• How To Demonstrate Values
• Contrast in Buying Methods of Women and Men
• Enriching Your Vocabulary
• Hidden Factors That Increase Sales

Unit III.—SALESMANSHIP APPLIED

HOW TO DEMONSTRATE VALUES

Old or young, rich or poor, we are much alike. What interests us is what touches ourselves. When we make our choices we do not always accept or reject things because of their intrinsic worth but because they appeal strongly to the group of instincts, emotions, and habits which just then is motivating the inner life and influencing decisions.

The salesman who is clever enough to present his merchandise in the ways that appeal most directly and powerfully to these inner controls enjoys a great advantage over one who lacks this ability.

KNOWLEDGE OF MERCHANDISE MUST COME FIRST

It goes without saying that this ability presupposes thorough knowledge of the merchandise. This is fundamental.

A given rug which enters our stock from the receiving room may have 30 points of possible interest to buyers, but not all these points will appeal to all buyers. Carefulness and system will enable us to pick and emphasize the strongest points for each buyer provided we know the entire 30. But if we know 20 only, or 15, or 10, no amount of skill can save us from losing some sales.

Under present conditions it is extremely difficult to acquire full and accurate knowledge of the merchandise we are called upon to sell, but we can get this information now if we want it badly enough; we must get it if we seriously desire to increase our earning power.

All possible information is important, because any part of it may be necessary, in a given situation, in order to make a sale. We must get this information wherever we can find it. In the case of a newly arrived easy chair, for example, it may come from three sources:

SELLING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION

Assuming that we have acquired adequate knowledge of the materials and construction of our merchandise, how are we going to use it effectively. We suggest a few general principles as guides to sound practice:

Both materials and construction normally are factors to be employed in closing a sale, but not in opening it.—If you went into a store and asked to see a pair of shoes and the salesman, seizing the first model at hand, assured you that it was made of tanned box calf, with waterproof soles, cork filling, and tacked insoles, by a process involving more than 150 separate operations, all of which made it a wonderful value at $8.50, would you tell him to wrap up a pair? Hardly.

Neither materials nor construction would interest you until you were comfortably fitted with a shoe that satisfied your ideas of style and color, and at a price within your buying limit.

When a customer asks for an advertised article and seems pleased with its appearance, the demonstration of its value can start at once. In any other situation it must wait until you find something with which she is pleased.

There are those who appear to believe that selling is a game in which the object is to beat down the customer's opposition and make her buy. In dealing with customers of any type above the most unenlightened, this idea always has proved a boomerang.

In talking materials and construction, preserve a sense of relative values.—When we say about a $35 chair everything that properly could be said about one priced at $65, our customer either believes or disbelieves us. If she disbelieves, the sale is lost. If she believes, our chance to get more than $35 of her money is lost. Even if we leave out of account the basically important matter of business honesty, it is unwise to overstate the values of any article. In a well-managed furniture store every article possesses points of merit sufficient to sell it on the basis of what can be fairly claimed for it. To claim more, whether intentionally or through ignorance of the facts, is to deceive our customers, and—inevitably—to cut down our sales volume.

Demonstrate the value of all merchandise under serious consideration whether you believe it to be necessary or not.—Many sales of advertised articles or merchandise chosen on the basis of its decorative appeal can be closed without discussion of materials or construction. As a safety-first measure, these factors should be mentioned somewhat carefully after the order has been booked. Sometimes a customer will buy an article in complete good faith, and yet within the next half hour will start shopping in other stores to see whether or not she has bought wisely. Even more important is the fact that in every case the new purchase, when delivered, is subject to inspection and criticism not only by members of the family but also by neighbors and friends. Some of this criticism is bound to be adverse, and unless we have taken the precaution to build up an unshakable confidence in the excellence and value of our merchandise there may be a telephone order to come and get it, or at least a loss of goodwill and future patronage.

These precautionary build-ups can of course be brief. For example, if you have sold a bedroom suite on the basis of appearance only, it will be enough to say in substance: "You have bought this suite because of its beauty and style, which will continue to delight you always. But before you leave I want you to realize that these fine qualities rest on a foundation of sturdy construction. This dresser, for example, is * * *."

