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STEPPING STONES 



TO SELLING SUCCESS 



Success in selling is the backbone of business. The grower, wholesaler, 

 commission man, etc., all are dependent on the salesmanship of the retailer. 

 As this advances, so the trade as a whole, as well as the individual, advances. 

 So the salesman helps more than himself by adding to his ability. 



GREAT many people are 

 called salesmen who are 

 only order clerks. They 

 take orders that are 

 given, without any effort 

 on their part. The cus- 

 tomer makes his own se- 

 lection, and the order 

 clerk writes it down. 

 Sometimes the customer 

 gives the order by telephone and some- 

 times in person, but in either event the 

 clerk is merely a medium in transfer- 

 ring the order to the books of the con- 

 cern, and creates no interest in the 

 goods or the firm he represents. A 

 great many so-called salesmen are of 

 this class/ and if they are with a popu- 

 lar concern, they pride themselves on 

 being salesmen, when they have yet to 

 learn the first principles of selling. 



A Definition. 



A salesman, as I define him, is a 

 person who creates an interest in the 

 goods he has to* offer and in the con- 

 cern which he repre- 

 sents; who sells goods 

 because the person buy- 

 ing relies on his state- 

 ments concerning them 

 and goes away satisfied 

 that he has been ac- 

 corded courteous, hon- 

 est and fair treatment; 

 ■who makes a friend and 

 permanent customer for 

 the house and aets as 

 a magnet in drawing 

 trade; who, even if he 

 does not make a sale, 

 leaves a lasting im- 

 pression on the mind 

 •of the person calling. 

 "With this crude defini- 

 tion of a salesman, 

 what are the necessarv 

 attributes f 



He must be of neat 

 and pleasing appear- 

 ance. He should be 

 well dressed — not ex- 

 pensively dressed, but 

 have clean, neat clothes. 

 He should keep his per- 

 son clean; water and 

 soap are cheap and ef- 

 fective for this purpose. 

 His hair should be in 

 order. He should not 

 smoke during business 

 hours. His breath 

 should never be tainted 

 with tobacco or liquor 

 lumes during the hours 



[A" paper on "Tlie Salesman," read by S. P. 

 Dyslnger, secretary of Holm & Olson, Inc., St. 

 Paul, Minn., before tlie St. Paul Florists' Club.] 



that he is engaged in waiting on trade. 



He should approach his customer in 

 a pleasing manner. First impressions 

 are often lasting ones, and a salesman 

 will always endeavor to have them 

 good ones. If you enter a place of 

 business and are met by a clerk in a 

 hurried, say-it-quick-or-never manner, 

 you will feel like its being never. On 

 the other hand, if a clerk waits for you 

 to approach him, without a nod of rec- 

 ognition, you feel that you are being 

 snubbed. There is the quiet way, that 

 suggests neither hurry nor inattention, 

 but shows a gentlemanly, deferential 

 attention to you and your wants, which 

 is the one most people like. 



No matter how busy a" salesman is 

 on the floor, he should always have 

 time to talk to each and every cus- 

 tomer he approaches, in a pleasant and 

 intelligent manner, answering all ques- 



S. D. Dyslnger. 



tions and giving all possible attention 

 until the sale is made. 



As you approach a customer you 

 must unconsciously form some opinion 

 of that person, and intuitively learn 

 what to say and when to say it. No 

 two persons are just alike. The eye, 

 the inclination of the head, the air as 

 you approach, the speech, all must be 

 studied, and, in your mind's eye, you 

 must quickly form some opinion of 

 your customer, his likes and dislikes, 

 and govern yourself accordingly. After 

 your customer has made his first pur- 

 chase, the ice will be broken for fur- 

 ther acquaintance, and you can study 

 the individual likes and dislikes of 

 your patron. 



Cultivate Confidence. 



You should ever be on the alert to 

 please your customer and suggest his 

 trying something else. Endeavor to 

 establish a bond of intimacy between 

 you, so that he will rely on your judg- 

 ment and have confidence in you. When 

 you once get a custom- 

 e r ' s complete confi- 

 dence, you need not 

 fear losing his trade. 

 A large proportion of 

 the people who enter a 

 florist's establishment to 

 buy, do not know exact- 

 ly what they want. It 

 is the salesman's busi- 

 ness to make them feel 

 that they want what he 

 wishes to sell them. I do 

 not mean by this that 

 the salesman should sell 

 them Easter lilies for a 

 corsage bouquet, or vio- 

 lets for a large funeral 

 spray. But the sales- 

 man should know his 

 stock, what he has in 

 surplus and what he 

 most desires to sell, and 

 should aim to dispose 

 of the stock that is in 

 surplus and will not 

 keep. In other words, 

 if you have a large sup- 

 ply of red roses, talk 

 red roses; if you have 

 white roses, talk white 

 roses, or if roses are 

 scarce and carnations 

 plentiful, talk carna- 

 tions, always keeping 

 in mind that you must 

 not force goods onto a 

 customer if you know 

 they will not please 



