“THESE ARE BETTER”

The following is the experience of a Boston business man as told by him to show the importance of a knowledge of the stock, on the part of the salesman:

After having looked around in several of the shop windows I finally saw a shoe that seemed to be just what I wanted. Entering the store I was met by a young man to whom I pointed out the shoe in which I was especially interested. Within a short time he brought a shoe of the same style in my size and placed it on my foot.

For some reason or other, however, the shoe did not seem to look as well on my foot as it did in the window, and I asked to see some other shape. The young man produced another and after lacing it up explained that the price was twelve dollars, which was two dollars more than the one first shown.

On a point of information I then inquired, “Why should this pair be worth twelve dollars as compared with the other at ten?” And the answer I received was:

“Oh, these are better shoes than those.”

Although the customer knew practically nothing about shoes and values and may not have been able to distinguish a calfskin from an alligator hide, and although he knew nothing of footwear styles and make, it was an insult to his intelligence to tell him that he was paying two dollars more because the twelve-dollar shoe was better than the ten-dollar one. He might just as well have been told that he was paying two dollars more because twelve was that much greater than ten. The salesman owes it to himself and to his success in selling to acquire a knowledge of his stock. On any other basis he can do nothing more than hand out shoes at the customer’s direction and hope that no questions will be asked. But it is not on this basis that success is measured out either in selling or any other work calling for the use of brains.

STUDY OF THE STOCK

An investigation has recently been made among retail stores to determine the causes accountable for the loss of customers. As a result of this the fact has been brought out that among the chief reasons for the customer’s dissatisfaction, and as a result of which he transfers his business to some other store, is the salesman’s ignorance of the goods being sold. Business to the extent of millions of dollars is lost every year among retail shoe stores, due to this one cause. Satisfaction in the way a customer is served depends upon his confidence in the salesman who serves him. This cannot result unless the salesman shows an understanding of his goods.

To know the stock does not mean simply to know the prices. It means among other things that the salesman must know what he has in stock to sell and where to lay his hands on the goods when he needs them. The man who is a success at selling realizes that the better knowledge he has of his stock, the greater will be the satisfaction of his trade. He knows every line in the house thoroughly—even the odd pairs he knows by size and width so that when he gets the foot that may be fitted with one of these he can convert the dead or odd pair into cash.

To study the stock means actually to take the time to examine the different qualities and styles, to know the materials of which they are made and to understand why the one shoe sells for twelve dollars as compared with the other at ten. In most stores there are times in the morning while business is quiet when the salesman has the opportunity to get into the stock, to examine it carefully and to learn the “feel” of the goods. This is something that will come to him only by getting the goods in his hands. A few minutes each day spent in a close study of the stock will pay dividends in the way of increased business and satisfied customers.

Later in the Course will be taken up the comparative importance of different kinds of leather, the advantages of one over the other, a study of cloth fabrics that go into shoes and the “why and wherefore” of each of them, a discussion of rubber, fibre and a dozen other materials that have important parts to play in their own special ways. To have a knowledge of the goods means to have an understanding of how shoes should be fitted, of how they are made, an understanding of styles and how they are originated and introduced. The shoe salesman who is in business for a future must know these things and he will get results in proportion as he learns these facts. They will all be fully treated in following sections of the Course but are mentioned here to show how closely they tie-up to the salesman’s everyday work in serving his customers.

The best salesmen are those who know most about their product and their business and no one can be permanently successful without such a knowledge.

STYLES

One of the powerful forces to stimulate the customer’s desire to buy is the wish to have something out of the ordinary in appearance. This is another variation of the demand for variety that has been mentioned before. To give the customer what is wanted in footwear variety calls for the steady changing of styles season after season.

A thorough understanding of conditions of fashion demand that good taste must be represented in footwear styles. Occasionally there will be a demand for freak styles that do not meet the generally accepted idea of good taste and common sense, but these constitute the exception. The shoe business of the country is conducted on sound principles. It requires foresight to anticipate the wishes of the public and to have styles ready to supply when the demand is made. A high degree of good judgment and common sense is needed. For instance, a manufacturer, in making up his lines of women’s shoes for a coming season, must take into account the colors of dress goods that will be popular at that time, in order that he may be in a position to harmonize the leather or cloth in the shoe with the costume. He must take into consideration the length of the skirts to be worn and plan his styles accordingly. The weaves and qualities of shoe fabrics must be considered, and so on all along the line. All this must be planned in advance in order that the salesman may have on his shelves the goods that are wanted and when they are wanted.

Styles are a necessary feature to the success of a shoe business, but unless they are properly understood by the shoe salesman they may act with a “back kick,” like a rifle in the hands of an amateur. The true facts are clearly brought out in an article that appeared recently in a booklet for the salespeople of a progressive mercantile company:

Merchandise that has its value based on style loses its value as the season advances and something else is produced to take its place. Seasonal merchandise must be sold during the period in which it was intended to serve its purpose.