Contacting the "I'll-buy-later" prospect.—There is always the chance that the sale can be closed. A woman's statement that she is not yet ready to buy is in many cases merely a "defense mechanism"—a psychological device to serve as an excuse to leave if she senses that high-pressure selling effort is being applied. It is possible that if we answer, in effect, "Please don't think of yourself as a customer, but rather as a valued guest of the store. This is not a busy hour for me, and while you are here I hope you will let me show you some more of the new things, which are particularly interesting this season," we may be able to develop the confidence and desire necessary to effect a sale.

If we fail to do this, we can at least see to it that the customer leaves with a clear impression of the value of the pieces she has been considering. If this impression is sufficiently clear and deep she may come back. Otherwise, in all likelihood, she will not.

The shopper in a hurry.—Many of us habitually make little or no effort with the customer who enters with the warning "I am in a great hurry," or "I have just a moment to look around today, and will come back later when I have more time." This is a mistake. Such statements may or may not be entirely true. In many cases they are another form of defense mechanism—a way out, prepared in advance. In other cases, they are merely a form of exhibitionism—a native desire to appear important. Such customers, properly handled, often can be held indefinitely, with the average chance to make a sale.

Price important in judging value.—Those who sell are rightfully apt to think of value as the total sum of a number of costs. While this method of evaluation is not fundamental economically, nevertheless our opinions often crystallize when we view the cost records. Our customer, however, is dually interested in what it costs to make and distribute what we sell her and in what our product means to her through its uses in her home. The merchant's, and hence the salesman's obligation, is to satisfy her that the price she pays is in strict conformity with the actual reasonable costs of making and delivering the goods. Simultaneously, however, we must teach her how our product will fit into her home, the satisfaction it will give her, the use it will stand through the years, in order that she may correctly weigh her satisfaction against her cost and reach a final conclusion as to her purchase.

This does not mean, of course, that the price should be stated first, but simply that it must be stated at the time it becomes important in the mind of the buyer. Assuming a skillfully conducted preliminary talk, this will normally be after an article has been tentatively accepted on the basis of appearance, and fitness, but before the beginning of a serious effort to close the sale.

Avoid resistance, and answer unspoken objections.—Use of the "How do you like this?" type of question sets up unnecessary hazards of resistance and should be avoided. The same is true of positive assertions not susceptible of immediate proof, and also of statements which tend to suggest inner doubts.

If you say of a certain sheen-type rug, "This rug, in pattern and coloring reproducing one of the celebrated Isphans of seventeenth century Persia, is woven of a special brand of imported oriental wools, by methods which give to its deep, close pile almost unlimited durability, plus this rich, velvet-like softness and luster," you add to its value without setting up a possible source of resistance to unspoken objections. But if you say, "The construction of this rug makes it the best value on the market," you cannot prove your statement, which may serve to remind the buyer that other stores are offering special values, or that her friend is enthusiastic about a rug bought recently at Blank's.

Unproved assertions destroy confidence.—Suppose you are trying to sell a table with mahogany-veneer top and red gum legs. To call it a mahogany table will lose the sale immediately, if the customer knows woods. To say that it has a mahogany-veneer top and mahogany finish gum legs may suggest to the buyer that a veneer is a poor substitute for solid wood, and that gum cannot be desirable if it must be finished to look like something else. To ignore the whole matter of materials and construction and to try to sell the table on its beauty and fitness alone may cause the customer to wonder just what you are trying to conceal, which will mean loss of confidence in yourself and your merchandise.

The wise course is to tell the entire truth about the piece in a perfectly matter-of-fact way designed to avoid any invidious comparisons of woods or processes. For example: "This table whose design and coloring you so much admire is as sturdy as it is good looking. Following the practice of some old eighteenth century cabinetmakers, the maker of this piece has combined several woods. Those used in the top are built into the modern five-ply construction, which brings out the full beauty of grain of the mahogany upper ply, ensures freedom from any danger of warping or splitting, and provides the strength of steel. For the legs he has used the beautiful straight-grained red gum of the South."

