of the public. Salespeople should hold themselves responsible for knowl- edge of all lines of merchandise closely related to their own. Occasionally a buyer places the same kind of merchandise on sale in more than one part of a store. Those who sell in the regular department should know about these isolated offerings, which are usually specially priced and which some- times please customers who will buy nothing from the regular line. A customer who wished to purchase some black-and-white shepherd's check remarked to the salesman in the dress- goods section : " These checks look like the pieces on the bargain table over there. Are they the same thing ? " He replied, " I really do not know ; I have n't looked at the table." The customer felt uncertain about the value of the goods and took samples only, eventually making the purchase in another store. There is much need of cooperation between salespeople selling the same or nearly the same merchandise, as in the instance just cited, and also between those whose goods supplement each other. For example, when a customer buys a fountain pen he usually needs to get fountain-pen ink for filling it, but the ink is often sold in a different section by another person. Under these circumstances a conversa- tion somewhat after this fashion frequently takes place : CUSTOMER (about to leave, having just received his pur- chase). Oh, I want some ink to go with this. What is the best kind ? 152 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING SALESPERSON. You'll have to ask the other girl about that. CUSTOMER. Can't you sell it to me ? SALESPERSON. No ; that girl down there is in charge of the ink. Half a dozen weak points in the salesmanship exhibited in this brief dialogue will readily be discerned. Salespeople should eagerly avail themselves of opportunities to play into each other's hands and should transfer customers so pleas- antly and promptly that the change will be hardly realized. In nearly all departments such opportunities exist. There are fabric gloves and kid gloves ; sterling silver and plated silver ; black silks and colored silks ; tin ware and enameled ware ; domestic rugs and imported rugs. Cooperation be- tween the members of a department and between related departments is not merely a matter of helping each other ; it has a more important bearing in insuring good service to customers. Indifferent, uncooperative workers are sometimes not suffi- ciently alive to respond to a suggestion presented by a customer, as in the case of one who, in an upholstery depart- ment, wished to look at a certain kind of silk for curtains. Before the slow-motioned saleswoman showed anything, the customer's eye was caught by an unusual couch cover, only one corner of which was visible as it lay folded on the counter. Apparently annoyed by the slight delay, the sales- woman said unsmilingly, " Did you want to look at silks ? " " Yes, I do," the customer responded, " but I am simply fascinated by this Persian couch cover." Reluctantly moving away from the embroidered cover, the customer selected and bought the silk. While it was being wrapped at the cashier's desk, she glanced again in the SUGGESTION AND SUBSTITUTION 153 direction of the admired cloth. " The colors are beautiful," she murmured. The saleswoman made no comment, did not even unfold the cover, and the customer passed out of the department. Futile questioning. Success in suggestive selling is de- pendent to a great extent upon power to stimulate a cus- tomer's imagination. It is therefore the merchandise its usefulness, beauty, novelty, comfort which should be brought forward rather than the idea of buying an addi- tional but indefinite something. Salespeople seldom accom- plish anything when they strive to augment their sales by inquiring : 1. Is that all? 2. Is there anything else ? 3. What else? 4. You did n't want anything else, did you ? 5. What else can you think of? 6. Was there something else, now ? 7. Nothing else, was there ? When thus questioned, customers usually answer " No " ; sometimes they reply absent-mindedly, " Well, I think I did want something else, but I can't remember what it was " ; seldom do they buy anything more unless they had intended to anyway, irrespective of any questioning. Substitution a form of suggestion. The principle of sub- stitution is, in reality, the application of suggestion to a situ- ation in which a customer fails to find the precise thing which is sought. Advertisers of well-known products often make the statement that there is nothing "just as good," and warn the public " to accept no substitutes." There is no doubt that substitution may be and has often been carried 154 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING too far ; but, on the other hand, good service demands that an effort be made to satisfy a disappointed customer, who alone can decide whether or not the proffered substitute will be acceptable. Presenting new ideas. New ideas, even when well sup- ported, are slow of adoption. Higher education for women was considered an unwise if not a dangerous innovation back in the sixties ; and not long ago a brand-new type of educa- tion embodied in home-economics courses had to make its way against the opposition of many who believed that no departure from the more strictly cultural form of education should be permitted. Like this tenacity to old and accustomed habits of thought is the persistence with which some people cling to what they " have always had." They seem to dislike and some- times even to resent a change to something different. Yet since manufacturers are constantly improving their output and are placing on the market new things which it is ad- vantageous to try, it is reasonable to assume that a customer who asks for an old-fashioned article or for something which has been superseded and greatly improved in the course of years may be induced to consider a substitute if it is properly presented. But such a person will probably be disinclined to accept the new and untried article unless it is explained. As at the close of the sale it is usually futile to ask, " Is there anything else ? " so, when the article called for is not in stock, it is unwise to inquire, " Would anything else do ? " or " Would you like to see anything else ? " If the nearest approach to the customer's demand is shown with a courteous explanation, it will often prove to be satisfactory. SUGGESTION AND SUBSTITUTION 155 A saleswoman reports this experience as an illustration of the practicability of substitution : An excited customer came into the sweater department, sat down, and said, " I want a sweater; it must be short, handmade, and by no means fancy." Here was a problem, for most of our handmade sweaters were of a fancy weave and nearly all were long. I showed her the plainest short sweater we had, but she did not like it. " Is that all you have ? " she inquired. Although it was the only short, hand- made sweater we had, I did not say so but brought one a little longer with a belt. Then I showed one still longer, with a shawl collar, and finally induced her to try on a long sweater with a very pretty blue collar. It was becoming to her, and she was pleased with it. " That is beautiful," she said ; " I will take it." When she left she thanked me and said I had sold her something she had not supposed she would care for, but that her mind was changed, and she knew she would always like what she had bought. There is, perhaps, no such thing as a fixed idea. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. If you suggest and show goods to a customer who does not buy, how may your efforts yet be productive of good ? 2. 'Describe the circumstances of a purchase which was first suggested by a window display. 3. Why might it be advantageous to buy an extra quantity of the following items ? Laundry soap Films for a kodak Material for a little boy's suit Yarn for a sweater Buttons for shirts Shoe strings Christmas cards Shot for a rifle Links for automobile chains 156 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 4. Give an illustration from your own experience, if possible, of something which was purchased as a result of a salesperson's suggestion. 5. Why is it unethical to force merchandise on an unwilling or hesitant customer ? Q. Why is it poor business to do so ? 7. If you were selling any one of the items given below, what merchandise carried in the department might you suggest as a logical additional purchase? Mention two or more things in each case. Shoes Men's neckties Thread Stationery Sheet music Baseballs Lace curtains Toilet soap Paint 8. What related merchandise (sold in another department) might be suggested in connection with the sale of the following items : A doll carriage Skates An evening gown A smoking-jacket Christmas-tree decorations A typewriter A coffee percolator A hat A traveling bag Garden seeds 9. How can you learn enough about related lines of merchandise to suggest them intelligently ? 10. Why is it desirable to refer a customer to a particular sales- person (whom you know to be efficient) in another department? Give three reasons. 11. Discuss all the points of good salesmanship brought out in the sale of the wedding veil. 12. At the end of this sale what articles might have been suggested to the parents as having been possibly overlooked by the daughter? 13. Why does a buyer sometimes place lots of the same merchandise on sale in several different parts of a store ? SUGGESTION AND SUBSTITUTION 157 14. Rewrite the dialogue between the customer and the girl who sold the fountain pen, presenting an example of good salesmanship. Give reasons for the chief points in your revision. 15. What is meant by esprit de corps ? Show how a salesperson imbued with this spirit may (i) strengthen his own department and (2) strengthen the store. 16. Give an instance from your own experience, if possible, in which a substitution proved so satisfactory that the article originally asked for was no longer desired. 17. How, without giving offense, can you persuade a customer to substitute a new and becoming style of suit for the old-fashioned, unbecoming type she has always worn ? ASSIGNMENTS 1. A lady and her two children are to spend the summer at the seashore. She comes to you to buy a bathing-suit for herself and for each of the children, a girl of five and a boy of nine. The children are with her. In the form of a dialogue write a full account of the sale as you would endeavor to conduct it, making liberal use of suggestion. At the end of your paper give a brief description of all the articles sold, with their prices. Merchandise actually seen in the stores should be described, as far as possible. 2. What arguments may be advanced in favor of aluminum kitchen-ware as a substitute for tin or enamel ? Make a careful, written analysis. 3. Imagine yourself a clerk in a grocery store. Make a list of the foodstuffs you would advise a party of four men to take on a two weeks' fishing expedition. 4. If you were a clerk in a drug store, what would you suggest for a first-aid kit for this same party ? CHAPTER X EXCHANGES History of the exchange policy. As stated in the first chapter, Mr. Wanamaker was the first merchant in the United States to establish and put into practice the principle of allow- ing customers to return merchandise with which they are not satisfied and of granting a refund of the original purchase price. Mr. Wan&nak'er's announcement of this policy, made in 1865, was worded thus : Any article that does not fit well, is not the proper color or quality, does not please the folks at home, or for any other reason is not perfectly satisfactory should be brought back at once, and if it is returned as purchased, within ten days, we will refund the money. It is our intention, always to give value for value in every sale we make, and those who are not pleased with what they buy do us a positive favor to return the goods and get the money back. 1 The notice caused a sensation. Many asserted that busi- ness could not be profitably conducted on such a basis of privilege ; but Mr. Wanamaker contended that customers were not receiving privileges, but were being accorded .rights by this policy, which, he declared, operated as advantageously to the store as to the customers. On this point he said : 1 This announcement and Mr. Wanamaker's explanation are quoted from the " Golden Book of the Wanamaker Stores," which may be con- sulted for a more complete history of the exchange policy and for other interesting material relative to this subject. 158 EXCHANGES 159 Besides balancing benefits between the merchant and his customers, it automatically served notice on the manufac- turer that the standard of his product must be so raised and maintained as to leave no room for complaint about quality. No merchant could afford to patronize a mill or factory whose goods were constantly being turned back on his hands. The salesman was freed from all temptation to misrepresent goods, because they would come back if they proved to be deficient. Abuse of a privilege. 1 As time went on and the Wanamaker business flourished, its competitors adopted some of its poli- cies, which spread also to other cities, until at length the return of merchandise for exchange or credit became a uni- versal practice among the department stores of the country. However, as a result of competition, merchants became so liberal in their exchange policy that unscrupulous customers grossly abused the privilege, returning goods which they had injured or had worn or, as in the case of favors or table decorations, had " borrowed " for special occasions. 1 A few authentic examples of unjust claims made by customers may help to show why curtailment of privilege has become necessary : A customer purchased children's clothing to the amount of $50, stating at the time of purchase that the child for whom the clothes were bought was ill and could not be brought to the city. A few days later the buyer of the department saw a notice of the child's death from scarlet fever. About a week after this a box containing the original $50 worth of clothing was returned to the store for credit. The buyer accepted the merchandise, but carried it at once to the engine room, where it was burned. A customer brought in her child wearing a hat which she wanted exchanged. She said this was their first visit downtown since the quarantine for scarlet fever had been lifted. The child had been the patient. An undersized woman bought a $60 suit which had to be nearly made all over for her. The skirt was shortened six inches, some fullness was taken out, the coat was all done over. About a week later the customer was indignant because the store refused to refund the $60 plus the alteration charges. She said her husband did not like the suit, and she could not wear it in his presence. 160 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING Customers sometimes demanded and received full credit for merchandise which had been in their possession for months or even a year or more. During this time it had, of course, depreciated in value and, in some cases, had become unsal- able. The most unreasonable claims were granted, for the stores acted on the principle that the " customer is always right " and took the stand that it is better to lose money on merchandise than to offend and lose customers. Since such practices inevitably increase the cost of mer- chandise to the entire buying public, placing an undue burden on fair-minded customers, most stores have set certain limits to the return privilege. It will be noted that in his original announcement concerning returned merchandise Mr. Wana- maker imposed two conditions : 1. The merchandise was to be in as good condition as when purchased. 2. It was to be returned within ten days. Time has proved the wisdom of these restrictions, which, with variations, have been included in the regulations drawn up recently by the Chambers of Commerce of many large cities. When collective action such as this is taken by a Chamber of Commerce or a Retail Board, the public is notified some- time in advance of the impending change through announce- ments in the daily papers. The notification to the public sent out by the Chamber of Commerce of Cleveland in Novem- ber, 1915, is given in full, because it is comprehensive and, in spirit and content, is representative of the new rulings of many merchant organizations. EXCHANGES 161 REGARDING RETURNED GOODS RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE RETAIL MERCHANTS BOARD OF THE CLEVELAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE The recommendations of the Retail Merchants Board, regulating the acceptance of returned goods, have been approved by the Cleveland merchants. They ask the buying public of Cleveland to help them put the following recommendations into effect : I. NONRETURNABLE ARTICLES. The following articles for legal, sanitary, or other reasons cannot be accepted for return : 1. Bedding and mattresses. 