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SIMPLE SIMON'S i^ 

 i^ SELLING SENSE 



Selling things that don't come hack to people who do; that is the Art 

 of true Salesmanship. "Art is long and time is fleeting," hut, unlike other 

 Arts, Salesmanship can he reduced almost to a Science. How? Figure it 

 out for yourself. Some of the ways are suggested in this article. 



OU salesmen, did you ever 

 figure out the way your 

 customers come back at you 

 when you start to feel them 

 out? Nof Better agitate 

 your thinker now and then ; 

 there'll be money in it for 

 the boss and, sooner or 

 later, money for you. Also, 

 if you're your own boss it 

 won't hurt to give your selling meth- 

 ods the "once over" every now and 

 then. 



Suppose today ten customers come 

 into the store, or phone. Each wants 

 to order a funeral spray. You say: 

 "Yes, ma'am; we make nice ones, $2 

 and up." What will the answer be? 

 Seven, perhaps eight, out of the ten 

 come back with "The two-dollar one 

 is all right, is it!" You say, "Oh, yes, 

 we sell hundreds of 'em," and the deed 

 is done. 



Try Another Way. 



But suppose your feel- 

 er is "We make a fine 

 spray at $5; smaller ones 

 at three-fifty, or even as 

 low as two." What hap- 

 pens? Seven out of ten 

 will rise to your fly with 

 "The three-fifty spray is 

 good, is it?" And you've 

 got nearly twice as good 

 a sale with the same 

 amount of talking. Try 

 it and see. 



Test it out on your 

 carnations. You have 

 three grades. Instead of 

 saying, "Yes, ma'am; we 

 have them for 35 cents a 

 dozen up," and selling 

 the 35-centers, try "We 

 have fine carnations at 50 

 cents, the best at seventy- 

 five; others at thirty- 

 five." If you tab your 

 sales you'll find a sure 

 percentage of results 

 either way you lead them. 



Getting Better Sales. 



Then there's bride's 

 bouquets; most fairly 

 good stores make them at 

 $5 and up. The clerks 

 get in the habit of stat- 

 ing it that way and, as a 

 result, most of the sales 

 are at the cheapest price. 

 Try a different method: 

 "We make a fine bouquet 

 with a shower for $10, a 



larger one for fifteen, smaller ones for 

 seven-fifty and five." Note how scarcely 

 ever will a customer choose the cheapest. 



Of Course Not. 



And then there's the negative sort 

 of salesman — the one who, having 

 taken the order for the five-dollar bou- 

 quet for the bride, gets off this bright 

 saying: "I s'pose you won't need any- 

 thing for the bridesmaid?" Of course 

 not. You wouldn't, yourself, if it was 

 put to you that way. 



Note how it works when you go out 

 to lunch: You have eaten a pretty 

 good meal when the waiter politely 

 hands you the menu with, "Will you 

 order your dessert now, sir?" Eeally, 

 you hadn't intended taking any sweet, 

 but you do, though you surely wouldn't 

 if the waiter had come at you with 

 ' ' Y<fci don 't want any pastry, do you ? ' ' 

 You wouldn't have ordered if he had 



Sell With Your Head as Veil as Yoof Hands. 



asked just "Any pastry?" with an in- 

 flection saying as plainly as anything, 

 "I only ask because it's the custom." 

 The negative person is not a sales- 

 man — merely an order-taker — and the 

 trouble is the order never is as large 

 as it would be with the right sugges- 

 tion. Try it out. The next time a cus- 

 tomer leaves an order for a dozen Beau- 

 ties to go to a hospital, forget your, 

 "There won't be anything else, will 

 there?" Instead try, "If you would 

 like a touch of color on your table, we 

 have a special sale of roses at 50 cents 

 today. ' ' 



No Training Given. 



Selling flowers too often is like a 

 wrestling match, catch as catch can, 

 with the customer. Only the clerk has 

 a big advantage in that the customer 

 surely wants something but doesn't 

 know just what. The big concern that 

 has a large force of sales- 

 m e n usually puts them 

 through a course of train- 

 ing before it lets them 

 tackle the trade — teaches 

 them the things not to 

 say at the same time it 

 drills into them the right 

 method, the merits of the 

 goods and the house sys- 

 tem. The florist seldom 

 has time for that; he 

 hires a salesperson on the 

 strength of where the 

 salesperson has worked 

 before, puts him out on 

 the floor, and advances or 

 fires according to results. 

 It's a crude method. 



The Seller Who Thinks. 



Women who really 

 think about their work 

 make eflScient flower store 

 clerks. Some salesmen 

 are so anxious to sell they 

 make customers suspect 

 it is dangerous to buy. 

 [The salesman who is in- 

 different will not be in- 

 terested in this article 

 and does not interest us; 

 he won't stay long on any 

 job.] They stick to a 

 customer s o tenaciously 

 they make people afraid 

 to enter the store. It 

 really is the fault of the 

 boss; he should note how 

 things are going and warn 

 his clerks; but the boss 

 is a busy man and the 