It is a costly folly to try to sell one material or process by condemning another. We show a table, for example, and speak of "solid American walnut" as if no other wood or construction were worthy of consideration; and 5 minutes later, finding that we have misjudged her price level, we stammer and stumble over an attempt to convince her that plywood is an acceptable substitute.

These are the dangerous devices of mental laziness. When a customer asks us if mahogany is better than birch, or Axminster carpets better than velvets, or solid construction better than veneer, a positive answer is misleading. We certainly should know that mahogany, like birch, varies in excellence according to the individual board; that some Axminsters are better than some velvets, and vice versa; and that the construction is best which best meets the particular requirements of design and purpose, in furniture precisely as in shoes or ships.

The fact is that everything used in making home furnishings of worthy quality has stood the test of time, and therefore is interesting and desirable in its own right. If we cannot make it seem so to customers, we have not learned enough about it.

In selling materials and construction, repetition is needed.—We must be governed by the results of our preliminary talk in picking out for emphasis the particular points which promise to be of interest to each customer. Having made these points, we sometimes need to repeat them, in varying language and in different parts of our sales talk. Moreover, we must never forget that many things which are as familiar to us as the multiplication table are strange to our customers, and therefore difficult to remember.

We know, for example, that concealed differences in construction may make one easy chair worth twice as much as another of identical appearance; that in sliced walnut veneers, figured woods may cost 5 or 10 times as much as plain; but most buyers do not know such things. Accordingly, if we merely state such facts, but fail to groove a memory channel by one or more repetitions, there is an excellent chance that even the customer who wants and can afford good things will look elsewhere, completely forget what we have told her, and buy a cheaper article in the honest belief that she is getting something equally good. What too often happens is that in building up the value of our merchandise we fail to fix the facts in the customer's mind.

Treat merchandise carefully, and show it under the most favorable conditions.—It is self evident that valuable merchandise must be so handled as to imply that it is of distinguished excellence.

Respect in handling inspires respect.—A woman will not buy an article unless and until she has identified it with herself—conceived of it as belonging to herself, and in her own home. Suppose that we are showing her a length of drapery fabric. If we crush it, or handle it as if it were calico or cheesecloth, or chance to step on it before she makes this unconscious identification with herself, she will think less of it; if after, she will think less of us. Either reaction will be harmful.

In departments using rug racks, often it is necessary to remove a rug and show it on the floor before the sale can be closed. If we do this in a way that permits the piece to fall in a wrinkled heap on the floor we will not damage the rug, but we will hurt the buyer's opinion of it. A shrewd salesman will ask his customer to walk on the rug; but he will not walk on it himself.

The same care applies to showing furniture. It is folly to jerk a drawer violently, or pound a table or dresser top, or thump the seat of an easy chair, or sit on the arm of a sofa. Such actions reveal an awkwardness and lack of poise which one does not associate with good homes and their furnishings. Then, too, your customer, if she is seriously considering a purchase, thinks of you subconsciously as pounding her table or sitting on the arm of her sofa.

Similar care should be given to the language with which you characterize or describe your merchandise. Many an automobile salesman has lost a live prospect because he insisted on calling a beautiful car a "job." "This stuff," or even "these goods," may lose the sale of a fine damask. Wrong inflection in phrases like "It is veneered," "This is a cretonne," often is fatal.

CONTRAST IN BUYING METHODS OF WOMEN AND MEN

WHO BUYS THE HOME FURNISHINGS?

In this bulletin the buyer of home furnishings is referred to as "she." This is done partly for simplicity, and partly because most buyers are women.

As a matter of fact, men do play an extremely important part in the purchase of home furnishings, and they are likely to be the determining factor in large sales. This is so much the case that clever salesmen and decorators frequently try to get the man involved even in the earlier stages of a large sale, while many highly successful oriental-rug men make no serious effort on a sale of any importance until the man is actively interested.

Accurate percentages impossible.—Such data as we have indicate that, in the purchase by average-income families of the kinds of merchandise carried by furniture stores, 5 percent or less of the buying is done by men alone, 50 percent or more by women alone, and the remaining 40 percent by men and women together.