2. Garments that have been altered for the purchaser. 3. Shoes which have been altered. 4. Combs, hair brushes, and toothbrushes. 5. Hair goods and hair ornaments. 6. Rubber-goods sundries. 7. Women's hats which have been made specially to the customer's order. 8. All goods cut from the piece at the request of the customer. 9. All merchandise which has been made to order or specially ordered and which is not carried regularly in stock. II. RETURNABLE ARTICLES. Any article of merchandise . which for some good reason is to be returned to a store must be returned within a reasonable time two business days^ III. CONDITION; SALES CHECKS 1. No article will be accepted for return unless it is in its original condition and boxing. 2. No merchandise of any kind which has been used will be accepted for return. 3. The sales check must accompany all returned merchandise. 1 The time limit varies in different cities from a minimum of two days to a maximum of two weeks. Indianapolis allows three business days ; San Francisco, four ; Boston, six (though one Boston store in the spring of 1917 set a two-day limit for the return of trimmed hats). 162 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING IV. GIFTS 1. Gifts of all kinds (Christmas, wedding, birthday, etc.) if returned will be accepted only in exchange for other merchandise and will not be credited on the account of the person receiving the gift. 2. Gifts may be returned for exchange at current prices only. V. UNJUST DEMANDS. The names of all customers who con- tinually make unjust claims upon the merchants and of customers who return C. O.D. merchandise will be reported to a central clearing house. Such information will eventually become a part of the credit information supplied every merchant. VI. DEPOSITS ON " WILL CALL " PURCHASES. A deposit of not less than 25 per cent of the purchase price will be required on all " will call " purchases. VII. NONRETURNABLE TAGS. Uniform tags will be supplied for use on articles bought with the privilege of return. If these tags have been removed from an article it will not be accepted for return. Any article bought with the privilege of return will be consid- ered sold and not returnable if the. merchant is not advised within two business days that it is to be returned. Please cooperate in a reform which will be a benefit in every way to everyone in this community. The recommendations were signed by fifteen firms. Advantages of the exchange policy. The fact that the ex- change policy has stood the test of more than fifty years in practice is sufficient evidence of its soundness. It operates ideally when intelligent salespeople and reasonable customers come together, and even under less favorable circumstances its advantages are believed to outweigh its disadvantages. In this policy customers have a guaranty of satisfaction which tends to make them buy more freely since, except in the case of special sales and a few nonreturnable lines of goods, no sale need be final. They may also shop almost EXCHANGES 163 unrestrictedly on approval, a privilege especially appreciated by those who prefer to try on garments comfortably at home or who wish to try the effect of an article in the house before making a decision. To the store the chief advantage lies in the fact that any misstatement, misrepresentation, or lack of reliability in service or merchandise is almost sure to be reported and investigated, with the result that buyers and salespeople are on guard to prevent dissatisfaction. In this way the policy helps to establish a firm's reputation for liberality and fair dealing. Disadvantages of the exchange policy. The main disad- vantages of this system are (i) injury to the stock, which, when returned, may have to be marked down as a result of handling and packing ; (2) the expense involved in delivering goods which may not be finally sold ; (3) the expense of collecting and transporting returned goods; (4) possible loss of cus- tomers for merchandise which is out subject to exchange. While it is inevitable that some merchandise be returned for exchange or credit, the percentage of such returns is abnormally high in some departments because of poor sales- manship. It is much less trouble to suggest that a customer take something home and try it because "you can return it if you don't like it " than to discover the real need and endeavor in every way to satisfy it while the customer is in the store. Another unfortunate tendency of unintelligent salespeople is to encourage a customer to have several articles sent home for leisurely consideration when the purchaser might easily be led to make a decision on the spot. White skirts may be taken as an example. Let us suppose that a customer who has decided to lay in a supply for summer wear, finds more styles and more kinds of materials than she 1 64 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING has known about. There seems to be a great range of price, also. She tries on some skirts over her wool suit, but the effect is not entirely good, and it is difficult to tell about the size. The saleswoman has brought out quantities of stock but has been of mechanical assistance only. Perceiving that the customer appears to be in a hurry and that a decision is not being reached, the saleswoman suggests sending out a half-dozen styles, a proposal to which the customer hastily assents, hoping that in this way she may find something that will do and that her time in the store will not have been utterly wasted. Many such cases occur, and they are often entirely unnecessary. Checking excessive use of the return privilege. Some stores have put a check on the wholesale practice of sending on approval by limiting the number of pieces which may be sent, setting the number as low as three, or even two, in certain departments. This has proved to be a wise prohibi- tion, because it enables a store to serve the great majority of its patrons more satisfactorily than is possible when a large proportion of unsold merchandise is out of the store. It also strengthens and stimulates the efforts of the weaker salespeople. There are other methods designed for weak or insatiate customers. Section V in the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce announcement shows that undesirable cus- tomers are watched and are not indulged indefinitely in their unreasonable claims. A courteous letter of inquiry is some- times sent to such customers, urging them to report any failure on the part of the store in respect to service, mer- chandise, policy, or system which might account for the excessive amount of merchandise returned. The intimation is that unless the store is at fault it may be advisable to EXCHANGES 165 close the account of the person addressed, as business done on such a fluctuating basis is unsatisfactory to the patron and unprofitable to the store. It is evident that an over-liberal policy may have a demor- ) alizing effect. In the course of a century the pendulum of/ trade has swung far in two directions. In the earlier period of storekeeping, before Mr. Stewart and others had estab- lished their high principles of business procedure, many merchants took every possible advantage of customers. Now, in our time, the situation has been reversed ; some customers have imposed upon merchants. Both extremes are illogical, uneconomic, and unethical. It is to be hoped that the era of sane, reasonable, honest trading which we are now entering will be permanent. The salesmanship of exchanges. The attitude of sales- people toward customers who wish to make an exchange or obtain a refund is often criticized. Any salesman would naturally prefer to make a regular new sale than go to the trouble of exchanging an article or of having a credit or refund slip made out. But individual preference is not the point of emphasis. So long as the policy of the store allows the return of merchandise, the conscientious and cour- teous handling of such a transaction is as much a part of a salesman's duty as the first-hand sale of goods. Customers are embarrassed and offended when salespeople appear to re- sent being asked to make an exchange or to take back goods. It is ill-bred, selfish, and shortsighted to meet legitimate requests of this sort in an unwilling spirit. Aside from the human aspect of the question, which should prompt a salesman to think of himself in the customer's place, there is always the possibility that a request for a refund if well 1 66 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING handled may be converted into an exchange or that a new sale may be developed along a new line. Both refunds and exchanges offer excellent opportunities for the exercise of good salesmanship. A customer, accompanied by her daughter, entered a silk department. Both were much attracted by a piece of silk displayed on the counter. " I like this piece so much better than the one I bought yesterday," said the customer to the salesman. " We will exchange it for you, madam, if you wish, but the piece you bought is much the smarter of the two," he replied. The customer's doubts would have been settled by this if her daughter had not so greatly admired the piece which they were both seeing for the first time. The salesman again remarked that if the customer would bring in the silk bought the day before, they would be glad to exchange it, but that if style were any consideration the original purchase could not be equaled in the department. After a good deal of thought and discussion the customer finally said, " Well, I will take seven yards of this for my daughter and will keep for myself the silk I bought yesterday." Six linen handkerchiefs at 12^ cents each were returned by a customer with the explanation that she did not need them and wished a refund. The salesgirl saw at once that the handkerchiefs were of a better grade than. the store was then carrying at that price, so she told the customer, as a matter of interest, that owing to war conditions the same handkerchief had advanced to 1 5 cents. The customer had been unaware of the linen shortage and was so impressed by the advancing prices and the probable disappearance of linen from the market that (although she said she had a good supply of handkerchiefs on hand) she not only kept the six she had intended to return but bought an extra dozen at 1 5 cents each. EXCHANGES 167 A young girl bought a $30 coat and seemed entirely satis- fied with it, but as her mother was not pleased with it, the coat was taken back to the store by the mother and daughter and a credit asked for. The mother explained that she disliked the color and thought the price too high. She allowed the sales- man to show the $25 coats, which were the next lower in price, but these were not satisfactory. The salesman thought, to himself : " They are going to buy a coat somewhere. The daughter is easily pleased ; I am going to win the mother." Removing from sight the coats not admired, he showed some $35 models, bringing out all the good points regarding the material, the lining, and the style. The mother finally said that she thought the $35 coats were worth the difference in price, and selected one for her daughter. She then asked the salesman to show her something for herself. To his great surprise she soon decided on a coat at $40. In practically all stores certain merchandise is not return- able for hygienic or other reasons, and in most stores milli- nery is one of the restricted lines. There is usually somewhere in the department a sign similar to this one, observed in a New York store : " For the benefit of our customers milli- nery is not exchanged or credited." It sometimes happens, however, that a rule even so rigid as this is set aside for good and sufficient reasons ; and when this is done no com- ment or criticism should be made by salespeople, who should give as good service to the exchange customer as to any other. A lady who was a friend of a member of the firm in a certain store which carries only expensive merchandise was unwilling to buy a hat until her husband had seen and approved her selection. She explained the situation to the firm member and was authorized by him to have the hat she liked sent home on approval. As her husband was not pleased with it, she brought it back and was received most 1 68 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING unpleasantly in the department. Without waiting for ex- planation, the saleswoman pointed to a sign, saying "There is the sign about exchanges." Even after the circumstances had been explained and the exchange arranged for, the atmos- phere remained hostile and uncompromising. After the sales- woman had remarked, " I should think you tried that hat on times enough to know whether it was becoming," and had tried on one or two others in a spiritless way, she said contemptuously, " Probably there are no hats here that you would like for the price you want to pay." The customer will never again attempt to buy a hat in that store. Charge accounts and credits. It is a store's charge cus- tomers who make most extensive use of the exchange and credit privilege, because they are in a position to enjoy most fully the conveniences of this system. Cash customers are entitled to the same privileges, but since they are ordinarily obliged to visit the store in person for an exchange or re- fund (unless it is a case of an "even exchange," involving no new element or the handling of any money) they are more likely to make their purchases thoughtfully and with the expectation of having them final. Charge customers are put to no trouble in returning goods. The store's delivery wagon calls, and the credit is entered on the account. Nothing could be simpler for the patron. But there is sometimes trouble in store, for when the bills are received the credit is often found to be incorrectly entered. An entry of " under credit," a smaller amount than is due the customer, is usually accounted for in one of two ways : T . The sales check and price tag having been removed by the customer, the salesman who makes out the credit slip trusts to his memory for the price instead of ascertaining it by comparison or by inquiring of an authority. The latter EXCHANGES 169 method is usually the safer because of the possibility of a reduction in price since the article was purchased. 2. Price tags, when present, are sometimes marked so illegibly as to be incorrectly read. Neither cause is sufficient excuse for errors, which are costly in respect to the labor involved in correcting them, in annoyance to customers, and in a store's lowered reputation for efficiency. The personal element in exchanges may count even more than in ordinary sales. Some customers are timid about taking goods back to a store ; others, annoyed because the merchandise was not right, are in a disagreeable mood ; nearly all are sensitive if there seems to be any misunder- standing about price. People are almost invariably indignant if their credit is at all questioned. Some will not permit C.O.D.'s to be sent, because this method of payment may seem to reflect upon their financial standing. For these reasons diplomacy and patience are qualities needed by all who have anything to do with exchange customers. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. What rules regarding returned merchandise have been made by the stores of this city ? 2. Name any stores which as yet have set no restrictions. 3. If different rules govern the return of goods in basement stores, explain the distinction and give the reasons for it. 4. What is the policy of 5-and-io-cent stores regarding ex- changes and cash refunds ? Account for it. 5. Why are goods not returnable when sold at reduction sales ? 6. Explain why each of the nine items mentioned under the heading "" Nonreturnable Articles " (in the Cleveland announcement) is on the restricted list. A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 7. Explain the two rules under IV (" Gifts "). 8. What weak points in salesmanship are suggested in the hypothetical sale of white skirts ? 9. What is the policy of two leading stores known to you in regard to the number of pieces which may be sent on approval from the fur-coat department ? How many women's suits may be sent? men's suits? books? 