Sales on style merchandise are not only justified but essential. The price of this character of goods is based on the newness of style, and merchandise loses its value when this feature is eliminated.

Sales are a necessity to keep a stock clear of all odds and ends. To allow goods to remain in stock beyond the period during which they should have been sold is only creating losses in the end. No one serves the firm better than the salesman who always makes special efforts to have stocks clean.

From this it is clear that for the salesman to give the best service, both to the customer and the house he represents, it is essential that he have a thorough working knowledge of his stock. The fact is often overlooked that it is from the last pairs of shoes in a line that the proprietor gets his profit. If these are not sold they become dead stock and their value decreases the longer they continue to lie on the shelves.

STOCK ARRANGEMENT

The size of a store and its inside arrangement will have a great deal to do with the way in which the layout of the stock is to be planned. However, there are some important points to be remembered which apply regardless of the amount of room available for storing the stock or the kind of fixtures used.

A plan well worth following is that of keeping to the front the stock first purchased so that it may get first attention on the part of the salespeople. The tendency is to give the most prominent position to goods just received and to overlook the goods that have been in stock for some time. We naturally forget the things that are out of sight. To do this with the stock means to pile up a number of short lines that will later have to be sold at a sacrifice. Thus a loss results that might have easily been avoided through a little care in the arrangement of stock.

The following are some valuable suggestions on the care of stock made by Mr. Conner of the George E. Keith Stores Company:

We shall assume that the salesman is required to do a certain amount of stock work—that a certain number of sections are given to him to be cared for. Rightly, he should take as much pride in this stock as he would in new furnishings in his home. The contents of the cartons should be kept clean and presentable at all times. A liberal amount of tissue paper should be kept between the shoes, and it should be well straightened out. The cartons should be kept clean so that the salesman might justly feel proud of the appearance of the goods if a customer should enter the store hurriedly and notice a certain number in the stock. The appearance of a particular pair of shoes pulled out should be such that the customer would receive the impression that it had just arrived from the factory. There should be the look of freshness and newness that would at once appeal to the customer and influence his decision in favor of buying.

The control of a stock section given over to a salesman does not mean simply that the stock is to be kept clean and salable. Depending on the volume of business and the size of stock carried in the particular store, there are a minimum number of pairs of shoes that constitute a profitable line. Assuming that the business cannot operate profitably any one line of shoes when there are less than twelve pairs, as soon as any one of the lines in the salesman’s charge is brought down to that number he should at once take sizes and report the facts to his manager. He should take sizes on his stock at least twice a week and should know that no sizes are in the stock room that should be on the shelves.

Another point of importance in connection with neatness and order in the stock is that of returning to their proper places goods that have been taken out to be shown to the customer. The slip-shod way is to put the shoes in wherever there happens to be an empty space. The result of doing this is that either the pair will be lost trace of, or it will cause unnecessary work on the part of someone else in weeding out stock incorrectly placed and in putting it where it properly belongs. It is as easy to return stock to the special place provided for it as it is to pick out the wrong place. The goods when rightly placed can always be found when wanted without loss of time and effort on the salesman’s part spent in searching around among half a dozen places where he or someone else might have put them.

W. W. Willson, manager of retail stores for Rice & Hutchins, considers the matter of a thorough acquaintance with the stock of particular value to avoid wasting the customer’s time. He says:

The average customer today demands dispatch when making a purchase. Dispatch does not mean to carelessly rush through a sale, but to do away with unnecessary loss of time. People as a rule have numerous things to attend to either in a business or social way, and they will not waste valuable time waiting while some uninformed salesperson tries to serve them and makes a blunder of it. The customer invariably remembers an experience with this kind of salesperson and makes a special point to avoid him when the next purchase is made. He will find the salesman who knows the stock.

It is often said that “time is money.” To convince yourself of this divide your earnings each week by the number of hours that you work and you will readily understand how much your own time expresses in money on the expense account of the store or department. Remember that this applies also to your customers. You should know your stock so well as to require only the minimum of time to properly transact the sale to the best interest of the customer as well as yourself. A thorough knowledge of the stock helps you to do this. Take care of it and keep it in condition to show and to sell to the best advantage.

It is a recognized business fact that a following of satisfied customers is the best possible advertisement that any business or salesman can have. Satisfied customers return and make other purchases; they influence other customers to come to the store or department. This increases your sales and the profits of your firm. An increased volume of sales increases the value of the salesman. The person who sells the most goods with the greatest satisfaction to all parties concerned receives the greatest reward in compensation and promotion.

KEEPING POSTED ON NEW STOCK

Bearing in mind the important fact that style goods must be sold during the current season, it is clear at once that the salesman must keep himself posted at all times on new goods received. A week lost in getting informed of the fact that there is a new style in stock means more than the loss of six business days. It may mean that a certain number of customers have been required to accept goods less desirable to them, or it may mean that the business has been lost altogether. The customer does not buy shoes every week or every month, and on that account a sale lost this week often results in the loss of a sale for the season. The time to sell seasonal goods is at the opening of the season, and every day past the opening reduces the possibility of a profitable turnover and increases the prospects of “left-overs” and dead stock.