The percentages, which are of approximate accuracy only, vary widely with different classifications of merchandise. Women probably buy from 75 to 85 percent of all curtains, draperies, mattresses, and pillows; men alone buy considerably more than 5 percent of lamps, refrigerators, and small electric appliances; and men and women together buy from 60 to 70 percent of room-size rugs and the more important items of furniture.

WHY FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE VITAL

These figures indicate that women have some part in considerably more than 50 percent of all sales in our business. There is reason to believe that they initiate fully 85 percent of all sales. This means, among other things—

DEALING WITH WOMEN CUSTOMERS

While generalizations on human motives and thought patterns always are dangerous, a few observations are set down here for consideration.

As buyers of home furnishings, women are in general more conservative in matters of price than men. Women's traditional role has been that of the conserver, rather than of the earner. Her attitude in the furniture store is due partly to this fact, partly to the fact that under present conditions she feels that a larger measure of personal and social satisfaction is to be gained by expenditure in fields other than home furnishings. Her capacity as family purchasing agent compels her to keep constantly in mind a wide range of immediate and future needs, and to plan the division of her dollar on that basis.

Women are more interested in details than men; more inclined to postpone decisions; more indirect in their thinking; more responsive to appeals based upon instinctive and emotional reactions; less attentive; and less responsive to complete-explanation sales talk.

Women respond more strongly than men to appeals based upon time saving, efficiency, durability, quality, and the guaranty of performance, and far less strongly than men to appeals based upon family affection or sympathy. Appeals to elegance or modernity make a stronger appeal to men than to women.

Women respond more quickly to appeals made to their dislikes than to their likes, but with men the case is reversed. This fact, coupled with woman's habit of indirect thinking and her reluctance to go on record, makes questionable the use of the "yes-channel" method of selling which is often successful in dealing with men. The theory is that by asking questions to which the logical answer will be "yes" in the earlier stages of the sale, you groove the way for a final "yes." It is good theory, but fails with women buyers.

For the same reason the habit of repeating the question "How do you like this piece?" or "Isn't this beautiful, desirable, etc.?" is dangerous. Women do not like to be cross-questioned, or forced to declare themselves. Their inner response to a "don't you like" question is likely to be destructively negative, no matter what they may choose to say out loud.

Women respond more directly and strongly to the appeal of color than do men, and less strongly to the appeal of line and form. They often have strong prejudices against certain colors, certain types in texture, pattern, and proportion. These the salesman must uncover skillfully and avoid in showing merchandise.

The buying psychology of a woman naturally is influenced by her age, social position, experience, and income. On the upper levels of intelligence and income women buy much as men do. They are interested in "reason why" talk; their thinking is direct and their decision prompt. On the low levels we find women who, however shrewd in buying foodstuffs or clothing, have had little experience in the purchase of furniture and floor coverings. Lacking both taste and knowledge, these women often are childishly credulous. They buy on the basis of easy terms and what is to them eye-appeal, and have little or no concern with what would constitute value in the upper levels.

RECENT SURVEY REVEALS NEW VIEWPOINTS OF VITAL INTEREST[3]

Seeking to eliminate guesswork in designing a 1940 line, the Kroehler Manufacturing Co. conducted a Nation-wide survey on consumer furniture-buying habits. In 49 cities 1,817 families of all classes and age groups were interviewed in their homes. By virtue of scientific statistical sampling and complete coast-to-coast geographic coverage the survey should correctly represent the typical viewpoint of no fewer than 26 million people and more than 6½ million families. Since the Bureau of the Census shows that 51.2 percent of our families own their own homes, approximately one-half of these interviewed in the survey must have been home owners. Because three-fourths of our people live in one-family dwellings, about three-fourths of those interviewed must have been thus housed, and one-fourth lived in apartments conforming likewise to census specifications.

The summary of the survey's results provides a basis for analyzing buying habits and style preferences. But more important to us here, the study developed certain inescapable conclusions for all those who actually sell home furnishings.

Fewer than one-third had bought their last furniture at the same store from which their last previous purchase had been made. Two-thirds went elsewhere.