10. Explain fully the undesirable features of exchange from the standpoint of the store ; the customer ; the salesperson. 11. Of what special advantage to a store are its cash customers? 12. Why do stores. solicit charge accounts? 13. Make a list of the advantages enjoyed by charge customers. 14. Find out, if practicable, what proportion of the business of any one department store is represented by its charge accounts. 15. Some salespeople are inclined to give better service to charge customers than to cash customers. Why is this practice to be condemned ? 16. Comment on this advice given a customer by a salesman in a high-grade shoe store : " You 'd better open an account ; you will get much better service." 17. Name any store or stores whose business is conducted on a cash basis. 18. Account for the fact that prices in cash stores tend to be lower than in other stores. Give at least two reasons. 19. What are " deposit accounts," sometimes carried by cash stores ? 20. In what ways are deposit accounts of greater advantage to a store than ordinary charge accounts ? 21. Describe any store of the " self-serve " type with which you are familiar. Give at least five factors which make low prices possible in these stores. 22. Printed on the sales check of nearly all stores is this statement : " In case of error or return of goods this slip must be presented." Give at least three reasons for this regulation. EXCHANGES 1 71 23. Why is the rule not strictly enforced by many stores ? 24. Do you think it should be enforced ? Give reasons for your answer. 25. Who is responsible for marking price tags ? 26. Who is responsible for attaching them to merchandise ? 27. What is the salesperson's responsibility in regard to price tags on merchandise ? 28. If the tags are missing from returned merchandise, what should the salesperson do? 29. What methods can you suggest for training your memory in respect to the prices of merchandise ? 30. Why is it to your advantage to be sure of prices ? 31. Make a list of ways in which an accurate memory may help you to advance. 32. Who, besides salespeople, have any contact with customers who return merchandise for credit or exchange ? What contact do they have ? ASSIGNMENTS 1. Taking as the subject of a debate the policy expressed in the dictum of some stores : " The customer is always right," out- line fully the arguments on both sides of the question. From your own experience, that of your friends, that of salespeople in the stores, or from trade journals, get stories of exchanges to illustrate both sides of the argument. In conclusion give your own opinion on the subject and the reasons on which it is based. 2. The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce announcement ends with this request: Please cooperate in a reform which will be a benefit in every way to everyone in this community. Explain, in writing, how the reforms which are recommended would operate to the benefit of your community from the stand- point of (i) health and (2) economy. CHAPTER XI SERVICE Widespread expression of the service ideal. Service as a practical working ideal is applied nowadays to many lines of endeavor. Perhaps no other principle, unless it be effi- ciency, has received so much emphasis in the last decade from able, earnest, thinking people. Animated by a desire to meet the real needs of the public, to serve the people better and more fully, many types of institutions have re- vised their methods with marked increase in vitality and effectiveness. The movement has found expression among churches in the organization of clubs and classes designed to bring people of common interests together in a pleasant and helpful relation ; it has stimulated municipalities better to safeguard the interests and lives of the citizens and to make larger provision for their enjoyment ; it has impelled universities to undertake widespread extension work whereby some of the advantages of higher education are made available to those who cannot go to college. A new profession, that of social service, is one of the most far-reaching manifestations of the great awakening which this movement for social better- ment has brought to all the world. It is but natural that busi- ness, with its sensitiveness to every phase of current activity, should reflect the new spirit and that business men with characteristic energy, insight, and readiness to act should develop an expression of it on a basis of concrete usefulness. 172 SERVICE 173 Competition on the basis of service. There is another reason, besides concurrence in a popular movement, for the adoption of the service principle as a business policy. Every large city has two or three or several stores carrying prac- tically the same grade of merchandise. Certain lines are likely to be duplicated, because buyers from different stores frequently visit the same markets. Moreover, buyers send out assistants, known as comparison shoppers, whose busi- ness it is to study and bring back information about the merchandise carried by other stores. Prices also are re- ported and any new ideas concerning displays or demon- strations which the observer is able to glean. Since the attracting power of merchandise has thus become more or less equalized among stores of the same class, a competi- tion of service has developed, merchants now seeking to win and hold customers by offering them advantages in the form of certain comforts, conveniences, and opportunities free to all who enter the store, whether purchasers or not. In large stores these service features, as they are called, are developed on a large scale, patrons receiving, in many respects, as complete and courteous attention as is accorded by the finest hotels. Service features of stores. The following is a list of some of the service features established by stores for the convenience of the public : 1. A service bureau whose activities include the purchase of theater, railroad, and steamship tickets ; calling messengers and cabs ; furnishing store guides and shopping assistants ; giving in- formation of various kinds. 2. Writing and reading rooms equipped with stationery, maga- zines, newspapers of leading American cities, a dictionary, arid directories of near-by towns. 174 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 3. A " silent room " where, in a darkened atmosphere, tired customers may rest. 4. A hospital with a trained nurse in attendance. (Emergency cases are often treated in the store.-) A "coryza " room is sometimes provided for the treatment of head colds. 5. A nursery where children may be left in competent charge while mothers are shopping. 6. Wheeled chairs for the use of invalids. 7. Parcel-checking stations. 8. A branch of the public library. 9. Elevators. 10. Public telephones. 11. A post office. 12. Free delivery of purchases. 13. A telegraph and cable office. 14. A wireless station. In some of the largest stores there is an auditorium in which concerts and other entertainments of a high order are given. Art exhibits are sometimes held. Restaurants, barber shops, shoe-polishing stands, manicuring and sham- pooing parlors are maintained for the convenience of the public, sometimes with little or no profit to the firm. It is manifest that one may spend an entire day in a store with pleasure and profit to one's self without buying a single piece of merchandise. Yet as advertising, as a means of attracting customers and of keeping people in the store, these hospitable arrangements are believed to be a good investment. Service rendered by the mail-order department. A mail- order department is not ordinarily considered a service feature of a store, but such it unquestionably is to those who live in the country, too far from the stores to do their shopping 175 SERVICE 177 personally. The letters which a firm receives from its out- of-town customers are given most careful attention by a force of workers whose time is devoted exclusively to this part of the business. Mail-order departments are expensive. Many times it is necessary to send merchandise on approval. Three or four coats may be shipped when it is expected that only one will be selected. Possibly all will be returned at the expense of the store. Customers often fail to make their meaning clear in letters and, consequently, the wrong goods may be sent. Heavy transportation charges, the expense of letter-writing and postage, and the cutting of many samples are other large items in the cost of such a department, which is sometimes so unprofitable that it is considered chiefly valuable as a means of advertising. To show how painstakingly mail-order shoppers endeavor to serve their unknown customers, parts of two letters are quoted one written by a customer living many miles dis- tant from a large Western city, and the other the reply sent to her by the firm which she addressed. As a result of previous correspondence this customer had received some buttons which were not satisfactory. She wrote : I am returning the buttons by parcel post as they are not exactly what I wanted. They are too heavy for the silk. Please send me something in a dark-green-and-gold cloth or braid button, one dozen large size and one dozen smaller size, light weight. Send the nearest you have or can get for me, by return mail, as I need the dress by Wednesday. Also please send me twelve small tassels of green and gold. You have $1.40 to my credit, and I sent $18.75, making $20.15 m a ^- Your bill came to $27.61. I am returning the buttons, $2.05, leaving a balance due you of $5.41, which I inclose. Please send bill with buttons. 1 78 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING The firm replied as follows : Yours of the 26th instant received, and in reply we would state that we have nothing in green-and-gold buttons or tassels as ordered. We tried all the stores, endeavoring to procure the goods for you, but without success, so we had the tassels made to order and have selected some green crochet buttons in two sizes. Of the smaller size we can supply only eight. These are all we have of this shade in any size. Should the buttons meet with your approval, we would suggest that a touch of gold could be added by run- ning gold thread through them. We are sending a spool of gold twist, which may be returned if not desired. We regret that we were unable to send your order for trimmings on the day it was received, but as the tassels had to be made to order, there was necessarily a delay of one day. We are sending the package by special delivery and trust it will reach you in due time. Had this shopping been a commission from the wife of the proprietor, it could not have been more conscientiously or whole-heartedly done. Good work of this kind must have been what Mr. Eben Jordan, the founder of the firm of Jordan Marsh Company, had in mind when he expressed his business policy in the well-known maxim " The better you serve your customers, the better you serve yourself." The service principle reflected in advertising. The present trend in advertising, which features service and policy almost as much as merchandise, indicates a changed point of view in appealing to the public. Shortly before the opening of a well-known store a few years ago, this store's extensive advertising of service, with no mention of merchandise, attracted much attention. Two of these advertisements are quoted in part : SERVICE 179 I The words " business courtesy " shall find here a new definition. They shall include more than formal deference or the mere politeness of policy. We are hosts ; you, our guests. Everyone here shall serve you with a host's desire for your pleasure. Patience, time, expert advice, interest in your comfort, all we have shall be yours, impartial, inexhaustible, complete. Not servility, but service. We do not wish our people to be obsequious. That attitude destroys self-respect, stands no test, defeats its purpose. With allowances for human limitations and the occasional failures of fatigue, salespeople, drivers, the office force all whom you see and those who serve unseen extend to you " that politeness which has its seat in the heart." They are proud of this store. Their courtesy is a welcome. II WHAT KIND OF STORE IS IT TO BE? First of all, a reliable store. And this, so far as care and effort can achieve it, not alone in merchandise but in all other matters ; in our advertising, of course ; in our deliv- eries ; in our service, generally ; even in the little promises made by our people. Next to that, a store of good value. Not a " bargain " store, in the ordinary use of that word, but a store in which a little money will go as far as it can go anywhere else perhaps farther. Third, a store of courtesy a courtesy that is something more than mouth-deep ; a courtesy that is due to all visitors, whether customers or not, whether large purchasers or small purchasers, whether apparently rich or apparently poor, whether or not themselves courteous. ISO A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING Fourth, a progressive store, eager to learn, quick to apply, constant in its desire to improve. Progressive too in its social as well as its mercantile efforts and duties. All this has, of course, been said before. It is really a vague word-picture of the ideal of every merchant. Like most ideals, it is far easier to express than to achieve. What we have said in a paragraph or two, we have spent the larger part of our lives in trying to attain. But though we fall short of perfection, we shall continue to struggle for it and to grow toward it. Reliability, good values, courtesy', and progressiveness are not mere words to us. They are deep-rooted principles, and we found our business upon them. Expression of a sincere desire to serve the public is found in a type of advertising which takes the form of a circular or letter sent to all the customers on a store's mailing list. Under the heading "A New Year's Letter to our 50,000 Customers," a firm sent this message to its patrons : When we opened our large new store, nearly two years ago, the merchandise and service were improved in like proportion to the monumental new building. We have received many expressions of appreciation, also helpful and valued suggestions and criticisms. Our New Year's resolution is to make the - - Company as nearly perfect as human hands and minds can make it. To this end we are anxious to learn how our new store has served you. Have your purchases been satisfactory ? Has our merchandise pleased you ? Have our salesmen always been courteous and efficient ? Has our service been remiss in any way whatsoever ? W T e want you to know of the many changes and improve- ments since the opening of the new store, to see and en- joy the enlarged and remodeled floor-covering and drapery SERVICE I8l shops on the second floor ; the new lines of merchandise, the art rooms, factories, and warerooms, all under this one roof. We shall be glad to hear from you ; to have any sugges- tions that may occur to you from your dealings with us. Salespeople the chief exponents of the service principle, Elaborate systems of personal service, announcements of cooperative policy, and breadth of view on the part of the management are fully effective only when supplemented and confirmed by a corresponding attitude on the part of the salespeople. To the great majority of customers a store is known and judged by the character of its employees rather than by that of its managers, and it is therefore of the utmost importance that the spirit and performance of all' the workers shall be in harmony with the ideals of the firm. Many young people who take selling positions do not grasp the significance of the service principle ; they fail to see the human opportunity in salesmanship ; and some, it is to be regretted, are inclined to assume a personal instead of a professional attitude toward their work. A distinction exists somewhat like that 'between amateur and professional. An amateur photographer, for instance, takes pictures when he feels like it ; he may select his subjects and may be genial, reserved, or crabbed with them, according to his mood or habit. Accountable to no one for his successes or failures, he responds to the prompting of his own spirit as to what he does and how he does it. Quite different is the situation of the professional photographer, who must endeavor to convert unsatisfactory subjects into promising ones and must work industriously all the time, placing the convenience and pleasure of his customers before