How to sell at retail
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| How to sell at retail |
There are two methods of writing textbooks for salespeople. One method is to state the principles of salesmanship and give some illustrations of how they are applied to practical selling difficulties. Another and more interesting method is that of finding out the practical difficulties of salesmen, collecting the practical methods used by expert salespeople in meeting these difficulties, and using the principles to explain the methods.
The second method is the one used in this volume. About sixty difficulties encountered by retail salespeople were listed. Twenty-five people were trained in the methods of interviewing, after which training they had conferences with three hundred expert salespeople who were selected with unusual care from several large department stores. In this way, the methods used by from thirty to one hundred and ten experts in handling each difficulty were gathered and organized into the form in which they appear in the text.
The writing of a textbook on salesmanship where this method is used is essentially the work of reporters. The chief of the group of reporters, whose name appears on the title page, does not claim to be an expert in salesmanship. He has directed the force of reporters who have collected opinions from experts, and his contribution is, therefore, editorial rather than technical. He wishes particularly to acknowledge the very thorough and clever assistance in compilation given by Mrs. Elizabeth Conover Moore, who took most of the material as it came from the interviewers and threw it into systematic form, giving to the work her rich experience in selling, training, and editorial writing. The conception of the plan and the revision of the material into pedagogical and textbook form were contributed by the writer. The remainder of the compilation and the preparation of the manuscript for publication are the contributions of Mrs Moore.
Appreciation of more than a formal sort is extended to the salespeople of the cooperating stores, who generously contributed what, in a sense, are the trade secrets by means of which they earn their livelihood. They did this freely, in order that their less able and experienced fellow workers might benefit from their success.
the book details :
Author: W. W. Charters
Publication date: 1922
Company: Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin company
The writing of a textbook on salesmanship where this method is used is essentially the work of reporters. The chief of the group of reporters, whose name appears on the title page, does not claim to be an expert in salesmanship. He has directed the force of reporters who have collected opinions from experts, and his contribution is, therefore, editorial rather than technical. He wishes particularly to acknowledge the very thorough and clever assistance in compilation given by Mrs. Elizabeth Conover Moore, who took most of the material as it came from the interviewers and threw it into systematic form, giving to the work her rich experience in selling, training, and editorial writing. The conception of the plan and the revision of the material into pedagogical and textbook form were contributed by the writer. The remainder of the compilation and the preparation of the manuscript for publication are the contributions of Mrs Moore.
Appreciation of more than a formal sort is extended to the salespeople of the cooperating stores, who generously contributed what, in a sense, are the trade secrets by means of which they earn their livelihood. They did this freely, in order that their less able and experienced fellow workers might benefit from their success.
Contents:
I. The Selling Situation i
II. The Sizing-up Process 19
III. What We Notice in Sizing-up Customers 28
IV. Handling Customers 45
V. Decision and Indecision 53
V. Decision and Indecision 53
VI. The Silent Customer 62
Vll. Miscellaneous Qualities 72
Vin. Failures in Sizing-up and Handling Customers 83
IX. Interest and Courtesy 90
X. Indifference and Discourtesy 100
XI. Patience and Good Temper 109
XII. Remembering Names and Faces 117
XIII. How TO Handle Two Customers at Once 126
XIV. Learning to Know Merchajtoise 142
XV. How to Take Care of Stock 157
XV. How to Take Care of Stock 157
XVI. Locating Stock Quickly 166
XVII. Opening the Sale 173
XVIII. Defining the Customer's Needs by Questions 180
XIX. Defining the Customer's Needs through Showing Goods
XIX. Defining the Customer's Needs through Showing Goods
XX. Getting the Customer Interested in the Merchandise 197
XXI. Displaying Goods 207
XXII. How Much Merchandise to Display 230
XXI. Displaying Goods 207
XXII. How Much Merchandise to Display 230
XXIII. The Selling Talk 243
XXIV. When and How to Mention Price 253
XXV. Meeting Objections 261
XXV. Meeting Objections 261
XXVI. Closing the Sale 290
XXVII. Good Humor when the Customer does not Buy 305
XXVIII. When the Sale is Over 311