Why this huge turn-over?

Is it because furniture stores and departments, as a whole, fail to do constructive selling?

Is it the result of dissatisfaction with previous purchases?

Thirty-three months elapse between major furniture purchases of the average family.—A lapse of nearly 3 years between large furniture purchases is astonishing. The Chicago Automobile Trade Association says the average family buys an automobile every 2 years—not because the car is worn out, but because of model changes. To increase furniture purchases dealers must put more emphasis on style changes through better display, better advertising, and better merchandising.

Over one-half of all furniture buyers shopped more than one store or department.—Better selection, better floor display, and better selling might have converted many shoppers into buyers in the first store. What happened there?

Fewer than 10 percent of actual buyers simply bought to replace out-of-style furniture.—Furniture lined up in ranks along aisles like wooden soldiers, and advertising which shouts nothing but price, will not motivate purchases.

Six out of ten customers wait until they are in the store before they choose a style.

• Floor displays that confuse will not help.
• Drab window displays will repel.
• Doubting words will not highlight lovely furnishings.

ENRICHING YOUR VOCABULARY

Ability to talk well is an invaluable asset to the salesman of home furnishings. It will not take the place of a winning personality, or of energy, enthusiasm, and knowledge; but it will raise any or all of these factors to a higher power, and make them vastly more productive. An unpleasant voice, stumbling and hesitant utterance, faulty grammar, and a narrowly limited vocabulary are serious handicaps.

Even in small and ordinary transactions, and in dealing with customers whom you might not suppose to be observant, careful choice of words is highly important. Avoid slang, bad grammar, and careless habits of expression because these will not help you with any customer, while with many they will arouse a sort of intellectual contempt likely to result in sales resistance. How often do we meet with salespersons whose only descriptive words seem to be: Nice, swell, smart, grand, slick, gorgeous, elegant, stunning, pretty, and lovely.

It is particularly important to avoid the easy habit of using the same few words over and over again for description or characterization. Many of us, without the least realization of what we are doing or its probable effect will assure the same customer that 10 pieces in succession are beautiful. That certainly will not increase her desire to buy; but it may well diminish her confidence in us as intelligent and discriminating guides to such a purchase. A varied vocabulary is a wonderful asset in selling.

Training to use a wider range of words.—It is easy to form the habit of using a wider range of words since we know the words already, and nothing is required but practice in employing them. And it is highly important, because in order to make sales of any importance, we must first sell ourselves, and language is a close third, at least, to appearance and manner as a means to customer confidence. With many buyers it comes first. A few lists of words are set down here in the hope that they may prove of some value:

These words will be especially useful in the process of "high-lighting" or introducing a piece with a brief characterization designed to enhance its value before the serious work of selling it is undertaken, as in the phrase, "Here is an armchair of flawless beauty," employed in introducing the Chippendale chair.

Technical terms, provided you explain them almost immediately, are effective. To speak of the cabriole or the term leg, the Spanish or the bun foot, the saltire or the silhouette stretcher, or of marquetry, vernis martin (pronounced, roughly, ver-nee mar-tang) bombe fronts or varquenos will not harm you with any customers, while with many it will serve to intrigue interest, deepen appreciation of the importance of furniture, and add to your own prestige as a man who knows the details of his business.

SUGGESTIONS FOR BUILDING YOUR VOCABULARY

Any salesperson in the home furnishings field will find it convenient to adopt some simple plan of acquiring the expanding vocabulary which always is an asset:

HIDDEN FACTORS THAT INCREASE SALES

Since ancient times, the sense of touch and the sensation of feel have been important factors in the buying and selling of practically all commodities. To see a piece of smooth satin partially sells a prospective customer, but to feel its soft texture in her fingers makes the luxury of the fabric a reality, something to own and cherish which will enhance her loveliness, and this hidden value, expressed in the sense of touch, is usually the factor which makes the customer buy better merchandise than she might have considered and which climaxes the sale.