his own. 1 82 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING A salesman bears the mark of an amateur when his atti- tude toward customers is governed by personal feeling rather than professional judgment. One who resolves to advance and become a leader must not attach too much importance to his own feelings ; he must take the world and its buffets philosophically, looking upon the difficulties of the work as merely a part of the discipline and training which bring that valued asset, experience. He will then view the " hard " customer not as an unpleasant individual to be pushed out of the store as soon as possible, but as presenting an oppor- tunity for the study and mastery of higher salesmanship. It is the broad-minded, impersonal salesman who deals success- fully with people who are arbitrary and peculiar, and these are the very customers who recognize and appreciate intelli- gent and sympathetic service. When satisfied, they are much more likely to become permanent patrons than persons who are easy-going and amiable. Thus the ultimate interpretation of the service ideal rests with the salespeople, and their application of it to the daily store problems is a test of character and ability. Many are fully worthy of the responsibility placed upon them, and all will be when they learn to view their work without prejudice and are taught to appreciate its opportunities. That the service ideal works out successfully in practice anyone may prove by trying. It takes two to make a quarrel, and even the most uncompromising customers yield eventually in the face of persistent courtesy. A saleswoman contributes the following in illustration of this point : I asked a customer who approached my counter if I could help her, and she answered irritably, " No, no ; I am only looking." Presently she picked up a waist. " That is SERVICE 183 the latest style in chiffon waists," I said. At this she glanced at me not at all pleasantly, but I kept on talking about the waist and its good points. Finally she said, " I see it is a good waist, and that it is lined with silk muslin." I then told her how few of the waists were made with linings of silk muslin, a material which wears much better than the net more com- monly used. All at once she became pleasant, declared she was satisfied with the waist, and would take it. As I was making out the sales check she said, " I did not mean to be so cross and undecided, but I live outside the city and am all tired out from looking around the stores." The waist I had sold her was not just what she had expected to buy, she told me, but it was both pretty and practical, and she was well pleased with it. When I gave her the parcel she said: " You have a great deal of patience, and I hope you do not have many customers like me. I shall come in to see you again," and she left with a smile that made her a different woman. The appreciative friendliness of well-served customers is one of the most satisfying by-products of salesmanship. A lady took special pains to learn the name of a girl in the gown department of a certain store. "She did a favor for me, and that is so unusual, I shall always remember her,"" she explained. The girl had sewed on a button which was about to fall from the customer's coat. Another patron, who- inquired the way to the waiting-room, was disappointed to- find that she must take an elevator to a remote part of the store. " I merely want to address this package so that I can mail it on my way home to-night, and I hate to take the time to go way up there." The stock boy of whom she had inquired, knowing that pen and ink were obtainable at the buyer's desk on that same floor, suggested that the parcel might be directed there. As this solution seemed to be a great relief 1 84 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING to the customer, the boy accompanied her to the desk and addressed the bundle for her to save her the trouble of removing her gloves. It seemed a slight service to the boy, but not to the customer, who, as she left the department, said in the most grateful of tones, " I am so glad I found you." The incident brightened the day for both. Such attentions, requiring only a little thoughtfulness, may do more to win the support and goodwill of customers than all the expensive service features of a big establishment. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Name two or more stores in this city which carry about the same grade of stock. 2. Make a list of all the service features offered by the stores in this city. 3. Give the location of these conveniences in one store, end state, with reasons, whether or not you think them well placed. 4. What features included in the list on pages 173 and 174 are not offered by any of your stores? 5. Relate actual instances, if possible, proving that service features increase the volume of business done by stores. 6. What special service is usually offered during the Christmas season in respect to boxes ? wrapping and labeling bundles ? souvenirs for children ? entertainment for children ? assistance for shoppers ? 7 . What is done to make the store more beautiful at this time ? 8. Describe the most attractive store decoration which you observed last Christmas. 9. In what other ways may the Christmas spirit be expressed in a store ? 10. What are the best points in the letter written by the Western firm to its out-of-town customer ? SERVICE 185 11. How may salespeople help to build up a store's mailing list ? 12. Show that telephone shopping is a form of service to customers. 13. Describe the voice, tone, and manner which you think best suited to this service. 14. What would you say and do if a customer whom you were serving should criticize the service which he had just received in another department of the store ? 15. How can you gain for yourself a reputation for giving excellent service ? 16. How do stores express the service principle in their attitude toward and treatment of employees ? 17. Of what personal benefit may it be to you to work in a large, progressive, well-organized store ? 18. Name the principal colleges and universities of this state. 19. Describe any form of extension work carried on by any one of these institutions. 20. Describe one form of social service in which you are interested. 21. Name some well-known organizations for social service. ASSIGNMENTS "Service is that which effects genuine economies for the customer and facilitates shopping." l 1. Write the above quotation in your notebook. Distinguish between false and genuine economies, referring specifically to certain poor and good " bargains," if possible. 2. Make a list of the ways in which a skillful and thoughtful salesperson may " facilitate shopping." 1 From " The First Advertising Book," by Paul Terry Cherington. 1 86 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 3. Study the elevator service of one store and write a descrip- tion of it, including the following points : Express elevators, if any Duties and personality of the starter Methods and manners of elevator operators Cooperation of the public The impression made on you by this branch of store service 4. Send a mail order to a store for the following items : A pair of shoes for yourself Two pairs of gloves for yourself A Standard Diary No. 35 Be sure to give all details needed for the satisfactory filling of the order. State method of payment. 5. As an assistant in the mail-order department, write a letter acknowledging the above order and stating what merchandise has been sent, on what date, and by what means of transportation. Explain that the store is temporarily out of No. 35 diaries, but that one will be procured and forwarded in a day or two. Be careful to make both letters courteous in tone. CHAPTER XII CUSTOMERS Consideration of the question of service in the preceding- chapter brings our attention to the relation of salespeople to customers who, for one reason or another, require more than ordinarily thoughtful treatment. In this chapter cer- tain types of customers often misunderstood or presenting special problems are outlined for class discussion. The experience and observation of members of the class will undoubtedly suggest others. I. A SILENT CUSTOMER A lack of response to the salesperson's advances is the chief difficulty presented by this type. People who say nothing when addressed and make no comment on the merchandise shown are not necessarily gloomy or resentful, although they may appear so. If such a customer remains in the department, it is safe to assume that a purchase will be made if the right thing can be found. 1 . How may this uncommunicative attitude be accounted for ? 2. What would be your attitude toward such a customer? 3. If nothing is said, how can you judge what merchandise to show ? 4. How may such a person's confidence and liking be won ? 5. Distinguish between moodiness and diffidence as a cause of unresponsiveness. How may each be counteracted ? 187 1 88 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 6. Describe the most striking characteristics, the tastes, and the activities of any person of this type whom you may know. II. A CUSTOMER WHO is "Jusx LOOKING" Customers of this class are nearly always women. Men do not spend their time in this way. There are three classes of this type : A. Persons who do not expect to buy at the time of looking, and who, after examining the stock with more or less care, do not buy. 1 . Have you done this yourself ? If so, what was your purpose in looking about ? 2. What do you think of the attitude which regards such per- sons as trespassers ? Explain. 3. What would be your feeling toward such customers ? 4. How do you like to be treated under similar circumstances ? 5. What opportunity does this situation present? 6. What may be said to these customers as they leave ? B. Persons who will buy if they find just what they like. 1. Why do they assert that they are "just looking" when they know that they may buy ? 2. If such a customer expressed a desire to look without assist- ance, what would be your policy, and why ? 3. What dangers are there in leaving customers entirely by themselves ? 4. How can you, without being obtrusive, help a person to look ? C. Persons who do not intend to buy but may do so if favorably impressed. 1 . How may this attitude be indicated ? 2. Explain in detail how you would try to develop a sale, under these conditions, to a person looking for a hat. CUSTOMERS 189 III. AN EMPLOYEE OF THE STORE AS A CUSTOMER 1. Give the rules of any one store regarding employees' shopping within the store. 2 . What is the discount usually allowed on employees' purchases ? 3. Cite any instances of a more liberal discount allowance. 4. Why is the trade of its employees desired by a firm ? 5. State three advantages to employees of shopping in their own store. 6. Account for the fact that as customers they are not always well served. What would be your attitude ? 7. What courtesy is demanded of employees who appear as customers simultaneously with outside customers ? 8. What is your opinion of the policy of allowing employees to charge against their wages goods bought in the store ? IV. A TALKATIVE CUSTOMER When a listener is supplied, some persons seem to take great pleasure in talking about themselves and their affairs. 1 . Why must a salesperson be on guard against such customers ? 2. How may excessive talking be discouraged without offense ? 3. If the customer's mind seems to be more on outside matters than on the merchandise he has come to buy, how may he be led to concentrate his thoughts on the purchase ? 4. If you know a person of this type, characterize that person briefly. 5. What do such people usually demand of others ? 6. How should a salesperson respond to this demand ? V. A CHILD SENT ON AN ERRAND 1. In what ways may unscrupulous salespeople impose upon a child? 2. Why is it poor business (as well as unethical) to take advan- tage of a child's inexperience ? Give three reasons. 190 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 3. How, through the child, may you stimulate the mother's interest in the store and the merchandise ? 4. State as concisely as possible the principles of salesmanship which you consider most important in dealing with children as customers. VI. A CUSTOMER WHO is A STRANGER IN THE CITY 1. Why is this an especially good opportunity ? 2. How can you impress such a customer with your desire to be helpful ? 3. Referring to the list of service features offered by the stores of this city, which ones would you take special pains to bring to the stranger's attention ? Why ? 4. Why should all directions be given with great care ? with special courtesy? 5. In what ways are you likely to be able to make profitable use of suggestive selling ? 6. Why is it very desirable to make a pleasant impression upon new residents ? upon tourists ? upon guests of residents ? VII. A MAN CUSTOMER A man shopping in a woman's department is usually an object of commiseration. 1. Why is this a hard situation for him ? 2. How can it be made easier by the saleswoman ? 3. State in general how men compare with women, as customers, in the following respects : a. A tendency to make quick decisions. b. A desire to look around and compare before purchasing. c. Interest in bargains. d. Liberality in spending. e. Need of advice. CUSTOMERS 191 4. Why is slow or long-delayed service particularly annoying to men? 5. Is it justifiable to wait on a man out of turn ? 6. Show that saleswomen who encourage personal attentions from men customers and who attempt to make a social occasion out of a business transaction have a mistaken attitude. 7. Why do dignity and self-possession in a saleswoman com- mand the respect of men customers ? VIII. A WOMAN WITH A YOUNG CHILD 1. What can be done to make the mother comfortable and rested ? 2. If the baby, by crying or in some other way, interferes with the sale, what may be done to relieve the situation ? 3. What entertainment or distraction may be provided for an older child ? 4. Suppose a self-assertive child does not fancy a dress her mother has selected for her. How can the salesperson create harmony and make them both satisfied? 5. Why is it well to show an interest in customers' children ? 6. W T hat personal qualities are valuable in handling sales in which small children figure ? IX. CUSTOMERS PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED A. Blind. 1 . What sense is usually highly developed ? 2. How may this facilitate the sale of merchandise ? 3. What would the application of this sense reveal to a blind customer about tucking ? texture ? embroidery ? lace ? 4. Why should particular care be taken to show as nearly as possible the exact thing desired ? 5. If the customer is unattended, what assistance might the store provide ? SI 92 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 6. What can be done to help a person who is not blind, but extremely near-sighted, in the selection of merchandise ? B. Deaf. 1 . Why is it that deaf persons are often supersensitive ? 2. How can you guard against any offense to their feelings ? 3. Why should you avoid very rapid speech when talking to a deaf person ? 4. What is lip reading ? 5. Of what importance is articulation in this connection ? 6. What tone or quality of voice carries best ? 7. If, in spite of your best endeavor, the customer does not understand you, what other means of communication may be used ? 8. If the store is very noisy what would it be well to do, if practicable, to make the situation easier for the deaf customer ? C. Invalid. It should be remembered that an invalid is likely to be fatigued by exertion before actual shopping begins. 1 . How may your manner express sympathy and helpfulness ? 2. What quality of voice is likely to be most agreeable to one in delicate physical condition ? 3. Why is it important to be cheerful in the presence of invalids? 4. In what ways are some stores prepared to give special service to invalids ? X. A VERY STOUT WOMAN Many articles of clothing are made in extra large sizes, called " out sizes," and some stores have established an extra- size department to meet the requirements of large women. Although such customers are now more easily fitted than was formerly possible, it is still often difficult to supply their needs in a satisfactory manner. CUSTOMERS 193 1. A large woman who wished to buy a suit was told, "We are all out of stouts." Criticize this reply. 2. What would you have said ? 3. What quality enables people to state unwelcome facts in a gracious way ? How may this quality be developed ? 