New styles coming in should be carefully studied to determine the type of feet for which they are most suitable. To show a woman a new style of shoe just received, and explain to her that it represents the most advanced model of the season, would be good business provided she could be properly fitted in such a shoe. On the other hand, if her foot is of such a shape that it could not wear the new style, it would be better business for the salesman to say nothing about the new styles and to give his whole attention to the shoes he has to fit the particular foot. To be prepared to meet this situation when it occurs requires that all shoes in the stock be studied with the idea of learning their points of advantage or limitation as applied to different classes of feet.

In line with this same suggestion is that of watching the stock of sizes in new goods received. The particular size may have been out of stock three days or a week ago, but there is always the possibility of a new shipment having been received. If the salesman does not actually know the condition of the stock in a certain size, he should make it a point to find out rather than to accept the fact that it was out of stock when he inquired yesterday or two days ago. Above all he should not advertise the fact that he does not know the stock with any such remarks as “I’m not sure that I have your size,” or “I don’t think we have that style.”

CUSTOMERS’ CRITICISMS

One of the very difficult problems that men in public life have to meet is that of learning the opinions of the people they represent concerning current matters of importance. For instance, the governor of a state or the mayor of a city is seriously interested in the opinions and desires of his constituents on matters that he will be called upon to settle. He is not able to meet personally and learn the views of more than a dozen or a few dozen people, and so he very wisely takes advantage of public opinion—which includes criticism as well as favorable comment. In fact, the experienced man will be more considerate of the criticism than the commendation, because it gives him the advantage of good judgment on the opposite side of the question. He is wise enough to know that his opinion may not be sound, and for that reason he takes advice from his critics.

In retail selling, also, there is the possibility of getting good advice from critics. A customer may not be pleased with the style of a shoe, the quality, color or fit, and will probably express that fact as a criticism. Nobody delights in receiving criticisms, of course, but just the same it is a wise merchant who considers these opinions of outsiders and plans to take advantage of whatever good there may be in them. A word dropped by a customer may contain the answer to the question of why this or that line does not move. A word from the customer concerning the kind of service he has received may contain a suggestion to the salesman to give more attention to a feature of his work he may have been overlooking and which may have been responsible for loss of sales.

A great many stores today take advantage of customers’ criticisms by requiring the salesman to prepare a record of each sale that is lost and the reason why it was lost. Every man, regardless of his position, can afford to consider carefully any comments having to do with the quality of his work. He should, moreover, consider them with an open mind, so that he will be in a position to judge the value of each suggestion, rather than simply to pass it by and try to forget it quickly because it is unfavorable rather than a pat on the shoulder.

A New England merchant operating a country general store made it one of his business rules that he would never sell an article at less than cost. His way of figuring was that if he never made a sale at a loss he could never lose money and consequently his business was bound to prosper. And so he went on year after year faithfully following out his original idea, which later became as a law to him. Each year contributed to pile up more stock, and each year he found himself with more dead stock, that steadily decreased in value the longer he kept it. There could be only one result following from such a short-sighted policy—the business died of dry-rot. It was then for the creditors to sell the goods at whatever they would bring, and it was an actual fact that some of the goods were found to have been in stock for twenty-five and thirty years.

For our purpose we are interested in this experience only as it shows the importance of keeping the stock moving. The old country merchant knew nothing of the meaning or importance of stock turnover. Today most merchants understand that a great measure of their success in trading is dependent upon the ability of the salesmen to sell out the stock promptly. A profit is made only when the goods are sold, and therefore the store’s success is measured by the number of times a line of goods can be sold out or turned over during the course of a year. To say that a certain line of shoes has a turnover of four, means that the line is sold out and replaced with fresh stock four times during the year.

The following is a word of good advice given to merchants on this important matter of turnover:

Did you ever think of shoes as so many dollar bills lying on your shelves? Picture this thought in your mind. As long as they repose on your shelves they do not work for you. In fact, converted into shoes, they cost money and depreciate in value the longer they stay there. It would be better to have real dollar bills tucked away in your stocking; you would then receive no interest but they would not cost you money.

Keep your stock moving!

Clean out slow sellers!

Stock turnover is the secret of success in conducting a store.

The salesman’s work has a very direct relation to the matter of stock turnover, for, after all, he is closest to the customer and upon his knowledge of the stock and selling ability depends a great deal of the success in keeping the stock moving and of keeping it clean of short lines and dead stock. This is no small responsibility. A knowledge of the stock is essential. On the part of the salesman it requires that he know what goods he has to offer, where he may find them quickly, their particular merits and special advantages from the customer’s point of view.