In selling home furnishings, the hidden value revealed by touching the piece under consideration is extremely important. Fine furniture which has been hand rubbed has a luxurious feeling which is as soft as satin. Only by rubbing your fingers over a lovely finish can you appreciate, to the fullest extent, the exquisite fineness of a hand-rubbed finish. Feeling the smooth pull of a drawer which slides properly on its guides, tracing the design of inlaid marquetry with the fingertips, searching for rough spots in drawer interiors with sensitive fingers and caressing soft-textured upholstery fabrics with the fingers all vividly bring to the attention of the customer the quality and true hidden beauty of the piece under consideration, which may not have been discernible to the naked eye. The sensation of feel should be made to augment the sense of touch whenever possible, but salespersons should bear in mind that a woman's hand is extremely sensitive and the sense of touch should first be brought into action before the sense of feel; for example, let us suppose a woman is considering a rug, which has a particularly fine texture. Invite her first to feel the texture of the rug beneath her fingers; have her compare this feeling with a less expensive rug so that she may mentally compare the difference; then ask her to step on the rug. Get her to feel the luxury of it under her foot; bring to her attention the spring of the wool, the comfort of stepping into the deep pile and other factors which excite the sensation of feel. You will find these powerful factors not only in helping her decide upon a better rug but in assuring her that she is getting quality for her investment.

When selling upholstered pieces, always have the customer sit in the chair or on the sofa. Ask specifically if it is small enough, or if she thinks it will be large enough, for her husband or whoever is to use the chair. Stress the comfort angle; notice if she can sit gracefully in the piece and whether or not she has difficulty in getting up, once seated. As she touches the fabric bring out facts about the texture and the weave. (See fig. 6.) As she experiences the various reactions she is silently selling herself and only suggestions on your part which help her to recognize the various sensations of touch and feel are necessary.

Bear in mind in all phases of selling home furnishing, whether the customer is considering a chest of drawers, a chair, rug, lamp, or cigarette box, getting her to touch it to get the "feel" of the article and to try it for comfort, luxury, restfulness, or other sensations are potent hidden factors in better selling.

QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

1. How will a knowledge of the processes of manufacturing of an article enable the salesman to explain its wearing qualities, its price, its sanitary qualities, its fitness for a particular location within a room, and its appearance?

2. What types of information may a home furnishings salesman get from a public library?

3. What sources of merchandise information are available to you and how familiar are you with them?

4. What five kinds of special information are needed by retail salesmen?

5. What steps do you take systematically to acquaint yourself with the correct descriptive words and phrases currently used with newly arrived merchandise?

6. There is a vocabulary of suitable words and phrases for use when showing furniture to all types of customers. The same words are not equally effective with all customers. What plan or device do you use in making a wise selection of these descriptive words and phrases?

7. Make a list of words which under any ordinary selling situation you would never use.

8. Why is the excessive use of superlatives an indication of ignorance of the article being sold?

9. For each of the following make a statement which involves the opinion of a recognized authority:

• Reading lamp.
• Glowing colors.
• Floor coverings.
• Glass curtains.
• Telephone stand.
• Wallpaper.
• Armchair.
• Pictures.

10. In the light of the discussions in this unit, what profitable work may a retail salesman attend to when not actually waiting on customers?

SUGGESTED READING LIST

• The Human Element in Business, IV, p. 67.
• Putting "Biz" in Business, V, p. 88.

• Furniture—and Stuff, IV, pp. 84-111.

• Habits and Your Job, XV, p. 111.
• Poise in Selling, XVIII, p. 124.
• The Customer and the Merchandise, IV, p. 21.

• Know Salesmanship, VIII, pp. 19-25.
• A Rug Salesman Who Was Success Minded, Section 3, p. 28.
• Know Your Merchandise, II, Sec. 4, pp. 36-67.
• Build Good Will, XII, Sec. 34, pp. 450-463.

• Customers, X, pp. 199-219.
• Merchandise Study, XII, pp. 245-273.

• The Colonel's Lady and Judy O'Grady, II, p. 8.
• What Is This Thing Called Merchandise? III, p. 31.
• Good-by, Caveat Emptor, V, p. 72.

• The Salesman's English, V, p. 69.
• Know Your Goods, VII, p. 101.
• The Demonstration, XV, p. 231.