4. What kind of lines in a coat, suit, or dress make a stout woman appear to the best advantage ? 5. Does she appear smaller in light or in dark colors ? 6. Name a material which seems to decrease her size; one which has the effect of increasing it. 7. How can you help a customer of this type to be optimistic about her requirements ? XI. AN ELDERLY CUSTOMER 1. Why should the old be treated with respect ? 2. What, besides respect, is due an elderly person from a younger one ? 3. What selling points of merchandise are most likely to appeal to elderly customers ? 4. What points usually require little emphasis ? 5 . What courteous and helpful attentions may be shown ? 6. Why are elderly persons considered good customers ? XII. A FOREIGN CUSTOMER It is not hard to be patient and friendly with foreigners if we stop to think how we should feel as customers in a foreign country, far from friends, lonely amid new surround- ings, and unable to understand the conversation of the people all about us. T. What countries are chiefly represented by the foreign ele- ment in this city ? 2. If you do not understand the language spoken by a foreign customer, in what other ways may you possibly communicate ? 194 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 3. What is an interpreter? 4. Name any stores that advertise the services of interpreters. 5. If the customer understands a little English, how may you help him by (i) choice of words ; (2) slowness of utterance ; (3) quality of voice. 6. How '^provincialism shown by a person who laughs at the customs, appearance, and speech of foreigners ? 7. Why do some foreign customers, especially Italians, take up time arguing over the price ? XIII. A CUSTOMER WHO is IN A GREAT HURRY 1. In what respects is this an easy type of customer? a diffi- cult type ? 2. What should be your foremost thought in serving such a customer ? 3. Under what circumstances would it be permissible to wait on a hurried customer out of turn ? 4. In what ways is it within your power to hasten the various details of the transaction ? 5. What might be some unfortunate results of excessive haste on your part ? XIV. A CUSTOMER WHO OFFERS A TIP 1. What is a tip? 2. Why is it offered ? 3. Explain the prevalence of the tipping custom in Europe. 4. Why should this custom be discouraged in the United States ? 5. Show why it is inadvisable to accept a tip from (i) your own personal standpoint ; (2) that of the store ; (3) of other customers. 6. How may a tip be declined without offense ? 7. If it is forced upon you, what can you suggest as to the disposition of it ? iderwood & Underwood, New Yorlc ITALIAN WOMEN IN THE STREETS OF NAPLES 195 CUSTOMERS 197 8. Name any restaurants, hotels, stores, or public institutions which prohibit the acceptance of tips by their employees. 9. Suggest probable reasons for this prohibition. 10. Express your opinion of it. XV. A CUSTOMER WHO OFFERS CANDY 1. State the rules of any one store regarding gum-chewing or the eating of any food. 2. Give two reasons why salespeople should not eat anything while on duty. 3. If a customer insists upon presenting you with eatables, what is it best to do with them ? 4. Why is it inadvisable to place food of any kind in the boxes or drawers of a department? 5. Instead of taking surreptitious nibbles in the department, what should a salesperson do if he feels extremely hungry ? Why ? 6. Is it ordinarily necessary to eat between meals ? 7. Why is it inadvisable, for most persons, to form such a habit ? XVI. Two FRIENDS MEETING UNEXPECTEDLY When this happens the friends' interest in each other is often stronger, for the time being, than interest in the merchandise. 1. How can you make your merchandise attractive enough to engage their attention ? 2. If the customers are inclined to converse freely about their personal affairs, how can you present the points of your merchan- dise without seeming discourteous ? 3. In what ways may the presence of a friend help a sale? How may it act as a hindrance ? 4. If the friends differ about the merchandise, what will influence you in your efforts to consummate a sale ? 198 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING XVII. AN EARLY CUSTOMER Two things are characteristic of customers who arrive soon after the opening of a store : 1. They nearly always have a definite purpose in coming, and they usually buy. 2. They are usually anxious to save time. If it is true, as has recently been stated in print, that "the customer who tries to shop early gets no attention," it rests largely with the salespeople to correct this condition, which is ordinarily due to one of four causes : 1 . Some salespeople are " off the floor," doing their own shopping or attending to other personal business. This means a reduced force. 2. Some are too much engaged in conversation with fellow- workers to notice the presence of customers. 3. Some are busy with stock work and are loath to stop and wait on customers. 4. Some are late in reaching their departments. Think over these four causes for the early customer's dissatisfaction and consider who is responsible in each case and how the situation might be remedied. The next day you work in a store observe carefully all that occurs during the first half hour and be ready to report on it. Why is it to the advantage of the customer, the store, and the salespeople that customers should shop early in the day during the holiday season ? XVIII. A LATE CUSTOMER 1. Why is it that customers who arrive near closing time often receive poor service ? 2. What advantages do you see in waiting upon customers who come at the last minute ? CUSTOMERS 199 3. Name some classes of workers whose hours necessitate their shopping late in the day. 4. If you have ever bought anything very near closing time, explain how you happened to do it at that late hour. 5 . What is your attitude toward late customers ? 6. What do you personally, as a customer, endeavor to do in regard to late-afternoon shopping ? XIX. BARGAIN HUNTERS Most salespeople think that bargains sell themselves, and accordingly make little or no effort when placed behind a bargain table. , 1 . What is your opinion on this point ? 2. What are some of the questions usually asked by customers who frequent bargain sales ? 3. How may salespeople obtain the information necessary for answering these questions ? 4. In what respects are bargain hunters easy customers ? 5. In what respects are they hard customers ? 6. What kinds of valuable experience may be gained from selling at a bargain table ? XX. A TELEPHONE CUSTOMER 1. In answering a customer's telephone call, why is it better to give the name of the department than to say " Hello " ? 2. Under what circumstances would it be advisable to give your own name in the first place ? 3. In what ways may courtesy be shown over the telephone ? 4. Give an example to show the difference between a courteous and a discourteous answer. 5. How can you make sure that you have taken a telephone order correctly ? 200 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 6. In what respects is a telephone customer . at a disad- vantage ? 7. How may these disadvantages be lessened by the sales- person who answers ? 8. In case of an unavoidable delay in responding to a cus- tomer's request, what should be done to show that he or she has not been forgotten ? 9. If necessary to call someone else to the telephone, what precautions should be taken ? 10. Why should the receiver be put back gently at the end of the conversation ? 1 1 . Discuss three important points in the salesmanship of tele- phone shopping. 12. Why is it considered an honor to be the one selected from a department to serve telephone customers ? 13. Mention five ways in which consideration for the per- son at the other end of the line may be shown by users of the telephone. 1 4. How can you cooperate with the switchboard operator ? 15. Explain fully what is meant by the hygienic use of the telephone. XXI. A PROVINCIAL CUSTOMER 1 . Why is the country customer often ridiculed ? 2. What is your opinion regarding such an attitude on the part of a salesperson ? 3. In what ways are people who live in rural districts at a disadvantage ? 4. What advantages do they enjoy ? 5. Why are the farmers said to be " the backbone of the country " ? 6. Why is rural trade accounted good business ? 7. How may a salesperson cooperate with the mail-order department in regard to rural trade? CUSTOMERS 203 ASSIGNMENTS 1. Ask three persons of your acquaintance how they wish to be treated when they state that they are " only looking." Make a concise written report of their answers. Note in addition anything which is displeasing to them at such a time. 2. Visit children's departments in several stores. 1 Observe what provisions are made for the comfort and enjoyment of the children. Suggest additional attractions which might increase business. 3. Start a supplementary list of types of customers who seem to you especially difficult or interesting. After each heading state the leading thing to be kept in mind in that particular case. 4. Distinguish between tact and flattery, and give an example of each drawn from salesmanship. What is your opinion of the use of flattery as an auxiliary of salesmanship ? 1 Shoe, toy, and millinery departments are often distinctive. See illustration, page 201. CHAPTER XIII USE OF RESOURCES Of the lessons of the Great War, perhaps none will prove to have been of more lasting benefit to the American people than that of conservation. Habits of wastefulness and ex- travagance had been characteristic of the nation as a whole in the prosperous years before the war, and a world crisis was apparently needed to bring us to a realization of our uneconomic practices. The exigencies of war taught the people of this country how to order their personal lives more simply, more unselfishly, and more efficiently. The work of the Food Administration alone did the nation incalculable good, and the interpretation and application of its slogan, " Eat plenty, but wisely and without waste," led to much- needed reforms in the daily provisioning of households the country over. As every individual was affected more or less by the war, and as sacrifices involving adjustment to altered conditions were required of each one, so the great conflict brought every industry face to face with many problems, some old and some new, whose successful solution was largely dependent on the cooperative effort of the employees. Recommendations of the Commercial Economy Board. Making the most of resources a fundamental principle of good management at all times is of supreme importance when excessive demand, resulting in shortage of materials, 204 USE OF RESOURCES 205 sends prices soaring. During the summer of 1917, soon after the United States joined the Allies, a group of about one hundred representative merchants, constituting what was first known as the Commercial Economy Board and later as the Conservation Division of the War Industries Board, met in Washington to discuss measures for reducing waste in materials and equipment used in retail stores, for releasing labor, and for curtailing some expensive forms of service such as an unnecessary number of daily deliveries and too liberal allowance of time for return of goods. They appealed to the public to help eliminate waste and urged the adoption of certain economical practices. Their recom- mendations were as follows : First, when shopping do not leave the store empty- handed. Carry parcels with you to the extent of your ability. Help to make this " the fashion." Second, when you have goods to return do not leave home empty-handed. If all customers would carry small parcels for exchange, the saving of time in delivery depart- ments would amount to thousands of hours annually. Third, do not buy merchandise until you are sure you are going to keep it. Make careful selection a habit. Fourth, avoid C. O. D. purchases whenever possible. Fifth, shop early in the day, if possible. Stores must have a sufficient number of salespeople all day long to handle the trade at the very busiest hours, which, owing to the habits of customers, is near the middle of the day. To help distribute the business more evenly would result in great economy to us and, eventually, to you. Revision of store policies. Chambers of Commerce and leading stores in all parts of the country gave these recom- mendations wide publicity, often setting forth in so-called 206 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING editorial comment the chief reasons for rousing public interest in these matters. Briefly stated, the reasons were these : 1 . By reducing deliveries, men and equipment would be released for national service. 2. Savings effected by the means outlined would result in lower prices for merchandise. The above and subsequent recommendations of the Com- mercial Economy Board helped to make a much-indulged shopping public more reasonable in their demands and led merchants to adopt new and decisive policies in regard to several important matters. Waste in stores. Wrapping and packing supplies are ordinarily provided in such abundance in stores as to seem almost inexhaustible, and thoughtless workers are responsible for much waste in this direction. Many years ago an employee of A. T. Stewart said of that famous merchant : He never spoke to me but twice. Once I tore a piece of wrapping paper roughly across, and he came around to tell me I should have folded it and made even edges. " People do not like to get shiftless-looking bundles," he said. Again, I wound a bundle around with an extra turn of string, and before I could cut it he had the bundle out of my hand and had unwound the unnecessary turn. " Never waste even a piece of string," he said ; " waste is always wrong." Other common examples of waste are the following : 1. Forcing merchandise into too small an envelope, so that tearing results and a second envelope is used. 2. Using a large box when a smaller and cheaper one would accommodate the merchandise suitably. 3. Using tissue paper to pack inexpensive merchandise which needs no such protection. USE OF RESOURCES 207 4. Using tissue paper to protect sleeves. A store employing 750 women estimated that this practice cost the store $300 a year. 5. Failure to save pins. In shirt-waist, underwear, and other departments where pins are used in quantities, spare moments may be well utilized in picking up the pins which drop to the floor. Good pins are expensive, and since they may be used indefinitely, it is important that they be saved. 6. Allowing pin-tickets, tags, and rubber bands to lie on the floor where they fall until removed with the waste. 7. Using more paste than necessary in applying address tickets to bundles. 8. Using tissue paper for dusting in place of cloth dusters. 9. Destroying boxes in which merchandise is returned when they are in proper condition to use again. 10. Destroying other boxes (especially empty merchandise cartons), which could be used to advantage in the packing-room instead of giving them to the porter for preservation. 11. Figuring and scribbling on printed forms instead of using the small plain slips provided for the purpose. Sometimes a corner of a sheet of wrapping paper is torn off for figuring. 12. Discarding carbon sheets for salesbooks when, by a re- versing of position, they might be used as long again. 13. Letting newspapers get too mussed, soiled, or torn to be fit for use in packing and wrapping bulky merchandise, such as furniture and crockery. 14. Inclosing several advertising leaflets (as many as eight or ten are sometimes found) when one to a package is the rule. Losses in yardage departments. An investigation of yard- goods departments usually brings to light some wasteful methods in failure to protect bolts of cloth from dust, too strong light, and injurious contact of one kind and another. Sample giving is such an expensive practice that during the war it was practically discontinued as a free service in some 208 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING stores, and customers were charged for the small piece cut off for their convenience. Salespeople should be trained in the proper way to cut samples. Lack of exactness in measur- ing goods, leading to overmeasurement in most cases, may be responsible for heavy losses in yardage departments. In one store every piece of goods cut off by four salesmen for a period of seven days was remeasured as a test of the accuracy of these men, with the following results : No. i made 164 sales averaging $4.48 per sale. The loss from overmeasurement averaged i cents per sale. No. 2 made 161 sales averaging $3.21 per sale. Average loss from overmeasurement was 3 cents per sale. No. 3 made 221 sales averaging $4.82 per sale. Average loss from overmeasurement was i^ cents per sale. No. 4 made 191 sales averaging $4.54 per sale. Average loss from overmeasurement was i^ cents per sale. Care of store property. There are always some employees who fail to feel any responsibility for the upkeep of their store. It would never occur to them to report an odor of escaping gas in the locker room or a leaking pipe or faucet in the lavatory or a door out of order as to hinge or latch. Conditions of this kind, although they may be under the observation of hundreds every day, are sometimes neglected for weeks, and when finally given attention require much more extensive treatment than would have been necessary if someone had taken the trouble to report them when first noticed. The life of expensive fixtures is shortened when they are handled roughly, and cases and woodwork are marred and scratched as they would never be if all employees felt the same respect for their employer's property that they do for their own. The rule-book of one store prescribes that USE OF RESOURCES 209 Any who find it necessary to stand upon the counters or other fixtures at any time must use pasteboard or some other protecting substance beneath their shoes, a rule which might well be applied elsewhere. Electric power is wasted by the burning of lights in un- occupied rooms and by the lighting of show cases at times of day when artificial illumination is not needed. Expensive errors. Errors in writing and handling sales checks are costly. A customer bought four silk shirts, paid for them, and asked to have them sent As the salesman wanted to wait on other customers, he hastily jotted down the address on a slip of paper, postponing the making out of the sales check until he should have more leisure. When the time came, however, he was unable to find the slip ; but feeling sure that he remembered the address, he sent the merchandise to 68 Park Street, a boarding-house, instead of to the correct address, which was 68 Clark Street. The customer tele- phoned to the store three times, then called to make com- plaint in person. As it was impossible to recover the goods from the boarding-house, which was a large one, the store lost $18 worth of merchandise and probably also the future trade of a good customer. Two customers, one immediately after the other, made purchases in the glove department of a large store. The first customer bought three pairs of gloves and asked to have them sent, with a private package inclosed, to a Boston suburb. The second customer, who bought two pairs of gloves, wished them sent, with dress goods and other articles bought in the store, to an address in northern Vermont. The saleswoman unfortunately reversed the sales checks. The suburban customer, who was to sail for Europe the day after this transaction, could not wait for her merchandise 210 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING to be sent back from Vermont, and as she was unable to take the time to duplicate the articles, the store was obliged to send her by special messenger the money equivalent of her purchases. The Vermont customer had engaged a dress- maker for the day she had expected her goods to arrive and was greatly inconvenienced by their nonappearance. Errors in writing out sales are serious because of the labor and expense involved in tracing and correcting them and because of annoyance to customers. On a single day in one store eight hundred errors were made on charge sales checks. During rush seasons, such as the week before Christmas, or on sale days, sales checks are sometimes passed in with nothing written on them. Waste of time. Of the many ways of wasting time one of the most inexcusable is tardiness in arriving at the store in the morning and in returning from luncheon. Time lost in this way can never be satisfactorily made up, and unfortu- nately the late one, by absence, places an unfair burden of responsibility upon punctual workers. Much time is wasted too at soda fountains and lunch counters outside the regular luncheon periods. Saving on delivery. One simple means of saving money for the store has to do with the delivery of bundles. Within a certain area, perhaps a ten-mile radius, most stores deliver all purchases free of charge. This legitimate form of serv- ice for many lines of merchandise is not warranted for all, for when an inexpensive article, or goods on which there is little profit, is sold and delivered, the expense of sending, which averages ten cents a parcel, becomes a disproportionate item, sometimes resulting in actual loss on the sale. This may often be avoided. If the merchandise is of such a USE OF RESOURCES 21 1 character that a person may suitably and conveniently carry it, he is often willing to do this, provided a suggestion to this effect is properly presented. The tendency of people to respond involuntarily to a suggestion is a matter of common experience. To illustrate : One or two persons in an audi- ence begin to cough, and presently others are coughing ; a teacher glances at the clock, and the majority of the class immediately look in that direction ; an indirect reference to posture will cause any audience to straighten up and assume a more correct position. People are inclined to apply to themselves any idea presented, and unless this idea is repel- lent or unreasonable they are likely to act upon it. Thus in the case under consideration, when it is reasonable to assume that a customer will be willing to carry his parcel, a sales- person's polite inquiry, " Will you take this with you ? " will elicit an affirmative answer in a surprisingly large number of instances ; whereas, were the opposite idea presented by the question " Will you have this sent? " or " Do you wish this sent ? " the customer would probably as readily acquiesce in that suggestion. Losses connected with merchandise. In some cases sales- people are directly responsible for losses resulting from de- preciation of stock, as when merchandise is injured as a result of poor stock-keeping, poor folding, or awkward or careless handling. Again, if merchandise is poorly (that is, unintelli- gently) sold it is usually brought back for credit, and may, in consequence, look so shopworn as to necessitate a markdown. The making of unnecessary alterations in ready-made clothing is another source of waste, for most alteration departments are operated at a loss. Therefore only such changes as are distinctly needed should be urged. 212 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING Relation of selling energy to wages. Few salespeople realize how failure to put their best effort into the perform- ance of their work affects their own interests, more specifi- cally, how it affects their earning power. Selling cost, by which is meant the wages paid to salespeople, is one of the' largest items of the store budget and a heavy drain if the salespeople are not proficient. Wages are usually reckoned on a percentage basis according to the amount of money brought in by sales. To make this clear let us suppose that a drug department can afford to pay a salesman a wage equaling 5 per cent of his weekly sales. If it is found that his sales average $ i So a week, he will then receive a weekly wage equal to 5 per cent of $180, or $9. Should he succeed in bringing in more than $180 a week, he would in some stores be paid a commission of I or 2 per cent on all sales made in excess of the $ 1 80 quota ; in others he might receive a commission of I per cent on the total sales ; and in still others his stated salary might be increased. If, on the other hand, the quality of his work should deteriorate and he should repeatedly fall below the $180 quota, he would no longer be worth $9 a week to the store, for his selling cost would be greater than the department could carry with profit. Wages paid to salespeople in a small-wares department are usually estimated on a higher percentage basis than that prevailing in most other departments, perhaps being equal to 8 or 10 per cent of their sales totals, for the stock being low-priced, the total receipts of this department are small in comparison with other departments. Coat, suit, and gown departments carrying high-priced merchandise pay only 3 or 4 per cent of sales totals in wages, with usually a com- mission on sales made in excess of the weekly quota. For USE OF RESOURCES 213 example, a saleswoman in a certain coat department receives $12 a week, with the expectation, fully justified, that her sales will total at least $300 a week. She receives 2 per cent commission on all sales in excess of this $300 quota. In some stores salespeople receive a certain weekly wage plus a commission on all sales ; $8 or $9 per week and i per cent of the total weekly sales is a common rate. The record of sales is not the only measure of ability nor the only factor in advancement, but it is of necessity a very important con- sideration, since the life of the business depends upon the sale of goods. 1 It is naturally not to be expected that every meeting of customer and salesperson will result in a sale ; but every customer represents a potential sale, and the sales- person should see to it that no matter how brief the inter- view or how trifling the errand, his service is of that high order which admits of no wasted opportunities. Wages and waste. In another way the problem of waste is tied up with the question of wages. If materials, time, equipment, and effort are wasted by a considerable number of the employees of a store, operating and selling expenses cannot fail to increase out of proportion to the income from the business. Then, as it becomes necessary to use more and more money for rehabilitation, there is less for the sub- stantial wage increases which are characteristic of the policy of well-conducted stores. If there were no other reason, it 1 A saleswoman in a Western store was receiving a salary of $50 a month when a competing store offered her a position at $65 a month. The firm by whom she was then employed offered her the same salary, $65 a month, provided she kept her selling cost at the same rate that it had been, namely 5.7 per cent. She accepted the condition, and as a result of increased effort and new enthusiasm reduced her selling cost to 5.2 per cent. The firm, delighted with her excellent work, increased her salary to $100 a month within a short time. 214 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING is plainly to the selfish interest of workers to make the fullest possible use of all the resources at their command. Such endeavor is likely to bring a double reward, material gain in the form of financial recognition and a spiritual reward in a satisfying sense of work well done. Mr. Stewart said, " Waste is always wrong," and so it is wrong in relation to customers, to the firm, and to its per- petrators. It is not fair to customers to waste the store's resources, because such action, in increasing the cost of doing business, adds something to the price of merchandise. It is not fair to the firm, because in detecting and correcting error and waste they spend time, money, and energy which should be devoted to more constructive purposes. And finally, those who waste do themselves an injustice, for by a misdirection of effort they decrease their efficiency, reduce their earning power, and lower their self-respect. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Why do some stores decline C. O. D. sales of less than $i ? 2. What economical measures were introduced by stores in this city after the United States entered the war ? 3. Report anything you read, heard, or observed in support of or against these measures. 4. Discuss different methods of wrapping bundles, giving the advantages and disadvantages of Envelopes Boxes Paper and cord Which is the most expensive method ? the quickest ? the one most commonly employed ? 5. Name some kinds of merchandise usually inclosed in envelopes; in boxes ; some kinds that are usually wrapped simply in paper. USE OF RESOURCES 215 6. Demonstrate the proper way to wrap a bundle. Make your own selection of merchandise and wrapping materials. 7. Demonstrate different kinds of knots. 8.' How do you estimate the amount of cord needed around a bundle ? 9. Name five varieties of merchandise which need no inner wrapping of tissue paper. 10. Name five varieties which do need such protection. 11. From the standpoint of appearance what do you think of tissue-paper protection for sleeves ? Give reasons for your answer. 12. Why is cheesecloth more economical for dusting than tissue paper ? 13. In what respects is it more satisfactory ? 14. Why is it objectionable to tear off the corner of a sheet of wrapping paper for scribbling ? Give two reasons. 15. Estimate the loss incurred in case of one inch over- measurement on one yard of goods at 75 cents a yard ; at $1.50 ; at $2.25; at $3.50; at $4; at $6. 16. What was the actual loss from overmeasurement of goods in each of the four cases reported on page 208 ? What was the total loss ? 17. Why is it more economical to cut a sample from a strip set apart for that purpose than from the end of a bolt ? 18. How should a pin-ticket be attached to a sample, and what should be written on it ? 19. Cite cases in which a request for a free sample would probably not be granted by any store. Explain. 20. Why is it an imperative duty to give immediate notice of leaking gas ? 21. If thirty employees are ten minutes late, what is the total number of hours lost ? 22. If $8.50 a week is the average wage paid to these late employees, and they are employed for an eight-hour day, what is the money value of the time lost ? 2i6 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 23. If the same thing happened every day for a week, what would be the time and money loss? 24. Discuss this question: Under ordinary circumstances are employees justified in asking for a pass for the purpose of eating an extra luncheon in the morning or afternoon ? 25. Give an example from your own experience illustrating the power of suggestion. 26. How may energy be wasted as a result of poor ventilation ? 27. How can you help obtain good ventilation, and why should you feel responsible for doing your part in maintaining as good conditions as possible ? 28. What should be the temperature of living rooms and workrooms ? 29. What is the effect of an excessively hot, dry atmosphere ? 30. What is the effect of a chilly, damp atmosphere ? 31. Why is some moisture needed in the air? 32. How does an accumulation of rubbish behind a counter tend to decrease the efficiency of salespeople ? 33. Mention three ways, aside from tardiness, in which sales- people may waste time. 34. Show how you yourself (or someone you have observed) waste time and strength in " lost motions " made in dressing ; in the performance of some household task; in starting a day's work in the store. 35. Name and tell something of the life of a famous American who made a study of lost motions in industry. 36. What does conservation of bodily energy mean ? 37. How can you apply this principle to yourself ? ASSIGNMENTS 1. Ask for a sample in two different stores. In one case, take something with you to match; in the other, ask for a sample of something you see on display. Attach each sample to a sheet of USE OF RESOURCES 217 theme paper and write concerning the following points in relation to each : a. Salesmanship displayed in giving the sample. b. Selling points given. c. Impression made upon you by the salesperson. d. What you would have done differently, and why. e. Where the sample was cut off. /. Size of the sample: Is it unnecessarily large? Is it large enough ? g. Kind of pin-ticket. h. Information on pin-ticket. 1. Neatness and clearness of figures. j. Salesperson's identification mark. k. Summarize; In what ways does the sample reflect credit upon the store ? In what ways does it reflect discredit ? 2. In the stores in which you procure the samples, look about for evidences of waste of materials, time, and energy. Report your observations, in writing, under the three headings given. 3. Collect and mount samples of different kinds of twine. After each write the name of the fiber of which it is made and state for what use each is best adapted. CHAPTER XIV ADVERTISING That a satisfied customer is the best advertisement is a truism which none will dispute, but few merchants think it best to rely wholly on this kind of advertising for growth in their business. The merchant who wishes to make his store, his merchandise, and his service widely known, and thereby gain a large clientele, makes use of advertising in a great variety of ways, the most far-reaching being the printed newspaper page. Old style of advertising. Advertising in the daily papers has changed as radically in less than a century as have most other phases of business. In 1850 a merchant occasionally inserted three or four lines of type calling attention to the arrival of a new shipment of goods. This advertisement, which might appear without change for days or even weeks, occupied less than an inch in a single column, and in form resembled the concise notices under " Help Wanted " and " Positions Wanted " in our papers to-day. There were no pictures ; no conspicuous type was used ; there was no com- petitive striving after effect. A typical example of these simple announcements is the following from the New York Tribune, July 10, 1850: COLORED CAMBRICS: 125 cases, light and dark assort- ments, from 4^ to 6 cents, for sale by C. B. LE BARON, 55 Pine Street. 218 ADVERTISING 219 Another, more interesting and revealing more play of imagination on the part of the writer, is this : TO THE LADIES: Peter Roberts, 375 Broadway, has just opened a large assortment of Thread Laces, Capes, Dresses, Scarfs, Collars, Sleeves, etc., rich muslin Capes, Chemisettes, Collars, Cuffs, embroidered and other styles of Cambric Handkerchiefs, black Flouncing Laces (all widths), real Valencia Laces, from i s. upward ; Lace and Muslin curtains, Drapery Muslin, figured Swiss; plaid, stripe, and plain Muslins; Hosiery and Gloves. P. S. The stock has been bought under the regular prices and will be sold at a small advance on the cost. Rhymed advertisements were popular. Here is one : To order, shirts we make without delay ; Right measure take and every wish obey. Our pledge we give and warrant them to fit, Nor rest content if not the fancy 's hit. Ethics of advertising. Before honest, straightforward dealing became the rule in the conduct of business, adver- tising was so generally characterized by exaggeration and deceit that all announcements of this kind were discredited, and those who were responsible for their publication were regarded as humbugs. This distrust, so strongly intrenched during most of the last century, lingers even to-day in the minds of some persons who do not realize that every reputable store has adopted and maintains a standard of scrupulous honesty in advertising. Any other standard would be out of harmony with present-day policy as well as contrary to the laws of many of our states, in which a false statement as to " quantity, quality, method of production or manufacture, cost of production, cost to the advertiser, the present or former 220 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING price, or the reason for the price," is a misdemeanor pun- ishable by a fine or imprisonment, or both. The advertising policy of a Boston store has been condensed into these words : No exaggeration, no misleading statement, and no half- truth shall be made under any circumstances in connection with any of our publicity. Any statement of the truth of which we do not have absolute proof at the time it is to be printed will be excluded from our publicity. Another store asserts that its " sole purpose [in advertis- ing] is to be helpful to the store's customers in the selection of merchandise that will satisfy," and that "each piece of goods is advertised with the idea of building up business for the whole store instead of merely procuring the sale of one article." It states further that it aims to "sell goods but not to push goods on an unwilling public," and announces these two rules, always strictly followed : A reason must always be given for a special price or extra quality. If the article is a " second," it must be so represented. Good style in advertising. Honesty and frankness are the firm foundation of good advertising, but these characteristics do not alone insure success. Study of advertisements in newspapers and magazines discloses great diversity in style, convincing quality, attracting power, and artistic value. For advertising has become an art. To hold attention and stimu- late interest an advertisement should be well-designed, which means provision of adequate space for the material to be presented, a regard for the laws of balance and proportion in the arrangement of the copy, and a wise distribution of emphasis. GEM I m 'OF DBPKN'DABItK - ' DIAMONDS WATCHES AJ*t> JEWELRY FROM TllJE XOWES'T IPO .TtfE BEST .ON OUK FAMOUS TEHM8 -4HiP Weekly *2^? Weekly FURNITURE BARGAINS. Here Aro Qaltty GooJi of Chr*t*r. Out febrtianr markdown ale of period furniture for the Dining Room, Bed Room and Living Room. Low figures not only apply to the Day Beds illustrated, but to fevery article. Also floor coverings. N0.3 POORLY DESIGNED ADVERTISEMENTS ADVERTISING 223 If illustrations are used, they should be so treated as to heighten the effect of the advertisement in a logical and pleasing manner. In the lower illustration on page 221 the arrangement of beds, No. I and No. 2, is disturbing because it is illogical. The irregular numbering of the three pieces of furniture is another unpleasant feature. The illustration at the top of page 221 is well-designed typographically, but the crowded, haphazard placing of the jewelry greatly mars the effect of the whole. Literary merit of a certain kind should be present. Advertisements should be clearly, correctly, and concisely expressed in words which, conveying the exact meaning as closely as possible, will fire the reader's imagination. The style should have individuality and should be further charac- terized by a moderation and restraint which are the opposite of sensationalism. Some writers attach much importance to a tone of optimism, and nearly all strive to have their adver- tisements in good taste, but through ignorance of standards some fall lamentably short in this respect. The advertise- ment reproduced on page 229 exemplifies admirably many of the principles of good advertising. The character of advertising in a daily paper is often influenced by the circulation of the paper, whether it is read chiefly by the less-educated portion of a community or only by the more intelligent citizens. The demand is different in the two cases, and, while the ethical standard remains the same, the form of appeal and the style may and usually do vary. It is in the design of the advertisement, the type, and the dic- tion that this difference is most apparent. Compare the liter- ary quality and tone of the following announcements, which appeared in papers reaching very different classes of readers : 224 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING OUR RECORD-BREAKING SALE HURRY ! ! NEARING FINAL END ! HURRY ! ! WINTER SUITS, COATS, AND DRESSES COATS Former values $12.50 to $18 Your last opportunity to buy a coat at this price. Included in the lot are Zibelines, Jer- seys, Broadcloths, and Plaids; your choice at $4.95 PLUSH AND CLOTH COATS Just think of it a Plush or Wool Velour Coat at only $9.95 values from $15 to $29.50; women's and misses' sizes to- morrow we offer your choice at only $9.95 B DRESSES Silk Silk Poplins Cloth including Taf- feta Silks, Crepe de Chine, Satin, and Serges. Values $10 to $25. Your choice, Monday only $4.95 MISSES' WINTER SUITS, COATS, AND DRESSES REDUCED FOR CLEARANCE The styles are correct, and the fabrics and colors among the most fashionable 6 suits were $35 to $50 . Now $20 7 suits were $89.50 Now $39.50 29 coats were $29.50 Now $15.00 8 coats were $35.00 Now $19.50 14 velvet dresses were $29.50 to $45.00 . . . Now $18.50 FASHIONABLE WINTER COATS FOR WOMEN REDUCED FOR FINAL CLEARANCE Broken assortments of some of the most charming models shown this season. Some fur-trimmed, others with trimming of self material or plush. Divided into three groups and reduced to $16.50 $29.50 $39-50 Editorial advertisements. The editorial style of adver- tising is much used. This is typically, as its name suggests, a dignified presentation of a central idea. Frequently the ADVERTISING 225 management makes use of the editorial for an announcement of business policy, as the following extract from the adver- tisement of a well-known store will serve to illustrate : C To set forth established facts only is the object of this page which, in excluding pretense and exaggeration and in making statements brief, may sometimes make them seem dull and dry. Conducting such a business as we desire this to be must be done with candor, good sense, and probity for the sake of the public and of the employees, who are fixing the habits of their lives. Much as we have done to give a worthy store, it is still capable of improvement ; but with prodigious forces at our command we are able steadily to make progress in some directions all the time. Or again, the editorial may take the form of a timely, more or less personal message, idealistic in tone, bringing out the spirit of a firm in the management of its business. Celebrations and anniversaries give just occasion for the expression of such sentiments, the following advertisement, which appeared on Lincoln's Birthday, being a good example of this type. D TO-DAY, for a few minutes at least, we may profitably pause in the business in which we are engaged to give our thought to the great American citizen whose birthday is a national holiday Abraham Lincoln. He personified service without servility, gentleness with- out weakness, force without violence, courage without reck- lessness, caution without fear. He was, for his time and for the great duties laid upon him, the first American. 226 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING We men and women of to-day have no such responsibilities as his, but we have our own work to do and our own duties to perform, and we can acquit ourselves of these things in the same spirit as Lincoln's. That is our aim and ideal for our business, as we hope it is yours in your work, whatever that may be. An editorial advertisement may occupy regularly a certain space (as the upper left-hand corner in a half-page or quarter-page assignment) ; it may be placed conspicuously in the exact center of the allotted space or it may constitute the entire advertisement. The advertising of one store, which makes daily use of the editorial, sometimes gives the im- pression of a miniature newspaper, with foreign and domestic news (concerning merchandise) somewhat fully and elabo- rately set forth, and concise, pointed, "newsy" items of a miscellaneous nature arranged in a column. Here are three such items : French batiste lingerie made with all the accustomed Parisian delicacy of needlework, $2 to $75. Apropos of the Book Sale, there are artistic oak bookracks, 6 by 13 inches, for 25 cents. Self-weighing scales good up to 250 pounds, yet easily put out of sight in a closet or corner of the bathroom, $10. Book notices and reviews are sometimes included, making the analogy to the newspaper still closer. Explanation of special prices. The policy of leading stores is tending more and more to the elimination of special or bargain sales, because it is felt that in the end ADVERTISING 227 these ''events" are opposed to the best interests of con- sumers. The papers are still filled, however, with announce- ments of sales which a satiated public is inclined to view with skepticism, there have been so many before, and the values have not always seemed exceptional. It is good adver- tising, therefore, to explain or justify a special price that cus- tomers may have faith in the merchandise placed on sale. A particularly interesting example of this type of advertising is the following : THE QUEST OF THE CHINESE RUG With the imperial city of Peking as their goal, nearly a score of America's rug experts hastened to the Orient. For the Chinese rug dominated decorative schemes, and the demand at that time a year ago far exceeded the supply. Noting the eagerness of the American buyers and their keen rivalry for his wares, the Chinese merchant, greedy for gain, boosted his prices. Rugs on the loom, rugs contracted for at a fixed price, were sold and resold at tremendous advances. And the Americans bought wildly, " plunged," regardless of values, for at any price THE UNITED STATES MUST HAVE CHINESE RUGS To the oriental mind the situation presented immense future possibilities, and when the American buyers had departed the native merchants formed a combine. Banks advanced money ; huge quantities of wool were purchased ; hundreds busied themselves at the looms. But when the rugs were finished, purchasers there were none ! Weeks passed. The orientals, unused to large enterprises, became the prey of mutual distrust. Banks demanded pay- ment ; the wool dealers clamored for their money, the weavers for their wage. 228 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING THE MARKET SHOWED A MARKED DECLINE At this critical juncture cables flashed back and forth, and orders, placed at the psychological moment, saved the day. Incidentally, and became possessors of one of the largest and finest collections of Chinese rugs in America rugs that we can sell at 25 per cent to 33^ per cent less than the same rugs could be sold for under former purchasing conditions. The characteristics of the rugs are then briefly set forth in these suggestive words : While the symbolism of the designs is correct, the patterns have been modified so that they have nothing of the bizarre or the grotesque ; motifs are smaller ; details finer. The colorings are soft, dull, warm, harmonious : tones of taupe, mahogany, blue, mulberry, gold, and copper subtly blended to accord with present-day decorative ideas. Not until the very end are prices and sizes given. In another advertisement certain defects in the merchan- dise are frankly acknowledged : At practically cost prices ! a whole new shipment of Philip- pine Embroidered Lingerie. Brothers maintain their own workrooms over in Manila that they may the better cater to the ever-growing demand for fine Philippine lingerie. Recently such demands were put on the Manila workrooms that it was necessary to go outside to other Philippine factories to purchase merchandise to fill the orders. A large quantity of this lingerie has just arrived. On the whole it is very desirable, but it is not quite up to regular standards, and on this account it is marked nearly as low as the price it cost to land it. This dear experiment for 's is your opportunity. and tfie evening Lamp Some writer has said that the evening lamp is the beaeon of thought and the maker of home ties. If you will be good enough to come in and inspect our collection of lanips, you will find that they have the refinement and deco- rative quality that offer both invitation and welcome to H book and the home-hours. Here are lamps that are the expression of the designer at his best. You cannot think of them as lamp and shade. You see each as a part of the other in the way that a well- placed home becomes a part of the landscape. We have lamps of all design, both electrical and those burning oil. Either Ls proper, and both in any design are the work of the skilled and educated Ifand. The prices are most reasonable and we welcome folk of moderate means. This }ewelry business was started in the year 1800. It is the oldest of its kind in the country. Our aim is to make and keep it the best of its kind, and we hope to so well merit your first purchase by courtesy, good service, and generous value, that you will turn to us natura-lly in the future for the kinds of things which we sell. Shreve. Crump and Low Company LtimjK. Cnndleslkkx, Gift* rtr// old Questions and Problems, 237-241 ; Assignments, 241-246 Advertising department, place in organization, 247 Advertising leaflets, waste of, 207 Advertising manager, place in organization, 251 ; qualifications, 253 ; groups responsible to, 253 Advertising mediums: satisfied cus- tomers, 218; newspapers, 218 237 ; miscellaneous, 237 ; window displays, 237-238 Alterations and erasures on sales checks, 25 Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, " Cor- porations and Public Welfare," quoted, 10 Appearance and deportment of salespeople, proper clothing for work, 38-39; chapter on, 38-52; dress requirements, 39-40; dig- nity of uniformity, 40; cleanli- ness and neatness, 41 ; personal standards in relation to work, 41-42 ; influence of good appear- ance, 42 ; physical attitude, 43- 44 ; Questions and Problems, 49- 51; Assignments, 51-52. See also Deportment Apprenticeship, 5 Approaching customers, a means of expressing store policy, 86-87 '> chapter on, 86-99 > fi rst impres- sions, 87-89 ; manner, 89 ; ad- dressing customers by name, 90- 91 ; introductory phrases, 91-93 ; questioning customers, 93-95 ; study of customers, 95 ; Questions and Problems, 96-98 ; Assign- ments, 98-99 ; first step in sale, 128 Arrangement of stock, importance of, 72 ; bases of classification, 72-73. See also Care of stock and Display of merchandise Association of ideas, psychological principle applicable to salesman- ship, 139140 Atlantic Monthly, " The Country Store," by Charles Moreau Harger, referred to, n (note) Attitude towards work, 12-13, 181- 182 Auditing department, duties of, 254 "Bacon, Sir Francis, quoted, 260 Balance, principle of, relation to display of merchandise, 81 Bargain hunters, 68, 199 Bargain sales, tendency to eliminate, 226-227 Blind customer, 191 Bon Marche a pioneer department store, 9 277 2/8 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING Boston Evening Transcript quoted to illustrate significance of names, I II-II2 Boucicaut, M. Aristide, founder of Bon Marche, 9 Call slip. See Want slip Candy offered by customers, 197 Care of stock, a matter of good housekeeping, 63 ; illustration of extreme negligence, 64 ; need of proper tools, 64; time to do stock work, 64-65; repairs, 65-66; re- sults of carelessness, 65, 66, 67, 73-74; protection of merchan- dise, 66 ; lost parts, 66-67 '> on bargain tables, 67-68 ; reasons for handling carefully, 67-68, 71 ; relation to salesmanship, 68, 71 ; customers' part in, 71. See also Arrangement of stock and Dis- play of merchandise Care of store property, 208-209 Carrying parcels recommended by Commercial Economy Board, 205 Cash customers, their use of ex- change privilege, 168 Centennial Exposition, John Wana- maker's opinion of its influence, i o Center of interest. See Display of merchandise Chain stores, n Chamber of Commerce, regulations in regard to returned goods, 160; recommendations of Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, 161-162, 164 Charge customers, their use of ex- change privilege, 168 Cherington, Paul Terry, " The First Advertising Book," quoted, 185 Children as customers, 189-190 Classification of stock. See Arrange- ment of stock Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, recommendations of, 161-162, 164 Closing sales. See Concluding sales Clothing. See Appearance and de- portment of salespeople C.O.D.'s, 20, 27, 28, 29. 162, 169, 205 Commercial Economy Board,recom- mendations of, 205 ; reasons for adopting, 206 Cohimission. See Wages Comparison shoppers, 173 Competition on basis of service, 173 Concentration in selling, 134-135 Concluding sales, chapter on, 128 143; third step in sale, 128; nar- rowing the sale, 130; emphasis of best points, 130; exercise of judgment, 133; broadening cus- tomers' outlook, 133-134; demon- stration of merchandise, 134; concentration, 134; meeting diffi- culties, 135-136; courteous leave- taking, 138-139; Questions and Problems, 140-142 ; Assignments, 142-143 Conditions of exchange, 161-162 Conduct. See Deportment Conservation. See Resources Continuing sales through sugges- tion, 148 Contrast, principle of, relation to display of merchandise, 81 Cooperation, need of, 149-153, 259- 260 Country store, 6, 9, 257 Credit. See Exchanges Credit department, 254 Customers, their part in stock- keeping, 71 ; as teachers, 103- 104; types of, 128-130, 187-200; excuses offered by, 137-138; chapter on, 187-203 ; Assign- ments, 203 Deaf customers, 192 Delivery, saving on, 205, 210-211 Demonstration of merchandise an aid in selling, 134 Deportment of salespeople, 44, 47- 49 ; conversation, 44 ; loud call- ing, 47 ; personal comment, 47- 49. See also Appearance and de- portment of salespeople Design, principles of, related to merchandise display, 76, 81 INDEX 279 Directing customers, chapter on, 53-60 ; need of accuracy and courtesy, 56 ; need of clearness, 57 ; Questions and Problems, 58- 59 ; Assignments, 59-60. See also Location of merchandise Display of merchandise, general principles, 74-76, 81 ; relation to suggestive selling, 147 Division of labor in department stores, 53 Dodge, William E., boyhood ex- periences as apprentice, 5 Dress requirements, 39-40. See also Appearance and deportment of salespeople. Duplicate check, parts of, 23 Early customers, 198 Early shopping recommended by Commercial Economy Board, 205 Editorial advertisements. See Ad- vertising Educational value of advertise- ments, 231-234 Elderly customers, 193 Elimination of waste. See Waste ; see also Resources Employment, conditions of. See Working conditions Employment department, place in organization, 247 English, use of, 116; exactness, 116; slang, 116-117; effective expression an aid in presenting selling points, 116-120; variety, 117; uncommunicative sales- people, 117-118; talking at ran- dom, 118-119 Enthusiasm in selling, 100 Errors on sales checks, cases cited, 26-27; in exchanges, 168-169; loss occasioned by, 209-210; traced by auditing department, 254; results of, 259 Ethics of advertising, 219-220 Evolution of department store, from " one-line " specialty house, 6 ; from general country store, 6 ; Edward A. Filene's explanation of, 6, 9, note Exchanges, authorization of, 28 ; policy established, 1 58- 159; chapter on, 158-171; abuse of privilege, 159-160; regulations imposed by Chambers of Com- merce, 160-162; regulations of Retail Merchants Board of the Cleveland Chamber of Com- merce, 161-162; advantages of policy, 162-163; disadvantages, 163-164; check on excessive use, 164-165; salesmanship in- volved, 165168, 169; errors occa- sioned by, 168-169 ; use by charge customers, 168-169; per- sonal element, 169; Questions and Problems, 169-171 ; Assignments, 171 ; recommendations of Com- mercial Economy Board, 205 Excuses for not buying, list of, 137-138 External appearances not safe cri- terion, 95 Female help. See Women, employ- ment of Field, Marshall, sketch of career, 14 Filene Cooperative Association, lecture given at, quoted, 6, 9 Filene, Edward A., explanation of evolution of department store, 6, 9, note Financial department, a division of organization, 248 ; subdivisions of, 254; employees connected with, 257 Financial manager, place in organ- ization, 251; functions of, 254; groups responsible to, 257 First impressions, 87-89, 95 Floor superintendent's authoriza- tion, sales requiring, 28-29 Foreign customers, 193-194 Friends meeting while shopping, 197 General manager, duties of, 248 ; diagram showing his place in the organization, 251 280 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING Gifts, return of, 162 "Golden Book of the Wanamaker Stores" quoted, 2, 158 Great War, lessons of conservation taught by, 204. See also Resources Handkerchief, merchandise study of, outline, 104-106; Special Questions, 106; background for study of, 1 06, 109 Human opportunity in store work, 12-13 Humorous advertisements. See Ad- vertising Hurried customers, 194 Indefinite customers, method of dealing with, 128-129 India cotton, strange names for, 3 Interruptions, 135 Introductory phrases, list of, 92 Invalids as customers, 192 Jordan, Eben, his maxim of service, 178 "Just looking" type of customer, 188 Late customers, 198-199 Legal importance, of sales check, 24; of truthful representation of merchandise, 115; of honest ad- vertising, 219-220 Location of merchandise, plan for learning, 54-56 Lost sales, through limited view- point of customer, 133; through failure to meet objections, 135; through interruptions, 135; through discourtesy in giving information, 136-137 Mail-order department as a service feature, 174, 177-178 Mail-order house, 1 1 Markdowns occasioned by poor salesmanship, 211 Marking, method of, 258 (note) Martyn, Carlos, " William E. Dodge: The Christian Merchant," quoted, 3-4, 5 Men as customers, 190-191 Merchandise, of early days, 3-4 ; learning location of, 54-56 ; turn- over, 61-63 ; chapter on, 61-85 ; care of, 63-74; display, 74-81; Questions and Problems, 82-84 ; Assignments, 84-85 ; study of, 100-110; significance of names, 1 10-112; careful selection recom- mended by Commercial Economy Board, 205 ; losses connected with, 2 1 1-2 1 2. See also Selling points Merchandise manager, relation to general manager, 251 ; functions of, 252-253; groups responsible to, 252 (note), 253 Merchandising, place in organiza- tion, 247 Misdirecting customers, influence of > 53-54 Mother with child a type of cus- tomer, 191 Names of customers, remembering, 90-91 Names of merchandise, 3, 110-112 Narrowing the sale a principle of salesmanship, 130 Near-sighted customers, 192 New England Telephone and Tele- graph Company, educational ad- vertisements, 233 Neiv York Tribune quoted, 3, 218 Nonreturnable articles, 161 Nonreturnable tags, 162 Nystrom, "Economics of Retailing," reference to, 238 Operating end of business, place in organization, 247 ; employees con- nected with, 252 Original check, parts of, 20 " Out sizes," 192 Overmeasurement, 208 Percentage of sales. See Wages Personal comment, impropriety of, 47-49 Personal standards. See Appearance and deportment of salespeople INDEX 28l Physical attitude, importance of, 43-44 Physically handicapped customers, 191-192 Pioneer department stores, 9-10 Policies of storekeeping, during early period, 13 ; in modern times, 3 (note), 86-87; revisions necessitated by war, 205-206; reflected in advertising, 219-220 Positive customers, method of deal- ing with, 129 Presentation of selling points, dis- crimination in, 112; importance of truthful statements, 112, 115; importance of honest opinions, 11^-116; use of English, 116- 119; influence of voice, 119-120 Presenting merchandise, second step in .sale, 128 Privilege of exchange, 159-160. See also Exchanges Progress of merchandise, 257-258 Proportion, principle of, relation to display of merchandise, 76 Provincial customers, 200 Publishers' 1 Weekly quoted, 68, 71, 72 Quota. See Wages Reference books an aid in mer- chandise study, 109 Refunds. See Exchanges Repairing merchandise, 6566 Resources, use of, necessitated by the war, 204 ; recommendations of Commercial Economy Board, 204-205; chapter on, 204-217; revision of store policies, 205- 206 ; conservation of supplies, 206-207 ; waste in yardage de- partments, 207-208 ; care of store property, 208-209 > errors on sales checks, 209-210; waste of time, 210; saving on delivery, 210-21 1 ; losses on merchandise, 211-212; relation to wages, 212- 214; Questions and Problems, 214-216; Assignments, 217 Retail Merchants Board. See Cham- bers of Commerce Returned goods. See Exchanges Rhead, G. Woolliscroft, " The Prin- ciples of Design," quoted, 76, 81 Rhymed advertisements. See Ad- vertising Sales, forms of, 27-30; steps in, 128 Sales book, as record of sales, 19; parts of, 20. See also Sales check Sales check, chapter on, 19-37 ; parts of, 20, 23 ; protective func- tion, 23 ; facts recorded on, 23- 24 ; legal importance, 24 ; rules in regard to, 25-27 ; cases of care- lessness, 26-27 ; common forms of, 27 ; cases requiring author- ization, 27-29 ; Questions and Problems, 33-37 ; Assignments, 37. See also Transfer, Want slip, Errors on sales checks Salesmanship, old method of, 1-3 ; relation to stock-keeping, 68, 71.; involved in exchanges, 163-168; relation to service, 181-184; re l a ~ tion to wages, 212-213; impor- tance of cooperation, 259-260. See also Approaching customers, Concluding sales, Customers, Selling points, Suggestive selling, Turnover Salespeople, attitude toward work, 12-13, 181-182; appearance and deportment, 38-49 ; aid given in directing customers, 53-57 ; re- sponsibility for care of stock, 63- 74 ; responsibility for success of store advertising, 238-239. See also Salesmanship Sample giving, 207-208 Selling energy, relation to wages, 212-213 Selling expenses affected by waste, 213-214 Selling per cent. See Wages Selling points, knowledge of, gained through merchandise study, TOO, 103-106, 109-110; chapter on, 282 A TEXTBOOK ON RETAIL SELLING 100-127; discriminating use of, 112; presentation of, 112, 115- 120; Questions and Problems, 120-124 > Assignments, 124, 127 Service, salespeople exponents of, 12-13, 181-184; chapter on, 172- 186; widespread expression of, 172 ; a basis of competition, 173 ; service features, 173-174; ren- dered through mail-order depart- ment, 174, 177; reflected in advertising, 178-181 ; Questions and Problems, 184-185 ; Assign- ments, 185-186 Service bureaus, activities of, 173 Service center, store as, 11-12 Service features, a list of, 173174 ; employees concerned with, 252 " Serving " customers, significance of the expression, 93 Shopping card. See Transfer Show windows. See Window dis- plays Silent customers, difficulty pre- sentedby, 187; questions, 187-188 Sitting position, main points, 43 Sources of merchandise informa- tion, 103, 109 Sources of waste. See Waste Spacing, principle of design, rela- tion to display of merchandise, 76 Standing position, main points, 43 Starting sales by suggestion, 144, 147. See also Approaching cus- tomers Statistical department, duties of, 254 Stewart, A. T., 9 ; founder of A. T. Stewart store, 10, 15; sketch of career, 13-14; mentioned, 1(^5; attitude towards waste, 206, 214 Stock-keeping, relation to personal standards, 41-42. See also Care of stock Store directory. See Directing cus- tomers Store manager, functions of, 251 ; relation to general manager, 251 ; groups responsible to, 252 Store organization, divisions of, 247248 ; chapter on, 247263 ; place of general manager, 248, 251 ; of superintendent, 251 ; place of store manager, 251-252; of merchandise manager, 252- 253; of advertising manager, 253; of financial manager, 254-257 ; importance of, 257-260 ; Ques- tions and Problems, 260-262 ; Assignments, 263 Stores and storekeeping, early poli- cies, 1-3; chapter on, 1-18; modern policies, 3 (note), 86-87 evolution of, 6-n; Questions and Problems, 15-17; Assign- ments, 17-18 Stout customers, 192193 Strangers as customers, 190 Styles of advertising. See Adver- tising Substitution, a form of suggestion, 153-155; presentation of new ideas involved, 1 54 Suggestion and substitution, chap- ter on, 144-157; Questions and Problems, 155-157; Assignments, 157. See also Suggestive selling Suggestive selling, in starting sales. 144, 1 47 ; in continuing sales, 1 48 ; ethics of, 148-149; application throughout store, 149-153; futile questions, 1 53, 1 54. See also Sub- stitution Supplies, waste of, 206207 System. See Sales check Talkative customers, 189 Telephone customers, 199-200 Till-book sale. See Transfer Time limit on exchanges, 161, 162 Time wasted. See Waste Tips offered by customers, 194, 197 Transfer, when used, 29 ; advan- tages, 30 Traveler. See Transfer Turnover, explanation of, 61-63 Types of stores : country stores, 6, 9, 257 , department stores, 6, 9, INDEX 28 3 11-12; chain stores, u; mail- order houses, 1 1 Typical customers. See Customers Uncommunicative salespeople, in- stances of, 117-118 Undecided customer, method of dealing with, 129-130, 133 Uniformity in clothing, 40 Unity, principle of, relation to dis- play of merchandise, 81 " Upkeep." See Care of store prop- erty Voice, influence on salesmanship, 119-120 Void checks, 25, 28 Wages, relation to selling energy, 212; commissions paid on sales exceeding quota,. 2 12-2 13 ; rela- tion to selling per cent, 212-213 '> relation to waste, 213-214. See also Turnover Wanamaker, John, bought A. T. Stewart store, 10; opinion on influence of Centennial Exposi- tion, 10 ; sketch of career, 14- 15; policy in regard to exchanges, 158-160 Want slip, 30, 33 War Industries Board. See Commer- cial Economy Board Waste, examples of, 206-207 '> m yardage departments, 207-208 ; of property, 208-209; through errors in sales checks, 209-210, 259; of time, 210; in delivery, 210-211 ; in merchandise, 21 1-212 ; relation to wages, 212-214. See also Re- sources Window displays, suggestive power of, 144; as advertising piedium, 237-238 ; cost of, 237-238 Women, employment of, early pub- lic opinion against, 4-5 Working conditions, 4-5 ; modern attitude of management towards, 12-13 Yardage departments, waste in, 207- 208 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $t.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. JAN 4 1943 FEC * ^ 944 6%^8MH| fter-o . FEE 5 1944 ~o A r\f\ 'i . MAY 7 1944 a DEC 4 1944 ue r^i*Bb DEC DR1SM ^f^^ > rttA j tof> -rA rn\ -3 9 5945 HUM 1 / 60 UO AK D EPT - APfc 13 RPR ^3 1945 _ * r- jttl MAY 16 MAY 21 194fi LD 21-100m-7,'40 (6936s) ID bbU/O W / 4! 4876 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY