The Manual of Successful Storekeeping A Retailer's Guide By W. R. HOTCHKIN TKAB8 ADVBBTISINO AND SALES MANAGER FOB JOHX WAHAMAKBR. NEW TOBK Garden City New York Doubleday, Page & Company 1920 COPYRIGHT, 1915, AND IQIQ, BY ASSOCIATED ADVERTISING CLUBS OF THE WORLD ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OP TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN CONTENTS : PAGE A WORD TO THE MERCHANT IN THE SMALL' TOWN xix CHAPTER I. MID-SEASON MERCHANDISING ... 3 II. TEACHING YOUR SALESPEOPLE ... 10 III. ADVERTISING THAT GETS RESULTS. . 17 IV. THE NEW EFFICIENCY IN MERCHANDISING 24 V. MAKING WINDOWS TOWN TALK . . 30 VI. THE FALL OPENING EXHIBITION . . 36 VII. STARTTHENEWSEASONWITHCONFIDENCE 47 VIII. THE IMPORTANCE OF HARMONY AND EN- THUSIASM THROUGHOUT YOUR OR- GANIZATION 53 IX. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF A CROWD ... 59 X. BLOUSES: FASHION'S QUICKEST SALES WINNER. . 63 XI. THE EARLY OCTOBER BLANKET SALE . 69 XII. PROTECTING YOUR PROFITS . ... 75 XIII. GETTING THE MOST OUT OF MANUFAC- TURERS 80 XIV. MAKING "BOOSTERS" OUT OF " KICKERS" 85 XV. PUTTING EMPHASIS ON BARGAINS WITH- OUT USING BIG SPACE 91 XVI. USING JIU-JUTSU IN MERCHANDISING . 96 XVII. REDUCING COMPLAINTS AND EXPENSES IN YOUR DELIVERY DEPARTMENT . 99 vii M45116 CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER XVIII. CARRYING TOO MANY COMPETING LINES 105 XIX. PLANNING A BIG FEBRUARY OCCA- SION WITH MANUFACTURERS'HELP 1 10 XX. CREATING DAILY STORE INTERBST. 114 XXL PLANNING FOR CHRISTMAS . . . 119 XXII. THE HOUSEWARMING FOR THE CHRISTMAS TOY STORE . . . 126 XXIIL THE BIGGEST SALES-MAKING FAC- TOR OF THE CHRISTMAS SEASON . 130 XXIV. GETTING MONEY OUT OF CHRIST- MAS CROWDS 135 XXV. MAKINGFRIENDS WITHNEWLY-WEDS 141 XXVI. THE MONTH-END SALE .... 147 XXVII. CLEANING OUT THE OLD STOCK. . 152 XXVIIL CONDUCTING A PRIZE FANCYWORK CONTEST . 158 XXIX. PROMOTING BUSINESS IN MARCH . 163 XXX. MAKING EASTER TIME SELL MORE GOODS 168 XXXI. TRAINING RETAIL SALESPEOPLE . 173 XXXII. A SOLUTION OF THE CHARGE AC- COUNT PROBLEM 181 XXXIII. THE MAY FAIR 187 XXXIV. How TO GET NEW CUSTOMERS . 192 XXXV. KNOW WHAT YOUR COMPETITORS ARE DOING, DON'T UNDERESTI- MATE THEM . . . . . . 198 XXXVI. How ADVERTISING ADDS VALUE TO MERCHANDISE .... 204 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XXXVII. GET GOOD SALESPEOPLE POOR ONES COST TWICE AS MUCH . 209 XXXVIII. MEETING THECOMPETITION OF THE GREAT MAIL ORDER HOUSES . 215 XXXIX. DISCOVER YOUR STORE'S WEAK- NESSES THEN ELIMINATE THEM 221 XL. PUT YOURSELF INTO YOUR AD- VERTISING 227 XLI. AN EQUITABLE BONUS SYSTEM . 232 XLII. THE JULY CLEARANCE SALE . . 239 'XLIII. BEWARE WHEN THE CROWS CALL "OUT OF STOCK" .... 244 \ XLIV. WAYS TO KEEP YOUR SALESPEOPLE INTERESTED 249 XLV. Is YOUR BUILDING SELLING AS MUCH GOODS AS IT MIGHT? . 255 XLVI. WHAT Is IN YOU? 262 IX THE MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING CHAPTER I MID-SEASON MERCHANDISING I have written this book to help you sell the goods you have in stock and coming. They are good and fine, and you were mighty enthusiastic about them or you wouldn't have bought them. Let's keep that enthusiasm in our own systems, and also get it into the minds and hearts of the sales- people, and then get it into the Advertising. You certainly SELECTED with care all the goods you have in stock. You bought them because YOU LIKED THEM, because you thought they were the BEST YOU HAD SEEN, after thoroughly searching the market. Tell your salespeople THAT with all the EN- THUSIASM you have. Give THEM some of your en- thusiasm something TO SELL WITH. Then tell your enthusiasm in whatever Advertising you do. Let the public know why you bought the goods, why you think they are the best. Don't forget that YOUR CUSTOMERS rely as much upon YOUR OPINION AND JUDGMENT as the doctor's patients rely upon his medical skill and knowledge. First of all, HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF be- 3 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING cause the public (your part of it, at least) has con- fidence in you, or you couldn't stay in business. You believe you hove the BEST POSSIBLE GOODS FOR THE NI:V SEASON. Your public BELIEVES IN YOU. Now go to it, and teil them why your goods are BEST. Tell them all the desirable qualities about them THAT THE SALESMAN TOLD YOU when you bought them. Tell these things to your salespeople; tell them to your customers at the counter; tell them in your Advertising. The same argument that sold the goods to you WILL SELL THEM TO YOUR PUBLIC if told with the same skill and ENTHUSIASM as were used by the sales- man who sold you. But don't let that selling argu- ment and that enthusiasm DIE IN YOUR PRIVATE OFFICE. Don't put the secret information under lock and key, and DON'T EXPECT YOUR SALESPEOPLE TO BE MIND READERS BLESSED WITH SECOND SIGHT. You must HELP THEM, or they can't help you. I am going to say a lot more about helping your salespeople a little later. Now I want to say some more about your merchandise : Are your counters filled with NEW goods, or are they littered up with the OLD THINGS that you think you must force out first? I sincerely hope NOT. If such should be the case, ACT QUICKLY NOW. GET THE OLD GOODS OUT OF SIGHT, or they will force your customers out. Every OLD thing that you show in mid-season is a SCARECROW to your customers. It is like a BLOT on a sheet of writing paper a great 4 MID-SEASON MERCHANDISING GREASE SPOT on the beautiful white table linen a PATCH on your clothing a WART on your face. Get the old goods OUT out off the shelves out of sight out of the store. Perhaps you wonder how I expect you to get them out of the store if you keep them out of sight. Here is the secret: get all the old goods out of your shelves, and AWAY FROM THE REGULAR COUNTERS so nobody sees them but BARGAIN HUNTERS. Don't insult your REGULAR CUSTOMERS by showing the old things. Make REMNANTS or odd lots of the old things, and put them on SPECIAL counters AWAY FROM THE NEW GOODS: and mark SUCH LOW PRICES ON THEM that the bargain hunters will take them away in a jiffy. Plenty of people are glad to buy old goods IF THEY ARE CHEAP ENOUGH. Don't worry about the losses on OLD goods, but DO worry about the losses on your new goods that the old goods may cause. Get SOME- THING out of the old things, but, for goodness' sake, GET THEM OUT OF YOUR STORE and STOP THEM from telling bad tales about your merchandise and your storekeeping. Give your NEW GOODS a chance to DO THE TALKING. Let your bright, fresh, beautiful NEW STOCKS make people say how fine your store is, and what a delight it is to look at your goods. Perhaps you think your store DOES look fine. Perhaps you have just had it all fixed up for the new season. ARE YOU SURE THAT YOU CAN'T MAKE IT LOOK STILL BETTER? MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING The greatest danger to good storekeeping is in BEING SATISFIED. It is so easy for our eyes to get used to bad things, and then not be able to see them. Suppose we take another look at things. Let's be hypercritical ourselves, then others can't find any- thing to criticise. Let's make it impossible to over- look anything because you have grown accustomed to it. Start right down at the front Entrance. Is the doorknob bright the hardware clean? Is the glass in door and windows absolutely clear or is it cloudy and dull? Is there dust or cakey old dirt on the doorsill or in the cracks? Go inside. Do the counters need polishing? Are the fixtures dull and dusty? How are the decorations above the fixtures? Take a couple of hours and go over every foot of the store, every piece of goods every wire, rack, chair. Make everything clean and bright. Then study your decorations. Are they NEW? Or are they the same old ideas that were used years ago? Be critical. Be very thorough. Make things RIGHT. Next: Are the NEW GOODS OUT WHERE THEY CAN BE SEEN? Or are they kept under the counter or wrapped up in a box WHERE NOBODY CAN SEE THEM for fear the dust will soil them? DON'T MAKE THAT MISTAKE. Let your new goods BE SEEN while they ARE NEW. Better get them soiled, and THEN reduce them, than to let them be hidden away until they turn yellow, and have to be reduced anyhow after having done 6 MID-SEASON MERCHANDISING no good for the store. While they are out on display THEY ARE DOING MIGHTY GOOD WORK FOR YOU, EVERY MINUTE, in the eyes of all who see them even if they do get soiled. And they will doubtless be sold before you would expect. But goods MUST BE SEEN to be sold at all. While people will come in and ASK for staple things, they NEVER ask for novelties, for they often don't know that such things exist unless they see them right before their eyes. Who will ever discover that you have fine things if they can't be found without hiring a detective to ferret them out and FORCE your salespeople to di- vulge the SECRET that you have them packed away so carefully. Don't hide your light under a bushel, or bury your talent in a napkin. Bring out ALL your FINE GOODS and make a great Opening Exhi- bition. Stir up every head of stock to make the finest displays of NEW GOODS that your store has ever known. OFFER A PRIZE of $10 or $25 to the de- partment head who makes the finest showing. Don't be afraid of the cost or the precedent. You'll be amazed to discover what a marvellous developer of genius a little cold cash can be. Some of the best store people that I have ever known have never discovered what they really could do until some EXTRA INCENTIVE set them digging deeper into their gray matter than they had ever gone before. Then they found out how much more they could do than they ever believed themselves capable 7 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING of. We're ALL the same way. Something has to open our eyes smash through the shell into our inner consciousness and let us know that we CAN do bigger and better things. If you paid a premium of $5 each to a hundred people, to have them do a certain thing with special care, you would find that it was not half as well done as when you offered a Prize of $25 that only ONE could win. And the cost of the Prize would be only one twentieth as much ! First, it is because the CHANCE is so much greater for the winner; but, chiefly, it is because of the CON- TEST giving your people a game to play creating the incentive for each TO EXCEL' the other contest- ants. The great secret of getting extraordinary work done is TO PUT IT ON A COMPETITIVE BASIS. As true in trade as in all human endeavor. If you can arouse this spirit of CONTEST, and KEEP IT ALIVE, you will be amazed at what may be accom- plished in keeping your store in better condition, in increasing your sales, in having your customers served more courteously, in preventing waste and needless expense. After your merchandise is ALL beautifully displayed your windows all handsomely decorated with NEW things after your people are all stimulated to high- est ENTHUSIASM put your advertisement in the papers, and FILL IT WITH THE ENTHUSIASTIC SPIRIT that the whole occasion inspires. Have it artisti- cally illustrated. Write a live, interesting story about 8 MID-SEASON MERCHANDISING your newly decorated store and the beautiful new merchandise and watch the New Goods SELL, and listen to the fine things that people will say about YOU and Your Store. Start the Good Work TO-DAY NOW. 9 CHAPTER II TEACHING YOUR SALESPEOPLE Don't scold TEACH your people. Don't be a slave driver be a LEADER. Many otherwise good stores fail of large success because they do not realize the value of properly teaching their salespeople. The merchant will employ people at the smallest wages possible, and then expect each clerk to have all the intelligence of a manager or buyer. A fine purchase of goods will be made, and the stocks put on counters and shelves, and nobody says a word to the salespeople about WHAT they are or WHY they were bought. The merchant, or the buyer, thinks that the $5 or $6 a week clerks will have second sight or expert knowledge enabling them to sell the goods right out at a big profit. If the goods do not sell, the boss gives the salespeople a ripping up for being woodenheads. This is the time that the merchant should take HIMSELF back to his private office, and tell himself a thing or two. NINE merchants out of ten, and the same proportion of department-store buyers, are grossly GUILTY of sheer negligence in this matter ALL THE TIME. The manager with a "big head" is often 10 TEACHING YOUR SALESPEOPLE a pinhead as a merchant. Many of them think that it is a waste of time to talk to mere salespeople except when they give them a cussing out : and very few merchants take up this matter themselves. But, after a moment's thought, you must agree that NOTHING is more important to successful business than that your salespeople should be well trained and well informed about the merchandise. Few merchants know more than a fraction of their customers. Few managers are always on the floor, looking out for the good service of the customers, but the salesperson is ALWAYS there, and the sales- person makes the store's reputation. All the unseen knowledge and courtesy of the merchant or the buyer is as nothing to the customer, who never, or rarely, sees either. But the store is JUDGED ABSO- LUTELY by the intelligence and knowledge of the salesperson. Nine times out of ten the salesperson knows only what her poor little five-dollar-a-week brain can think up for itself. Hundreds of so-called smart merchants won't bother telling the salesperson the things that are so vital for her to know FOR FEAR SHE WILL WANT A RAISE IN WAGES ! They won't give the girl a CHANCE to help them. You MUST have the earnest, intelligent help of all your salespeople if you are looking for large success. You must also have ENTHUSIASTIC work for them. All of these things are vital, and all can be secured if you go about it right. 11 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING First, you must show your people that you respect them. You must recognize their intelligence, then appeal to it. You must show confidence in them. You must educate them, because there are no schools where the knowledge may otherwise be gained. You must exhibit plainly and frequently to them your own enthusiasm about your store and your merchan- dise, so that they may absorb it and use it. Nothing is more contagious than enthusiasm, but most mer- chants and buyers keep so far away from their sales- people that they couldn't catch smallpox from them, Now, you are all ready for a big season's business. Now is the time to stimulate your salespeople. No matter how you have treated them before, take them into your confidence NOW. Call a meeting of the force for an early hour to-morrow. Tell them frankly all about the importance of their work to the suc- cess of your business. Don't scold them for what they have NOT done in the past, for that would spoil your meeting. Compliment them and THANK them for what they have done, but tell them that you know they can do a great deal better, and that you want to help them. Tell them what the new season means to you and to them. Tell them what the public expects from your store and from them. Give them a few minutes' talk on Courtesy and Service. Then talk about the new goods. Tell them how enthusiastic you were when you bought them or when the buyers told you about them. Tell them every good thing you know about them how Smith got this and 12 TEACHING YOUR SALESPEOPLE how Jones got that. Why each is so good, and how something else was gotten so cheaply. Tell them what the new fashions are, and why. If you don't know these things, study them up in your trade papers and in the fashion magazines. But learn them, and teach your salespeople. You'll be amazed to see how enthusiastic they are about it, and you'll marvel to see how much better work they'll do how much more eagerly they will do it, and how much happier everybody will be with the day's work. You'll make new men and women out of them just by showing that you recognize them as human beings first; then by showing your con- fidence in them and your dependence upon them. You'll give them something more to live for. And you'll have INTELLIGENT people working for you instead of woodenheads. Then take your buyers and managers, and tell them what they must do to give your people a thor- ough education. Compel every buyer to have fre- quent meetings, when he will teach his people all about his merchandise. Compel him to tell them all about every new thing that comes into his department. Have him tell them just WHY he bought the goods, why they are best, how they are used and what with so that the salespeople may use the same selling arguments to their customers that the original sales- man used in selling the goods to your buyer or to you. What is the use of buying a fine collection of dress 13 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING goeds in the new fashionable shades if your sales- people don't know all about the fashion and why those shades are in stock? What is the use in hurry- ing in a fine new lot of millinery trimmings if the girls don't know how they should be worn on the hats, or why? What is the use in having pure white cotton in a mattress if nobody ever knows that it is white? Why have goose down in a quilt if nobody knows that it isn't filled with chicken feathers or cotton? Educate, Educate, EDUCATE! Don't think that it makes too much work. Noth- ing else will do so much to increase your business, and certainly nothing else can compare with it in making your profits bigger. You can make big profits on novelty goods only by selling them when they are NEW. And they can be sold quickly only if the salespeople know what to tell the people who want them. People will want them only when they hear the real story of what they are, and WHY they are the thing to buy. Only TRAINED and WELL-INFORMED salespeople can tell them. RIGHT NOW is the time when your salespeople MUST know all about your fine merchandise. Right now they must be filled full of enthusiasm and good selling arguments. You can't delegate this to any- body else, for nobody else will believe in its impor- tance. Perhaps somebody else can TALK better than you, but YOU must be present to see that it is rightly done and to lend your personal presence to impress 14 TEACHING YOUR SALESPEOPLE the salespeople with the importance of the occasion and what is being said to them. When you once start this educational work you will be surprised how much you learn yourself by trying to teach others. You will be amazed to see how your own ideas develop. You will begin to take infinitely greater pleasure in your business. Your mind will open wider than ever before, and, as you come to see your people more closely, you will enjoy helping them in their work, because you will be a LEADER of an army that you have trained, and you will enjoy seeing how well they are doing their work. Then the work will be so vastly more efficient that you will be proud of your organization, and the pub- lic will take more interest in you, and you will be given a kind of credit that will be wonderfully gratify- ing to you. Best, in another way, you will make fast friends of your customers by the better service rendered, and that will mean great growth of your business, and vastly better profits. I wish I could tell you in detail all the things that are so vital to be done, in teaching your people, but that is impossible and quite unnecessary. You can do all this yourself perhaps better than I could tell you. I will have accomplished one of the most impor- tant objects of this Book if I can impress you with the INTENSE IMPORTANCE of this endless subject. Every- thing else that I am trying to tell you all the other features that seem to be of such great value may fail entirely if you do not have the work intelli- 15 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING gently supported, day by day, by well-trained and well-informed salespeople. You do not need to go to technical schools to secure them. You do not even have to pay them high \vages. But you must reward them fairly, you must treat them kindly and as human beings. You must show your confidence in them. And you must teach them, and keep them fully informed about the mer- chandise they are selling all the time. The cost will be small, the effort not too great, and THE BENEFIT TO YOURSELF will be infinitely greater than it will be to the people you teach. Call the first meeting for to-morrow morning, while the good impulse and inspiration are on you. 16 CHAPTER III ADVERTISING THAT GETS RESULTS Advertising is the true MOTIVE POWER of any store, anywhere even in the crossroads store that has no competitor. The crossroads store, that people MUST go to to get things, can make people COME OFTENER, and BUY MORE when they come, by doing clever ad- vertising. The Storekeeper can send out handbills by his boy or by the postman, or he can tell the fanner passing his store to tell the women he sees that the Storekeeper has just gotten in a new lot of dress goods, toweling, or winter shoes. Advertising is simply sending out word to your public about your new goods or your special offer- ings. But every bit of advertising you do should have REAL LIFE to it. There should be a reason for it, and it should convey a definite IDEA. The store that simply lists goods in its advertising is not only WASTING ITS OPPORTUNITIES, but it is exploiting the fact to the world that it is a dead and unprogressive store. It is far better to have NO advertising at all than to print commonplace stories about ordinary merchandise. The FIRST necessity for Good Advertising is to have 17 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING SOME EVENT to exploit OF SOHie EXCEPTIONAL MER- CHANDISE to tell about. Good Advertising cannot get its initiative out of the brain of the Advertising Man no matter how clever he is. First of all, there MUST be a STORY TO TELL. Cleverness cannot create this story, but true cleverness can take a REAL STORY, and not only increase the sales tremendously, but make it add another quota of prestige and good will to the assets of the store. GOOD ADVERTISING HlUSt Start With THE FIRM. Of course, this work MAY be delegated largely to the Merchandise Manager in big stores, where mer- chandise men are BIG men and REAL MERCHANTS. But no ACTIVE store owner will ever delegate this im- portant matter ENTIRELY to any representative. He will have constant interest in all store promotion work; for it is the VERY LIFE of his business his IMMEDIATE PROFITS, as well as the future GROWTH of his business* Advertising must TELL REAL NEWS. It need not and should not be always about Bargains. I should say that HALF the advertising of any store should tell about the NEW goods at regular prices. But it should tell REAL NEWS about them. The writer should have the nec- essary imagination to put LIVE HUMAN INTEREST into the story that is told. Advertising is efficient SALES- MANSHIP IN PRINT. It MUST have the SELLING quality. The writer of advertising must be a good salesman. I had many years of ACTUAL SELLING behind the counter. I was always pushed forward when a cus- tomer who was "hard t sell" approached the 18 ADVERTISING THAT GETS RESULTS counter. It was a game to me. Just like hunting or fishing. The harder the game was to catch, the more eager I was to land the fish. This instinct of SALESMANSHIP must either exist in the advertising writer, or it must be acquired. The cleverest WRITER in the world has absolute limitations in his adver- tising if he cannot put THE SELLING PUNCH into what he writes. The goods advertised MUST BE SOLD, or at least partly sold, WHILE THE ADVERTISEMENT is BEING READ. In STORE advertising especially, the reader must be convinced that she wants the goods advertised BEFORE SHE EVER GETS INTO THE STORE. The writer of REAL SALESMANSHIP ADVERTISING must FEEL what he writes. He must first be con- vinced that his story is a good one. Then he must, by the written and printed words, COMPEL interest and action on the part of the reader. The INTENSITY that he puts into what he writes will be in the message that is read. Perfunctory advertising is A WASTE OF NEWSPAPER SPACE. It may let people know you have a store, and sell drygoods, but it tells also that yours is a very DRY store. This message will go into many a store that has splendid advertising written by a forceful, wide- awake advertising man. He will be encouraged to learn that he is on the right track. But it will also go to scores of advertising men who never actually sold a dollar's worth of goods in their lives. These are the men whom this Book should help. Spend as much time as you can, right at the coun- 19 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING ters, where the best salesmen are talking to their customers. Hear what the salesman says. See what intensity he puts into the CLOSING of a sale. Get that FIRMNESS OF TOUCH into your advertising. Be CONVINCING. Be LOGICAL. Don't be trivial. Don't write anything foolish. Always be SERIOUS, so as to compel your readers to TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY. When you start to write an advertisement, analyze the goods thoroughly. Get every point in your mind. Talk to the buyer. MAKE him or her tell you all about the strong points of the goods. Make the buyer SELL his goods to YOU. Then you will get the real argument. If the buyer is dumb and doesn't seem to know what to say, tell him you think his offering is mighty poor. THAT may sting him to say the thing you ought to be told. When you get the buyer real MAD, he'll tell you mighty quick how good his stuff is. Perhaps he'll tell you how little you know about it, but that will make him tell what he didn't seem to know how to tell before. Then you can tell him why you had to make him mad. I've had to do this continuously. But YOU must NEVER get mad. You must continu- ously depend upon the buyers, just as they depend upon you. But the best buyers are often the hardest to get a good story out of. And you must know THAT STORY before you can write a good advertise- ment. Be HONEST in your advertising. People are not FOOLS. Thousands of stores print stuff in the papers 20 ADVERTISING THAT GETS RESULTS that they would not dare to put into words in the presence of their customers. How silly that is. Do you think that people can be fooled in print by words that would make them laugh at you if spoken to their face? No, sir; they LAUGH AT YOU or cuss YOU when they read the paper. And what you print IN YOUR COSTLY NEWSPAPER SPACE has little influence with them, because they DON'T BELIEVE YOU! Thousands of stores all over this continent are WASTING VALUABLE NEWSPAPER SPACE seven days a week by filling it with stuff THAT NOBODY BELIEVES ! You might just as well take a full page of space, and print right in the middle of it, in the biggest type in the office: "WE ARE LIARS Come in and get cheated. Smith-Jones Dry Goods Co." And per- haps the very honesty of the statement would pack your store. "Playing people for suckers" is very poor business, and dishonest advertising is the MOST EXPENSIVE policy that foolish storekeeping permits. The most VALUABLE ASSET that any store can pos- sess is the CONFIDENCE of the public, and confidence can NEVER be gotten by subterfuge. Advertising that is ABSOLUTELY HONEST, seven days a week, all year round, has a MARVELLOUS POWER. It always has the public respect. Then, when you have an extraor- dinary story to tell, PEOPLE BELIEVE IT, and you reap the reward. Forgetting the matter of morals or religion, and considered merely from a strictly busi- ness (money-making) point of view, there never has been a sounder business maxim stated than this: 21 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING "HONESTY is THE BEST POLICY." The dishonest stores come and go usually into bankruptcy, but the HONEST STORES thrive and grow great in spite of all aggravating tricky competition. This Book will go to many stores that do little newspaper advertising. Some use handbills. All use store cards, or should use them. The handbill should be just as carefully written and the offerings just as carefully prepared as though a thousand dollars was paid for the space to print them in. YOUR WHOLE BUSINESS REPUTATION IS built Upon your advertising. Why I know Sunday-school superintendents, con- gressmen, and other very eminent and otherwise respectable men, whose public reputations are dis- colored by the advertising they do. And they do it, not because they are actually dishonest, but be- cause they think it is so common to do it that it isn't a crime. And they don't know what an injury it does to their personal reputations. Now I want you to take a careful look at some of your past advertising in newspapers, in bills, in catalogs. Take it home in the evening if you haven't time during the day. Does it show REAL SALESMAN- SHIP in the way it is written? Do you think it would really COMPEL people to come to your store? Does it seem to be filled with inspiring ENTHUSIASM about your store and your goods? Is it well printed? Does it look like the store YOUR STORE? Or is it dull and cheap looking? Are you a little ashamed of it? 22 ADVERTISING THAT GETS RESULTS Please don't blame your advertising man. Blame YOURSELF. Go down into your store and DIG UP SOME REAL NEWS. Find some NEW goods, and stir up some genuine ENTHUSIASM about them. Get up a REAL LIVE story, and put some SELLING PUNCH into it. Then dig up some REAL BARGAINS. Don't be afraid to LOSE SOME MONEY once in a while. He that saveth his profits shall lose them. Right NOW is the time to get public attention IN THE STRONGEST POSSIBLE WAY. Make people know that your store is ALIVE. The little money that you will lose on your REAL BARGAINS may turn the attention of your whole town to your store, and KEEP IT TURNED ON YOU through the ENTIRE SEASON. See that the bargains are written up in the strong- est possible way. Tell NOTHING but the truth, but tell THE WHOLE TRUTH. Don't leave out any good strong point. Don't be afraid to take enough space to do it impressively. Then HAVE THE GOODS when the people come. Don't disappoint them. Don't say, "We are just out sorry you didn't get here earlier," for that means sticking a knife into your business. In Advertising, BE HONEST. BE ENTHUSIASTIC. Put SELLING FORCE into it. Put HUMAN NATURE into it. Make it AS ATTRACTIVE AS POSSIBLE. Keep EVERLASTINGLY AT IT. Then LIVE UP TO IT. 23 CHAPTER IV THE NEW EFFICIENCY IN MERCHANDISING There has been a revolution in merchandising during the past five years. Many of the new ideas were unknown and unthought-of ten years ago, ex- cept in the most isolated instances. The big buyer of the old days was rated by the quantities of goods that he could buy on one order for one shipment, and it seemed to be the chief ambition of buyers to place tremendous orders. Those were the days when storekeeping was easy, competition was easy, and money was easy with the public. To-day an entirely new condition exists. Competition is tremendously keen; the most powerful allurements must be held out to the public to make them buy, because stores have educated them to be hard to please. The cost of doing business has mounted up tremen- dously as one big institution after another has added to its conveniences and service and its attractions to the public. The realization of the growing cost of doing business has made it vitally necessary to im- prove the methods of merchandising. Capital has had to learn to make bigger profits. Of recent years merchants have learned that their 24 EFFICIENCY IN MERCHANDISING profits are made on their turnovers, and a large part of the cost of doing business can be blamed on idle capital tied up in slow-selling stock, or stock that has been foolishly purchased in larger volume than can be quickly distributed. If the stock is turned over twelve times a year the gross profit can be multi- plied by twelve. If it is turned over only twice a year it can only be multiplied by two. In the latter case the cost of the capital is six times what it is in the former case, which means that the same capital if turned twelve times a year could finance six stores of the same size as it can finance when its merchandise is turned over only twice a year. This simple fact has only been slowly realized by merchants, and is to-day comprehended by only a very small number of buyers. Any stock that does not turn four times a year is a parasite on the business and losing money for the firm. Some stocks by reason of the service they render to customers or by the prestige they build for the store might deserve to exist without producing a profit, but no stock when its service or prestige is not clearly shown should be permitted to exist unless it makes four turnovers in a year. Many stocks in live stores turn over twelve times a year. Some stocks can be maintained in a healthy condition and turn twenty times a year, while keeping assortments in good condition. The efficient buyer will so analyze his merchandise and his outlet that he will be able to schedule his requirements among his various lines to time the 25 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING arrival of shipments of merchandise so that practi- cally all of it will be sold out within a month after its arrival and a great deal of it within a week or ten days after it is placed behind the counters. For instance, he finds that of a certain article he sells six to eight gross each week. The old-fashioned way would be to order one hundred gross, billed and shipped at one time. In this case the order should be placed for ten gross, to be shipped every ten days, or if the article is packed twelve gross in a case, have a case shipped every two weeks. This would pre- vent any stock from being congested, it would keep capital from being tied up, a part of the bill might be paid three months later than would be necessary under the old-fashioned method of ordering one hundred gross at a time. No city in America is so far from the market as to make urgent cause for buying large quantities of merchandise except on the very rarest occasions. It is always easy to BUY merchandise. It is some- times tremendously difficult to sell merchandise. When one hundred articles are bought for a period of selling that would require sixty, there is always the fatal incentive to mark down the price and waste the profit, for the reason that it causes goods to give an appearance of lagging in their sale. Many an article that is falsely considered of slow sale would be found to be a healthy producer of sales and profits if purchases were limited more exactly to the quantities demanded. 26 EFFICIENCY IN MERCHANDISING One of the largest fixed charges of any store is the interest it must pay, either to its creditors or the owners, on the amount of capital required to run the business; but this interest charge is insignificant compared with the wasteful congestion of stocks and the loss of enthusiasm among customers and sales- people over goods that lay on the shelves too long; and the greatest loss of all comes from the creation of the habit of marking down prices a habit that in- variably exists in stocks where goods sell less rapidly than they are bought. To illustrate this particular point: there is a line of hosiery, the normal sale of which is six dozen pairs a week. It is a staple quality always wanted by a certain class of trade. The store cannot afford to be without it. The buyer purchases this hosiery in one hundred dozen lots a quantity that will last four months! The boxes get soiled and broken and the line comes to be looked on as a poor seller. If this were purchased for ship- ments of twelve dozen every two weeks it would be continuously selling out, and the buyer and sales- people would consider it one of the very live stocks and a good seller, and they would never think of reducing the price. The regular customers for this hosiery would never expect to buy it at a reduced price. On the other hand, even at a reduced price people who did not want this particular kind of hosiery might consider it a very poor bargain. Instances of this sort are multiplied throughout the stocks of every store, and OVERBUYING is continu- 27 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING ously depreciating the value of good merchandise, and seriously cutting down and wasting the profits of many a good business. Only the old-fashioned buyer any longer takes pride in giving big orders. To-day the modern merchant gives small value to the ability and skill of any buyer who does not recognize turnover conditions and the profit value of buying in small quantities with frequent deliveries. A buyer's reputation to-day depends on the volume of goods he can sell in a year, the number of turnovers he can make, the amount of net profit that he shows on the goods sold, and finally on how well he can con- trol his stocks and bring them to the smallest possible volume, without hurting business, at inventory time. Another pernicious habit, wasteful of the profit of a store, comes from marking down goods just to make an advertisement. This policy completely disorgan- izes the confidence of your salespeople as well as of the public. The customer never knows on what day it is unsafe to make a purchase. The modern method of merchandising requires a buyer to make frequent SPECIAL PURCHASES of goods of standard quality, bought under price so that they may be sold as a genuine bargain offering, and still maintain the regular margin of profit for the store. This method not only produces the very strongest advertising, but it fortifies the salespeople's confidence in the goods and prices, and when a customer makes the frequent remark, "I guess I'll wait until this goods is reduced," the salesperson can say, "But, 28 EFFICIENCY IN MERCHANDISING Madam, this is our REGULAR STOCK and will not be reduced in price until we are ready to close out the the line." This method establishes confidence in the minds of the public and the salespeople, and it creates a very definite and valuable respect for the store's regular merchandise. The store that operates upon thi? method continuously protects its regular mark-up profits and never suffers the humiliation of discover- ing, after a year of large volume of sales, that it has made no profits. 29 CHAPTER V MAKING WINDOWS TOWN TALK Few stores realize the tremendous selling value and prestige-making value of their windows. Even the most wide-awake big city stores fall short of getting the most out of them. Almost all stores arrive at a certain idea, or a certain standard, and stay there- doing much the same thing over and over again. CHANGE direct, positive, radical change is of vital importance. Some of the finest stores in New York retain almost the same effect, year in and year out. Yet the windows are always beautiful some are superb. But even the most beautiful windows lose their power of commanding attention when the same impressive elegance is presented in much the same way week after week. An Altman or a Tif- fany may do this, but stores that seek the favor and attention of the great buying public must use their windows differently. They must COMMAND ATTEN- TION constantly. They must keep people curious to know what is being shown TO-DAY. This means constant CHANGE and real LIVE attractions and strong human interest. Windows are marvellously strong selling factors 30 " MAKING WINDOWS TOWN TALK if the right goods are shown and they are rightly displayed. But commonplace goods are no worse than commonplace methods of displaying them. Do your windows compel the crowds to stop and look at them? Or do people rush right past them? Study to be ORIGINAL in your window attractions. Don't waste this great power by doing conventional things in the old, matter-of-fact way. Work up NEW IDEAS every time. Of course, it is hard to do this. But nothing big is ever easy. And if your competitor is taking it easy, that is YOUR chance to make rings around him. Study to make a REAL SENSATION every time you put in a window. It isn't easy, but IT CAN BE DONE and BY YOU. It may be done by exhibiting the BIGGEST DOLL ever shown in your city. Or it may be the SMALLEST DOLL so small that people can scarcely see it. Put it on a pedestal, and place a big reading glass in front of it so that they can dis- cover it. Don't you think everybody that passes your store will go home and talk about the marvel- lously LITTLE doll that you are showing THROUGH A MAGNIFYING GLASS? Again, think of the sensation that could be made in a window of Housewares by showing a furnished kitchen, with a kitchen cabinet, on the shelf of which is shown a LIVE MOUSE, in a trap, running a reel. Can't you imagine the crowds that would gather in front of the window calling, perhaps, for the police force to make room for people to get by? 31 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING These suggestions are made to show what SIMPLE devices may be used to create the greatest possible amount of interest. Large expense is quite un- necessary for most of the year. It is the IDEA that counts. And the idea should be in keeping with the goods exhibited. The mouse has a direct affinity for the kitchen, and common as it is to find a mouse in the trap at home, it is a SENSATION to see it used in a store window. There are scores of these INEXPENSIVE ideas to be discovered. It isn't GENIUS that is required. It is THOUGHT with a little ingenuity and commonsense in the application so that practical selling results may be secured. The mouse would be a poor subter- fuge to use to attract attention to a display of jewelry or women's dresses; but a pantry is the LOGICAL place to find a mouse, so that it not only looks natural there, but will cause the people who view it to admire the ingenuity of the store in thinking of putting it there. Mechanical toys are commonplace, but, if intelli- gently chosen and used in some unique manner, they have a never-failing public interest. And yet, a box of kittens, or a puppy dog, before a fireplace, in a furniture setting, will get infinitely greater atten- tion and cause a hundred times more talk. LIFE is the greatest of all attractions. A LIVING PER- FORMER, or demonstrator, may be used with dignity in a window, if the demonstrator acts NATURALLY. But such an attraction may become intolerably cheap looking if not done exactly right. 32 BLUE BROWN CREAM GREEN GRAY HELIO LAVENDER MAROON MYRTLE NAVY * Blue . .. Good Good Strong Good Bad Bad Fair Fair Weak - Brown Cream Good Good ..Good Weak Good strong Good Good Good Good Green Strong Fair 'Good ....Good Bad Bad Fair . Weak Fair Gray Good Fair Weak Good .... Good Good Good Good Good i Helio Bad Strong Good Bad Good ....Weak Bad Bad Bad 1 Lavender Bad Strong Good Bad Good Weak ...Bad Bad Bad Maroon Fair Weak Good Fair Good Bad Bad .Fair Fair 1 Myrtle Fair Good Good Weak Good Bad Bad Fair Good i Navy Weak Good Good Fair Good Bad Bad Fair Good Nile ..... .... Bad Fair Good Weak Good Bad Fair Bad Bad Bad Olive Fair Good Good Weak Good Bad Bad Fair Weak Good i Orange Strong Weak Good Fair Good <*6 Bad Bad Bad Strong Strong rurpie Red ...Fair Weak Good Strong Good Bad Bad Weak Fair Fair Salmon ... Fair Weak Good Strong Good Bad Bad Bad Strong Strong Sky Blue ....-Fair Good Good Bad Good Weak Bad Bad Bad Good Tan ..Good Bad Weak Fair Bad Good Good Fair Good Good Wine Fair Weak Good Fcir Good Bad Bad Weak Fair Good Yellow Strong Bad Weak Bad Fair Strong Btd Strong Bad Stroo NILE OLIVE ORANGE PURPLE RED SALMON SKY BLUE TAN WINE YELLOW Blue Bad Fair Fair Strong Won If Weak Fair Fair U.,.,1, Weak f fifiH Good Fair Strong Cream . ..Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Weak Good Weak Green Weak Weak Fair Strong Strong Strong Bad Fair Fair Bad Cray. ....Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Bad Good Fair Helio ~ Bad Bad Bad Weak Bad Bad Weak Good Bad Strong Lavender Fair Bad Bad Weak Bad Bad Bad Good Bad Bad Maroon.. Bad Fair Bad Bad Weak Bad Bad Fair Weak Strong m Myrtle Navy .... Bad .... Bad Weak Good Strong . Strong Strong Weak Fair Fair Strong Strong Bad Good Good Good Fair Good Bad Strong Nile Olive : . ..Weak ..Weak Bad Strong Bad Bad Bad Bad Fair Bad Weak 'Bad Fair Weak Bad Weak Bad Bad Orange ... Bad Strong Strong Weak Wezk Bad Fair Bad Bad Purple Red ...Bad ...Bad Bad Bad Strong Weak Weak ...Weak Bad ...Weak Bad Bad Good Good Weak Weak Strong Strong Salmon -. Sky Blue Fair Weak Bad Bad Weak Bad. Bad Bad Weak Bad Fair ...Fair Good .Good Bad Bad Bad Fair Tan ... Fair Weak V >' Fair Rait Good Good Good Good -Good Weak Sfrnntr Yellow ....... Bad Bad Bad Strong Strong Bad Fair Weak Strong This chart shows which colors are good in combination. The contrasting and harmonizing combinations are also shown MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING dows would be closed for several days while the decorations were being made. It caused a big sensa- tion. Some years ago the report was spread through a certain city that a certain store was in bad financial condition. Nothing was further from the truth; but, when the rumor had travelled far, the firm was shrewd enough to take advantage of the condition. On Friday night the curtains were drawn down tight, and a sign was placed in every window (outside the shade) stating that the store would be closed until Monday morning, while stocks were being prepared for the Sale to begin on Monday. No statement about anything else was made. No newspaper story was written or printed. Rumor made the Sale, and the Windows alone exploited it. So no untruth was used or necessary. The store was simply mobbed all the next week, and did the biggest business in its history for the period of time. Windows are simply marvellous if cleverly used. Going back to the suggestion of CHANGE: the clever window dresser will skilfully alternate his KINDS of windows. If a very dignified window is used one week to give "class" and prestige to the store he will come back the next week with a window that is quite the opposite creating a startling change. For instance, one week might show a refined and elegant setting of rich Silks. The week following he might build an automobile of Bedspreads filling 34 MAKING WINDOWS TOWN TALK up the window, and making thousands of people marvel at his ingenuity. RING THE CHANGES RAPIDLY and create your startling effects by RADICAL CONTRASTS. Then people KNOW that the window decoration is new, and they'll soon begin to walk around your way to see what you have in the window. THEN the value of your store property will be vastly greater, and people who are interested in your windows will develop vastly greater interest in your STORE and YOUR GOODS. MAKE YOUR WINDOWS WORK FOR YOU. Don't let them get commonplace. Don't let the back- ground get old and dirty any more than the new decorations. Keep them clean and bright and smart looking. And keep your window decorators keyed up to the highest pitch all the time. Don't leave them to think it all out themselves. You must keep them out of the rut. TEACH THEM TO THINK. Get IDEAS into your windows. Don't be satisfied unless you are making the whole City TALK ABOUT YOUR WINDOWS. 35 CHAPTER VI THE FALL OPENING EXHIBITION This important event cannot be counted under the head of new suggestions, for it is almost as old as Thanksgiving Day dinner. But some things are greater than Originality. Who can invent greater holidays than "The Fourth of July" and "Christ- mas?" The "Fall Opening," under whatever name you call it, is an Annual Occasion filled with splendid opportunities for the wide-awake merchant. Its cele- bration should never be omitted. New events will come and go, but "The Fall Opening" is a definite and valuable fixture in the calendar of the well- promoted store. The First week of October provides the ideal date. I have worked for many important and successful openings, and seen many others. Chiefly the effort is made on Ready-to-Wear garments, often to the neglect of other important merchandise sections. Certainly the Fashion Display must always have a foremost position on such an occasion because of its spectacular possibilities; but I believe that it is a mistake to make it "the whole show," because there 36 THE FALL OPENING EXHIBITION is so very much more that should be done. It is vital that the importance of other departments shall be made as impressive as possible at this time, and this cannot be done if they are pushed into the back- ground on "Opening Day." This is why my sug- gestion for a truly GREAT Fall Opening is made to INCLUDE THE WHOLE STORE. I want you to plan the most elaborate Exhibition of New Merchandise that you have ever made, IN EVERY DEPARTMENT IN YOUR STORE. I want to help you to create such an im- pression of fine, big, handsome stocks as your public has never had in the past. Let's make them think that your store is finer and more interesting than they have ever thought it to be. Let's make the merchandise look so desirable and tempting that THEY SIMPLY MUST BUY. Let's make your competi- tors' stocks look cheap and tawdry in comparison. Let's have the Notion Department look as fine as the Dresses or the Silks and it can be done you've seen it done, and so have I. START TO-DAY to plan and prepare the Special Features. The Problem is "How to be Original." How to present this routine business occurrence in an absolutely NOVEL way. A great many subterfuges are constantly being tried. One store will simply employ an orchestra and decorate with beautiful flowers merely giving a beautiful setting to the merchandise. Another store will employ vaudeville performers to attract crowds. There are several circus managers who cater largely to big stores. 37 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING Some stores organize big street parades, with brass bands and store cadets. These things have never appealed to me. I be- lieve that it is a serious mistake to divert the atten- tion of the public from the merchandise itself. Of course, these "stunts" draw big crowds, and many stores have no other ambition than to be notorious and to be talked about no matter how. I have always contended that the store should attract its public BY ITS MERCHANDISE. If I owned a store and wanted to sell goods, I would have no ambition to get my name in the paper as the producer of a funny circus, or as being able to have airships drop my circulars into the fields. I wouldn't want to feel that I had to hire singers, performing bears, or vaudeville performers to get people into my store. THAT is not the kind of people I would want in MY store. I would want to have people respect me as a MERCHANT. I would want to pack my store with people who wanted to see my attractive collections of NEW MERCHANDISE. My experience at Wanamaker's and at Gimbel's has proven conclusively that NOTHING else has such compelling interest for women, and MEN, TOO, as a clever exhibition of New Fashions especially if dis- played on living models. Of course there are thou- sands of stores that could not afford to purchase enough handsome gowns to make such a display. But there is a way to overcome that difficulty. The manufacturers from whom you buy your 38 THE FALL OPENING EXHIBITION regular stock can be influenced to LOAN A BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION OF COSTUMES to you for your Exhibition Week. Of course, they may say "No" at first, but if you make it a positive stipulation when you make your purchases, the thing can be done. Of course, no one concern can loan you enough fine suits and costumes for your entire exhibition, but EACH CON- CERN THAT YOU BUY FROM should be induced to send you "ON MEMORANDUM" several much finer gowns than you would ordinarily buy. You will probably be surprised to find how easy it is to sell a number of these fine garments, and the makers will not need to take all of them back. Apply this method to all your stocks for your big Opening Exhibition. Have the concerns you purchase goods from send on Memorandum several dress lengths of elaborate silks and finest novelty dress goods. Get a group of very elaborate Blouses. Have a group of extreme novelties in Shoes and Slippers, in Hosiery, in Women's Neckwear. Go through every stock, in the same manner, and provide for each an exhibition collection. Then you will have something amazing to advertise to your public, and they will have a wonderful and most unusual exhibition to see. It will lift the prestige of your store immediately, and you will be delighted to find how many people will be glad to buy these fine things when they have the chance. So, while you do not have to under- take the risk of loss on the fine exhibition things, you will discover that you' may be able to actually 39 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING sell almost half of the goods that you have bor- rowed. Of course, it may not be easy to secure all this merchandise in this way, but if you absolutely refuse to place any orders with the concerns who do not extend this courtesy to you, you will secure what you want. But do not let them treat you like the man that took orders for staple goods at a big cut below the market price, in order to get other orders at full prices. Then, when the order was filled, everything was shipped except the bargain goods, and when inquiry was made, the reply was that they would be sent later, and further demand only brought the statement that it was impossible to ship the goods used as bait. Let every concern understand most positively that if they fail to help you in this plan, or break their promise to you, that they need never ex- pect another order from you AND STICK TO IT. Modern storekeeping is a big fight, every day, if biggest success is to be secured. Nothing out of the ordinary comes without tremendous effort. Some stores get tremendous advantage over their competi- tors because they are eternally fighting for lower prices, bigger discounts, longer datings, special lots, and such courtesies as are suggested above. And selling competition is so keen that the stores are bound to get what they demand, if they fight hard enough for it. Time the arrival of all this "Memorandum" goods to reach you only a few days before your Exhibition 40 THE FALL OPENING EXHIBITION so that you will not keep them away from the concerns that supply them for any longer time than possible. Of course, your own merchandise must not be set back for the borrowed goods. Mix it in a way to get the greatest possible advantage from the association, and let prices do the selling. In addition to getting fine merchandise for your Opening, try and get all the expert selling assistance that various manufacturers are glad to supply if plans are made far enough ahead. Some of the Women's Apparel makers will send young women models, if you are not too far away. Some of the travelling salesmen will be present and give splendid help if their travels are in your neighborhood at the time. Corset makers will send demonstrators. Manufacturers of cooking utensils will send demonstrators to make things inter- esting in that section. If all these things are intelligently planned far enough ahead, you will be able to present an event vastly more attractive than a County Fair all under your own roof bringing in the best kind of customers not only producing large immediate sales but adding tremendously to your store's prestige, lifting you above competition, and making all the best people want to buy your goods. Of course, you will need to have good, strong ad- vertising to let the public know what you are doing, and to emphasize the difference between such an Exhibition as you are now presenting and the ordi- nary Spring Opening of the usual store. This ad- 41 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING vertising should be headed by a thoroughly artistic picture and a well-written editorial about your store and the extraordinary preparations that you have made. With the extra things that you will do to make this Exhibition greater than any other ever seen in your city, you should study to make it quite Original in plan and decorations. If you have a store dec- orator, he will think out some theme that suits your conditions and store arrangements. Some stores will work on the latest Paris motif in fashions, in which matter the fashion magazines and the trade publications will give correct suggestions. But the bright and clever decorator will make a historic setting, or take the thought from some great literary subject, such as Priscilla, Marie Antoinette, Cricket on the Hearth, or some less serious subject. All of these details require full consideration of your ow T n conditions and facilities, as well as a knowl- edge of the people to whom you are catering. A high-grade store will do one thing, and a store that appeals to the masses may do something quite dif- ferent. The chief point that I am trying to make here is to start YOU thinking for yourself. These ideas may only suggest criticism, but they will at once lead the person who is critical to think of some- thing that is much better for his own particular store. I will have done a great deal if I can inspire you to think a little more and a little more deeply than you would have thought without my help. 42 THE FALL OPENING EXHIBITION Now make your plans to get up a corking Exhibi- tion that will amaze the people of your town or city, and put into it so many live features that everybody will be talking about your store for months to come or until you give them something else to think about. Start at once to get ENTHUSIASM AROUSED all over the store. THAT is the most important thing that we have to do for this event is so big and far- reaching, that EVERY HAND and heart in your whole organization must do a share to make it a success. Call a Meeting of all of your Buyers and their as- sistants, with the Advertising Manager and the General Manager together with your brightest store people and the Decorators. Tell them what a great event you are planning, and get them enthused with the tremendous possibilities of the occasion, so that they will work heartily with you and contribute ideas as well as decorative effort. Call on your livest people to tell you right in the meeting what they would suggest in the various departments encourage them to talk, and make them think that THEY are doing the planning then they will work doubly hard to carry out the plans. Instruct every buyer and department manager to put down on paper, during the day, a list of the things that he will do in his department, and the merchandise that he will show, and how he will show it, and have these department plans handed to you on Monday. Have the Decorator do the same thing. Have the Advertising Manager present his plans and 43 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING suggestions. After these papers are received, have them gone over by a Committee including . the General Manager, the Advertising Manager, and the Window Decorator, and brought to you, with their recommendations, the plans then decided upon to be handed to the department managers on Tues- day. On Tuesday evening, for five minutes after the store closes, call a Meeting of the entire organi- zation and tell them what is planned, and announce : "A PRIZE for the Department that shall make the GREATEST IMPROVEMENT IN ITS APPEARANCE for the Exhibition." Name a Committee of three of your managers (not buyers) to be Judges of the Contest, instructing all that the Award will be made upon consideration of three ends to be accomplished by the displays : 1. The artistic arrangement of the merchandise. 2. The effect in producing large immediate sales. 3. The least possible damage to goods shown. The Award should be credits for all employees in the winning departments, on any Bonus system that may be in force, or it might be Five Dollars in Gold to each, or a day's vacation to each, alternately, as found convenient. If the Public is apprized of the Contest, as they should be, an additional reward should be shown by displaying a Banner in the Winning Department, which should read: " Prize- Winning Department in the Fall Opening Exhibition Contest." Tremendous public interest may be added to the 44 THE FALL OPENING EXHIBITION Opening Exhibition by stating in your Advertising: "In order to make this the finest and most interesting Exhibition of Merchandise ever presented in our city, we have alloted A PRIZE OF FIVE DOLLARS IN GOLD to be awarded to every employee in the De- partment that shall create the most artistic effect in its displays of merchandise during this Exhibition." To accelerate this Public Interest in the Exhibi- tion, have slips printed on which customers may vote for the Department that they favor, with space for each voter to sign his or her name and address, these slips to be placed at every counter throughout the store, with boxes to receive them placed at various points. Of course, while the Judges may be guided by the votes, to a certain extent, their final decision must be based on the three features stated above. All of this stimulus will accomplish much with employees and the Public, but the harmonious effect throughout the store must be carefully guided by the Firm and the Decorators. All departments will need help and suggestions and they may need to be told that IMMACULATE CLEANLINESS is the first thing to accomplish. No decorative effect can be permitted to interfere with the selling facilities, and every decoration must be planned with the definite object of securing immediate sales for the goods dis- played. When all the work is planned and under way, the Advertising must be given full and liberal considera- tion. A fine illustration should be used, if possible. 45 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING A live Editorial about the Store, its Merchandise and its policies, should be written, and the most important of the New Merchandise should be glowingly de- scribed in the most interesting and alluring manner. The Windows will, of course, be divided among the departments that can supply the most attractive merchandise, and each window will contain a neat card bearing the words: "Fall Opening Exhibition in every department of the entire store." Larger cards, bearing the same words, should be prominently displayed all over the store, so that people will be reminded constantly of the Event. If you are asking the Public to vote, add, on the cards, the words: 4< Vote for your favorite display." Do liberal advertising all the week, putting most of your effort on the New Goods rather than on bar- gains. 46 CHAPTER VII START THE NEW SEASON WITH CONFIDENCE To be a WINNER, you must go into a fight with absolute assurance in your own strength and ability. Emerson says that every man excels the man he meets in ONE respect, at least. One merchant makes a big success because he has a faculty that makes him excel his competitor in Silks. Another makes his whole store rise to broad public approval because he excels all competitors in Shoes. It is wise to study your weaknesses AND CURE THEM, but right now you must FORGET that anybody excels you in any part of your business, and REMEM- BER that there are ONE OR MORE departments in which you are stronger and shrewder than any of your competitors. I believe that this is true, or you wouldn't be a merchant. PUT THIS BEST FOOT FORWARD NOW. Walk down through the aisles of your store with your chest thrown out. Go to the front door and fill your lungs with fresh air, and limber up your muscles for the Fall and Winter FIGHT. Go right to THAT DEPARTMENT where you are STRONG, and work up a great Event that WILL STARTLE THE TOWN and bring customers by the hundreds. 47 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING Some prize fighters can't hit with their right hands at all, but they become world's champions because of the powerful blows of their mighty "left." No- body recalls their weakness with the right hand, nor their lack of ability to protect their body, if they win a knockout with the right blow of the left hand. I believe that it is possible for one store to sell more Silks than its rival simply by having a better NOTION department or by having LIVE PEOPLE SEL- LING PATTERNS. Right now you should be having BIG DAYS in Silks and Dress Goods, but it would be fatal to cut prices on your regular lines of these fabrics, so they must be shown and ADVERTISED at their full prices. There are at least TWO ways to bring people in crowds to the section where these dress fabrics are shown. First, by an exhibition of dresses made from the fabrics. Second, and more powerfully, by hold- ing a SENSATIONAL NOTION SALE on special counters RIGHT IN THE SILK AND DRESS GOODS DEPARTMENTS, with the fabrics displayed on counters all around them. The modern division of departments has weakened the store's possibilities for boosting one department, with bargains in another, because the bargain sale that may help the Dress Goods and Silks mightily will bring only loss to the Notion De- partment. In my store I would say to the Notion buyer: "I am going to make a loss of $500 in your department for the benefit of the Dress Goods and Silks, and I am going to credit your profits with that 48 START WITH CONFIDENCE amount, and charge the loss, half and half, to those departments." This is simple justice to the weak department, and enables the store to make use of inexpensive merchandise to attract even greater interest to the big profit departments than could be secured by sacrificing many times the same amount of profit directly on the more expensive merchandise. Let the left hand hold out the oats, while the right hand remains free to put the halter on the BIG PROF- ITS. Next, in selling Dress Fabrics, make the fullest possible use of your Paper Pattern department. Select a dozen attractive patterns out of the Style Book, and have dresses made up from each using materials of which you have large quantities so that you can show people THE FINISHED DRESSES THAT THE GOODS WILL MAKE instead of the flat piece goods. People have very little imagination. They can't realize how beautiful the goods will look when made up. You MUST HELP THEM. Then, when the sales- man can say: "Madam, this dress shows you just how the goods will look when they are made up: and THIS PATTERN MAKES IT VERY EASY TO CUT AND MAKE THE DRESS AT HOME," you have multiplied the pos- sibilities of your fabric departments. Did you ever think that when you sell a woman a piece of Dress Goods that you have sold her a JOB OF WORK? If she is not a natural dressmaker, your salesman has done a hard piece of selling. But, 49 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING IF YOU FIRST SHOW HER how handsome the goods are when made up, and THE EASY WAY TO MAKE THE DRESS, you make it VERY EASY TO SELL DRESS GOODS AND SILKS. This is why the Paper Pattern Depart- ment Should ALWAYS BE AN ADJUNCT OF THE DRESS GOODS DEPARTMENT. It is hiding its possibilities under a bushel to make it stand on its own feet and make its own profits; and it is simply to be ignorant of its uses to put it in some other section of the store where it will only be valued for the few dollars of direct sales that it makes. Paper Patterns should be valued FOR THE DRESS GOODS AND SILKS THAT THEY SELL but how few merchants realize it? Perhaps you have a competitor who has a bigger reputation for Silks and Dress Goods than you have, and it may not be easy to buy bigger stocks, or sell for lower prices, OR TO GET IT PUBLICLY KNOWN IF YOU DID DO THIS. But you can get public attention TO-MORROW to a startling Sale of Notions or to a unique demonstration of what can be done with Paper Patterns, and thus MULTIPLY YOUR SALES OF FABRICS. BRAINS are vastly more valuable than Big Stocks in getting bigger sales; and the merchant who gets filled with CONFIDENCE in his own store and his own goods, and who is ALIVE TO THINK AND ACT, doesn't need to worry about a bigger competitor, who has larger stocks and a finer store. Right at this moment PUSH NEW GOODS TO THE FRONT. Of course there must be a constant play of 50 START WITH CONFIDENCE bargains to keep the bargain hunters coming for you can't have a busy store without them: but don't forget that THE BEST PEOPLE IN YOUR CITY are most eager at this time TO SEE AND TO GET THE NEW THINGS. Don't hide them under the counter or keep them carefully in boxes for fear they lose their freshness, for THEY WILL NEVER BE SOLD AT ALL Unless people see them. And it will be far better for them to be doing your store a lot of good by having people admire them, than to have them turning yellow while nobody sees them at all. Do the BIGGEST AND STRONGEST thing that you can RIGHT NOW. Make your store a veritable Ex- hibition of New Merchandise. Have your special counters for bargains and cheap goods, but show, in the most lavish way you can, the FINEST GOODS IN YOUR STORE. Primarily, to SELL IT WHILE IT is NEW and bearing FULL profits. Secondly, to make people ENTHUSE over the fine goods that you are showing. Get your Advertising Man enthused about the New Things, so that you may have live stories about them in the Newspapers. Let bargains take a back seat for a little while. Let people know that you sell something that is not out of date, down and out, and begging for buyers at a bargain. Show them that you have goods that can COMMAND FULL PRICE, and which they must HURRY FOR before their more lucky and prompt neighbors have bought them all. Show by your own attitude of mind that you have SOMETHING FAR BETTER THAN BARGAINS to Sell. 51 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING Get out of your RUTS now. If you are in the habit of going into your store through a certain door every day, change your habit and come in by some other door you may discover something you haven't seen before. If you have always come in the door with a fierce scowl on your face, stop deepening the wrinkle, and see how things look when your eyes are part of a smile. Looking pleasant at your sales- people may so cheer up some of the scared ones that they will DOUBLE THEIR DAY'S SALES. I have seen tears of overwhelming happiness roll down the cheeks of merchants when demonstrations of loyalty and affection have been evidenced by their people hours worth living for. I have seen the crabbed kinds going on down to a nerve-racked and friendless old age of diminishing business with nothing left but the power to scold. Create Happiness. Arouse Ambition. Stimulate Energy. Teach your people, by practice and pre- cept, TO SMILE AT THEIR WORK, and they will DO IT BETTER, and PEOPLE WILL LIKE YOUR STORE BETTER. Start the New Season with Courage and Confidence, and with a Loyal and Ambitious Organization, and neither panics nor competitors can stop you from greater success and larger profits than ever before. 52 CHAPTER VIII THE IMPORTANCE OF HARMONY AND ENTHUSIASM THROUGHOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION Nothing else is so important, especially at the opening of the season, as the creation of the proper "esprit de corps"- the enthusiastic and harmonious "spirit of the hive" among all your busy workers. See that there is HARMONY EVERYWHERE. And fill every worker with ENTHUSIASM. What a frightful handicap to success is carried by the scores, perhaps hundreds of stores, that suffer from FRICTION. Somebody standing in the way to stop a rival from making a notable success that would be for the good of all. It would seem incred- ible that any man would stand in the way of his own profits for fear another man would feel too much gratified with what he had accomplished. But the greatest sinners of all, in this respect, are rival mem- bers of the firm. The next greatest are rival man- agers. I know of stores where it is the firm's policy to inspire this sort of rivalry thinking that it is best to have one man holding down another for fear either may go too far. Each man controlling a brake on the 53 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING other man's machine! Or secretly putting "sand in his gear-box." The condition is awful to con- template, but it is far more common than many merchants realize. In the retail business to-day it is plenty hard enough to keep up the speed, if every energetic worker and manager is AIDED in every effort made. It is vital that the MOST THAT is IN ALL should be brought out to the full. Jealousies that are fought out by killing or reducing the successful work of a rival in the store are frightfully costly to the owners. It would be vastly better to have an employee lift a hundred dollars from the cash drawer every week, than to have him kill a thousand dollars' worth of sales for the business that would be secured by adopt- ing a rival's ideas, which may be killed by his op- position. But one man who is conservative gets hooked up in business with a younger and more energetic man, and men say that is an ideal combination, for the conservative man will hold down the young man, while the concern will profit by the energy of the young fellow. That is false logic. What farmer would ever hitch up such a team? The singletrees would be snapped by the youngster, and the tongue would be wobbling all over the road, shaking the wagon to pieces, making the old horse nervous while keeping the young one in a lather. That is always the result. But take two young men each full of energy and enthusiasm and give them their heads. Put no 54 HARMONY AND ENTHUSIASM handicaps in their way, and they'll make mistakes- plenty of them but they'll accomplish so much that they will pay for all the mistakes many times over. And who does not make mistakes? The old fogies, the hard-headed business men, are making them every day, while they lack the speed and en- thusiasm that would make up for them. Of course, all men cannot be young. But all old men may have young partners, or they can employ young managers, AND THEN GIVE THEM A CHANGE. The most pitiable man in business is the one that made a success before he had real competition, and has grown old to find his business going to his com- petitors, while his young assistants, who could con- tinue to keep his business to the front, are tied hand and foot by a fretful old man who won't do a new thing because he didn't do it in the old days. I know men who have made fortunes, and have well earned a long vacation, who are sticking to their declining businesses, and seeing them lose money year after year, when, if they would get out and enjoy the balance of their lives, they would also see their businesses grow profitable again by giving the young blood a chance. But HARMONY is VITAL. If you have managers who are not competent and cannot be trusted to do things right, get rid of them. But if you have good, capable men in charge of your business, for goodness* sake take the handcuffs off them, and give them a chance TO DO THINGS. Don't permit one man to 55 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING stand in the way of another. Give each a specific duty, and have no conflict have every man attend to HIS OWN BUSINESS. Wherever you discover ri- valry, watch that it does not become bitter and cause friction that affects the business. Be sure that you have COMPLETE HARMONY to start the Fall Business. Then create ENTHUSIASM first among your Man- agers and Buyers. Call a meeting and tell them what you want to do. Tell them about the splendid possibilities for the Fall and Winter business if ALL WORK TOGETHER and if every man does THE BEST THAT is IN HIM. Offer a Prize of $100 to $1,000, according to the size of your business, to the man who makes the greatest percentage of increase, either in sales or profits, and get them to put in every ounce of effort they have. Then work with them and for them. Don't discourage any good effort that is made, or any good suggestion. For goodness' sake don't say to a man who is eager to do something different, to make more business: "We never did THAT before I guess we can't do that." Get your people "keyed up," and KEEP THEM KEYED UP. Then business will come, whether times are good or bad. Even in the worst times there is big business to be gotten if you are smart enough to take it from your competitor. Next you must get your SALESPEOPLE STIMULATED. Two other chapters dealing with this vital problem should be re-read by merchants: "Ways to Keep Salespeople Interested," and "An Equitable Bonus 56 HARMONY AND ENTHUSIASM System." The former tells the value of pleasant words and personal interest by the firm directly to the salespeople, with commendation for good things done showing that good work was really noticed and appreciated. It also gives suggestions for weekly prices that would cost little, and yet would create continuous interest and enthusiasm. Most wide-awake merchants have accepted the policy of Bonus Systems, and nothing works more strongly for positive RESULTS than a bonus paid on extra sales secured. A meeting of the salespeople should be called at once, and they should be stimulated to the fullest degree. They should be told of THEIR IMPORTANCE to the success of the new season's business how the firm is DEPENDING UPON THEM, how success is im- possible without their energetic and intelligent work. They should be made to feel proud of DOING THEIR WORK WELL, and they should be offered definite rewards for making good. Great importance should be placed on the matter of showing new goods to the salespeople, and ex- plaining them to them telling them why they were bought, why they are good, and giving them all the best selling arguments, and not relying upon the salespeople to be mind readers in order to discover the character and uses of the goods they are to sell. INFORM YOUR SALESPEOPLE. Fill them full of ENTHUSIASM. Give them SOMETHING TO WORK FOR besides their salaries. Let them know that YOU SEE 57 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING THE GOOD THINGS THEY DO and that you are more eager to commend good work than anxious to cuss them out for the mistakes that will be made by the best of people at times. Secure complete HARMONY throughout your entire organization. Take the stumbling-blocks out of the way of your people who want TO DO THINGS. Get all the sand out of the gear-box and bearings. Pour the oil of enthusiasm and encouraged ambition into all the working parts DO IT NOW RIGHT AT THE START OF THE SEASON and every effort that you make will bring far bigger results than can otherwise be possible. With a store force of WELL-INFORMED, AMBITIOUS, ENTHUSIASTIC WORKERS, yOU will get sales volume that will surprise you, and you'll make the biggest prestige for your store that it has ever known. 58 CHAPTER IX THE PSYCHOLOGY OF A CROWD The bargain sale that attracts great crowds does an infinitely greater service to the store than the mere piling up of the day's sales. Also, the value of the crowd is not merely measured by the additional goods that these people buy elsewhere in the store. And yet, that is the usual assessment of value that merchants place on crowds; and often their real value is tremendously discounted. The REAL value of a Crowd comes from the im- pression that it makes upon the public. When people see a store crowded with customers they think that it must be a good store, or that the merchandise offered at that time must be extraordinary. People are just like flies, or ducks, or chickens, or sheep. They follow the crowd. "To him that hath shall be given," was a great world truth. The philosophy of that truth covers many phases of human life; but nowhere is the fact more strongly shown than in the assembling of human beings. We are social animals, and we all FLOCK where the biggest number of other human beings are to be found. There is a vast human confidence in the 59 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING judgment of the majority. We think that if so many thousands of people believe a thing or a store to be good that it MUST be good. And so the world accepts the verdict of CROWDS. Hundreds of stores are merchandised with the one object in mind of making the store always look busy. Some merchants arrange for small aisles in their store, so they will always seem to be crowded. Others fill their aisles with bargain counters, so that the aisles will always actually be filled. It is one of the great facts of retailing that the busy store attracts more business. Just as " Nothing succeeds like Success," so nothing makes business like business. One stray duck in a swamp will soon find the flock, even if the flock is a bevy of decoys. So the crowds crowd in where the crowds are. While the fact of the positive of this statement is true, we must not overlook the fact that the negative of this truism is no less positive. The store that does not have the people can't get them. There is something dead and forbidding about the dull, quiet store. We can almost recognize the musty smell about it when we go in. We would never think of finding anything NEW in the deadly dull store, and we WOULD expect to find the HIGHEST PRICES there. If I were to take over the management of such a store, that had gotten so dead that the owners de- spaired of ever reviving it, I would create some bar- gain sensation that was so strong and startling that it would impel the bravest bargain-seekers to hazard 60 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF A CROWD a journey through the formerly repellent doors just as far as the first aisle. Then I would fill those counters with goods so tempting that those who came could not resist buying, and simply by dynamic power I would create CROWDS in my aisles, until people who looked in would see that the ghost of the dead past was gone. Only by such drastic action could new life be created for such a store. But, a great deal of judgment must be used, in creating and manipulating your crowds. In the dull seasons you will need to use artificial means, such as bargains, or popular-priced goods, to keep your aisles busy; but, at Christmas time, you would need to study your merchandising quite as carefully TO PREVENT CONGESTION in your front aisles. When the real, physical crowds are pouring through your doors, jostling each other uncomfortably, to get to other sections of your store, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE A BARGAIN COUNTER on your aisles. And, if you are selling popular merchandise, that makes crowds that congest your front aisles, you should MOVE THOSE BUSY SECTIONS TO THE REAR OF THE STORE, so that they won't impede traffic through your aisles, and also to take the big crowds back to where they can be more comfortably served. Storekeeping requires generalship of the highest type, and the commanding officer must be much in the field. The bureau general in a store is of little more use than an admiral on shore when the naval battle is going on. 61 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING The progressive store not only changes its aisle- counter merchandise each day, but the director stands ready to change the goods after the first hour if it fails to gather its crowd. This is because one frost-bitten counter can tremendously damage the business of the whole store; because it makes the store look dull. People often get their impression of an entire store from a single section of it. Many a customer, who rushes eagerly to a store after reading the advertising, loses all her enthu- siasm as soon as she gets to the store, if she finds no- body but herself has answered the advertisement. THAT is one of the chief reasons why too conservative advertising fails. It may be true, artistic, dignified; and the facts may be quite as extraordinary as those of another store. But, if the other store puts more ginger into the story, and makes, not one customer, but hundreds come quickly to buy the goods, the selling will be infinitely easier and more rapid, be- cause the CROWDS that come will carry a strong public endorsement of the bargain; and this endorsement would be lacking absolutely in the conservative store. The progressive merchant will give a lot of thought and study to this vital subject of CROWDS, and then he will ACT to-day, to-morrow, and every day that he is in business. So this then is the Great Secret; "Crowds crowd in where the CROWDS are." Go get CROWDS and your store will succeed. 62 CHAPTER X BLOUSES: FASHION'S QUICKEST SALES WINNER How are your sales of Blouses, or Shirt Waists? No other garment in your store can bring such con- tinuous results as Shirt Waists or Blouses. The Blouse is a really beautiful and stylish garment. It has as much character in the make-up of the apparel worn by women as the complete dress or the suit. The Blouse can totally transform a wo- man's appearance. For this reason, a woman car always be tempted to buy a new one, and there is scarcely any limit to the possibilities for sales. One of the fundamental principles of Advertising is to exploit merchandise that has LARGE DRAWING POWER to bring people to your store. Some mer- chants very foolishly think that any advertising which does not make enough profitable returns from the goods advertised to pay the bill for that advertising, is bad business. That is short-sighted reasoning, yet quite common, I find. Of course, the BEST advertising is the kind that not only brings many people to your store, but also PAYS IN DIRECT RESULTS. But what store can find enough such merchandise to continuously advertise 63 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING only that kind? And how long would it take to provide all of it that the public would buy? Ad- vertising is ALWAYS GOOD, if it brings many people to your store, and much VERY VALUABLE ADVERTISING simply makes people THINK WELL OF YOUR STORE, with- out bringing them to buy goods at that time at all. ? Blouses provide THE BEST MERCHANDISE i KNOW with which to secure EVERY KIND OF VALUABLE ADVERTISING RESULTS. They bring very gratifying DIRECT SALES. They ATTRACT LARGE NUMBERS OF .WOMEN to come to your store. If well advertised and artistically illustrated, they give a woman the im- pression that your store has very attractive fashion- able merchandise, and she will be impelled to visit your store the next time she goes shopping, BECAUSE OF THE GOOD IMPRESSION MADE. For these reasons, BLOUSES SHOULD BE FREQUENTLY ADVERTISED. But you must have THE RIGHT KINDS to show, to illustrate, and to sell. There should be special effort made to secure splendid offerings of Blouses for One Dollar. Won- derful values are procurable at $7.50 to $9 a dozen, and a little more can be paid to add to the selection. But don't forget that many of your BEST CUSTOMERS are far more interested in securing UNUSUALLY BEAU- TIFUL styles and entirely ORIGINAL MODELS than they are in paying little prices. This is especially true at the beginning of the season. The season should be started with a fine large EXHIBITION OF THE NEW STYLES IN BLOUSES, and 64 BLOUSES: SALES WINNER the Event should be prepared for by collecting a liberal selection of the MORE ELABORATE and exqui- sitely trimmed Blouses, to give the genuine FASHION EXHIBITION effect, As I have said several times before, and must con- tinually repeat because of its importance THE GOOD STORE MUST ALWAYS SHOW CERTAIN GOODS IN MUCH FINER QUALITY THAN IT EXPECTS TO SELL AT A PROFIT. This is because it creates the impression of class and quality for your store, and creates a feeling of betterness for your more popular goods. Then there are always many BEST PEOPLE who are only too anxious to discover things that are FINER THAN USUAL, and you will be surprised to find how easy it is to SELL FINER GOODS THAN YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD. Then, the having of such fine goods on exhibition gives you a splendid Advertising story, and creates a fascinating display for the best-dressed women of your city to see. Don't be afraid to buy FINE THINGS. But be sure to ADVERTISE THEM when you have them. I had an experience one Spring that taught a New York merchant a good lesson. He believed in ad- vertising bargains and "special values" all the time. I wanted to exploit his FINEST THINGS. He was afraid that the high prices would frighten people away. A choice little group of ten Parasols arrived from Paris. They were marked at $28.50 and $32.50 pretty high prices for Parasols. I insisted on ad- vertising them in a very small space, and six OF 65 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING THEM WERE SOLD THE NEXT DAY! Women Were EAGER for the NEW things. And they will be just as eager in YOUR City. Have the fine Exhibition. Decorate your win- dows beautifully. Make a fine Display throughout the Blouse Department. Prepare Signs to go all over the store, telling about the Event to people in all sections. Have a very beautifully illustrated Ad- vertisement, and the effect will be tremendous in Sales in Drawing crowds of Women in creating Prestige for your store. Then, lay your plans for Sales at Popular Prices to follow the big exhibition and pick up results that will be so easy to gather after the prestige that the fine exhibition has made. Advertising and Merchandising are very Psycho- logical. The Impression that is made on people's minds is VITAL to the working out of the largest success. The Sale that follows a previous Sale is always weak if it comes too quickly. Even a piece of pie is tasteless after you have had all the pie you want to eat. The Farmer must study the scientific rotation of crops to get best results from the soil. If he plants the same vegetables time after time in the same place, he will soon get disastrous results. It is exactly the same in Merchandising and Adver- tising, and this fact should be recognized. After one Sale excitement is over, don't rush in, to have another "sale," because the last one was such a success, or your results will grow smaller each time, 66 BLOUSES: SALES WINNER and soon nobody will come to your sales. But use judgment in alternating the fine with the low-priced; and have sales of high-priced but greatly reduced goods in between your little-priced sales, and your results will keep on coming for they won't tire out your readers and customers. Plan for your bargain sales of Blouses with special purchases made at definite reductions from regular prices. Don't cut your own profits. Don't be con- tinuously hacking the prices of your regular lines. Have "special" goods for special events, and MAKE MONEY ON YOUR BARGAINS. Take advantage of the manufacturers' offerings. Also get special lots for bargain days, at the same time as you buy your regular stocks so that the maker will be in the humor of giving you a "plum"; and you won't have to work so hard to get it. I believe in making a Sale at ONE PRICE AT A TIME. The advertising is much stronger than when you have several prices to exploit. Start with a Sale of $1.95 Blouses that are genuine $3 values. Put in a window of them that may be open to view the day before the Sale, with a card stating what the price is to be, and when they go on sale. Place one or more show cases on the Main floor, in which several styles are shown, and have the ticket tell the story. Get up a handsome advertisement, with the best pictures you can get truthfully sketched from the Blouses that are to be sold at $1.95 and you will have a big selling provided you give exceptional merchandise. 67 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING Then you must plan a bigger and stronger offering of Dollar Blouses. Don't do it at all, unless you can give exceptional value. Don't think so much about profit in this Sale; because it must be done to make a sensation that will make one woman show her bar- gain to another, until the whole town is talking about your Dollar Blouse Sale. Don't make an offering that it will be easy for your competitor to beat the next day. Give him something TO WORRY ABOUT. Then, if he comes back at you, don't go into a cut- price war but swing around to another display of the most beautiful and most expensive Blouses that you have in stock, or can quickly get. When he gets to shrieking about 89 cent Blouses, let him have the street; but double discount all his antics by compel- ling PUBLIC ADMIRATION for the exquisite Blouses that fill your windows at $5, $10, $15, and more, if you have them. When you have done the utmost with Blouses, you have increased your Sales, won Public Atten- tion, Drawn Big Crowds, and made women do a lot of talking about your store. The Blouse is one of the best friends of the retail merchant, and a wonderful asset to the Advertising Manager. CHAPTER XI THE EARLY OCTOBER BLANKET SALE How I used to love to sell Blankets! I don't know whether it was the soft, rich pink, yellow, or blue of the border, the warm, fluffy wool of the blanket itself, or the good, fat check that usu- ally followed the sale; but Blanket selling always had a fascination for me. The arguments for the sale are all so simple and wholesome. The Blanket appeals to creature comfort, and it is so easy to get the human nature into the selling talk that appeals to the customer. But how few take the advantage of this condition when making the window display or when writing the advertising. A great big event in Blankets should be all ready to exploit on the first cold day of October. The regular stocks will be ready, of course. But have you pre- pared special lots to offer at very low prices, to GIVE A BIG SENSATION TO THE OPENING SALE? If they are not provided for, get busy to-day. Buy three lots under price, so that you do not have to cut the profits on your regular stock to make the bargains. Then get your Advertising planned and written: 'The Annual October Blanket Sale Presenting the 69 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING Complete Winter Stocks and Three Price Groups for Earliest Comers." Give plenty of space to the Announcement, and write the copy about the delights of wide-open win- dows, the health-giving FRESH AIR, and the little cost of LUXURIOUS WARMTH when the right Blankets are bought at such low prices as you offer in your Sale. Then get up a unique Window Attraction to carry out the same idea; for instance, build a dummy house in the store window. Show on the inside of it a doll, in bed, wrapped up snugly in a blanket. Then have another doll standing at the window of the house, as if in the act of raising the window for the night. This mother doll should be wearing a filmy nightgown, and a hidden electric fan should be ar- ranged to be blowing a gale into the window that would make the nightgown flutter in the breeze. A dummy thermometer, heroic in size, with large figures, should be fastened to the window casing, showing to the street, and should show a temperature of ten degrees above zero. Another thermometer also of magnified size should be shown with the bulb tucked under the blanket, and the upper part exposed to sight to show the temperature of 90 de- grees UNDER THE BLANKET. If the house is shown half buried in snow (made of cotton, of course), with snow on the window sills, the effect will be all the stronger. Don't get the idea that the only way to put in a Blanket Window 70 OCTOBER BLANKET SALE is to fill the window with blankets, to get soiled and require a reduced price. One Blanket, with AN IDEA back of it, will be better than a hundred without it. Another effect for a window would be to show a modern "sleeping porch," with four or five beds made up, and dolls tucked in each. This plan would be simpler to arrange, and the Mother Doll could be shown walking along the porch, with a high wind blowing her nightgown to create the blizzard effect, The thermometers could be arranged in similar man- ner, to show the frigid air of the porch and the warmth under the blankets "Which will be sold, while the lot lasts, at $3.50 a pair instead of $4.75," etc. The whole window effect depends only on the skill of the decorator to make the scene realistic; and the whole city will start talking about the odd display. If a toy dog is tucked in beside a little girl, in cunning manner, it will add another touch of nature. Doubt- less many things of interest-attracting nature may be added to make people smile and talk and THINK ABOUT BLANKETS in connection with your store, and particularly about the Sale that is NOW IN PROGRESS. Then the Blanket Department should be made to look LIVE AND INTERESTING, so that there will be no anti-climax or loss of interest when the prospective customer comes to buy. Plenty of the bargain blankets should be in evidence, with plain cards on them telling about the bargain; but there should be the most tempting displays of the REGULAR BLANKETS at FULL PROFITS shown right beside the bargains 71 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING so that most people will be tempted to pay a little more for the warmer, more attractive, and MORE LUXURIOUS KINDS. There should be no sign of any lack of desire to sell the bargains: but there should be such true admiration pf the finer kinds that they would be shown to the customer out of a very honest desire that their beauty and excellence should be seen by the customer. "While you're here," the salesman should say even after the cheap blanket has been bought "I want to show you a beauty blanket, just to see how fine they're making them now." Even the woman who never would think of paying such a price will be impressed, and will probably talk to her friends about the magnificent blankets that she saw at your store, A sale is often made to an entirely different person when you are showing goods to people who are "just looking"; for that person may go out to her neighbors AND DO THE SELLING FOR YOU. And you may never know why the woman came in to buy the fine blankets that were not even advertised. Every minute when the good salesman has his customer's attention, he can be doing valuable work, if he is bright and tact- ful; but salespeople must be taught and helped. They cannot know these things by instinct, and there are few schools where they can be learned. A little instruction and help from merchants and buyers will produce trained salespeople in a few weeks that cannot be matched in years of self-effort by the same people. 72 OCTOBER BLANKET SALE In this Blanket Event, as in all important sales and openings, notices of the Sale should be printed on big cards and posted all over the store so that every customer that comes into the building will be in- formed about the Big Blanket Sale. People always size up an occasion to be as big as the merchant shows that it is, by his own advertising and displays. If the store makes little of it, the public will do the same. If the store acts as if something BIG was going on, the public will get the big impression, and act accordingly. Then the firm, or the manager, should make a direct appeal to all the salespeople whether they sell blankets or not to tell their customers to go and see the Special Blankets that are on sale. If there is a unique window display, the opening of the subject to the customer will be all the easier, for a word can be said about the window in the most casual way. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to create as many EVENTS as possible in your business. It gives your salespeople something definite to talk about to send customers to other departments when they have sold them all they can in their own section. It gives the Advertising Manager something of new interest to write about. And it gives the Public something unique to make them TALK ABOUT YOUR STORE. Make your plans for the Blanket Opening NOW. Have the Window Decorator get his background all ready for the cold Winter scene with the house 73 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING front, or the porch front, all finished and ready to put in for the first cold snap. Have your Advertis- ing all written, and ready to print. Then you will be ready to spring a real sensation just at the mo- ment when people are ready to buy their early Blan- kets and you'll have just that much start on the new season. And the EARLY Sales are always the most profitable: and many of them will be taken from your competitors. 74 CHAPTER XII PROTECTING YOUR PROFITS What boots it, if you have done a wonderful volume of business, if you count up your books on the 31st of December, or at the end of your fiscal year, and you find that you have made no money? Exactly this condition is discovered by a vast number of merchants on a great many inventory days. This is the eternal problem: "How can the expenses of doing business be kept at 5 to 10 per cent, below the gross profits? " And so, year after year, the merchant tries to get BIGGER GROSS PROFITS and GUT DOWN HIS EXPENSES. This short-sighted policy is limiting the success of many merchants who can't see why they CAN'T RUN BOTH WAYS AT ONCE. If there is any way that it is possible to get BIGGER profits, it is ONLY by having bigger advertising, better salespeople, better store service, better stocks, and the other things that people who buy expensive goods are always willing to pay for. On the other hand, if there is any way that you can compensate the public for enduring the cheapening process of cut- ting down the store's expenses, it is only by ASKING SMALLER PROFITS. 75 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING It is absolutely impossible to get away with it in any other manner. The attempt has been made continuously, by hundreds of merchants, but has in- evitably met failure, as it always must. The line of DIMINISHING RETURNS is as fixed as the phases of the moon, but it is not so easy to determine with scientific accuracy. There is a very definite LIMIT to the profits that may be made on mere merchandise. If you ADD something to the merchandise that has definite value to the customer, THAT ALSO will be paid for, and may bear a profit of its own. That additional thing may be SERVICE, or it may be only a LABEL that gives prestige. But what bride would not gladly have her fiance buy a cheaper sideboard, in order to pay 50 per cent, more to have the word Tiffany on her wedding ring! Even if the gold is the same, the weight, fineness, and form exactly the same as the ring that did not bear the name and which would have cost so much less money. The NAME has a definite value, because people know that IT COSTS MORE. Such is human vanity. The shrewd merchant does not commit the folly Of GETTING THE BIGGEST PROFITS HIS PUBLIC WILL STAND. For he may be out of business when he discovers that they won't stand it. If he is wise, he will limit his profits BUT CONSERVE THEM. It is not the lack of sufficient "mark-up" profit that brings a bad showing at the end of the year. It is because of carelessness, lack of system, and 76 PROTECTING YOUR PROFITS absolute WASTE the failure to PROTECT the profit that you DO get. The greatest avenue of WASTE for profits comes from unwise buying of large lots of goods that do not sell and have to be reduced in price. This always makes a BIG cut into the per- centage of average profits. One great opportunity for continuous waste is in reducing FAR TOO MANY KINDS OF GOODS, in the same stock, for advertising purposes. It is far better to make a bigger reduction on one or two items to use as leaders in the advertising, and leave full profits on the other goods, so as to be sure of selling napkins at a profit when you sell table linen for little more than cost. And apply this same policy to all lines of merchandise. The clever buyer will manage to get most of his bargain offerings at reduced prices from the manufacturers or jobbers. It is very bad policy to be continuously cutting down profits on your regular goods. This makes people suspicious about buying your regular lines, for they never know when they are buying them at the right time. So it is doubly bad, destroying public confidence in your prices and making it ab- solutely impossible for you to maintain your re- quired percentage of profits. You MUST reduce goods when they are bad and must be closed out. It should be a rare occasion when you reduce prices on your regular lines for any other reason. BUY your bargains AT A BARGAIN. Let the manufacturer or jobber stand the loss of 77 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING profits. But DO NOT kill the goose that lays the golden egg, either way. Don't be continuously wasting your own profits. Don't rob your store of its life and interest by giving less bargains. Be shrewd enough to get a good supply of genuine bar- gains AT THE OTHER FELLOW'S COST. Then yOU Will have no worries over volume of sales, and you will not fear to face your balance sheet at the end of the year. Of course, it takes a fine sense of touch, almost the instinct of genius, to know just how far to go in marking prices on bargains, in holding on to goods, at their full prices. And it takes rare cour- age and nerve to cut prices deep enough to get SOMETHING out of bad goods when that action is necessary. But THAT is what makes the great merchant. It is a sad thing to be in a business that you do not KNOW. And it is the lack of this sense, this instinct, this knowledge, that makes the failures in store- keeping. For the real merchant MUST have TWO THINGS continuously: Volume of Sales and Sufficient NET PROFIT. While the superficial thinker would say that one sacrifices the other, the exact opposite is true. Nothing BUT volume of sales can overcome the inertia of Fixed Expenses, and provide the sur- plus profits. And volume of sales is unthinkable, and would soon vanish from sight, if there were not Net Profits to support them. Maintain continuously your aggressive campaign of 78 PROTECTING YOUR PROFITS special offerings procured on the market at the other fellow's cost. PROTECT YOUR PROFITS on all regular goods. Then you will have a satisfactory Volume of Sales, and a gratifying balance of NET PROFITS at the end of the year. 79 CHAPTER XIII GETTING THE MOST OUT OF MANUFACTURERS A great many merchants lose a great deal in store interest, in volume of sales, and in direct profits, by their failure to accept or secure the always available and tremendously valuable cooperation of progres- sive manufacturers. The average merchant feels toward the manufacturer as the agile cow does toward the farmer who wants to drive her home, to get the milk, and to put her away for the night perhaps to protect her from an approaching storm. The cow may not want to go home; and not knowing what is best for her, runs away. The farmer loses the milk; the cow is unhappy with it, and may get sick from being out in the cold storm. Many merchants have this feeling against being cajoled into doing the thing that would be valuable to them, because they SUSPECT that the manufacturer may also make some money out of them. Of course, the manufacturer MUST make money out of the mer- chants; but he CAN'T make money unless the merchant SELLS his goods and makes HIS profit on all of it, also. But, while the manufacturer is getting atten- tion to his particular line of goods, he is BRINGING 80 THE MOST OUT OF MANUFACTURERS PEOPLE TO THE STORE, where they will see other goods, and where they will come again, if they get right treatment. Nothing in retailing is so valuable to a store as the ability to profit by GOOD TRADE-MARK NAMES. Known trade-marks not only establish the confidence of the public in the article, but the owners of the trade-marks are working with all their brains every day and spending vast sums of money to SEND PEOPLE INTO THE STORES THAT SELL THE GOODS BEAR- ING THEIR TRADE-MARKS. Not to have those goods in stock means that the merchant is losing a lot of business. Building up your own trade-marks is a policy that SOUNDS well but it is a mighty slow and expensive policy; and all the time your customers are resenting the fact that you are always trying to sell them "something just as good," which they don't believe is half as good, and usually isn't. Pick up any great magazine and you will see the advertising of the thousands of articles that thou- sands of people are going to buy. Yes, they are GOING TO BUY THEM. You can't stop them buying those goods, no matter how hard you fight. There is a fixed law of returns from all good advertising, and the fact that these trade-mark goods are being continuously advertised means that THEY ARE BEING CONTINUOUSLY SOLD, and that the advertising is profitable else it would cease. If YOU are not selling these goods that are in such big demand, WHO is GETTING THE BIG BUSINESS? 81 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING It is MIGHTY BAD STOREKEEPING to CVei* Say to a customer who asks for well-known goods, "Madam, we don't keep those goods." For she always thinks there is something wrong with your store, or you WOULD keep them. It pays to follow the line of least resistance, and sell goods that are EASY TO SELL. Let your competitor wear his heart out trying to fight business from coming into his store, while you sell people what they ask for, and what was sold to them before they came near your store. This thing of trying to sell some nameless goods, that you want to make people think are just as good as articles bearing a great trade-mark, is like the cashier in your bank offering to give you gold pieces without any mark on them. He tells you that they are exactly the same weight and fineness as the govern- ment's double eagles. You know that he is an honest man so why don't you take them? Why do you insist on the government's trade-mark when the other is just as good? Why do you begin to doubt the cashier's honesty? Because you WANT the certainty of the government's trade-mark and you have a right to have it. And YOUR customer has just as much right to have the goods she wants, with the great trade-mark on it that she respects, and the standard of value which SHE KNOWS. And you have NO RIGHT to expect her to take something else be- cause of your SUPERSTITION that manufacturers are always trying to beat the retailer, and therefore you refuse to sell goods bearing his trade-mark. 82 THE MOST OUT OF MANUFACTURERS If you have been struggling AGAINST the stream of cooperation with the manufacturers who do big advertising, TURN YOUR BOAT AROUND and see how much MORE MONEY YOU WILL MAKE, resting on these particular oars, and taking the money from the thousands of customers that the same big manu- facturers will drive into your store. INVITE COOPERATION. Plan a great series of Trade- Mark demonstrations in your Store. Get into cor- respondence with twenty or fifty manufacturers who are big advertisers. Ask them when it will be convenient to send an exhibition and demonstration of their goods for your store. Then ask them to spend some advertising money in your own news- paper columns. This will produce live store interest and give you a lot of free publicity; and incidentally create the valuable impression on your public that the best place in your city to buy those well-known and much wanted goods is IN YOUR STORE. YOU do NOT HAVE A COMPLETE STORE while yOU refuse to sell these great trade-mark goods, and if you MUST sell them, why not get THE MOST OUT OF THEM? I have watched the biggest stores in America try to FIGHT against the trade-mark goods, and they have ALWAYS LOST by it. I have seen the Toilet Goods business go to third-rate stores because they WOULD sell to their customers the great trade-mark articles, even at cost and below it, and the big stores would not handle them at all. It was a grand pic- ture of COURAGE, but it was a LOST BATTLE. 83 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING Isn't it better to accept a little less profit, when necessary, for goods that the manufacturers SELL FOR YOU, than it is to TURN THESE CUSTOMERS AWAY FROM YOUR COUNTERS by not having the goods in stock that they want and WILL BUY ? Isn't it better to sell several times as much goods than to make a slightly larger profit, while spending your own money, and a tremendous lot of effort to get your little sales of unknown kinds of goods that make people sus- picious about your store? For many years I was like Saul of Tarsus, and I "kicked against the pricks," as thousands of mer- chants are kicking to-day. But I got converted, and to-day I say to you, "Open up the big magazines, and see what tremendous selling there is bound to be of these great trade-mark articles. Then, put them in stock and out on show. Let people know r that you are wide-awake, and REAP THE HARVEST that the big advertisers are cutting for you." Have a COMPLETE STORE. Sell people WHAT THEY WANT. Get fullest benefit of BIG NATIONAL ADVERTIS- ING. Do whatever you wish with your own goods that doesn't mislead your customers; but let that be a separate story. As soon as you show a dis- position to cooperate with the big manufacturers they will do many favors for you. Don't fight the great current of advertising. Go with the stream. Get the business that it will send you. And make the EASY MONEY. 84 CHAPTER XIV MAKING "BOOSTERS" OUT OF "KICKERS" Many a store loses valuable opportunities for the best possible sort of advertising by carelessness, or worse, about handling complaints. I have heard managers say, again and again, "Oh, she's an old grouch always kicking about something. I wish she would never come in the store again." And THAT is the spirit in which a great many complaints are handled. Now, we all know that the person who makes a particularly ugly complaint is usually a great gossip. The world is full of this kind of people, and although we may not like them, we CAN'T KILL THEM, and also, we CAN'T MAKE THEM QUIT TALKING. But we CAN DIRECT THE SORT OF TALKING THEY ARE GOING TO DO. We KNOW that if we give scant courtesy to their complaint no matter how unreasonable it is that our store is going to get all the worst of it, in that person's conversation, for months to come. So it will pay us to make an investment. THAT is why Marshall Field said, "The customer is ALWAYS RIGHT." He didn't want this bad talk to go around 85 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEP1NG when he wouldn't be there to prove that the talker was a liar. So he paid to get the other kind of talk going. What if he DID get imposed upon very frequently? Isn't it better to have people think you are "EASY" than to say that your store is a "Trap." The woman who "gets the best of a store" is always the sort of a woman who will brag about it. And the more she brags about it, the more good she is doing your store. When the complaint comes, you are "facing a CONDITION, and not a theory." Then, if you decide to accede to the customer's demand, for goodness' sake DO IT WITH KIND WORDS AND A SMILE. Don't spoil it all by having a grouch of your own. Do it QUICKLY. Don't wait a month, or a day. Don't let the kicker get out of your store to say a word against you. She is a talker, remember, so give her something mighty GOOD to say, and she will be out saying it, and bringing back all the money you in- vested in her, and much more, BEFORE THAT DAY is OUT. I remember standing beside Mr. John Wanamaker, one day, with several other managers of his New York store, where we were discussing some important change of the floor arrangements, when a woman passed us whom we heard saying to an aisleman, "Well, I am never coming into this store again," and she hurried toward the door, which was just a few steps away. Yet it happened so quickly that she was some distance away before it was possible to act; and it took 86 MAKING "BOOSTERS" OUT OF "KICKERS" mighty quick action as well as thought. I started toward her, and almost had to run to catch her; but I was able to intercept her just before she reached the door. I said: "Madam, I beg your pardon, but I am one of the managers of the store, and I overheard what you said to the aisleman just a moment ago. I am sure that there has been some blunder made by some one who is ignorant of our policy, and I want to apologize, and, if possible, correct it. I am sure that there can never be a cause for your leaving this store feeling as you do, for which the store policy can be to blame. Won't you kindly tell me what hap- pened?" She explained that she had bought a wash suit for her boy two months previously, and had gone away to some summer resort, finding, after she arrived, that the suit did not fit. She supposed that she could bring it back any time, and get it credited. She said that the head of the department had told her that the season for wash suits was over, and that he could allow her only a dollar for it, as the suits had been reduced. She had paid $3.50 for it. And THIS was why she was leaving Wanamaker's never to come back. And they say it costs about a thousand dollars to get each charge customer for a big New York Store. Well, I took the woman back to the department, and got her credited with $3.50 for the suit. Then she bought a $7 suit for her boy. She also bought 87 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING many other things for her own account, and made purchases amounting to about $150 for a sister out West probably $250 worth of business was making a bee line for the front door with thousands of dollars' worth of future business from her. All for $2.50 refused (perhaps justly) in credit. When I got back to where Mr. Wanamaker was still standing, he said, "How in the world did you do it?" (He had witnessed the entire action.) I said, "By merely stating your store's policy of satisfying every customer." He replied: "Well, that is the best piece of work that you will do to-day." There was a woman mad enough to do a lot of bad talking about Wanamaker's, for she would have needed to go a mile to the next store, and then stand the loss of the suit. Instead, I'll warrant that she is still talking every now and then about that manager at Wanamaker's who settled that man who wouldn't credit the suit. And thereby scores of her friends are being continuously made to know that John Wanamaker never permits his customers to be dis- satisfied IF HE, OR ANY OF HIS MANAGERS, HEARS THE COMPLAINT. Customers of that character are too hard to get to lose any. And they are never permitted to go out to say bad things about the store, even if it does cost a little now and then to keep them saying good things. GOOD WILL is the chief asset of any store, and Good Will is the "sensitive plant" of business. It suffers from the slightest touch. Even an untruth MAKING "BOOSTERS" OUT OF "KICKERS" does enormous damage, for you can never catch up with the lie. Where bad things are constantly being said about a store, the loss to the concern is almost incalcuable But, where the store, by its policy and management, can so please its public and so handle complaints as to get nice things con- stantly said about it, there is an asset growing, in GOOD WILL that has a cash value, of many MILLIONS in New York, or other city of the first class, and of many thousands of dollars in the smaller cities. And so, when a serious complaint is heard in your store, or comes to your store by letter, it may be YOUR OPPORTUNITY to so handle it that it will add tremendously to the GOOD WILL of your business. Entertain these strangers, for they may be angels unawares. Too many merchants leave the matter of com- plaints to cheap clerks to handle. They consider this work merely as an expense, and want to get it handled as cheaply as possible. And these cheap clerks may have only brains enough to want to beat the customer into keeping something she doesn't want, or making her believe that the store couldn't possibly have given her better service than it did which PROVES to her that it is not a sufficiently good store for her to deal with again. Beware of turning over such a vital and priceless thing as your store's GOOD WILL to the care of cheap and ignorant clerks. Seize upon every Kicker thank- fully as the opportunity to create another BOOSTER 89 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING for your business. If YOU act with this vital thought in mind, your business will grow bigger and more profitable. If you leave this important matter in poor hands, you may begin to wonder why your trade is falling off, and the public going to a store that doesn't seem to you to be as good as yours. 90 CHAPTER XV PUTTING EMPHASIS ON BARGAINS WITHOUT USING BIG SPACE During the past dozen years Advertising has grown tremendously in volume. Stores that were then using one column regularly and two or three columns for one big splurge each week, are now using full pages EVERY DAY. And most stores are now leaving out the advertising of several depart- ments every day, because there isn't any space left in which to print these excess items. BIG SPACE has come to be the only measure of importance about an advertised event, because the public has been led to believe that the store always uses great big space for any announcements that are of exceptionally large interest. In the big stores that I have advertised for there has always been abundant space provided, and this question did not need the thought that many other stores must give to it. And yet, I have discovered and many times proven that a very small space could be given tremendous importance by the manner in which the items were introduced. When a Big Sale is planned, where ALL depart- 91 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING ments must provide very strong items, they all ex- pect big space in which to print their individual offerings. But right then is the chance to place each announcement in a small box, in small type; yet, by the strength with which the general heading is written, EACH OF A HUNDRED OFFERINGS is given all the strength and emphasis that it would have IF THE ENTIRE HEADING WAS WRITTEN FOR IT ALONE. And THAT is what makes a tremendous day's sales, with only a normal day's advertising. The chief thing to be accomplished is to CHANGE THE FACE OF THE ADVERTISING, and make it look entirely different from the way it looks every other day. Both women and printers call it, "Putting on a new dress." Sometimes big type will accomplish this. The next time it will be best done with small type. Variety and striking CHANGE novelty of ar- rangement are the effects required. All ^of this is much easier to accomplish when you have a Big Sale to exploit. The more perplexing question is, <4 How to gain the largest EMPHASIS, without resort- ing to Big Space, for DAILY BARGAINS?" This can be done only by establishing a policy of "trade-marking" your strongest items each day. And it may require a year of this method before the public begins to thoroughly understand what you are doing. But it is like the most valuable kind oi life insurance, and is WORTH INFINITELY MORE THAN IT COSTS TO DO IT TEN YEARS, if yOU DO IT RIGHT, and have then created an asset that will be of untold 92 EMPHASIS ON BARGAINS value all your life, and which will be the most valu- able legacy you leave to your heirs. This is the method that I suggest: have espe- cially designed a Monogram of the firm's initials, or use the firm's trade-mark, if one exists, in some such form as is here suggested : Monogram at top Bargain at bottom. MONOGRAM B BARGAIN The "A, B, C"to be drawn as a Monogram. If the Monogram is drawn good and strong, and an artistic border surrounds it, it will make a strik- ing trade-mark, which can be reproduced in a cut about one inch square, and a dozen or so of these trade-mark cuts can be made for use. Then, when you have a very strong offering GENUINE, desirable, and one worth putting REAL EMPHASIS upon, INSERT THE TRADE-MARK CUT in the body of that paragraph to identify it. In inaugurating this system it will be necessary to make a LARGE and imposing ANNOUNCEMENT of the Policy in your Advertising reproducing the Trade- Mark Cut, and telling HOW you are going to use it in future. State EMPHATICALLY that this cut will NEVER BE SEEN except in connection with an excep- tionally strong and decisive Bargain that is GUAR- 93 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING ANTEED to be extraordinary value by the FIRM. Then, in using the Trade-Mark Cut, it should be the duty of the buyer to PROVE TO THE FIRM, or the Firm's representative, EVERY TIME THAT IT is ASKED FOR, that the goods to be offered is a GENUINE, NEWLY ADVERTISED BARGAIN, worthy of the Firm's Guarantee. The Advertising Manager should never insert the Monogram Bargain Cut without the Firm's 0. K. on the Monogram Bargain MERCHANDISE. This Policy should be established with the most jealous care and protection, and should become one of the prides of the Firm, and it would grow to become a marvel- lous power in the advertising, NO MATTER HOW SMALL THE TYPE THAT WAS USED IN PRINTING THE BARGAIN. During the first six months the Policy was being introduced, there should be printed, under each Monogram Bargain announcement, the following "Note," in 10-point Italics: "It is a Law of our Advertising that our Monogram Bargain Trade-Mark shall be printed only in connection with an offering of merchandise of GENUINE extraordinary value, IN- SPECTED and GUARANTEED by the Firm, or their rep- resentative." The space that will be taken for the constant repetition of this paragraph will be far more than made up by the small size of the space that will be required for the entire advertisement when printed in this manner and under this policy. And it will be building an asset of marvellous value for the future. 94 EMPHASIS ON BARGAINS But this whole plan depends for its success UPON THE FIRM themselves. It MUST be inaugurated in a STRONG, whole-hearted way. It MUST be HONEST, through and through, month in and month out. And it must have the backing and the personal watching of the Firm. But after a year of honest effort, it will do wonders in your Advertising. You can throw away your dictionary of adjectives. Or, better still, you can keep all your adjectives and all your Big Space for the better use of ADVERTISING YOUR REGULAR GOODS AT REGULAR PRICES, WITH FULL PROFITS. You'll find a marvellous difference in the selling of your goods when you are able to turn the old advertising cart around and take SMALL SPACE for advertising Bargains, and are able to use the BIG SPACE for real money-making advertising for talk- ing about your fine new goods, and for telling your public more about your store and your service. Bargains should tell their own story in mighty few words, but the public has been educated the wrong way. This method will help bring the advertising appropriation back to its proper use. And it may help you to SPEND LESS FOR ADVERTISING, though primarily, it is intended to BRING TREMENDOUSLY GREATER RETURNS FROM THE ADVERTISING THAN YOU ARE NOW DOING. 95 CHAPTER XVI USING JIU-JUTSU IN MERCHANDISING The Japanese Science of Self-Defence has been one of the physical marvels of modern times to the West- ern world. The little Jap takes advantage of the savage thrust of the big pugilist opposing him, and turns all the power of the blow that is aimed at him into an invincible force to overwhelm his antagonist. The same methods may be applied in Merchandising to gather part of the harvest of the price cutter leaving the cost of the advertising to your competitor, while giving him the worst of the contest. In its simplest state, this policy means that when your big or little competitor comes out with a boast- ful advertisement of cut prices on trade-mark arti- cles, or other well-known goods, YOU QUIETLY MARK YOUR GOODS AT THE SAME PRICES OR LESS. Don't rush into the papers with still lower cuts, to smash profits still more, and DON'T SHOW THE PUBLIC THAT YOU HAVE BEEN STUNG. ACT AT ONCE, SO that when customers come into your store they will find the advertised goods marked at the low prices WHILE YOU ARE NOT MAKING ANY FUSS ABOUT IT AT ALL. 96 USING JIU-JUTSU IN MERCHANDISING Thus the public will see that your competitor's big boast has been made about something that is quite the ordinary thing in your store. One case of the successful use of jiu-jutsu occurred twenty years ago in Altoona. The big department store started to cut prices on school slates at the time schools were opening. The little bookstore on the next block put the same folding slate in its window for a cent less. (It was a 10 cent slate.) The depart- ment store finally got its price down to ONE CENT, which was exactly what the clever stationer wanted, and he sent home the body blow by a card in his window which read: "Our big competitor is selling these slates for 1 cent. Come to us and WE WILL GIVE YOU THE GENT!" Of course, nobody asked him for the cent, but he got the whole town talking about his store, and they also came to realize that the stationer's prices were always watchfully low. His expenses were small, and he let the big store do the advertising while he got his money from the crowds that went to the big store by his clever window cards and his shrewdly priced merchandise. But the jiu-jutsu method is quite as valuable to the large store as it is to the small one. It frequently enables the big store to defeat the efforts of a little competitor without sacrificing its dignity by advertised recogni- tion. As soon as a merchant comes to realize that his competitor is going to cut his prices the moment that his own cut-price advertisement appears, he is 97 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING going to take a second thought before spending his money for that sort of thing. The game of Slam-Bang price cutting is rather out of date. It is bad for the manufacturer, and it is getting to be futile for the store and it has always been very destructive of profits. To-day the cost of doing business calls for more scientific ways of getting customers. The War of Frantic Competi- tion is too costly. There will always be legitimate bargains, and a demand for them, and they must be used to bring business; but smashing prices on brand-new bread- and-butter stocks is a losing game especially when you are burning up your money to exploit goods that you don't want to sell. Let the other fellow spend HIS money to exploit such bargains, and sell at his cut prices, AT HIS EXPENSE. 98 CHAPTER XVII REDUCING COMPLAINTS AND EXPENSES IN YOUR DELIVERY DEPARTMENT Here is one of the biggest problems of Storekeeping, and it is growing bigger and harder of solution every day. What merchant has not looked with envy upon the 5 & 10 cent store, and the dealer in candy or books, who have practically no delivery problem at all? In your store, after the sale is made, half of the expense and worry is just begun. The goods may be lost or damaged it may go to the wrong address the wrong goods may be sent it goes C.O.D. when it should be charged or the boy may be impolite when he brings it to the cus- tomer's door. Who has not spent days and nights worrying about the Delivery Department? Surely the Advertising Manager should be permitted to escape these trou- bles. But it wasn't so with me. I discovered that the "Delivery Department," with its trouble-breeding ally, the Packing Department, sometimes killed off customers as fast as the Advertising could bring new customers in, and it was always piling up figures of Expense that tore a deep gash in the Net Profits. MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING So I couldn't escape: for my mind was always work- ing for the whole business. Fundamentally, two great principles are wrong in present store ideas about Delivery that is why no- body can discover the cure under present conditions: 1. It is economically unsound for each store to build up and maintain its individual Delivery System, and have either six or sixty concerns covering the same routes each day, with inde- pendent deliveries. That is definite and costly WASTE. 2. The Packing method of to-day seeks to pro- tect every article, from all other articles, by thick and expensive wrapping, so that a piece of glass may be thrown in a wagon with furniture and not get broken. This wastes the time of packers and costs frightfully for packing material. Yet no store that I know of has ever accepted the idea of dissecting its merchandise for delivery except, in the largest stores, where furniture and pianos have their own deliveries. Let me suggest that you start just one wagon, or car, in charge of your most careful driver and helper, for the delivery of FRAGILE merchandise and DON'T PACK THE PIECES AT ALL. Have trunks in the wagon. Place the loose pieces in the trays, with loose blankets laid between. Pad the trunks and the trays, and make additional padded compartments. 100 COMPLAINTS AND EXPENSES What you save in packing material and packing TIME will quickly pay for the cost of the trunks and blankets. Address tags are simply tied to the pieces of China or Glass. Then there is no nasty litter for the customer to bother with when goods are de- livered. There is no chance for either driver or customer to break the wares when unpacking. The driver always knows that the goods are fragile, and he doesn't lay the responsibility on a bushel of ex- celsior to save the glass bowl or the lamp. This plan will reduce the cost and the Complaints from the delivery of fragile wares FIFTY PER CENT. You can start with ONE wagon for Fragile Wares, as an experiment, and increase the number of vehicles as conditions suggest. Reduce the quantity of pack- ing material RADICALLY get as near to the UNWRAPPED idea as possible, and develop protective COMPART- MENTS in your delivery wagons for fragile things, and your Delivery SERVICE will be infinitely more satisfying to customers, while it will reduce your Expenses enormously. Turn the old boat around- run with the stream and you'll get twice as far with half the cost and trouble. Local Retail Associations are doing wonders for the betterment of storekeeping conditions. One thing they should do to REDUCE THE COST OF LIVING the cost of doing business, and the troubles of merchants is to create a cooperative Delivery System, or rather to develop a local Express business that will effi- ciently deliver the merchandise sold by ALL STORES. 101 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING It has been a superstition with merchants that individual Delivery Wagons were stupendously valu- able Advertising. But, after giving many years of thought to the question, it is my unqualified opinion that most Store Delivery Wagons Advertise a Store's WEAKNESS rather than its strength: for the BEST delivery service makes frequent errors, and ONE ERROR makes a stronger and more lasting impression than a hundred deliveries perfectly made. What- ever the Advertising value may be, it is vastly less than its present cost. The amount of money it requires would do infinitely more good for the busi- ness if spent in legitimate advertising channels. This is a matter that local Retail Associations should study and develop. Don't judge the matter from the equipment or efficiency of your present existing local deliveries: for the Cooperative Mer- chandise Delivery or Express would be equipped and managed under the supervision of the most efficient and able Delivery knowledge and experience existing in ALL the local stores, and with all the ideas that could be gathered from other cities, from express companies, and from the Parcel Post. In reducing complaints from your Delivery Serv- ice it is important to realize what kind of a man or boy hands your goods to the customers, and HOW it is done. Too many stores feel that Delivery Serv- ice is rough work, and that rough men must be ac- cepted in this work. A successful Delivery Service may not demand the 102 COMPLAINTS AND EXPENSES immaculate uniform and the perfect manners that are the standard of B. Altman & Co., but neither will it tolerate the coatless, undisciplined, impolite, and dirty driver that is so often seen dragging a large package along the ground, to throw it in the door of the customer's house, with the remark, "Gosh, missus, I ain't got time to take it upstairs and un- pack it I'd never get done workin' for everybody." The customer never realizes the amount of work that the driver has to do, or how far he must go to cover his route. She only knows that she buys a lot of goods from your store, and that she will have to go and get a man to take the bundle or box up- stairs if your man doesn't do it, and she thinks she should be given the two-minute service as part of the good will that she earns by being your customer. It is just as important that the delivery boy should be polite and helpful as it is for the salesman. And it will reflect just as disastrously upon the store if he is not. Every unit of your organization stands for YOU whenever the customer is touched, and your store is no better than the worst act of your worst employee. That is why the standard of service must be maintained at every point. That is why the work of EDUCATION must be followed every day, throughout every division of your entire organiza- tion. Every driver and delivery boy must be made to realize that the store's reputation DEPENDS UPON HIM and the way he performs his work. There should 103 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING be constant instruction and help for the delivery employees, and there should be records of work and complaints, and there should be monthly prizes for those that give best service. The more you take your Delivery men into your confidence, the better service they will render. If you ignore them be- cause they have rough work and are so far away from the counters, they will go from bad to worse, and do your business harm all year round. With proper attention, oversight, and recognition, and prizes for good work, the Delivery organization will become less of a menace to your business, and even a factor for good. 104 CHAPTER XVIII CARRYING TOO MANY COMPETING LINES There are two things that a progressive store knows it should do, and yet few stores, however well mer- chandised, are able to accomplish doing in anything like the manner that they know they should. First, always have COMPLETE stocks to supply everything that the customer has a right to expect. Second, operate on the smallest amount of Capital that will properly conduct the business. It has long since been recognized as extreme folly to use larger capital than necessary just because you have it. Not only is it a sheer waste of interest on the money, but too much liberality on this point leads to definite CARELESSNESS in both financing and buying. The actual loss of interest on the unneces- sary money is far the least damage done by unscien- tific merchandising. It produces a condition in the store's merchandise that is just like a man accumulat- ing a vast amount of FAT. It reduces activity of turnover. It creates a deadly sluggishness. It fos- ters and generates disease. For there can be most serious diseases in merchandise stocks. The knowledge of this fact has caused the evolu- 105 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING tion of the modern Merchandise Manager as a restraint on careless buying. The Merchandise Man- ager and the Buyer are usually in conflict. The latter is always inclined to overbuy, and the former is apt to starve stocks that need vital merchandise. The ideal condition is very hard to arrive at. Too much restraint is liable to bring the croak of the ravens, "Out of stock." Too much freedom brings dangerous obesity of stocks. Hence the Firm must hold a guiding hand over the two conflicting forces. This brief presentation of the matter is made to lead up to the most fertile field for stock improvement. Most stores carry in stock representative assort- ments of goods from three or four, or maybe more, sources of supply. For instance, the store may show lines of rugs from Bigelow, Whittall, Hardwick & Magee, and Hartford Co. In the endeavor to show some of ALL of these famous makes, the store may NEVER have a COMPLETE assortment of any of them. For instance, the customer sees a 9 x 12 ft. Hartford Rug that she likes, but later decides that she needs it in the 10 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft. size, and you do not have the pattern in that size. Then you have to do all your selling over again, with the deadly feeling in the customer's mind that she doesn't like anything but the pattern that she saw in the smaller rug. So she finally decides to drop the matter for the present which means that she is going to your competitor to try and find the rug she likes, in the size she wants. You may be very sure that she won't find it there, 106 CARRYING COMPETING LINES but she will probably find a good salesman there, and when she learns that she can't get the exact rug she wants in either store, she will usually buy at the last store she is in, because she doesn't want the bother of coming back to you, or even admitting to you that she couldn't find what she wanted else- where. But yOU HAVE LOST THE SALE OF A RUG that was sold by you if you had had the right size in stock. The other disadvantage of having competing lines is that you leave too much to the judgment of the customer. It is always better to rely on her having confidence in YOUR judgment. Make up your mind as to which of these great lines of rugs is best: buy that line, and then endorse the line. Don't decide until you do honestly believe in the line you select, then YOU can make the decision for the customer, and you can keep FOUR TIMES AS GOOD AN ASSORTMENT of sizes and colorings in the ONE line as you could keep of the four competing lines on the same capital. Thus you eliminate indecision in the customer's mind, and you have four times as good a chance to have the right size in the wanted pattern. You can change the word "Rugs" to any other merchandise you sell, from men's collars to pianos- shoes, gloves, underwear, hats, stockings. The secret of good stock-keeping is CENTRALIZING YOUR STRENGTH. The store that eternally has ONE GOOD LINE COMPLETE is going to win always from the store that has a VAST ASSORTMENT OF JOB LOTS. Any good store has a 107 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING constituency that depends upon it for advice and recommendation of goods just as definitely as patients depend upon the advice and instructions given them by their favorite physician. People who believe in a store want to be told definitely by that store, or by the salesman that waits on them, just which goods is BEST. And how dare the salesperson say which of four lines of rugs is best when expert opinion is absolutely divided, or indefinite, and when HE DOESN'T KNOW IN WHICH LINE THE CUSTOMER MAY FIND THE PATTERN THAT SHE WILL LIKE? If this vital question is decided BEFORE THE LINE is PUT IN that store has a policy, and the salespeople can honestly live up to it. Then can they say in all sincerity: "We carry this line because we believe it to be the best on the market." And THAT is what the customer has a right to expect to be told. There MUST not be any uncertainty about the statement if the sale is to be satisfactorily and promptly made, and the goods are to STAY SOLD. Think of going to your Doctor and having him say to you: "Now there are several things that will fix you up all right, and I am prepared to let you select any of them that you like best, for any of them will bring the result that you want. Here are some quinine pills, here is a strychnine tonic, here is as- perin, here is castor oil, which is always good. Or you can use a mustard foot bath. Even a hot toddy, before you go to bed, would probably knock the 108 CARRYING COMPETING LINES trouble out of you." What would you think of that doctor? In scientific storekeeping it is just as weak and silly to mix up your customers with TOO MUCH TO SELECT FROM, and having your stocks complex and confusing, as it would seem to you to have a doctor who left it to you to pick your own poison. If you believe in yourself and your store, LET THE PEOPLE KNOW IT in no indefinite words. If you convince them that you believe in yourself, they will believe in you. If you are in doubt about yourself, how can you expect the public to believe in you? SIMPLIFY your stocks. Maintain the stocks you have in ABSOLUTE COMPLETENESS. Always be able to say definitely, "We believe this to be THE BEST." Thus you conserve your capital. You strengthen your salespeople. And you CONVINCE and SATISFY your customers. 109 CHAPTER XIX PLANNING A BIG FEBRUARY OCCASION WITH MANUFACTURERS' HELP February is a month when you must fight hard for business. Winter remains, but people are supposed to be supplied with most of the necessaries, and often weather is so bad that people stay at home. Then it is too early to get spring things selling with- out some tremendous stimulus to create public interest. This chapter should help you to prepare, A FULL MONTH AHEAD, for a Big Event about the middle of February, or even a little later, according to your special conditions and the geographical location of your store. All through January manufacturers and jobbers are showing you goods for the Spring Trade. This is the time to SET YOUR TRAP FOR THEM. This year you must get more out of them than you ever have gotten before, and something that should help might- ily with boosting your whole Spring business as well as adding prestige to your store. EVERY TIME YOU BUY A BILL OF GOODS insist on getting with them one, two, or three SPECIAL LOTS OF FINE MERCHANDISE AT A VERY BIG REDUCTION 110 A BIG FEBRUARY OCCASION for your February Event. Don't accept seconds, or undesirable goods, for this occasion. Of course, you will not demand trade-mark goods, or such staples as have a fixed price; but, since old goods and clean-up lots have been offered by you all the month of Jan- uary, you can only arouse new enthusiasm on the part of the public by being able to announce NEW AND DESIRABLE GOODS at liberal reductions from regular prices. Let us hope that some day we may get away from the necessity of such violent stimulation to promote business during the dull months. Perhaps, some day, manufacturers will not have surplus lots of really desirable merchandise. But to-day they still have them, and certain big stores are being made very special offerings for their mid-season events, in goods that, to the public, have all the attractiveness of the very latest patterns or styles. And so long as this policy is in force so long as manufacturers and importers are meeting the de- mands of big retailers, and even suggesting such offerings to them, so long the progressive merchant in the smaller city should demand like treatment and equal bargains. It has been made a crime for railroads to give re- bates to big corporations whose traffic by its volume formerly tempted railroads to adopt that form of solicitation. Some time, doubtless, the same ethical standard will be legally applied to the dry goods busi- ness; but UNTIL THAT HOPED-FOR TIME ARRIVES 111 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING the most effective way to force fairly uniform treat- ment for large stores and small ones, is for every dealer to demand for himself all the favors, discounts, re- bates, and special prices that are offered or allowed to any store anywhere. By January every manufacturer knows of certain patterns among his new goods that, for some un- known reason, have not sold as well as others, and, under special pressure, he will cut the price several weeks early, on his surplus quantity, at least. But you must supply the manufacturer with a reasonable EXCUSE for cutting his price, and your FEBRUARY OCCASION supplies the excuse. It is also to his inter- est, as well as yours, to make your sale a success; for we all know that the majority of the goods sold in any special event are sold at regular prices. So, the more goods you sell, the more quickly you will be able to send another order to the manufacturer who has cooperated with you for your February Event. If the manufacturer, or his salesman, does not accept the opportunity to cooperate, you are cer- tainly justified in saying to him, "Well, my friend, the man who gets my regular orders is going to show a little more interest in helping me promote my busi- ness than you have shown. You have goods that I want, for which I am perfectly willing to pay your regular prices. But I need some help to pull through February, and I must get it from the man who sells me regular goods. That is why there is 112 A BIG FEBRUARY OCCASION nothing doing if you haven't enough interest in my store to do me this little favor." Well, he will take the order. And you will get the goods. Apply this method to EVERY PURCHASE YOU MAKE this Spring, whether from a salesman on the road or when you make purchases in the market yourself or through your buyers. You will be amazed to see what can be done. And when all the SPECIAL GOODS arrive for your Big Event you will be ready to buy double pages of space in the newspapers to tell a story that will be the most extraordinary that you ever printed: for you will be able to offer ADVANCE STYLES and GOODS OF THE COMING SEASON for MUCH LESS THAN THE SAME GOODS WILL COST LATER ON. THAT will make a genuine sensation that will grow bigger when people come and ACTUALLY FIND THE CONDITIONS TRUE AS STATED. THAT will induce people to BUY IN ADVANCE, and so wear things early, and BUY THEM TWICE OVER, thus increasing the pos- sibilities of your Spring business immensely. Buying these extra goods should not cut down your regular orders at all, for the stimulus from this Event, instead of cutting into your regular business, WILL INCREASE IT ENORMOUSLY if the plan is rightly car- ried out. Of course, it MAY cut into your competi- tor's business, and it will very probably not only take away a lot of his immediate sales, but it should secure a lot of his customers for you PERMANENTLY if yOU LIVE UP TO THE REPUTATION YOU WILL MAKE. 113 CHAPTER XX CREATING DAILY STORE INTEREST The larger events for promoting store interest and prestige must not come too often and become com- monplace, else they eventually lose their drawing power when their novelty is gone. Great Annual or Semi-Annual Sales have large value, but if the store attempts to use them four times a year, or every other month, they get so common that they do not bring the old response when their real occasion arrives. The clever merchant must protect his periodic events and yet keep people interested EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR. And THAT becomes a serious prob- lem. Most merchants fail for the old reason of crying "Wolf, wolf," every day. Words used, and the manner of statement, are all important. For daily use nothing is so good as the " bargain counters." Most stores use their main aisles for this purpose, and the public always expects to find bargains there. A much better plan bringing infinitely greater good to the whole store is to use the most prominent aisle counters for the display of new things sold at full profits. 114 CREATING DAILY STORE INTEREST The handsomest goods you possess should be placed out where everybody can see them WHILE THEY ARE NEW. Counters that possess the strongest selling power should be used to sell the goods that you most desire to sell. On the other hand, bargains, especially when sold at little profit, should be USED TO DRAW PEOPLE RIGHT INTO THE REGULAR DEPART- MENTS OF THE STORE. If people come into the store to find the bargains, they will go to the section where they are sold when they come. No store can be a success if people are not well distributed throughout the ENTIRE BUILDING. What is the use of having a large building IF YOU DO BUSINESS ONLY ON THE MAIN FLOOR? It has always seemed to me to be a TREMENDOUS WASTE OF REAL POWER to sell on the main aisles goods that had the attractiveness to pull crowds of people to the BACK of the store, or up to other floors that would not otherwise be busy. Then, in justice to the particular department that produced the bargain, that section should have the advantage of getting into it the crowds that the bargain brings. People who come to buy bargains always buy other goods, and the department that makes the sacrifice of profits to make the bargain should have the best possible chance to sell its regular merchandise, AT FULL PROFITS, to those who find they don't want the bargain, or who require other items from the same stocks. If the bargains are sold on the main aisles and the regular stocks are on the fifth floor, the bar- 115 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING gain customers are rarely of any use to the regular department. A merchant in the far West devised one of the best plans I ever heard about for arousing daily bargain interest in his great new store one of the finest in the country. His plan is to have special offerings in one section and another, EVERY DAY well distributed throughout the entire store. These daily specials are identified by portable GREEN LIGHTS moved daily, as the bargains change their character and location. The advertising merely arouses public interest by saying " Watch for the Green Lights." And wherever a green light is seen there is always a NEW and GENUINE bargain offering. The green lights are NEVER used to fool the people into going to see a com- monplace offering. Hence they never lose theii drawing power. In addition to the light being GREEN, this merchant had the electric lights put on an eccentric connection that made the lights go up and down, producing a recurring flash effect. The green light appears, then disappears thus catching the eye more quickly than a steady light would do. Of course, all stores would not care to go to this expense, but all stores can have portable electric lights with GREEN globes, or some other distinctive color. And if this smaller expense is not desired, another simpler way is little less effective. Cards in a bright shade of green, or other selected color, 116 CREATING DAILY STORE INTEREST may be used, and by proper advertising be brought to identify the daily bargain offerings. If this is done, there should be no confusing cards used. All others should be white, and the green cards should be promptly removed each day as the whole plan loses its force and effectiveness once its freshness is destroyed. It is most important that the same bargains shall not be repeated day after day. People must be kept curious as to what will be the new bargains at your store each day, and THAT curiosity will cause them to visit it as often as possible if the plan is intelligently worked and honestly and cleverly merchandised. This plan may be worked either with or without the bargains being specifically advertised. But the advertising should remind the public EVERY DAY to "Watch for the Green Cards for big bargains changed every day." The whole plan depends for its success upon the character of the bargains that you give. They MUST be good and HONEST. They need not be in large quantities, because they are "for ONE day only," which justifies selling out quickly; and this is espe- cially true if they are not specifically advertised in the papers, for you can place OTHER bargains under the cards, and have new cards made when the bargain goods sell out. The loss need not be large. In fact, 10 cent Towels, priced at 9 cents for the day, would make an ideal offering. One dollar Dress Goods, at 92 cents for the day, might be good enough* IF REAL. But dress goods that had been selling for 117 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING 95 cents could never be called $1 goods at 92 cents, and bring successful business. One-day bargains should ALWAYS be most desir- able STAPLE goods. The old stock, thai can never go back to its former price, should not be put under the green cards as one-day bargains, but should be marked for what it is, and left at its bargain price until sold, and the card used to describe it should be white. If you institute this Green Card plan, and have a LIMITED number of strong, GENUINE bargains, changed EVERY DAY, you will find it a wonderful tonic to your business. But it must be handled INTELLIGENTLY. It must NOT become a perfunctory duty. It must not be left to the half-hearted or half-honest effort of department heads. The firm, or the firm's com- petent representative, must act on each bargain every day for no one else will realize the importance of what is being done not only for the one day, but for the permanent good of the entire business. 118 CHAPTER XXI PLANNING FOR CHRISTMAS The Christmas season is the merchant's Harvest. Once each year the purse strings of every living being are loosened. And if the being is half human, the purse is opened wide. And the other fact must not be forgotten: MOST OF THESE SAME POCKETBOOKS ARE SHUT UP TIGHT as soon as Christmas is over. "Strike while the iron is hot," means TO YOU: SELL FAST WHILE THE PEOPLE ARE BUYING. Christmas plans should all be made before Thanks- giving Day. If all of your Christmas goods are bought, your study now is how to display them and arrange them for easy seeing and QUICK BUYING. The well-arranged Store is ELASTIC. This means that you should be able to move your fixtures around to meet Holiday conditions. Perhaps this is impossible in your store. Then you will need to move many stocks. On December 1st practically all staple stocks should be condensed into the smallest possible space. Of course, nothing should be done that will actually inconvenience customers, but a little thoughtful planning will enable you to do the needed thing with- out upsetting regular business. 119 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING One thing you MUST DO to create the best possible effect, and make the strongest possible impression on your public: you must make your place LOOK JLIKE A TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORE. That is the great secret of creating public enthusiasm. You must create the CHRISTMAS ATMOSPHERE in your store, because it makes people breathe the Christmas Spirit, and then they are ready to buy your mer- chandise more freely. So all staple departments must be set back, and ALL HOLIDAY STOCKS ENLARGED TO THE LIMITS OF STORE POSSIBILITIES. The fullest results can only be secured when you are able to make your entire building over into a vast CHRISTMAS STORE. This gives you fine talk for your advertising, and it gives the vital impression to the public when they come to the store. Your decorators should study their plans carefully, to give the store the finest dress that it has ever known. They should make it radically different from what it has ever been before. You should secure beautiful store and win- dow cards to express the Christmas thought in con- nection with ALL your merchandise. But your chief thought must be as to what goods you will put on each shelf and on each counter. Prepare your counters for SELLING. Arrange every counter and table so that it will literally pull the money out of people's pocketbooks. Make a dia- gram of all your counters and aisle tables. Then indicate, far ahead, what you are going to put on each one. Don't waste a single counter on common- 120 PLANNING FOR CHRISTMAS place goods. You may think I am asking a good deal. But remember that you can take away the commonplace look from most goods by adding the right Christmas touch. No matter how staple the goods is that you wish to put on the counter, it deserves careful thought as to what would make it more attractive and more tempting as a Christmas gift. THOUGHT is the im- portant thing. DON'T DO THINGS THE OLD WAY. There are thousands of other ways. Study them up. Big success comes more from thoughtful study than from genius, or being told just what to do. Arrange your entire store for the Holiday displays, but remember that the greatest power in bringing people to your store at Christmas time is the CHIL- DREN. Make big plans to entertain the Children. Santa Glaus is forever the Children's idol. His popularity never grows less. The cleverest idea for interesting the Children that I have ever known was the Christmas Store at Gimbel's run by Bear Brothers. How the children loved those big Polar Bears, and how their eyes snapped in wonder as to what prize the bears would give them. The Prize Package held marvellous fascina- tion for the little folks and it was a wonderful money maker for the store. Think of selling many thousands of ready-wrapped packages containing articles that THEY HAD NEVER SEEN. No waste of time in making the selection. All wrapping done days or weeks before the rush. Then, best of all, 121 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING the SURPRISE for the youngster and the joys of anticipation for the package was rarely opened until the youngster got it home. This was done at Gimbel's with a $1,000 vending machine, but YOU CAN DO THE SAME THING AT PRAC- TICALLY NO COST AT ALL. Arrange your own little Prize Store in a space 10 x 15 feet, or more, if your store permits. Then have one of your clever sales- people dress up as Santa Claus or Father Bear, as you prefer; or, if you prefer to use a woman, dress her up as Mother Hubbard or Mrs. Santa Claus. As soon as your toy stocks come in start wrapping up the prize packages. Select articles for boys and wrap them in white paper. Articles for girls wrap in pink paper. You should also arrange them in groups for various ages so that each youngster gets an article that will be suited to him or her. The Gimbel price was 25 cents each package. In London the price was 6d 12 cents. It is wisest, I think, to have only one price, as that saves time and makes it simpler. But some fathers and mothers want something better for their young- sters, and it might be worth while to have a shelfful of "Prizes de Luxe" at $1 each, to fill such a demand, but not displayed so as to spoil the full appreciation of the 10 cent or 25 cent packages sold by thousands. You will be gratified to discover that this very profitable "Prize Package Store" will delight the little folks far more than a Punch & Judy show, or any other attraction that you might put in, which 122 PLANNING FOR CHRISTMAS would be only an expense. They will be fascinated by the actions of Santa Glaus or Father Bear, and the mystery of what may be in the prize package is the greatest temptation of all. Every parent who brings a child to see it simply MUST buy one or more packages. This store feature can be quite as effectually used at Easter time selling eggs and Easter toys. Then* Father Rabbit or Mother Bunny should have charge^ of the store. KEEP YOUR ENTIRE STORE BRIGHT. It is wonderful what a decorative effect LIGHT has on a store. It makes your merchandise worth more because every- thing looks so much better. Then it has a cheering effect on the customers. Don't be stingy with the light during the Christmas season. Keep your merchandise MOVING. If something isn't selling where it is don't let it get stale. Move it to some other table. Arrange it differently. If it proves to be a poor seller CUT THE PRICES. DON'T KEEP ANY HOLIDAY GOODS TO SELL AFTER CHRISTMAS. Keep your eyes open all the time and sell your goods while the crowds are coming. Sell them at a profit if possible BUT SELL THEM. Watch your counters. Don't let the goods sell out without filling in promptly. Get things out of the stockrooms and down on the counters as quickly as you can. Thousands of dollars' worth of goods do not sell because they have never been shown, or have been shown TOO LATE. Somebody forgot them 123 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING altogether. Buyers and managers get too busy, and salespeople don't know. Make plans early for your newspaper Advertising. Get bright, attractive pictures, full of the Christmas Spirit, and with tempting gift suggestions. Com- mand public attention by your striking announce- ments and the REAL NEWS that you print. If you do not have original drawings for your advertis- ing, there are good cuts to be had, and you should have your supply ready for a good live campaign on the first day of December. Never take it for granted that people know your store, or that you have Holiday Goods. For good- ness' sake don't advertise "Full Line of Holiday Goods Now Ready." Nobody on earth wants "holi- day goods." But a statement like "We have the most interesting collection of really desirable Gift Things that we have ever shown," is likely to arouse a lot of interest IF TRUE. And you must MAKE IT TRUE. And your advertising should tell, every day, a good, strong, human interest story about some of the attractive goods just what it is, what it is good for, why it is attractive for gifts, and every really inter- esting fact about it. Of course it takes ability and skill to write advertising, but thoughtful, earnest effort will develop ability. THINK. Start EARLY and talk over each individual stock with the buyer. See how much space can be given up for holiday goods. Ask him, or her, what can be done this year that has never been done before to 124 PLANNING FOR CHRISTMAS sell more Christmas goods. Get a definite working plan adopted by every one. Get them THINKING, and keep them at it. Get them out of last year's rut and KEEP THEM OUT. Do every good thing that was done last year. Then do a lot more. The chief thing is to make plans that will provide a fine display space for all the Special Holiday Goods. Plan for fine window displays that will give people a sensation to talk about to their friends. Get your Advertising Plans all ready. Get plenty of holly decorated cards for your merchandise all over the store. Call a meeting of all your people. Tell them what big things you want to do this Christmas, and how much you are depending upon them, individually, to help you. Ask for suggestions. Get some of your people to talk right up in meeting, and ask others to write their suggestions and send them to you. Get everybody ENTHUSIASTIC about the Christ- mas business. Get everybody THINKING and WORK- ING for big things. Encourage their ideas good or bad if given with best intent and real thought. Then use the good ones. You'll be amazed to see how much REAL SOUND HELP you'll get. I don't believe there is a store anywhere, employ- ing from a dozen people to several thousand, that hasn't got real bright minds in it that only need opportunity to bring them out. It's up to you TO BRING THEM OUT. Start RIGHT NOW and see how much bigger your Christmas business will be. 125 CHAPTER XXII THE HOUSEWARMING FOR THE CHRISTMAS TOY STORE We have just two weeks to make plans for the great Holiday Opening and the Harvest Time of Gift Selling. Of course, you have your toy stock ready. Now we must prepare an Occasion that will set the whole town talking ESPECIALLY THE CHILDREN. What wonderful salesmen the children are! When you can make their eyes pop open with delight, and quicken their imaginations, filling them with desire for your goods, you are BOUND TO SELL THEM, for they will TALK AND TALK, and plead with their parents until they buy the things they crave. The great problem always is: how to create a store feature that will draw all the children of the city to your store, and so fill them with delight with what they have done and seen that they will forget that any other store exists. Here is my Plan: the Toy Store should be ready to open the day after Thanksgiving. Certainly not later than Tuesday, December 1st. The first day or better, the first two days of the Opening should be devoted to a Reception, or "Party," for the 126 THE CHRISTMAS TOY STORE children of your city. They should be invited by large newspaper advertising, with striking illustra- tions to catch the youngsters' eyes. The Party may be given by Santa Glaus, or by a fine big Doll the "Queen of Christmas," and a dozen big dolls should be on the "Reception Committee." The Toy Section should be handsomely decorated, and all the Christmas things put out where the chil- dren can see them and get their hearts set on them. For the Reception Days, a large section of the store in, or alongside of, the Toy Department should be devoted to the Buffet Banquet Table, where real refreshments should be served to the children. This table should be attractively decorated, and on one side the dozen Dolls of the "Reception Committee" should be seated, while the other side of the table is used for a buffet service to the children, who, of course, will be served while standing, and who (if the crowds are great) will take their refreshments a few steps aside to eat and drink them bringing the cup and saucer back afterward. The Buffet Banquet Table should be arranged as follows: (DOLLS) (DOLLS) (DOLLS) 0,0 0000000000 o o o O 00000000000000 O (Children standing, should be served, at each place.) 127 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING The refreshments should be a small cup of choco- late, with two small cakes (Nabisco or lady fingers), and two or three pieces of candy laid on the side of the saucer. This will be a complete, dainty, and per- fect service, and yet the cost will be quite insig- nificant, and anybody can serve the children from the far side of the table. A Serving Table, somewhere at the side, can be arranged to receive the soiled cups and saucers if the crowds are too great to have them set back on the Banquet Table. In order to avoid giving more than one service to each child, tickets for refreshments may be provided and given out as each child enters the store. The idea of the "Party," so impressively brought out by the Dolls' Banquet Table and the actual refreshments, will leave an infinitely stronger effect on the mind of the children than souvenirs costing many times the price; and the mother who would think a ten-cent souvenir too mean for the trouble of bringing her child, will be delighted with such a dainty and wholesome "treat" for her little one. The "Party" idea will prepare the minds of the little folks to carry home a pleasantly exaggerated impression of your Holiday Store, and they will not only talk about it for days at home, but they will discuss the "Party" and your store at school and at Sunday school and everywhere they go producing for you, at very small cost, the most valuable and lasting advertising that your Toy Store could pos- sibly get in your city. And, of course, THEY WILL 128 OffAR EUfWT OATP CLERK 342 343 344 345 349 350 358 TOTALS NUMBER CUSTOMERS APPROACHED 22 21 9 11 17 19 3* ' 130 SOLO 1 ARTICLE 15 12 7 11 14 21 83 MORE THAN 1 1 3 ' 1 1 2 1 to EXCHANGE 1 1 2 CO'JID NOT HAVE SIZE DESIRED 1 1 .' t DID NOT LIKE STYLE I 2 COULD NOT GET EXACTLY WHAT WANTED OR DECIDE 2 3 r 2 2 3 13 DID NOT RAVE MERCHANDISE ASKED FOR 2 1 2' 5' WAITING FOR SOMEONE 1 t JUST LOOKING 2 2 1 1 1 7 SOLD- 76.9% UNSOLD- 23.1% This chart shows how many sales were lost by different clerks and why THE CHRISTMAS TOY STORE INSIST ON HAVING THEIR CHRISTMAS PRESENTS BOUGHT AT YOUR STORE and their mothers will be equally grateful for your having given their darlings a de- lightful treat and a unique and happy day. The DIRECT result will be that most of the children of your city will be powerfully drawn to the "Party," and WILL HAVE SEEN THE TOYS and other gift things WITH THEIR OWN EYES and many will have brought their parents with them. And THAT is the most that you can hope for any advertising to do. The goods must do the rest with the help of rightly educated salespeople. All arrangements should be made EARLY in No- vember for the "Children's Buffet Banquet Party," so that you will not find that the needed space has been taken, or that something needs to be done that cannot be done in a hurry. If this Party is given in a fine, liberal manner, and enthusiastically advertised, your store's reputation for the coming Christmas business will be magnificently established. But, if you are mean with your refreshments, or not tactful in handling the children when they accept your in- vitation, you had better not do it at all. 129 CHAPTER XXIII THE BIGGEST SALES-MAKING FACTOR OF THE CHRISTMAS SEASON In November you are adding many more people to your selling force, and the most important work to be done is to EDUCATE these new people. The next important thing is to put new ginger and selling force into your regular salespeople. Don't put new salespeople behind your counters to find their own way and pick up knowledge from their fellow clerks. Don't risk big holiday selling and your store's pres- tige by such costly oversight. Yet that is exactly what THOUSANDS of stores will do. Perhaps you think you are TOO BUSY to bother with such work now. Your Manager is head over ears moving counters and stocks. The buyers are work- ing nights to get the Christmas goods out. NOBODY has a minute to teach salespeople anything. Such is ALWAYS the condition at this time. That is why the most vital thing that requires doing at Christmas time is rarely done. Of course, you can't give HOURS to this educational work; but you can, and you MUST, give fifteen minutes EVERY DAY next week, or you may lose thousands of dollars and offend hundreds 130 THE CHRISTMAS SEASON of good customers. Simply make a schedule for fifteen minutes' talk to one third of your salespeople each morning a half hour after your people get to work. In this way you will be able to talk to your entire force TWICE during the week. Don't attempt to teach them everything about SALESMANSHIP in twice fifteen minutes. Confine yourself to the VITAL things of the moment. Let the Superintendent or the aislemen teach your people the technical things. You must STIMULATE them, and get them in THE RIGHT ATTITUDE of mind toward their work and their customers. Impress them with their IMPORTANCE to the whole season's success. The goods all bought, everything ready for THEM to sell. On their work depends the success or failure of the whole holiday season. Teach your people to SMILE. Do YOU, yourself, fully realize the CASH VALUE OF A SMILE? Do you understand how a smile CREATES a friendly feeling even for a total stranger? Do you realize how a customer warms up and becomes receptive to the words and suggestions of the salesperson who SMILES? I don't mean the clownish clerks who joke and grin and laugh or smirk. They are a different sort of cattle. I mean the SMILE that shows friendliness and welcome to the customer expressing an EAGER- NESS to serve her, and a genuine PLEASURE for the opportunity to show her the merchandise in which she is interested. Some people call it a GIFT to be able to smile in this 131 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING delightful manner. It is NOT a gift it is disposition, and its opposite, a frown, is PURE CUSSEDNESS. The smile is simply a matter of cultivation. It must be possessed by, or TAUGHT TO, all salespeople who are ex- pected to do successful work. Teach your salespeople to SMILE when approaching and serving every cus- tomer. The crosser the customer is, the more persis- tent should be the courtesy and the smile of the clerk. The clerk worth while Is the one who can smile When everything goes dead wrong I know how hard it is to smile sometimes. I have stood on the other side of the counter from hundreds of grouches, and stood their fire, and I've been licked by them but I was NEVER BEATEN when I could remember to SMILE. The Smile is the BUFFER that makes the sharp remarks of the grouchy customer roll off like water off a duck's back. The Smile is the only thing that can SAVE THE SALESPERSON'S FEELINGS. It is one of the most valuable assets of the successful salesman. TEACH YOUR SALESPEOPLE TO SMILE. Then teach them ENTHUSIASM. TELL THEM EVERYTHING YOU KNOW about the excellence and attractiveness of the Christmas stocks. Have your pad written full of facts about interesting goods in your stocks, to use as illustrations of what your peo- ple have to sell to their customers. Have samples of some of the new things to hold up right there in the 132 THE CHRISTMAS SEASON meeting, and tell how they should be sold. Then tell them about your BONUS PLAN to give them an opportunity to make some EXTRA CHRISTMAS MONEY by doing extra fine selling. Take the copy that follows, and have enough cards printed to hand one to every person in your employ right after the meetings to those that attend. They will help back up what you have said. Have several of the maxims printed in big type on large cards, and tacked up in the salespeople's lockers and washrooms. When your people take these things to heart they will sell more goods and make people like your store more than they ever did before. BE A WINNER! Be proud of your profession, and develop your ability in it. Don't permit anybody to do his or her work better or more thoroughly than you do yours. Always be glad to feel that you are earning more than you are getting, because the man most to be pitied in the world is the one who realizes that he is not earning what he is being paid. Always wear a pleasant SMILE it is more valuable to the successful salesperson than the most attractive apparel. Never show annoyance or indifference under any circumstances, for it destroys your professional ability and selling power. 133 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING No community is big enough for any salesperson to afford to have any one's ill-will. Make every customer feel that you are INTER- ESTED in helping her to find EXACTLY THE THING SHE DESIRES and you increase your own value as a salesman while doing valuable service for your store. Establish CONFIDENCE in your earnestness and intelligence in the mind of all your customers, and impress them with the pleasure it gives you to serve them, and people who have money to spend will wear a path to your counter. And SUCCESS is yours. 134 CHAPTER XXIV GETTING MONEY OUT OF CHRISTMAS CROWDS Several chapters back we talked over this matter of getting the utmost possible out of the Christmas crowds. Now you are right in the midst of the year's greatest rush and hurry, and your daily problem is NOT how can I coax the people into my store, but HOW CAN I REAP THE FULLEST POSSIBLE HARVEST from the people that fill my store? Part of the day when the crowds are thickest you must spend right on the firing-line. The rest of the day you must put in searching the stock- rooms. GET EVERYTHING THAT CHRISTMAS SHOULD SELL right down on the counters. Don't let anything hide away, to be discovered and worried about at stock-taking time. Don't depend upon anybody else to do this. John Wanamaker, Isaac Gimbel all good merchants who KNOW human nature GO RIGHT INTO THE STOCKROOMS THEMSELVES. They spend days and nights DIGGING RIGHT INTO THE MERCHANDISE with their own hands. They have $10,000 buyers and energetic mer- chandise men, too, but they consider this matter TOO VITAL to trust to anybody's eyes but their own. 135 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING They must KNOW FOR THEMSELVES that the goods are being sold. They want to have their year's profit in MONEY not in stale goods that have been hidden away and not discovered until they have TO BE REDUCED TO HALF PRICE at inventory time. GET OUT YOUR GOODS stack the counters up high give the goods a chance. Get them out from under the counters. Those FINE THINGS that you love so much that you have locked them up in a showcase, in the front of the store up on some fixture or in the windows get them into the hands of your sales- people, and give them a chance to sell them. CHANGE THE SHOWCASES OFTEN. Don't let them be burial vaults for your fine merchandise. WATCH THE COUNTERS. Wherever you find goods holding important space and NOT SELLING move them away for better-selling goods, or CUT THE PRICES QUICK. The DEAD COUNTER is not only wasting valuable space, but it is A CANCER on your whole business. It makes people say: "Why the store isn't very busy. Maybe we'll find better things down street. They say they're crowded down there." Make a QUICK SURGICAL OPERATION on that DEAD counter. It is as much a menace to your business health and LIFE as the inflamed appendix is to your own body. GET IT OUT. PLACE A CLEVERLY WORDED CARD on every table. It is businesslike to simply mention the price, but it is far more clever to use a few words that will catch attention and stimulate desire. For instance, here is a table of Blouses, and 136 CHRISTMAS CROWDS the dignified store will simply place a card on the table marked with the bare price $1.95. The conventional merchant will say: "There is the Blouse, and here is the price. What more do you want?" Well, in MY business I want a great deal more. Per- haps if the fact is true, as it is likely to be I want to say : The New Callot Blouse, $1.95, with the fashion- able elephant sleeve. I'll get the attention of ten women where the plain price catches only one. I give them something to think about, and something to discuss with each other. Probably they never saw "The Elephant Sleeve" before. Then I've multiplied their interest in those Blouses by ten, at least. Dignity is all right in its place I have a great affection for it. I try to practise it always. But Dignity that means deadness has nothing to do with the successful store. EVERY COUNTER EVERY DIS- PLAY OF MERCHANDISE should have attractive tickets giving all the information that a few words can pre- sent about the goods. And every ticket should have SELLING PUNCH to it. I can't tell you WHAT to put on each ticket, but I can tell you HOW to go about it. First: what is NEW about the goods? Give that fact a word or two. Is there any other use than the obvious one? State it. Is there some BIG idea back of the article? W 7 as it originated by some BIG DESIGNER? If it is staple goods that everybody knows about tell why 137 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING it is GOOD or BETTER. Suggest its use in some unique way. Or put some crisp wording to brighten even its everyday use. As: Are you ready for NEW Dish Towels? 8 cents a yard. Now do this with ALL your Christmas goods. I have used commonplace goods to show you how to do the hardest things. There is snap and inspiration in the Christmas goods that makes card writing EASY. Cover your whole store with snappy holiday suggestions, and you'll find the things sell twice as fast. Develop the READY-WRAPPED parcel idea. Noth- ing else helps so much, to serve people quickly, as being able to hand the article right to the customer, without waiting to wrap it up. You probably sell candy that way. Why not Books the ones that are in constant demand? Have a stack on the counter all wrapped up, to hand to the customer, excepting enough on top for customers to look at. The moment the sale is made the amount is rung up on the cash register and the bundle is handed to the customer, and the clerk is ready for the next customer, and doesn't have to watch out for the package from the bundler or wrap it herself. Exactly the same thing may be done with hundreds of items all over the store. Find the things that you are selling in big quantities. Have enough for several days selling wrapped up at night to save the busy daylight hours for work that MUST be done at the time. A lot of people will gladly carry their little 138 CHRISTMAS CROWDS parcels home if they don't have to wait to have them wrapped. Everywhere that you have a counter filled with one particular article have an abundant quantity of them READY WRAPPED to save time. Six sales can often be made in the time it would otherwise take for one. And QUICK SELLING is the secret of getting money out of crowds. Hundreds slip by if the article is not ready to hand directly to the purchaser. Eliminate the tedious check writing for these quick-selling articles. Use a cash register if you have it. If not, PICK OUT YOUR HONEST PEOPLE yOU have plenty, of course AND TRUST THEM. You'll lose less by dishonesty by trusted salespeople than you'll lose by slow selling. The big stores have proved this fact. And more and more they are simplifying the check-writing process, or supplying check writers to help the salespeople and give them their whole time for selling so that slightly interested customers do not slip away. EFFICIENCY requires the cutting of red tape- shortening processes. Nothing is more maddening for a customer in a hurry than to wait while a salesperson is tediously writing out a voluminous sales slip. And EVERYBODY is in a hurry just before Christmas. MAKE ALL THE SHORT CUTS YOU CAN to turn over the goods to the customer QUICKLY, and take the money without fuss and red tape. CALL A FIVE-MINUTE MEETING OF YOUR PEOPLE preferably in the morning just after the store 139 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING opens. Give them an inspiring talk on the necessity of quick work for the next two weeks. Ask them to tell you how you can help them to make short cuts. They know what takes the time what is tedious about selling and getting goods into the hands of the customers. GET THEIR ADVICE. Of course, you can't follow it all, but you'll find a lot of it quite valuable. Encourage them. Enthuse them, and they'll go at the day's business just like a football team goes into the game. It is awfully hard for salespeople who have been working hard day after day, and perhaps night after night, to go to work with snap and enthusiasm every day. But you can help them mightily you can fill them full of your own enthusiasm by a personal word or talk. Do IT. 140 CHAPTER XXV MAKING FRIENDS WITH NEWLY-WEDS One of the most important factors in building up a retail business is the securing of new customers among newly married couples. In every case there is a new home to furnish, and the store where the goods are purchased for the first home is usually the place that retains the patronage of these people as long as the store deserves it. For this reason the shrewd merchant will plan a continuous campaign to win newly married people as his customers. The important thing is to have a thoroughly good method, and then to have a system organized by which each marriage notice will be followed up with a watchful eye every day of the year as long as the store is in business. Of course, a lot of valuable work can be done previous to the wedding day, after en- gagements are announced, but the most effective and lasting work can be done immediately following the marriage ceremony. In cities where newspapers publish all the marriage notices it is very easy to secure the names of the newly married people every morning. In smaller cities and towns, where the names may be published only 141 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING once or twice a week, it is easy to find some other means of securing the names; sometimes it may be by making arrangements with each of the clergymen and aldermen in the town or city. Of course, this plan would cause you to miss the names of any couples who were married outside of that city and come back there to reside; but the newspaper columns, either in the regular marriage notices or in the local news, will keep you well informed and provide a very com- plete list. It should be made the duty of one individual to watch for this list, and one person can very easily take care of this matter in connection with his or her other duties. Immediately, when the name is secured, a letter of congratulation should be sent and the hospitalities and services of the store should be tendered to the newly married couple. At the end of this chapter is my suggestion of exactly how this letter should be worded, and it might be used as a form letter for a long time, but should be changed before the children of the married people grow up ! A card list of the names of married people with the dates of their weddings should be very faithfully kept, and other letters should be mailed to this list from time to time, suggesting the new things that may be required in the home at that particular season. Of course, in addition, any printed matter of any sort that you get out should be mailed to this list. It also would become a very valuable list from which 142 MAKING FRIENDS WITH NEWLY-WEDS to mail letters to the man of the family a month before the wedding anniversary, suggesting to him the fact that his wedding anniversary is approaching and he is perhaps thinking of some appropriate gift for his wife. Then you can make suggestions, also appro- priate to the season of the year, of articles for the home as well as things for her individual use. Such letters will show that you are interested in the home and are watching anniversaries, and there is a subtle compliment about this very thoughtfulness. Of course, the death notices must also be carefully watched and notations made on your list so that it is always properly kept up, and no inappropriate letters are mailed after a death. In addition to the list of Newly- Weds there should be a list of Birthdays whenever a birth notice appears the name and date should be put on a card index, the names of the mother and father, and the name of the child, so that letters may be written preceding the birthday anniversary, of course using such a mailing list to interest the parents in children's apparel from the first moment of birth on through the years as long as the list is maintained. Always suggest apparel or other articles suited to the age of the child. No more valuable advertising work can be done than what goes out to cover a carefully kept list, because it enables you to write more direct letters, keeping you in close personal touch with valuable customers all over your town or city. I have never 143 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING found a woman who did not appreciate the compli- ment of having a store notice the birthdays and anniversaries of the family. Everybody appreciates the fact that his or her patronage is considered of sufficient value to be solicited in this personal and thoughtful way. It also indicates a wide-awake policy in the store that does things in this manner, and this sort of efficiency in soliciting patronage indicates carefulness and thoughtfulness in serving customers in a manner to keep their trade. It is a valuable part of a thoroughly good retail store's policy, but some stores attempting this policy carry it out so badly, and with such a lack of tact in the way letters are written, that it sometimes does more harm than good. Letters should always be dictated by a person who can write an interesting and tactful letter. A book- keeper can very rarely do this. Some stenographers can do it well, and others cannot. The merchant, or the general manager, should take pains to discover a bright man or woman somewhere in the store who could undertake to do this work in a manner that would win a multitude of friends. Every store has at least several such people in its organization if they are hunted out. Of all the advertising that goes out of the store nothing is of quite as much importance as the per- sonal letter on the store's stationery, signed with the individual name of a member of the firm, the general manager, or of some popular salesman or saleswoman. 144 MAKING FRIENDS WITH NEWLY-WEDS Even in the rush of New York City business there are few customers of the big stores who do not try to be waited on by a salesperson who knows them by name, and whose name the customer also knows. I consider it most valuable for a store to cater to this building up of customers' acquaintance by their salespeople because there is no more powerful factor in making a woman decide to which store she will go than the fact that she knows a competent, tactful salesperson in that particular department of your store. If such a salesperson personally writes a letter about new merchandise that has been received, or about special bargains that are to be offered, the customer is most powerfully drawn to the store. COPY FOR LETTER TO "NEWLY-WEDS" MR. & MRS. SAMUEL HARRIS, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. DEAR FRIENDS: As one of the well-known institutions of our City, we are taking the liberty of congratulating you on your new happiness. Every citizen of our municipality has a feeling of gratification when he reads of a new wedding. The prosperity and growth of our City are made up of those happy occasions. It means one more family to be interested in our City and its institutions one more unit to help in our development and to the improve- ment of our material welfare. We congratulate you and we congratulate our City upon the new home that is to be created. We trust that you will do us the honor of visiting our store 145 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING when we can be of service to you. There are many things re- quired by the new home and there are many services that should be rendered to the new home-builders which a concern like ours is well fitted to supply. We trust that you will permit us to become better acquainted and that you yourselves will accept our invitation to make this your store home and give us the privilege of serving you in refer- ence to your various needs. It shall always be good and faithful service, and it must always be satisfactory. If in any of your dealings with this store you are dissatisfied with the service or the merchandise, we will deem it a great personal favor to have you either tell us, or write as the exact circumstances, and we assure you that the entire transaction will be made to meet your complete satisfaction in the promptest manner possible. It is only because we are prepared to give you a complete and thoroughly satisfactory service that we venture to request your patronage. With all best wishes for your future happiness and prosperity. Faithfully yours, (Individual signature) (Firm name typewritten here). 146 CHAPTER XXVI THE MONTH-END SALE The "Red Letter Days," which I inaugurated at Wanamaker's, and the "Month-End Sale," which carried out the same idea, at Gimbel's, are features of great value which I believe should be installed as the policy of every aggressive store. There are two chief reasons : 1. The last two days of the month are always likely to be poor business days in any store, and especially so in a store that has charge accounts, and the good Storekeeper will want to inaugurate some policy that will build up a good business on those otherwise dull days. 2. The well-merchandised store should have its slow-selling goods cleaned out promptly at the end of every month. This prevents dangerous and un- desirable accumulations of poor-selling stock, and it also provides material for BARGAINS which tempt and tickle the bargain seekers while giving you back practically all the money invested in the bad stock at the same time. The "Red Letter Days" at Wanamaker's brought splendid sales, and the results were particularly 147 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING gratifying because even in the Panic of 1907 they brought in a tremendous amount f GASH, which was needed at that time when charge customers were asking for extended time. The " Month-End Sales" at Gimbel's not only assured the store of good business for the last two days of every month, but they provided a time and a good excuse for cutting prices on goods that were not selling well, and they gave splendid opportunity to get rid of odd lots and remnants. They kept the stocks cleaned up better, made a mighty good reinforcement to the month's volume of sales just when wanted, and brought in cash for disbursement on the first of the next month. I do not know of any single feature of merchandis- ing that contributes so much to good healthy store- keeping as this Month-End Sale feature. Of course, it must be done intelligently and HONESTLY. One half-hearted effort one attempt to fool the people into believing that mere words are all you have to offer will kill the success of the movement alto- gether. It MUST be a REAL event, honestly mer- chandised and offering genuine bargains. It must :also be broad enough in its scope and variety of goods to interest and attract a very large and diverse constituency. .A great many stores fail of full success because they draw back at the very point where they might establish a valuable reputation for this store feature. Strawbridge & Clothier, Philadelphia, have made the 148 THE MONTH-END SALE "Clover Sale" famous. Whenever it is announced the store is sure to be packed with enthusiastic people. Of course, they plan for this monthly event in a very large way. They buy special merchandise on which they make full percentage of profit, and this is what your "Month-End Sale" may develop into. But, no matter how popular it grows, or what you may purchase to place on sale at that time, you should never abandon the opportunity it provides to get rid of all your slow stock and your odds and ends. For this riddance is most vital to prevent your capital being tied up in dead stock when it should be kept active, even if a sacrifice has to be made once in a while. Far better to get even HALF of your money oat of bad stock, and get the money at work, than to keep it tied up for a year or more, with the loss growing greater all the time, and the bad goods doing you actual damage every time they are shown. Undesirable goods at full prices do you DAMAGE all the time. But these same goods, WHEN REDUCED, will make friends and prestige for you. And the money goes to work again. Isn't it a wonder that so many merchants can't see this? Can you under- stand why they fail to do the heroic thing when they have everything to gain by doing it, and EVERYTHING TO LOSE by NOT doing it? And yet how FEW are doing it? And the vital question is: "What are YOU doing about it?" 149 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING It is a fine plan to begin the Month-End policy with a big YEAR-END Sale, starting right after Christ- mas for a whole week. This is the time that business drops off with such a crash that something mighty drastic has to be done to stimulate the jaded shopper who has been rushed to death every minute during the strenuous month of December. The real bar- gain impulse is the only thing that will work, and even the bargain must have a NEW NAME. This novelty is supplied by the " Year-End Sale," which must be exploited as though you had never offered a bargain before in your store history. After all, THAT is one of the greatest secrets of successful Ad- vertising. Each new offering must be presented as the Sunrise of a New World. The clever advertiser never remembers what he has done before, and he makes the public forget the past and become en- thused and often really excited over the new feature that perhaps is merely presenting GOOD merchandise in a different manner, and with the use of different words. By this I am suggesting nothing that is deceptive. It is simply catering to human nature's demand for originality of ideas getting away from "sameness." Merchandise being equal, the store with "ideas" will win out always over its more conservative rival People know far less about real values than they are credited with knowing. You must keep on showing your goods and presenting your case in the strongest possible manner, or the people will either not know what you have or they will forget. 150 THE MONTH-END SALE So I advise, instead of quietly tabulating ordinary bargains, that you make a much larger fuss over them, so as to make a big public impression, and bring them all together in a great "Month-End Sale," and call it a Red Letter Sale, a Clover Sale, an Arrow Sale, a Climax Sale, or what you will preferably an original name of your own. Build up a reputation for this monthly event merchandise it earnestly and honestly, and you will have a wonderful asset in it as the months and years roll by. And you will also find your stocks getting cleaner and that your capital is not tied up in the aggravating way that it has often been in the past, and is so often tied up in so many otherwise good stores. Get your slow stocks busy doing stirring work FOR you instead of against you. Have a Month-End Sale every month during the New Year. 151 CHAPTER XXVII CLEANING OUT THE OLD STOCK After Christmas is over bring out all the remnants, odd lots, and slow sellers all the old stock that has been laying on the shelves, or under the counters, or up in the stockrooms AND TURN IT INTO MONEY. It doesn't make much difference how little money you get out of it GET IT OUT. Bad goods will NEVER be worth any more. So, while you MUST actually lose part of its cost, let it earn something valuable for you. There are two things that the public loves and they should both mean the same thing: REMNANTS and REAL BARGAINS. The clever merchant knows when IT PAYS TO LOSE MONEY. The wise merchant knows that the surest way to lose money is to hold on to goods that won't sell at a profitable price. It is TURNOVER of goods and money that makes PROFIT. If you have a million-dollar stock, and sell a million dollars' worth of goods a year, you're LOSING MONEY. If you are selling ten millions a year, from the same stock, you are a wonder. But if you are not selling three to five millions a year from your million- dollar stock, you are not getting proper returns. 152 CLEANING OUT THE OLD STOCK The thing that ties up capital, and which kills profits, is DEAD STOCK. Dead rats in your cellar are no more dangerous to health than dead stock is to a business. The merchant who hoards up old stock, counting it worth what it cost him, is just like a crazy gambler who counts the blue and white chips as real money. Get what money you can out of old stock as quickly as you can, and get it into new, fresh, desirable goods and you will turn that money over with a good profit a dozen times while you would be waiting for the old goods to sell. Then don't forget that when you sell old goods at full price you either disappoint a customer or you don't make that customer as happy as when you sell her new goods. Hence you fail to build friendship for your store. On the other hand, old goods, sold at a genuine bargain price, MAKE VALUABLE FRIENDS FOR YOUR STORE. They make people talk about what splendid bargains they got from you. They may cost you a small immediate loss, but they are building up your business and doing the most valu- able advertising for you. PUT YOUR OLD GOODS TO WORK FOR YOU. Don't let them lay rotting in stock to knife your good repu- tation and to tie up your capital. GET OUT YOUR REMNANTS pull from the shelves every piece of goods that has been laying there idle for six months. Take all the odd lots and broken sizes, and mark them at prices that will bring big crowds for a good old-fashioned Bargain Sale. 153 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING Get up a good strong newspaper advertisement, telling what you are going to offer. Then fill your store aisles with special counters for the Remnants and Odd Lots. Make things LOOK like a Special Occasion. Put a clean, new ticket on every remnant. Mark its regular price on the ticket so that people will know exactly what kind of a bargain they are getting but BE ABSOLUTELY HONEST in doing it. Don't think that people don't know, and that the remnant will sell more quickly if you boost its value a little. THAT is the way to stick a knife into the heart of your business. SOMEBODY always knows just what the former price was even if it is only a clerk, who whispers it to a friend, or who goes to some other store, or some day picks up a grouch against the store and tells the fatal story. "HONESTY is THE BEST POLICY," to-day, as always. Let each ticket tell plainly the quantity and the special price. Then have neat cards on every coun- ter showing where the BIG BARGAINS are. Get all your salespeople enthused. Call them together and explain the big thing that has been done. Don't let them think that the whole occasion rests upon the few remnants in their own department which may seem a small matter to them, but fill them with the spirit of the GREAT OCCASION. They will size up the event just as YOU size it up if they hear from you with the proper emphasis and spirit. Too many big store events fall down because the 154 sjBllop ut ;unoutv IE ii i I ll p. 3 a .2 eg 8 S3 *S n s| CLEANING OUT THE OLD STOCK selling force is not properly worked up to the highest possible point of enthusiasm, or is not properly INFORMED about the value of the goods to be sold. Remember this: your employees stand for YOU, in front of the customers. The public estimate of YOU and your STORE will be measured by their estimate of THE SALESPEOPLE WHO WAIT UPON THEM. They WOn't measure you by your BEST salespeople, for your good salespeople are likely to be greatly in the minority. Many an otherwise good store gets a bad reputation because it keeps a large number of ignorant and cheap salespeople AND THEN DOES NOT PROPERLY EDUCATE THEM. There will be little use in blowing your horn loudly in the newspapers if the people come into your store and find no enthusiasm among the clerks to match the advertising. And HERE is where most stores LOSE HALF OF THE VALUE of their big sale efforts. Of course, there are too many stores that KILL their so-called "Sales" by putting out fake merchandise, and putting values on it that never existed. The salespeople know all about the trick- ery, of course, so ENTHUSIASM is IMPOSSIBLE. If the newspaper advertising is not REINFORCED by the ENTHUSIASM of the SALESPEOPLE, a full HALF of your advertising cost and merchandising effort is LOST. Have HONEST BARGAINS. Mark them at HONEST VALUES. PROVE the importance and ECON- OMY of the Occasion to your PEOPLE. Don't expect them to be MIND READERS or to have second sight. 155 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING Don't belittle their importance to you. EMPHASIZE IT. Tell them plainly and flatly that you are DEPEND- ING upon them, that you know the sale can be a suc- cess only if THEY make it a success. For goodness* sake, don't be afraid they will ask you for a "raise" after it has been a success. You'll be mighty glad to pay more money to people who are ALIVE even if you prod them into life yourself. A store full of LIVE salespeople can afford to pay double the salaries that can be paid by a store full of "dead ones." Get the reputation, if you can, of paying the highest salaries. Have your store become the desire of all the good, strong, ambitious sales- people to come to and TO STAY IN PERMANENTLY, and you'll soon have the reputation of having the most wide-awake store and giving the best service, and THEN you'll find how easy it is to make bigger profits. Now, let's have this Big Clean-Up Remnant Sale. Make it the most rousing event your store ever knew. Make the people talk about it for months. If you have used big words for small reductions in the past, START OFF NEW AGAIN. Start right NOW. You'll have to have a little patience, and pay the fiddler for the bad music you've made. But stick to it. Better fight your way back for a couple of years than to keep on getting deeper into the ruck of public distrust. People will learn. They will change their minds if YOU change your policy. One by one they will 156 CLEANING OUT THE OLD STOCK discover that your bargains are now REAL. They'll tell one another. And people are QUICK to go after GENUINE BARGAINS. January is your time to do the BIGGEST and MOST EFFECTIVE Advertising of your store that you have ever done. Get out ALL your Old Goods, of every kind whatsoever. Have PLENTY of everything to offer. Do NOT try to pull the sale over with a few little things that will soon be sold out. Don't EVER DISAPPOINT people. You can't afford to lose them: and you can't afford to have them talk badly about you or your store. And they WON'T COME BACK. Don't shut your eyes to it, or stick your head into a hole in the ground, like the ostrich. Get out your OLD STOCK. Give a SQUARE DEAL with your bargains. Have PLENTY of them. Fill up your SPECIAL COUN- TERS. Have lots more at the regular counters. EN- THUSE your SALESPEOPLE and get their hearty cooperation. Put a strong advertisement into the newspapers, telling the EXACT TRUTH about the whole offering. And you'll have the biggest results that you ever knew and you'll have people thinking and talking about you in a way that will benefit your whole busi- ness tremendously for months afterward. 157 CHAPTER XXVIII CONDUCTING A PRIZE FANGYWORK CONTEST It is a serious problem to keep women interested in your store in the blustry, rainy, or otherwise dis- agreeable month of February. It is not a month of heavy buying, normally, and great bargain effort is made by the larger city stores. It is very much more important to get ALL THE REGULAR BUSINESS YOU CAN in January and Febru- ary, so that a fair percentage of your business may be done at a normal profit. One cannot pay rent, heat, light, employees, and other fixed and variable expenses out of the losses on bargain clean-ups, and NO STONE SHOULD BE LEFT UNTURNED to SCCUre the trade of all the people possible who have other than bargain goods to buy in these two months. One of the very strongest appeals to the interest of women even in New York City, where they are supposed to live at Tango Teas, and go nightly to the theatres and to dinner parties is through their almost universal interest in FANCY NEEDLEWORK. Almost every woman has some Fancywork under way all the time, and all other women enjoy seeing it, even if they never work at it. Of course, January 158 A PRIZE FANCYWORK CONTEST and February are the best months to do fancywork, because life out of doors is usually unpleasant. Thus it is the time to get the INTERESTED ATTENTION OF MOST WOMEN to a well-planned CONTEST IN FANCY NEEDLEWORK Offering Many Valuable Prizes to Winners Of course, it will be a condition of the contest that all contestants shall enter their names at your store when starting to compete. Then all materials for the fancywork to be entered in the Contest must be purchased at your store. All work entered is to be sent to your store FOR UNRESTRICTED EXHIBITION, with release from re- sponsibility for its loss. Thus the Needlework will provide material for an Exhibition that will interest and bring to your store ALL LOVERS OF FANCY NEEDLE- WORK in your entire city, whether they are accus- tomed to coming to your store or not. And, best point of all, EVERY WOMAN WHOSE WORK is ON EX- HIBITION will send all her friends to see her work, and she will bring scores of them herself. And it is wonderful what an amount of talking about such an Exhibition there will be all over the city, wherever women get together. Every woman will want to see how other women do certain things. Some will admire other work; some will take the greatest delight of their lives in 159 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING criticising it and telling their neighbors how careless Mrs. Jones is with her stitches, and what awful color combinations she makes. And the more they admire and criticise and quarrel, the more valuable advertis- ing they do for your store. An Exhibition of this sort is very easily arranged, at practically no cost to the store, while providing many sales of Fancy Needlework Materials, and bringing people to the store who will buy many other things at regular prices. The point about a feature of interest like this is that it very often determines in a woman's mind where she will go to buy the things she wants. Per- haps she could get them at any store; but she will decide to GO TO YOUR STORE, so that she can see the Fancywork Exhibition again, and have another look at the way Mrs. Spalding gets that beautiful curl to her rose petals. By all means, offer really handsome PRIZES. They may all be merchandise from your store, of course. But select things that will make a sensation when exhibited as Prizes IN YOUR WINDOW. For EVERY WOMAN WHO SEES THEM will knOW that SHE IS A POSSIBLE WINNER. Thus hundreds of women will come for weeks just to pass your window and have another look at the beautiful clock, the fine wrist watch, the beautiful handbag, or the sewing machine that you are showing for first, second, and third prizes. Naturally you will make the explanation that any woman who would prefer some other prize 160 A PRIZE FANCYWORK CONTEST may select any merchandise of equal value in your store. Of course, this Contest must be liberally advertised. For you will get the fullest results only by getting a lot of people talking about it and working for it. Probably you will need to have some of your clever and influential saleswomen and buyers induce their personal friends to enter the Contest, to get the en- thusiasm started. Then, each day, your advertising should tell how women have already started on their Prize Work, thus stimulating others to start immedi- ately. It is most important that you should secure the names of five or six prominent women to serve on your Board of Judges. Neither the Firm nor any- body in the store must be in any way responsible for the decisions made or the naming of the Prize Winners. You will be very sorry, and you will feel that many women deserved more consideration, but of course THAT was all in the hands of the eminent women who composed the Board of Judges. The Prize Contest might continue for six weeks or two months giving a long time to exhibit the Prizes. Then the Prize Work Exhibition should be held for two weeks though one week would be enough if the space could not be given for a longer time. Then the Prize- Winning Pieces should be exhibited, with the Prizes won by them, for another two weeks. Thus women will get quite hungry for YOUR NEXT CONTEST. Of course, you will not overlook every opportunity 161 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING to get newspaper notices about the Contest. The papers will print this news freely, because it concerns their subscribers. They will print the names of the Board of Judges. Then they will print a notice about the Exhibition, with the names of the exhib- itors. Naturally they will tell an interesting story about the Prize Winners. Then, if you feel like giving a dinner at a prom- inent hotel or restaurant to the winners and the Board of Judges, with wisely selected newspaper representatives, you will have another valuable newspaper notice about it. And it will seem like the biggest social event of the season. Thus the Fancy Needlework Contest will bring many actual immediate sales. It will arouse tre- mendous interest in your store. It will make every woman talk about you. It will get big FREE ad- vertising for you, of the best kind. It will make people earnestly desire that you do it over again soon. And the whole cost of it is a mere shoestring. 162 CHAPTER XXIX PROMOTING BUSINESS IN MARCH Two of the greatest subjects in the world divide the intense interest of women in the early Spring: (1) The New Fashions in Apparel. (2) The Cleaning and Redecorating of the Home. Both of these subjects provide very broad oppor- tunities for the shrewd and wideawake merchant. Naturally, every storekeeper offers these goods for sale, but how many are sufficiently ingenious and aggressive TO COMMAND THE ATTENTION OF THEIR ENTIRE CITY to the Apparel and other merchandise that they have to offer. This suggestion comes to impress you with the importance of doing SOME MIGHTY IMPRESSIVE THINGS in your store and in your advertising, so that people will be impelled to COME TO YOUR STORE for the many things they need INSTEAD OF GOING ELSEWHERE. But EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO COMPETITOR IN YOUR TOWN, you can tremendously increase the desires of your public by tempting advertising and unique displays of goods in your store. During the months of March, April, and May the advertising should always present beautiful pictures 163 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING of fashionable Dresses and Suits for Women and Girls, and handsome Millinery heads, if you sell Millinery. Nothing attracts women like smart styles, and nothing gives so much of the real atmosphere of Fashions to a store as thoroughly stylish and really beautiful Pictures of women in handsome hats and gowns used freely in the advertising. The store that gets the reputation of having the most fashionable Apparel is the store that women like most and do most of their shopping in. And this reputation can be made by the constant use of beau- tiful illustrations provided, of course, that the store is not negligent in keeping up its stock of Stylish Apparel. But other things being equal, the store that continuously prints beautiful illustrations in its advertising is going to make people see the most beauty in its merchandise for, if you tell people a thing continuously, and there is no absolute evidence to the contrary, they will eventually take you at your own estimate. And they will attribute to your Apparel the same beauty and smartness that the artist puts into the picture. Then you can give a wonderful atmosphere of Fashions to your store by the liberal use of Store Posters, on which are printed in artistic colors beau- tiful pictures of women gowned in the latest fashions. These Posters can be secured at quite reasonable cost from syndicates supplying them, and as sub- jects are always confined to one store in a city, they 164 PROMOTING BUSINESS IN MARCH have all the distinction of being absolutely original with you. But you must choose the illustrations Of a THOROUGH ARTIST. As a rule, the finest illustrations pictures of REAL, LIVE, beautiful women, dressed in the most correct fashions cost about the same as the stiff, wooden, unattractive cuts that come from the com- mon electrotype makers. One of the great factors of strength in Wanamaker and Gimbel advertising, creating artistic atmosphere for the store, and im- pressing the public with their authoritative position in the matter of Style, has unquestionably been the MAGNIFICENT ILLUSTRATIONS used in their advertis- ing. Make your advertising TALK Fashions, very strongly, all this month and next. But remember that Fine Pictures SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS, and while people sometimes discount what you SAY, they cannot escape the PLEASING AND COMPELLING IM- PRESSION that the beautiful pictures create for your advertising and your store. Remember that every woman is HUNGRY for the Fashion news that you can give her. If you tell the story of Style every day, she will always BE EAGER TO READ your adver- tising, and while you are catering to her desire for news, you will be creating in her AN INTENSE DESIRE TO POSSESS the Apparel you have to sell. Of course, I know that not all stores have thorough Fashion writers in their Advertising Departments, but every advertiser should be a ravenous reader of 165 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING Fashion news, and sentences and paragraphs can be quoted liberally from the great fashion publications and trade journals. But remember that a BEAUTIFUL PICTURE, in correct style, with your name below it, might make an impressive advertisement if you had no writer at all to create the fashion story. Make your advertising, your windows, and your entire store EXPRESS Fashions in the strongest pos- sible manner all this month, and it will help you sell every other kind of goods you keep. Everybody starts Spring Housecleaning on April 1st. First, the store must supply the things needed for the actual work of cleaning, then it must be ready to suggest the new things that will brighten the home and supply new furnishings and new adornment to match the brightness of cleanliness that the great Spring work has produced. Every housekeeper in your town or city needs new brooms, new scrub brushes, soap, mops, clotheslines, carpet beaters, scrub buckets, stepladders, and the thousand and one things that housecleaning demands. This is the time to make a great Sale of these things. A bigger sensation can be made over selling Soap for ten cents less on a dozen cakes than can be made by cutting the price of rugs in half. Now is the time to make a sensation just that way. April is the time for a Great Sale of Sheets and Pillow Cases, for Sales of Linens and Towels, for Rugs and Linoleums, for Window Hangings by the yard. But it is also the greatest Spring month for 166 PROMOTING BUSINESS IN MARCH all kinds of less pretentious Apparel : Hosiery, Under- wear, and the like. The one garment that women are always ready to buy is the Shirt Waist, or Blouse, and a Big Sale of Waists, where a new style has been actually secured at a GENUINE BARGAIN, is sure to pack the store and sell many other goods. A good buyer can always get such a bargain in Waists. The CHIEF POINT OF ALL in promoting business at any time is NOT TO GET IN A RUT. Don't go, one year after another, with a RING IN YOUR NOSE, to follow WHAT YOU DID LAST YEAR. It is wise to have certain annual and semi-annual events, and it is always important to rise to some occasion that brought you large sales the year before, but KEEP YOUR MIND OPEN FOR NEW IDEAS. Last year's accomplishments are always splendid TO BUILD UPON, but too many merchants and pro- moters are content to do only what has been done before. New ideas, new methods, new efforts are necessary to create a GROWING and PROSPEROUS Business. 167 CHAPTER XXX MAKING EASTER TIME SELL MORE GOODS That old Greek who said, "Give me a fulcrum on which to place my lever, and I will move the World with the strength of my bare arm," expressed a true advertising principle. The Advertising Man is always seeking a "fulcrum" an occasion, an excuse, a reason, an argument on which to base his appeal. If the necessity of buying goods at that particular time can be made to seem REASONABLE, the reader of the advertising is always more easily convinced that the purchase should be made, and thus the advertising is more successful. Easter time is such a "fulcrum" an occasion that can be made a powerful influence for selling in many directions. Primarily, it is the time to sell Fashionable Apparel. Strong advertising can make every man and woman alive feel CHEAP and absolutely DISGRACEFUL if they appear on Easter Day in any- thing but spick and span new clothes. Of course, the shrewd merchant makes every effort to spread this feeling universally, and thus sales are built up, because women want to avoid the absolute MISERY of being seen in old things on Easter. 168 EASTER TIME The basis of the Advertising should be the estab- lishing of the feeling that EVERY ITEM OF APPAREL WORN ON EASTER DAY SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY NEW. And so the play of this thought is used for Millinery, Suits, Dresses, Blouses, Neckwear, Gloves, Veil- ings, Shoes, Stockings, Handkerchiefs, and every little accessory that excuse can be found to suggest. This idea is based on the old religious superstition, and is as logical as it is valuable. The Easter thought must be exploited EVERY DAY, in the strongest possible manner, until people begin to feel conscience stricken if they neglect to buy the the things suggested. It is only by persistent and forceful presentation of these selling suggestions in your advertising that you can get largest possible results. The idea will not develop naturally in the customer's mind. The seed must be sown, and it must be cultivated EVERY DAY, during this vital period, so that people do not "make the old gloves do," and get along with the old shoes, and wear the old veil or even the old silk dress. Selling goods is a constant Tug of War between the public and the merchant. People want to buy only THINGS THEY ABSOLUTELY NEED, and most merchants would starve to death if they waited for people to think up the things they had to have. Fill your Advertising with strong Fashion talk and BEAUTIFUL PICTURES to creat the vital atmosphere of Style for your store, and you will fascinate women and gain 169 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING their deepest interest. At this moment nothing else compares at all, in importance, among thousands of women, with the vital questions around "What to Wear." You must cater intelligently to this desire for information as well as for the Apparel. The merchant who succeeds is the one who him- self, or through his advertising manager or his mer- chandising manager, by means of advertising, CREATES NEW DESIRES IN PEOPLE'S MINDS EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR. Storekeepers cannot make profits on money that people deposit in savings banks. It is their business to discourage thrift. After fullest possible attention has been given in the advertising to Everything in Apparel for Easter, other merchandise should be strongly suggested. First, the dress goods, silks, trimmings, ribbons and everything else for the making of apparel. Then the things that will RENEW THE HOME for Easter: Fine White Linens for the Table on Easter morning; Handsome new Dimity or Embroidered Bedspreads to displace the heavier sorts used all winter; a new Breakfast Set of China the desirability of which is most emphasized on Easter morning; a new carpet or rug for the Breakfast-room; new Lace Curtains to give Easter dress to the Home. New kitchen wares may be suggested by the various devices for boiling eggs. The Toy Opportunity grows larger each year, as stores develop and encourage the idea. Right ad- vertising, that catches the eyes of the children, will 170 EASTER TIME make them enthusiastic for the idea that means so much to the merchant. In the chapter on "Planning for Christmas" I gave the suggestion for a "Mother Goose" or "Father Bunny" Prize package bazaar for Easter time car- ried out on the same lines as the Santa Glaus Store for Christmas. The bright salesperson is dressed in an attractive costume to represent one of these characters, and sells ready-wrapped packages; those containing Toys suitable for girls are wrapped in pink paper, and others suitable for boys are wrapped in white paper; so that each child will get an appropriate and pleasing gift. Ten-cent or twenty-five-cent Toys are selected for these packages, and they are sold at these prices, "sight unseen," to the little folks, who are wild with delight to know what the " surprise " may be, which has been picked out for them by "Mother Goose. ' This means quick sales, sure profits, no waste of time while making selections, usually no delivery, as the children cling to their prizes and carry them home themselves. And there are very few exchanges. Of course, "Mother Goose" keeps no books, and must be paid Cash. "Father Bunny's Easter Toy Ba- zaar," or "Mother Goose's Easter Prize Fair," may be started as quickly as the costume is made and continued right up to Saturday night before Easter. A bright circular handed to the school children would bring them by hundreds to your store to get 171 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING a "PRIZE PACKAGE." They will do all the advertising after you let them know about it. Easter Time can be made a mighty profitable season from many different angles, if best use is made of the Occasion. But you must make your efforts in many differing directions. The Fashions appeal to women and girls. The Easter Toys appeal to the children. Play one strong on one day, and the other on another, and often both together. Of course, if you sell Men's Apparel, the same Easter argument holds good. Every man must have his new Easter Suit, and the giving of a box of Scarfs to men friends is an established custom that should be promoted in the fullest degree. The Box of Scarfs to Men, and the Box of Gloves to Women, should be emphatically advocated, and, if the store displays and the windows show Easter Eggs cleverly nested in these Easter Boxes, there will be added excuse for the giving, which will be the only incentive required to make hundreds of nice sales. Help every buyer in your store to find some way to adapt the Easter thought to the selling of his mer- chandise, and you will be surprised and gratified to see how many sales may be secured in goods that would not otherwise be sold. 172 CHAPTER XXXI TRAINING RETAIL SALESPEOPLE To-day the entire business world recognizes the vital importance of the Salesman and Saleswoman. When modern business development brought "One Price" and "Money Back," it was thought that any- body could sell goods on that principle without either knowledge of goods or training. To-day merchants and manufacturers are alive to the error of that theory, and the Era of Education has begun. It takes far more training and brains to stimulate desire for commodities that have not been used be- fore, and for articles that are not really needed, than it did in the old days to get the best of a customer when he or she was dickering for something that was actually needed. To me, the Salesman holds the same position in the distribution of the World's products, as the hand on the watch does to the telling of time. Of what use is all the skill of the watchmaker, the delicate adjustment, the finely tempered steel, and the care- fully set jewels that hold the action so perfectly, if there are NO HANDS ON THE FACE OF THE WATCH to 173 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING tell the time that all these facilities are combined to indicate with absolute accuracy? Or what good is the interior mechanism if the hands of the watch are bent or broken? Of what use is the great Ford factory, with its wonderful facilities for speedy work and its marvellous production of A THOUSAND GARS A DAY, if salesmen are not efficiently selling the cars at the same pro- digious rate? The Hand of the Watch is the only thing that the user sees. The Salesman is the only person that the customer sees. The Sale depends upon the knowledge, skill, tact, courtesy, and all- round ability of the salesman. All the brains, knowl- edge, and genius of the great organization never come in contact with the customer. Of course, a pound of sugar might be sold by a slot machine. But with slot-machine stores, ten thousand industries would go to smash and hundreds of towns and cities would be filled with people out of work. Yet thousands of stores would have only slot-machine service except for the Special Providence which gives a certain percentage of salespersons the intuition to TEACH THEMSELVES. No store, however small, should be without its school a single day in business hours or after them. The Law may not permit you to WORK your people after hours, but it certainly will not forbid you to TEACH them the things that will enable them to EARN MORE. Many municipalities provide Night Schools to teach things not nearly so valuable. Some time 174 TRAINING RETAIL SALESPEOPLE all large cities will have classes in Salesmanship, as well as in other commercial work. First, teach salespeople the SERIOUSNESS of the work. Impress Mary Jones with the fact that if she sells that suit, the man who makes that kind of suits will earn that much more, and if she doesn't sell it, he may lose his job or earn less than his family needs for their support. Explain to her that every time she sells a suit she helps the farmer who raises the sheep, the people who shear the wool, the railroads that carry it, the mills that card and weave it, the dyers, finishers, wrappers the people in the factory where the suit is made, as well as the people who make the linings, the buttons, and all others who contribute to its production and handling in any way. Don't you think that Mary Jones will be a different woman, after her eyes are opened to the vital IMPORTANCE of SELLING the goods that depend upon her to be sold, in order to have so many people make a proper living? After the seriousness of the work is realized, other lessons may be taught. The ground must first be prepared. After you stimulate the imagination and the ambition of your people, SELLING may be taught. Of most importance I consider the qualities that must be DRAWN OUT of the salesperson COURTESY, TACT, and PLEASANT MANNERS. If these cannot be taught, the other lessons may be omitted. The material is not worth any labor for Salesmanship. The Salesperson's manners must be AGREEABLE 175 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING to the customer. He must be EARNEST and intel- ligently HELPFUL never familiar, and NEVER RUDE under any circumstances, no matter what the prov- ocation. NEATNESS in dress and absolute CLEANLINESS of person are vital. They cost nothing and are in- valuable. Every Salesperson must be a Bureau of Information about the store. The customer has a right to expect it, and the management should never permit a sales- person to go on duty before being thoroughly taught store routine. The ignorant answer of a new clerk discredits the entire store, and asking other clerks annoys their customers and wastes more time. Salespeople must be taught to KNOW THEIR MER- CHANDISE. They might as well be ignorant of the English language as not to be able to give an intel- ligent reply about the goods they sell. Every sales- person should become an EXPERT in the goods he sells. This is necessary to have the respect of cus- tomers, to influence sales, and it is part of the thing sold to know how to use it. But salespeople are not mind readers, and must be TAUGHT. Yet how few stores, or their buyers, ever take time to explain the goods to the people that must sell them. Every manager should fix stated times when he will demon- strate to his people the use, the value, the construc- tion, the quality, and the comparative value of everything in stock so that exactly the arguments that sold him the goods may enable his people to 176 TRAINING RETAIL SALESPEOPLE sell them to the public. This will make goods sell twice as quickly, and with infinitely greater satis- faction to the customers. Salespeople should be thoroughly educated in the STORE POLICY. The essential points should be printed on cards, and always in the possession of salespeople for continuous study. They should be frequently catechised on the subject, not only to know the words, but to understand the meaning. This edu- cation is a great work, but any ignorance of a sales- person reflects upon the whole store. Salespeople must be taught to be THOUGHTFUL. People who succeed are people who THINK. In no profession is it more vital to keep the mind AWAKE than in selling merchandise. When a customer asks for something out of the ordinary, in the way of service, it is so easy to say, "We can't do that." Such words should be forbidden salespeople. They should always refer such things to a manager. But they must THINK, in order to know what to do. The salesperson's mind should always be on every- thing the customer says, to gather information about her and her home that will enable the clerk to sug- gest other merchandise likely to be useful, and the THOUGHTFUL salesperson will always grasp the situa- tion best for the making of an unexpected sale. The bright salesperson always discovers possibilities for extra sales in every customer, and with her mind alert, has excuses for suggesting things where a duller clerk might be simply annoying to the customer. 177 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING The thoughtful suggestion of other merchandise is often really HELPFUL to the customer, and leaves a pleasant memory of the thoughtful salesperson in her mind even when an actual sale has not been made. Thousands of women would be glad to buy many things if they knew that they existed, and they are glad to be informed, in a courteous and thoughtful manner, about new things to wear and to decorate the home. Then there will be far less goods to be brought back to the store to demand money back and to be reduced in price, if goods are thoughtfully sold in the first place. Probably every progressive store on the Continent is worrying about Goods Returned. The cost and loss of this extravagance in retailing is appalling. In many stores 20 to 25 per cent, of the goods sold is afterward returned, and the work of taking goods back is 10 to 20 per cent, more costly than the sell- ing. When it is figured out, it is shown that the cost of selling and bringing back goods that are returned ADDS A FULL HALF to the cost of selling the goods that STAY SOLD. This frightful expense is driving up GROSS PROFITS to a point that will soon cause the public to rebel, while net profits grow smaller. One of the most hopeful ways to cure this evil is by teaching salespeople to sell their goods so intelli- gently and thoroughly that they will STAY SOLD. If thorough selling is taught, and foolish selling is eliminated, there will be much bigger profits at the 178 via TRAINING RETAIL SALESPEOPLE end of the year, and customers will be infinitely better satisfied with your store service. Teach your people to watch and study your AD- VERTISING. The Advertising of any well-conducted store expresses the strongest arguments for the mer- chandise, and tells much about the store's policy. It is always a source of valuable information, and in the larger cities it is one of the earliest duties of the day for salespeople and managers to carefully read over the store's advertising to know WHAT is spe- cially advertised, as well as to know all about it. The work of promoting the sales of the entire store can be made infinitely more valuable by securing the efficient cooperation of the salespeople, in connection with the Advertising. It is VITAL, in order to secure good work, from people in any trade ' or profession, to STIMULATE THEIR AMBITION, and tO REWARD by PROMOTION all who are worthy and who have demonstrated im- provement in efficiency. There must be tangible evidence that increase in salaries and promotions in position will follow earnest and efficient work. It is not in human nature to work harder and more intelligently, to produce bigger sales of goods bearing profitable prices, when our employer is making all the money out of it. And he is a short-sighted and usually a not very successful employer who refuses to reward the people who are making money for him. It has been abundantly demonstrated that one well-educated, intelligent salesperson is worth at 179 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING least two that are careless even in the direct selling of goods that customers ask for; but probably no one will ever be able to compute the intelligent sales- person's value in making permanent customers for the store, and selling goods to STAY SOLD. If the firm and management believe in Education, they will know that the trained and thoughtful sales- person at $15 a week is cheaper than the careless sales- person at $6 a week, and stimulate their energies and ambition accordingly, to their own greater profit and the added good will of the store. If the members of the firm could realize how many times every day in the year their own reputation and the character of their store were lowered in the esti- mation of the public, and how many dozens of times daily good customers were exasperated by untrained salespeople, they would ACT without an hour's loss of time. Unfortunately these things are hidden from them, or brought to their attention only when some bold customer rebels. Then the customer that kicks is considered a ' 'crank," and the sales- person is given a "cussing out" or is fired. But there is no effort made to educate the salespeople or strengthen the organization or methods. EDUCATE your salespeople. STIMULATE their am- bition. RETAIN and REWARD the thoughtful and intelligent. Then you will sell MORE goods. You will sell BETTER goods at BIGGER profits. The goods will STAY SOLD, and your store's prestige will grow while people enjoy dealing in your store. 180 CHAPTER XXXII ' A SOLUTION OF THE CHARGE ACCOUNT PROBLEM Many merchants are constantly worrying about their "Charge Account" troubles. Some wonder whether it really pays to do a credit business. This is a serious problem, and it cannot be answered sim- ply by deciding that you will not give Credit. Credit is the life of Commerce. It is the greatest stimulus to trade that exists. If all business were to be restricted to Cash, the Commerce of the Coun- try would go to smash. In the retail business it seems most primitive to ask people to always have the money in their pockets, in order to buy goods that they want. In the first place, it would be mighty unwise to always carry large sums of money in the pocket especially for women, who don't have poc- kets, and whose handbags are easily "picked" or stolen. Hence, people DO NOT have money in BIG SUMS in their pockets to pay cash with, and when they think they want to buy something and have to wait until they go and get the money, NINE TIMES OUT OF TEN THEY CHANGE THEIR MINDS AND DON ? T BUY AT ALL. It is hard enough to get people to MAKE UP THEIR 181 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING MINDS TO BUY, and when they have them made up, THE SALE SHOULD BE CLOSED AT ONCE. If the CUS- tomer has a Charge Account, it is EASY. If not, and if the money is not ready, the sale will probably be lost. Again, the charge on the books, on an account that need not be paid at once, makes the expenditure twice as easy. When the actual cash has to be counted out and it happens to LEAVE VERY LITTLE IN THE POCKETBOOK a change of heart often comes. Charge Accounts unquestionably DOUBLE and often QUADRUPLE the possible business that a store can do. This is why most stores do a Charge business. The problem comes in making the collections. People whose commercial rating is highest are usually the slowest in paying their bills. Wealthy people often decline to settle accounts more than twice a year. They don't want to be bothered, and wonder why the merchant worries about the money when he is so sure of getting it or having it left to his heirs. The carrying of Charge Accounts increases the volume of any good business to such an extent that it repays the business for a moderate amount of losses. And yet, no merchant no matter how much his business has been enlarged by the Charge Accounts can bear to see the record of losses from bad accounts on his books at the end of the year. This is why some solution of the problem is sought. The following plan, while long since proven most valuable by being in force in its primary features for many years, has new features which should make 182 THE CHARGE ACCOUNT PROBLEM the plan very popular and eliminate the worries of collections, while conferring on your customers ALL of the advantages and conveniences of a Charge Account, and DOUBLE INTEREST on their money, as a special attraction a discount that you can afford to pay several times over for the security it gives you and the increased business that it will bring. The Plan can be best explained by quoting the Announcement that should be made to the Public when adopting the Policy, which would be as follows : 1 per cent, per Month for Your Money. To Deposit Account Charge Customers. We put in operation to-day, in our business, a Plan which not only confers upon our patrons all the con- veniences of a Charge Account, but pays handsome interest, at the rate of 12 PER GENT. PER ANNUM, on the money left with us in advance, which is spent with us each month. In brief, the Plan is this : Customers who wish to open a deposit Charge Account make an estimate of what amount of money they will be likely to spend with us during the com- ing month. This sum of money, or a check for the amount, they shall bring to our Deposit Account Office, where we will give them pass books, each being credited with the amount deposited just as a bank would do. This at once establishes your credit, to the amount deposited, and you may make purchases against the account in our store. At the end of the month a statement of your account is made out, and if you have sufficient money deposited to cover the amount, you are credited on your bill with 1 PER CENT. 183 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING of the bill's total, which is deducted from the amount that you pay out of your Deposit Account. Thus you have established your credit without asking friends to endorse you, you have had all the advantages of a Credit Account, and YOU HAVE BEEN PAID TWICE AS MUCH INTEREST ON THE MONEY DEPOSITED AND DRAWN AGAINST DURING THE MONTH as you could have received for it under the best cir- cumstances, and THREE TIMES AS MUCH as you would receive from the Savings Bank for leaving it there for the same length of time. Then you make another deposit to cover the next month's purchases, to again have 1 PER CENT. OF THE MONEY YOU SPEND deducted from your bill. Try a DEPOSIT CHARGE ACCOUNT this month, and you will never be without it again. NOTE: We are not in the banking business. We accept no accounts on a plain interest basis, and we pay no interest on money deposited. Interest is paid only ON MONEY SPENT in our store during the month preceding settlement. This Plan is a matter Of CONVENIENCE and PROFIT for OUR CUSTOMERS exclusively. This Plan GUARANTEES all accounts absolutely. You make collections from your own cash drawer. It gives you the money to use, with no other obliga- tion than to supply goods out of your stocks. The interest you pay is an insignificant advertising cost, or purchasing agent's discount. It increases your business and guarantees all your Deposit Charge Accounts. If you are doing a strictly Cash business, this 184 THE CHARGE ACCOUNT PROBLEM will not change your policy at all. You still have the cash, and often A MONTH BEFORE PURCHASES ARE MADE. If you are now doing a Credit business, it will enable you to quit giving the other kind of credit, if you so desire; and it WILL TEMPT your pres- ent charge customers to come in under the new Plan in order to get the discount. The Plan will induce hundreds of your Cash Buyers to open 1 PER CENT. accounts, so that they will not only be tempted to BUY MORE, but they will then BUY EVERYTHING THEY WANT at YOUR store instead of dividing the amount among your competitors, as cash buyers usually do. Almost everybody has enough cash to start a deposit account. Practically everybody likes to enjoy the feeling of having money on deposit. Hun- dreds of people will be EAGER to have "Charge Ac- counts" who have been deprived of the usual courtesy. Hundreds of your customers will enjoy the feeling of having you know that they have money on interest with you. The Plan is one of the greatest " hair-color re- storers" ever invented, for if gray hair comes from worry, this is one of the best eliminators of worry that the merchant ever knew particularly the mer- chant who is always worried about his bad accounts. Of course you want to avoid creating the impression that you are going into the banking business. That is why the statement is made at the bottom of the Announcement. Also, it must be clearly understood that if a customer has $100 on deposit, and only $60 185 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING is spent that month, that interest is paid only on the $60 and not on the $100. This is not exploited in the advertising because you don't want people to figure too much on it; but if complaints of that sort are made, you simply suggest that they deposit a little less or buy a little more. This plan will be welcomed by hundreds of people who dislike to give references, and who may thus establish their own credit quite independently of all friends. It will also give the opportunity of having charge accounts with people who have previously dis- credited themselves by not meeting obligations. And this very large class frequently has access to considerable money. Their circumstances also may change, while people must still refuse them accom- modations because of past delinquencies. 186 CHAPTER XXXIII THE MAY FAIR The month of May is crowded with splendid pos- sibilities for the wide-awake merchant. Just be- cause it usually is a good month, many stores lay down and wait for what naturally turns up, and thus they lose much profitable business. Of course you should not sacrifice profits con- tinuously to get public attention, for May must make enough profits to more than take care of the dull months coming. Hence the need of other ways to keep your store in the Public Eye and interest people in buying things they want in YOUR store. The public and women especially are always susceptible to spectacular things. Any store oc- casion that has real novelty back of it or which presents an interesting display of attractive mer- chandise can command wide interest. The clever merchant must keep his eye open to maintain constant interest in his store, and to create frequent occasions of commanding importance. In planning to create public interest for this valu- able month, arrange for "THE GREAT MAY FAIR" 187 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING The Month of Flowers suggests beautiful store decorations, to create the atmosphere of freshness and beauty and give a physical change to the appear- ance of the whole store. The Muslin Underwear, the Linens, the Sheets and Muslins, the White Dress Goods, and the Lace Curtain departments should present an array of White that will give a definite character to those important sections, and there should be DAILY Special Offerings in one or another of these departments ALL MONTH. These special offerings should be provided for by special purchases, where attractive bargains can be secured from the makers, or where special prices will be al- lowed on limited lots. If you start a month ahead to prepare for the May Fair, you will not need to cut your own profits to secure the Daily Bargain Fea- tures that should add interest to the store displays. I would start the month with THE MAY FAIR OF MUS- LIN UNDERWEAR AND BLOUSES, presenting the com- plete Summer assortments of women's intimate ap- parel and the New Models in all garments that have been evolved to meet the requirements of the new modes in women's suits and dresses. This will arouse curiosity, and should be entirely true if your stocks contain the novelties that are being brought out. The new corsets are always interesting to women, and even though few of the extreme shapes can be sold in your city, you should arrange with your manufacturers or jobbers to have a display of THE 188 THE MAY FAIR MOST EXTREME SHAPES THAT ARE MADE, and have a demonstration of them, on Living Models, for Women only, and show them in your windows, on display forms associating with them, in all displays, the most striking and most beautiful Lingerie. A very attractive feature of the Fair will be secured by an Exhibition of Extreme Novelties in Blouses, of which there are many, and which may undoubtedly be borrowed on consignment, even if you do not see your way to sell them. Unquestionably most of them will be sold to women of your city who will be very glad to have garments so exclusive. The Ex- hibition and the Window Display of these Unique and Beautiful Blouses will cause a lot of talk and add to your reputation for the newest Fashions. Ar- range for an Exhibition and Sale of Women's Crepe and Linen Dresses, to be ready for about the 15th of May. A fine, beautiful, specially purchased bargain offering will give women the spur to come to see and buy from the Exhibition of your entire Summer stock. Another Strong feature of the May Fair should be the EXHIBITION OF HOUSEKEEPING LINENS AND SALE OF TOWELS which should start the Monday following the Lingerie Sale. The Linen Depart- ment should be splendidly decorated, and all the Fine Table and Fancy Linens beautifully displayed, so that housekeepers will be delighted to visit the department and see the fine things shown. A cleverly selected collection of TOWELS, purchased and sold 189 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING at a Big Bargain, will give the incentive to visit the Linen department while the Exhibition is being made. The combination of Exhibition with the Sale gives the opportunity to sell many goods at full profit while people are there for the bargain; and if the bargain is provided for ahead of time, the full profit may be made on it as well. Nothing is so important as to continuously PRO-* VIDE SPECIAL BARGAINS AHEAD OF TIME, SO that profits may be conserved and not cut out of regular stocks when the attraction is to be advertised. Successful stores get their reductions allowed by manufacturers, either on odd lots or on new goods, when the regular stocks are being purchased, and thus they prevent the tremendous shrinkage of profits at inventory time. Other features for the May Fair can be created from the stocks of Sheets, Pillow Cases, and Muslins, the White Dress Goods, the Lace Curtains, the Under- wear, and Hosiery stocks. Keeping the May Fair in the minds of the public gives a larger significance to all that you do during the month. It makes even your small offerings take on a larger appearance. The BIG store feature always creates larger impor- tance for all announcements, and adds prestige to the store. Well-merchandised offerings of Women's Silk Dresses, bought at special prices and offered at a bargain, will multiply your sales. Every woman not absolutely in poverty can be influenced to 190 THE MAY FAIR buy one or two more silk dresses in April and May if the right appeal is made to her by your ready-made department. Then this is the great season for sep- arate skirts serges, corded wool fabrics, and silks. Sales of Separate Skirts should make big business in April and early May. If you keep an alert watch on your stocks during the months of April and May, and keep the goods out where they can be sold, there will be far less to worry over at Inventory time. Decide early as to whether lines are selling well or not. If not, put the knife into the prices at once, and sweep the shelves clear of all slow stock. If YOU leave this matter to the buyers, and the buyers leave it to the sales- people, you'll only have it to do in July, when cus- tomers are scarce and double the price cuts must be made, while double the space must be taken to do the advertising. Start after the SLOW-SELLING goods in May. 191 CHAPTER XXXIV How TO GET NEW CUSTOMERS First, you must make an intelligent, continuous EFFORT to get them. I find that most stores depend upon luck or the dying out of their competitors to bring New Customers. And luck may be bad, and competitors may be very much alive. Newspaper Advertising, as it comes out every day, will, of course, pick up new people, who will come and buy goods and they may even become regular customers. But suppose newspapers bring in 80 per cent, of the new customers why not keep busy after the other 20 FER GENT? No store has ever definitely figured out the VALUE of a CUSTOMER. But they always spell the word with capitals. Customers who STAY with the store are often caught and held by special ATTENTIONS. People like to KNOW that their trade is the object of the thought of the owners of the business. It is a mighty small matter for the Firm to dictate a letter, to be sent out once a year, to all charge and cash customers of the house, THANKING them for their patronage, and expressing personal APPRECIATION. Many a customer FORGETS a serious complaint after 192 HOW TO GET NEW CUSTOMERS receiving the letter that tells him that the Owner is THINKING of him personally. The same kind of personal attention will often make Charge Customers of people who have just dropped in and bought something for cash. And the personal letter to the stranger will make him feel that his patronage is really WANTED, and the com- pliment will win his good will. The Work of Getting New Customers should be going on ALL THE TIME, and it should be done with a DEFINITE Plan and Policy. I mean by this that there should be a definite effort made to get the attention of people personally, QUITE APART FROM THE REGULAR ADVERTISING. This work should be done in two divisions. The Credit Office should be seeking and inviting new Charge Customers, and an entirely different manager should be working to solicit New Cash business. The Credit Office has a quite simple problem though there is a great deal of detail work about it. First, they should work on the store's Cash customers to try and make Charge Customers out of them, and thus stand a better chance of getting ALL of their trade as well as tempting them to buy more freely. Then the Credit Office should have a list of ALL the people likely to make Charge Customers in the entire territory of your store. Those who are not now on your books should be investigated as to their eligi- bility for Credit entirely without their application or knowledge; and when found to be financially 193 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING and by reputation desirable Credit Customers, they should receive a polite letter, stating that they are invited to make use of the Charge Account that you will take pleasure in opening for them at any time that they wish to make purchases stating that no further formality will be required than merely saying to the salesperson waiting upon them that the goods are to be "Charged." A great many people resent being cross-examined by a Credit Man, and they also dislike asking friends to act as "references." This can all be avoided by the Credit Office investigating independently. Then the letter comes as a surprise and a pleasing courtesy. No matter how good a man's credit may be, he is flattered by having the compliment paid to him of having an account opened without any apparent investigation, and he is impressed with the pro- gressiveness of the store that has been able to elimin- ate the clumsy and unpleasant way of opening Charge Accounts. Even the customer who does not wish to open a regular account will often purchase something special and use the account now and then eventually be- coming a more frequent customer. Of course the in- vitation will be repeated at least once a year. As the Credit Office has a File of all these "Prospect" cards, there will be no trouble about referring immediately to that cabinet when any "Charge" check appears which is not listed among the regular accounts. It would be FATAL to have some smart clerk return the 194 HOW TO GET NEW CUSTOMERS check as "No Charge Account" and have the goods sent C.O.D. after such a customer had accepted the courtesy. The work of investigating ALL the prospects in your community need be done only as fast as the work can proceed economically. But the Invita- tion goes out to each Prospect as soon as he is found eligible for the Account. And the Card, opening the Account, goes in the File at the same time, so that the person invited is never turned down when the account is used. The other Bureau, which should be an Adjunct of the Advertising Office, works on ALL names in the community except those entirely undesirable for even cash business, prospective Charge Customer names being included with those of spenders who cannot get charge accounts. The object of this Bureau is to attract Customers who do not now deal at the store. So offerings and announcements should be made to them which do not appear in the news- papers and which are not sent to regular customers either cash or credit. This means that a Card List must be made of ALL the desirable people in the community. From this list must be lifted and re- moved all the cards of Customers now on your books, as well as the names of people who deal with you regularly and pay cash. If you do not now have a list of your Cash Cus- tomers, the work of compiling it should be begun at once taking the names from salesbooks where cash 195 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING is paid, and these names taken out of the Prospect List as fast as they show on the cash books. With this Prospect List to work on, the Bureau of New Customers will merchandise and advertise, by letter or circular, a series of intensely attractive Special Offerings, sometimes asking that the Coupon on the circular be returned in order to secure the goods at the special price, sometimes sending samples of goods which do not require a coupon, because the tags may be marked to indicate that they are being presented by a New Customer. These offerings should be alternated in form, be- cause some people would not think of returning a Coupon, and others would be doubly impressed with the bargain by reason of it. All tastes and opinions must be catered to; and if one customer comes and asks for the bargain that demands a Coupon, you should not insist upon the coupon, because the fact that the goods are asked for at the price named indicates that the customer has the circular and is one whose custom you are seeking. A series of special offerings, if they are GENUINE and of the DESIRABLE sort, will make a very large IMPRESSION on these people of whom you desire to make Customers. Even if they do not actually come and buy at the time, you are making a valuable impression that will be of use in the future. Of course the RESULTS will depend entirely upon how intelligently the Bureau of New Customers does its work. 196 HOW TO GET NEW CUSTOMERS The Merchandise to be offered must be selected with great judgment: for its excellence, desirability, seasonableness, good style, and good taste. Then the PRICE should cut profit to the bone to COMPEL the Prospective Customers to come to your store. Remember that you do not need to have this Special Offer goods on sale generally, or shown at all until people ask for it. Then it can be put back on the shelf or under the counter again. After the names of these Prospects begin to show on your delivery checks, their cards may be removed from the "Pros- pect" cabinet and put among the Cash Customers List so that you do not use up your Special Offer ammunition upon them after they have been brought to the store several times. If your Auditing Department or cashiers send the checks to the Bureau of New Customers as soon they are through with them, you can keep your records checked up and be able to note on the back of every card the dates when purchases are made. Then as soon as several months go past without seeing a record of a sale on any card, put it back on the Prospect List and let the Special Offers bring the store to the customer's attention more emphati- cally again. One or two girls can keep up this work, and well repay the expense IF THE WORK OF THE BUREAU is well done. Keep FOREVER seeking New Customers. Then you will learn how VALUABLE all customers are, and you will be all the more careful NOT TO LOSE OLD CUSTOMERS. 197 CHAPTER XXXV KNOW WHAT YOUR COMPETITORS ARE DOING. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THEM The fine old store that has had everything its own way for a generation is a very pathetic figure when it comes to realize that some "little upstart" is getting the business away from it. It is very common to hear merchants say when the new store is opened, "Well, I guess he won't get very far," and then ignore the newcomer and thus give him the chance to get a lot farther than he could ever get if the solid mer- chant had his eyes open and did not permit him to steal away his customers right under his very eyes, BECAUSE HIS PRIDE WOULD NOT ALLOW HIM TO TAKE ANY NOTICE OF THE NEW STORE. The fact that a NEW store has been conceived, and that the promoters have the nerve to undertake to compete with him in his own territory, should make any merchant give new consideration to any man even a despised employee of his own, who has found a backer who saw more in him than his own employer did. The only store that is absolutely sure of re- taining its position and its customers is the one that is managed, merchandised, and promoted in the most 198 WHAT YOUR COMPETITORS ARE DOING aggressive and progressive manner that exists in that community. Public loyalty to a good old store does not exist one day longer than the appearance of the new and better store. People are quick to try the new store, because, in the course of years, even a well-conducted store will have caused dissatisfaction on certain occasions to almost all of its customers. If its serv- ice and merchandise have been above reproach in a thousand transactions, the store may lose a customer on ONE mistake or misunderstanding. Such is the unfortunate UNREASONABLENESS of human nature. No opinion or action of the merchant can CHANGE HUMAN NATURE. Whether unfair, unreasonable, un- grateful, or what it may be called, the merchant must MEET CONDITIONS and OVERCOME THEM. He HlUSt get out of his RUT. He must generate new energy to meet the strong effort that is going to be made by the New Store. Perhaps it is true that the "New Broom" will sweep clean only while it is a new broom; but during that period the Old Broom must be given new activity, and must absolutely prevent the new store from running away with the trade. Pride must be thrown in the rubbish heap, and the competition must be met and beaten with the great strength that the old store has IF IT USES IT. And the same reasons hold true in relation to old competition which may be revived, or rejuvenated, overnight by new blood in the organization or a New Idea that has come to the management. 199 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING For this reason no merchant is SAFE who does not KNOW all the time what his competitors are doing what trade they are getting from him what mer- chandise they are showing what prices they are selling goods for what special service they are giving what special inducements they are making for trade of any sort how they take care of com- plaints what methods they may be using to get new charge customers, or to keep happy those now on their books what kinds of advertising do they do that is not in the public eye. The big New York stores maintain their Comparison Departments at very great expense, to KNOW ALL THE TIME just what every other store is selling and how the quality and price compare with their own goods. They also keep constantly informed about a thousand matters of service and store policy; so that no store can establish any new method without the fact becoming IMMEDIATELY known, and perhaps copied before the public has discovered who orig- inated it. This knowledge, which is considered so vital by the big city stores, is not one whit less im- portant in the smaller cities. In fact, so intense is the competition in small cities, and so small is the tran- sient business, that it is FAR MORE IMPORTANT there than in the large city. KNOW what your competitor is doing ALL THE TIME. Don't UNDERESTIMATE anything that he does. Don't trust your own judgment as to what the public may think of it. INVESTIGATE the results, but don't take 200 WHAT YOUR COMPETITORS ARE DOING anybody's mere opinion about it, for the public is a very queer animal at times. Above all, don't trust merely to the opinions of your own managers and buyers. They may know only PART of the facts, and they are prejudiced against their rivals in the other stores perhaps jealous of them, and always willing to underestimate them. I have had very close association with FIVE of the largest stores in New York City, and I have found ALL OF THEM filled with this habitual professional contempt for the abilities of the buyers in the other stores. Their judgment of the merchandise sold by their rivals is usually very unreliable. But the firms usually rely upon these false opinions, and are rarely informed in any reliable manner of what competitors are doing EXCEPT BY THEIR COMPARISON OFFICES, and these often get into the same rut of underestimat- ing rival stores. Never ridicule a method introduced by a competi- tor until the public has turned it down; for the incomprehensible public may favor it, and you may be compelled to adopt it in self-defence. When you KNOW what your competitor is doing you are in position to do something BETTER than he is doing. If you don't know what he is doing you may come out with a sale or a policy that is notoriously weaker than his, and suffer great humilia- tion and loss of prestige by the mistake of ignor- ance. Never judge the public opinion of your competitor 201 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING by what your friends say to you about him. Courtesy and friendship are responsible for some very tall lying. The very people who jolly you when they meet you may be buying most of their goods from your competitor. In meeting competition it is usually foolish to do counter price cutting on the SAME GOODS, for this brings back another cut and the winner in the fight is the biggest loser in profits. When your competitor gets you excited over some price cut he has made on certain goods it is well to have your price MEET his without advertising the fact. This takes the wind out of his sails with people who casually discover that your price is the same without your having boasted about it. Then, if you want to get the public at- tention to your goods, make a sensational price cut On SOME OTHER LINE OF GOODS. To be able to act wisely and effectively, under all conditions, you must KNOW what your competitors are doing all the time. Seek this knowledge by em- ploying at least one person to secure this information every day of the year; but also seek outside informa- tion by getting your friends to arouse conversation about your store with their friends and friends of your competitors. Tell them that you don't want to hear good things but you want them to discover for you the BAD THINGS that your rivals and the public are saying about you. Then digest this gossip with an open mind. Whether true or not, don't forget that it is WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT YOU and 202 WHAT YOUR COMPETITORS ARE DOING about your competitors. When you KNOW all about your competitors, and ACT with a LARGER estimate of them than the real measure of their strength, you will not only beat them, but keep them safely behind you. 203 CHAPTER XXXVI How ADVERTISING ADDS VALUE TO MERCHANDISE There are thousands of stores to-day losing at least half of the value of the advertising space they buy because they do not know or recognize the fact that Advertising definitely adds value as well as attrac- tiveness to the merchandise that is intelligently ex- ploited. If you hear a great deal of talk about some theatrical show how clever a certain actor is, how beautiful several of the actresses are, and you know their names if you are told about certain things in the play that you watch for, you KNOW that you are going to SEE a lot more in that show than you would if you just happened to drop in to see it without having heard anything about it. If you walk through the great Art Gallery in Paris, where the Mona Lisa is hung, you may notice the beautiful head of a woman, and pass on without knowing that it is one of the world's greatest master- pieces; but if you have been told to look for the Mona Lisa, and know what characteristics have made it world famous know just what to look for in the painting you will SEE infinitely more than you would otherwise. 204 HOW ADVERTISING ADDS VALUE This great fact in human nature points to the def- inite advantage that can be gotten out of advertising after the advertiser realizes the truth. To merely list merchandise, or merely quote bargain prices and former values, is to LOSE HALF of the value of the space in which your advertising appears. The great strength of the Wanamaker and Gimbel Advertising lies in the policy of always telling people WHAT TO SEE in the merchandise advertised and in the store. John Wanamaker has taught people to know what kind of a store his is by repeating day after] day, in his advertising, THE THINGS THAT HE WANTS PEOPLE TO THINK ABOUT HIS STORE. Of course, John Wana- maker does not tell the people to think anything that he does not make true; but things that it would take a lifetime for people to DISCOVER for themselves he tells them, so that he will get the benefit of their knowledge about his store IMMEDIATELY. The woman who buys an Oriental Rug does not get merely a piece of floor covering: she gets a bit of the mystery of the Orient with it. Perhaps, if it is a fine one, she gets an interesting STORY of its origin and rarity. And she takes infinitely more delight in TELLING the story of the rug to her friends than she does in merely SHOWING it to them. The STORY of that rug very definitely ADDS VALUE to the goods. This is why all GOOD Advertising tells the STORY of tke goods tells people WHAT TO SEE IN THEM tells them WHY the goods are desirable and better than other goods. 205 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING The talk that some merchants think to be a foolish waste of space is all the time proving to the readers that the merchant who is back of that advertising KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT knOWS his buSl- ness, hence is a good merchant to deal with. All goods look pretty much alike in competing lines; but, other things being equal, the goods that is advertised by having its STORY well written will sell several times as fast and as easily as the other goods that simply stands on its price and its supposed quality to find purchasers. It is the same way with the store itself: two stores may be equal in character, merchandise, and service, and may sell goods on the same margin of profit; but the ONE THAT is BEST ADVERTISED that has told about it day after day THE BEST STORY is going to do a vastly larger business than the one that prints its name and its price lists in the same size newspaper space. Take a line of Dress Goods, of Linens, of Gloves, of Shoes no matter what it may be and tell how it was produced, with what care and thoroughness it was- made, how skilfully it was selected, how excellent the style, and how fine the finish, and you have given your customers something to SEE in the goods and something to make them happy about them after they buy them. It is Human Nature to be very easily led. It is human nature to BELIEVE what is read. We are all very susceptible to a plausible story, whether we read it or hear it. That is why Advertising has such a 206 HOW ADVERTISING ADDS VALUE power. That is why dishonest advertising makes so many dupes. But if the dishonest advertiser can get such wonderful results, why should not the Honest Merchant apply as much of the other fellow's power to his advertising as he can in an absolutely honest way? If the plausible story, even when untrue, has such tremendous drawing power, does it not demon- strate conclusively that it is THE STORY that influences people to the fullest action? The merchant who can get it out of his head that all the people want to read is Price Lists has made some progress. Many a good advertisement has no prices in it at all. The best advertising is that which constantly divides public attention between the Story of New Goods and the Bargain offerings. Don't write folderol or twaddle. Learn REAL FACTS about the goods to be advertised find the human interest story in them or in their use then write the story in simple, direct words, in an earnest, respectful manner, and you will have good advertising that will give you full value for the space you buy to print it in. The big National advertisers KNOW all these things, and they TELL THE STORY OF THEIR GOODS so thor- oughly and so continuously that PEOPLE DEMAND THEM, and if shown other goods very frequently GET VERY ANGRY at the store that tries to sell them "some- thing just as good." Very often the nationally advertised goods is no better than many other kinds that are not advertised, but THE MANUFACTURER'S ADVERTISING has created A NEW FACTOR OF VALUE 207 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING FOR THEM by the Story that has been read by so many thousands of people. They KNOW what the advertised goods is because they have read about it so often. They do NOT know about the other goods. The same thing applies to YOUR goods and your store. The goods you have on your shelves may be very similar to that in your competitors' stocks, but you Can ADD TREMENDOUSLY TO ITS VALUE by TELLING THE STORY of what you have. You need only to tell the truth, for the truth, even if weak, may be told in a manner to be infinitely more valuable than silence. If two men apply for a job, and they are equal in ability and other qualities, and ONE has a good rec- ommendation with him, YOU WILL ALWAYS HIRE THE MAN WITH THE RECOMMENDATION. Your Ad- vertising is the Recommendation of your goods; and the oftener and the more strongly you recommend your goods the better they will sell, and the more people will think of them after they buy them. For they will not only see the qualities on the surface, but they will believe them to possess all the good qualities that they read about in the Advertising. In the same way you must RECOMMEND YOUR OWN STORE. How earnestly and continuously this has been done by John Wanamaker is a matter of history, and he has reaped the reward. , First, you must MAKE your Store WORTHY of the recommendation, then don't be afraid to let people know what you are doing. Give it the strongest recommendation you can THEN LIVE UP TO IT. 208 CHAPTER XXXVII GET GOOD SALESPEOPLE POOR ONES COST TWICE AS MUCH Previous to the opening of their new store on Fifth Avenue Lord & Taylor published a large advertisement for Salespeople. They said, in part, :< We want to hear from men and women who know that they are the BEST in their particular lines. We want only those capable of earning the highest salaries paid, and who are ambitious for the future." That was not only a tremendously impressive ad- vertisement upon the general public, but it made every smart salesperson in the country, whose eyes fell upon that particular paper, EAGER to communicate with the Superintendent of that store. And, more than that it illustrated THE SMARTEST POLICY IN STOREKEEPING. The merchant who fully realizes the importance of having efficient, courteous, tactful, earnest sales- people, and WHO is WILLING TO PAY THE HIGHEST WAGES TO THEM, is going to get the biggest business and make the largest profits in the long run. First, the GOOD salesperson not only sells more goods di- rectly than the poor one, but the goods STAY SOLD. 209 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING The GOOD salesperson ATTRACTS TRADE to the store. The poor salesperson REPELS customers, and gives a bad impression of the store. The GOOD salesperson, by courtesy, tact, and creative salesmanship, sells BETTER GOODS and GOODS CARRYING FULL PROFITS. Even in busy New York there are many salespeople that are so well liked that hundreds of people pa- tiently wait their turn to be served by them rather than be immediately waited upon by people less efficient. Wouldn't it be a marvellously successful store that employed none but star salespeople? Wouldn't peo- ple come to that store in spite of any price attractions that could be offered elsewhere? Isn't intelligent, pleasant SERVICE a commodity of infinitely greater value than the saving of a few pennies? Wouldn't you rather have as your customers the people of your community who appreciated GOOD SERVICE than the crowd that was always rushing for bargains on which there were only small profits or none at all? Have you ever fully realized that Your Store is no better than your CHEAPEST SALESPERSON to all the people that the cheapest salesperson comes in contact with. Nobody blames the cheap salesperson. The blame for ignorance goes where it belongs to the owner of the store employing poor salespeople. "No chain is stronger than its weakest link," and no man can tell how much a poor salesperson costs the store that employs that kind. Certainly it is 210 GET GOOD SALESPEOPLE many times what the best and most efficient sales- person could possibly demand or get. The store that has the reputation of paying the highest salaries eventually gets the best people, for it becomes the ambition of all earnest, capable sales- people to get a good paying position with that store. The store paying the highest salaries has no fear of losing its good people, for they will not only be well paid when other stores come after them, but they will not want to take a chance in some other store that wants them only for the trade they can bring because of the fear that they may lose the short-time, big-pay job, and then can never come back to the store that ALWAYS pays big salaries. The smart merchant always holds out some stim- ulus for the AMBITION of his people. The sales- person that is not ambitious is not 100 per cent, efficient. There should always be a way of paying a better salary to the person who shows the ability to sell more, or sell it with more profit. I once asked the Manager of the famous Bon Marche, in Paris, if other stores did not hire away their good people quite frequently. He replied: "That is impossible. They cannot afford to pay them any more than we can, if they are good people, and if they are not good we are glad to let them have them. We never lose any people that we want to keep." The Bon Marche is the most successful retail store in the world. Most of its people managers and better salespeople are on a commission basis. 211 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING Get GOOD salespeople, and KEEP them as long as their efficiency continues against all offers made for them elsewhere. They are a definite ASSET of your store. Get rid of your poor salespeople especially of the poor ones that are being paid high salaries. Some good salespeople become ruined by prosperity. They are the worst of all. Many a store is dying of dry rot because the selling force is out of date, following the pace set by several old fogies getting high salaries for putting on airs, and there is nobody in the institution, from the firm down, that has nerve enough to make or suggest a change. So the business runs along on the money made in the better days, when the firm was more aggressive, and the old fogies were young and ambitious. Get the old fogies out of your organization. If they are only old in years, and still trying to do good work, PENSION THEM, and put young, active people behind your counters. A new, LIVE, selling organi- zation would doubtless be able to pay for the pension roll, several times over, if well managed, and the store was well merchandised. But no* organization and no amount of capital can long afford to pay the losses that come to the store employing lazy and in* efficient salespeople. Have salespeople in your store with personality that people like, with knowledge of their merchandise that people respect, with earnestness and intelligence that make their work resultful, with the ambition to hustle and do their work accurately, and you'll 212 GET GOOD SALESPEOPLE never be asked to pay them as much as they are worth. A letter which was received by Gimbel Brothers, New York, illustrates the feeling that customers have about being served by polite and intelligent sales- people and the gratitude which was won for Gimbel Brothers by one young man who had learned the fundamental lessons of real salesmanship. After replying to an inquiry received from the firm, this elderly lady continued her letter as follows : Now, I want to say something to you. There is a young man I wish I had his number, but I have lost it he is, I should say, the youngest man in the - - Department. Never have I met with such politeness and kindness as from him. He al- ways remembers me by name. You know that is pleasant to a tired woman in our crowded stores. If busy, and I say "I'll wait," he gets me a chair and makes me as comfortable as pos- sible. I sit and notice him. He is the same to all old ladies like myself, or the working girl buying for dressmakers. I hope he will receive his reward. As I surely hope Gimbel Brothers will for their great politeness. The writer of that letter will not soon forget that salesman or that store. She will always want to go to that store to be waited on by that young man, and that young man has become one of the VALUABLE ASSETS of the institution for which he works. If the whole store organization could be composed of young men and young women who had his ability and tem- perament, what a wonderful SELLING POWER it would become. 213 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING Certainly there can be no reason why such an organization should not be the ideal of every store- to be aimed for and worked for sifting out the in- efficient and impolite salespeople, and gathering in the polite and capable workers as fast as they can be discovered. Of course, there are many things besides MONEY to help you keep your people with you: such as KINDNESS and APPRECIATION on the part of the Firm personally expressed at frequent intervals, with all reasonable increase in salaries, and the ABSOLUTE ASSURANCE of a PERMANENT POSITION for all good workers, REGARDLESS OF ANY SINISTER INFLUENCE that may exist on the part of managers, customers, or even from members of the firm. 214 CHAPTER XXXVIII MEETING THE COMPETITION OF THE GREAT MAIL ORDER HOUSES When David went out after Goliath he didn't hunt up the armorer that outfitted Goliath so that he could have equal weapons with which to meet the notorious giant. He armed himself with his familiar "sling" and a stone from the brook, and won on his skill and nerve. I have been asked many times how the smaller stores are to face the enormously increasing business of the Mail Order houses: for there exists a great fear that the most profitable trade will soon be gobbled up by them. For this reason I am devoting this in- stallment to this subject for it affects, in greater or less degree, EVERY STORE IN AMERICA and Canada. When one single concern will soon reach the mark of a HUNDRED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS PER ANNUM it is Well to consider how much of that amount of sales is being TAKEN FROM YOUR STORE. One of the directors of this big concern was re- cently quoted as saying: "Our business from CITIES has MORE THAN DOUBLED recently, without any soli- citation on our part." This he attributes to the 215 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING fact that Farmers are now BUYING HIGHER GLASS MERCHANDISE, which has a special appeal to City people. He also states that the January Sale of White Goods brings in close to TEN MILLION DOLLARS IN A SINGLE MONTH in white goods alone. This single concern has six MILLION LIVE customers who buy regularly. Other concerns total at least as many more or ABOUT HALF OF THE ADULT POPU- LATION OF THE UNITED STATES. Yet they sell very little in the very largest cities with a total of close to twenty millions of population. Thus it is reasonable to estimate that HALF of YOUR possible customers buy from a Mail Order house. Isn't that a FACT worth giving some thought to? Isn't it worth while to get acquainted with some one in your Post Office who can tell you approxi- mately how many Big Catalogs come to your city, so that the truth can come home to you? Then you should have the catalogs of these big houses on your desk to study the kind of goods that are being ex- ploited to discover what the bait is that catches your fish. Perhaps you have means of learning what goods are being shipped to your city by these big concerns. Don't call it "truck," for anything that people don't like can be shipped back without a cent of cost, and money will be returned. If it is truck, people want truck. The storekeeper seeking VOLUME of sales sells people what they want, not what HE likes. The Mail Order business grows biggest in cities 216 THE GREAT MAIL ORDER HOUSE that do NOT have LIVE LOCAL STORES. There are several facts that should encourage local merchants: Mail Order houses especially the biggest NEVER SELL GOODS AT A LOSS, and rarely without fair profit. The Customer always pays the cost of delivery. The Mail Order house must sell from words and pictures only. Cash is demanded with order. On the other hand, the Local Merchant has the TRE- MENDOUS ADVANTAGE of BEING ON THE SPOT. People trust him, and perhaps can get "trusted" by him. He knows the tastes of his people or HE OUGHT TO KNOW THEM. The Mail Order man says that the tastes of the Farmers and their wives have CHANGED RADICALLY in recent years so they are selling MUCH BETTER MERCHANDISE than they did formerly that is why city people like it better. Perhaps the tastes of the people in YOUR city have changed, and you have not discovered it. Perhaps you have the same goods they liked some years ago, and are wondering why they don't buy the same goods now. I don't believe the best mail order house can take business from the WIDE-AWAKE LOCAL MERCHANT. He has too many definite advantages. He has (or should have) the FRIENDSHIP of his public. He has a STORE FULL OF GOODS TO SHOW THEM instead of a dull book. He has salespeople who should be able to do infinitely better SELLING than the few words and pictures in the book. He can send the goods home to them IMMEDIATELY instead of their having 217 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING to wait a week or more to get them by mail and the delivery is FREE. David was invincible against the giant Goliath with his own familiar weapon the "sling" because HE KNEW HOW TO USE IT. The local merchant will be equally invincible against the big mail order house if he has the weapon, REAL SERVICE and KNOWS HOW TO USE IT. But the local merchant can- not win out on old methods and poor stocks marked at high prices. The mail order houses will WIPE OUT the inefficient stores; but they will do little damage to stores that are ALIVE to the needs of their public, and who give real SERVICE while selling GOOD MERCHANDISE AT RIGHT PRICES. Get the catalog of the biggest Mail Order house, then STUDY THE MERCHANDISE as carefully as you have studied the goods on the market before buying your Fall stocks. Discover, before you give it up, JUST WHY six MILLION American people are buying ninety million dollars' worth of this goods every year, and paying delivery charges on it. Don't decide that they buy in so much larger quantities than you, and have factories of their own, and can always undersell you. Remember that YOU ARE VITALLY IMPORTANT to the manufacturers whose goods you sell, and re- member that the competition of the mail order house is quite as harmful to the manufacturers from whom you buy as it is to you. If these manufacturers are to continue to do a successful business they MUST 218 Mf *WP 9M ' 9 orders TO* t" B if AIM* 5 items, 496% Of all 9An 2UO :::::::::::: order? m' 1C A idu ' iii e*10"2W% .1*9 jy *?TT./O too - - 11-f5' 115% 75 . 1 '-Jr li'T/P f : 16-20,5.5% 21-25 1 V7 n i sollHIHIIIIHl Over 25. 3% . 16 S . . - 0~ & 10 15 20 We thin 25 Item* Number of orders classified by VumbewfJOtem^ This chart shows the tendency toward few items for almost half the orders (the figures on the long side represent the number of orders; on the bottom the number of items) THE GREAT MAIL ORDER HOUSE COOPERATE FOR YOUR SUCCESS f or you are necessary to each other. If the mail order house takes YOUR trade in your territory it also takes THEIR TRADE in your territory. So, when you look through the mail order catalog, and find goods sold at prices that you cannot meet, go to your manufacturers and tell them what you have to meet, and what THEY MUST MEET, unless they, too, want to lose sales in your territory. Get all the other booklets and leaflets sent out weekly, monthly, and bi-monthly, by this house. Study them all with care. When you are able to compete with the offerings you will be beating competition as well as the mail order house. The manufacturers who realize that their own success depends upon your success will help you continuously. Some stores that I have heard about are already combining their interests to take the entire outputs of certain factories, and to establish others by which means all will benefit by the combined distribution of all. The Local Store has TREMENDOUS SELLING ADVANTAGES over the mail order houses, but it has to solve the BUYING and MANUFACTURING PROBLEM. The merchant who sees this question as being VITAL to his future success should make a tour of several states, interviewing other merchants on the question of pooling interests for buying and manu- facturing. Then, when a dozen or more merchants decide to get together on this matter, select manu- facturers making the right kind of goods, and make 219 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING a deal with them to take their entire output, provided the proper concessions in prices are made for elim- inating their cost of selling. In this manner the smallest store in the combine will be able to buy goods as cheaply as the biggest mail order house, and the association will tend to make all the stores more efficient in many other ways. The stimulus of such activity and such an aggressive fight will be healthy for the stores in every department of promotion and selling. 220 CHAPTER XXXIX DISCOVER YOUR STORE'S WEAKNESSES THEN ELIMINATE THEM Every store even the most successful has serious weaknesses. Everybody else in the community knows them before the Firm. This is because people like to say "nice things" when speaking to the owner of the store in person. Then, the next man that the merchant's friend meets hears some such remark as: "Smith has a pretty good store, but why doesn't somebody tell him about those toughs that drive his delivery wagons, or about those girls that would rather talk about 'last night' to some other girl than wait on a customer? " The merchant who thinks his store is as good as what people tell him, personally, about it, is relying on very poor authority. But it is VITAL to a store's Success and Growth that the Firm should KNOW its REPUTATION. It is infinitely more important to know what CRITICISMS are being made about a store than to hear the good things that make vigilance relax and tempt a merchant to become SATISFIED with things as they are. Of course, it is not an easy matter to learn what people REALLY THINK about a store. Naturally your salespeople can always pick 221 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING up gossip, but they don't like to repeat to the man- agers or the Firm the BAD things they hear, because they think they might be censured for disloyalty. They, too, will tell only the good things until they are educated to know differently. Shakespeare was probably the greatest portrayer of human nature that the world has ever known. In "Twelfth Night" he makes the Clown say: "My friends flatter me, and make an ass of me: but mine enemies tell me flatly that I am an ass, and thereby do I profit in knowledge of myself." So we must learn the opinions that our enemies or our competitors have of us if we really want to get some truth about our business and our methods. The thing that your competitor criticises you for is a good thing to give a lot of consideration to. The best way to get another store's opinion of your store is to hire a salesperson, now and then, and ask plain questions and request plain replies. You should also frequently invite your own salespeople to tell you what they hear in gossiping with the employees of other stores. But the best way of all to get GOOD, EARNEST, HONEST CRITICISM, worthy of serious study, is by ADVERTISING FOR IT. Come out frankly in the newspaper and say : We Strive to Give Perfect Service But our People are Human, and Fall Short. We want to have a still better store and better service. 222 DISCOVER YOUR STORE'S WEAKNESSES Won't you HELP us by TELLING us when any- thing goes wrong ? If goods are not just what you thought they were PLEASE TELL us. If salespeople are not POLITE and EFFICIENT- PLEASE TELL us. If goods are not Delivered promptly and in good order PLEASE TELL us. If our Prices are not right PLEASE TELL us. Whenever, for ANY CAUSE, you feel dissatisfied with this store, in any way PLEASE TELL us. For Something is WRONG that we WANT TO CURE. But we can't know it until our friends TELL us ABOUT IT. We'll THANK YOU QUITE SINCERELY if you have any thought on your mind of what this store SHOULD DO to be A BETTER STORE, if you will take a few minutes to write and tell us WHAT YOU THINK is WRONG, and what we might do TO MAKE THIS A MORE SATISFYING STORE TO YOU. Such an Advertisement will do a DOUBLE SERVICE : it will bring a certain amount of letters that will un- questionably tell you what some of the critical gossip is about your store, and you will know what people are saying about you, and what you should further investigate and see if a cure is demanded. It may start you toward some very big improvement, and it may uncover loose management, or careless sales- manship, or even dishonesty that may not now be 223 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING suspected, and which may be causing you a large loss. Also, quite as directly, such an advertisement will make the public respect and commend the Store that is so frank as to invite criticism. Even people who have REAL cause for complaint will be more reasonable when they are reminded that salespeople and other employees are HUMAN and liable to mistakes. It really puts the RESPONSIBILITY for the CURE OF THE MISTAKE right up to the customer who fails to make a complete report of it. After you hear criticisms it is simply SUICIDAL not to act upon them and ELIMINATE the WEAKNESSES. If your salespeople, in whole or in the smallest part, are inclined to be "Fresh" in manner or care- less they MUST be better TRAINED, or your business will not grow as it might. If your Delivery Depart- ment is inefficient, or if the drivers are rude or care- less, they may lose customers for you, and damage endless amounts of merchandise. If they are com- plained about a thorough INVESTIGATION should be made. If your Credit Office makes people angry, w r hen they want to open accounts, you've only got HALF A CREDIT MANAGER. A bulldog is all right in the Treasury, but he should only be let into the Credit Office AFTER YOU ARE SURE that the applicant for an account is a horse thief or second-story man. Until that fact is established your Credit Man should be a SOLICITOR of business. But mighty few are, and THAT may be one of your weaknesses. Perhaps your salespeople are too solicitous of busi- 224 DISCOVER YOUR STORE'S WEAKNESSES ness. Maybe they ANNOY people by demanding that they look at this and that. People don't like to go into a store like that. Perhaps your managers are officious and lack TACT when they address cus- tomers. Maybe they would much rather tell cus- tomers what they WILL NOT do for them than what they will be pleased to do for them. A lot of stores are plagued by such stiff-necked managers, who are able to impress the firm with their importance for years after customers learn to hate the sight of them. But how is the "Poor Firm" to know that the men who represent THEM are so cordially HATED? I believe so thoroughly in a Firm knowing just how customers FEEL about a store that, if I were the owner of a business, I would write a PERSONAL LETTER once every year, to all customers of my store, thank- ing them for their patronage, and expressing my hope that the store and service were always pleasing to them. Then I would enclose a stamped envelope, directed to me, PERSONALLY, and invite CONFIDENTIAL CRITICISMS of my business. The IMPRESSION made would be excellent establishing a more CORDIAL feeling between the Firm and the individual custom- ers, and the CORRESPONDENCE would bring scores of mighty valuable suggestions for the correction of weaknesses in your business and for improving store Service and Methods. Right in this connection comes the importance of KNOWING every time an account is CLOSED; and in DISCOVERING, at the earliest moment possible, when 225 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING any customer is CEASING TO USE a Charge Account. Hundreds of good customers do not take the trouble to "kick" when things go wrong. They simply STOP BUYING in your store, and go to your competitor. If you have your Books carefully watched, and have a report sent to the Office of the Firm, EVERY MONTH, showing a list of the names of Charge Customers who have NOT USED THEIR ACCOUNTS THAT MONTH. this matter may be caught, and the right sort ol letter written, and SIGNED BY A MEMBER OF THE FIRM, and the Customer REGAINED and it will pay to PASS A LIBERAL CREDIT SLIP, to make the customer who has a grievance feel that you want her trade, and are ready to right all wrongs. The fact that the customer has not made any complaint is the best assurance that the complaint that is harbored is REAL. No Community is BIG ENOUGH for a store to afford to lose a customer for either a real or fancied wrong done by the store. For the customer that leaves with a complaint will always influence her circle of friends; and one circle after another, as years go by, will make a large current of public opinion. It is best to control that opinion at the earliest moment possible, and retain the customer, too, at any reason- able cost. 226 CHAPTER XL PUT YOURSELF INTO YOUR ADVERTISING One of the most valuable assets of a store is its INDIVIDUALITY. Every store, with any character or strength of policy, soon establishes a Personality that is generally recognized, and which has a very strong business appeal to people who like that partic- ular kind of a store. I believe most heartily in the Advertising which MOST FULLY EXPRESSES THE STORE. The BEST Advertiser is NOT the one who writes the most beautiful words, uses the biggest adjectives, or who has the advertisement most artistically ar- ranged. Fine advertising may ACTUALLY MISREPRESENT the store very greatly to its disadvantage. It does just as much harm to EXAGGERATE THE IMPRESSION of a store as to exaggerate the values of the goods advertised. To make people THINK a store is one thing, and then have them come and get the proof that it is SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT, is down- right misrepresentation that will always do harm. The Strong and Clever Advertising Man is the one who can MOST TRULY ABSORB AND EXPRESS the Store or the Commodity that he tries to exploit. 227 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING For this reason the members of the Firm should always take a direct personal interest in the Advertis- ing of the store. Not to INTERFERE with the routine work, which may be very well done, and which is always as much of a job as can be gotten through with by a live man who is not interfered with in his work but the Firm should be constantly THINKING about some expression of Policy, of Hospitality, of Service, that would make a good advertising story, and he should WRITE a memorandum of it, and send it to the advertising man, to make use of, after it was properly edited or rewritten, for newspaper use. The Owner who adopts this policy of THINKING about things to put into the Advertising will soon learn that he is thinking a lot more about his business than he ever did before, and that the thinking is in a valuable direction. Nothing so much stimulates a GOOD Store Policy as the thinking about what the public would like to have you say and do. It bright- ens the merchandising mind just to have this con- tinuous mental exercise. It is this DAILY THOUGHT about the advertising that develops an advertising man, and the clever storekeeper will not permit this privilege to be entirely abrogated by some one else. If the Firm is confined to the financing of the busi- ness, half of the enjoyment of merchandising is lost and FAR MORE THAN HALF OF THE VALUE of a LIVE Merchant is kept out of the business. Develop in your own mind a live Store Policy. Then EXPRESS IT. Don't insist on your own words. 228 YOUR ADVERTISING Not one merchant in a hundred knows how it is best to SAY a thing. Convey to your advertising man the MEANING that you want to express; then let him write the story. If you do not have a man that can do it to your satisfaction, try some newspaper writer. But THINK for your business, and get your person- ality into the advertising then it will be DOUBLY YOUR STORE. Another way to IMPRESS YOURSELF on your Advertising is by MERCHANDISING YOUR ADVERTISING OFFERINGS in PERSON. The personal interest of the Firm in the offerings that are made in the newspaper is FAR TOO RARE. This is why so much advertising comes to be done in a perfunctory way half hearted just to get the department represented. When this condition ar- rives the Advertising isn't worth printing. But the buyer may be glad to have it done this way, for he doesn't realize what he is losing, and it makes the work so much easier for him than it would be if he had to GO OUT AND HUSTLE to get something REALLY WORTH ADVERTISING. I have actually known of Firms who thought their Advertising Managers were weak and inefficient BE- CAUSE THEY WERE CONSTANTLY ASKING FOR BETTER MERCHANDISE TO ADVERTISE. YeS, they WOUld actu- ally take sides with the weak and lazy buyer when the earnest Advertising Man pointed out the VITAL IM- PORTANCE of having REAL Bargains to tell about. Some merchants seem to think that all the clever Advertising Man needs is a good dictionary and a 229 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING flowing vocabulary of strong adjectives. And a lot of them are paying REAL MONEY to weak men for get- ting up advertising that SOUNDS BIG, but which is surely, and perhaps not very slowly, KILLING the business that permits such misrepresentation. There is scarcely a store on the continent that is w r orth advertising at all that would not provide strong, compelling advertising material if the advertising man would simply EXPRESS THE STRONG FEATURES of the business as they actually exist. This DIRECT, HONEST expression of the Store and the Owner of the business will make far better advertising than the finest story the fanciful writer could prepare, The members of the Firm MUST THINK and WORK for the Advertising to attain largest success. They must THINK in Merchandise, in Service, in Courtesy, in Hospitality and must see that the whole organi- zation operates as they think. No Policy is worth the paper it is written on if it fails to be carried out by every manager and other employee. The Firm must WORK on the Merchandise and the Service, The Bargains, upon which the next day's or the next week's business depends, should be a matter of very serious concern with the Owner of the Business. Mr. Benjamin Altman w r as one of the most re- spected, most dignified, most aristocratic, and most successful merchants that the country has ever known. In addition to the work of his business he had time to gather one of the greatest collections of Art on the American Continent. Yet I am told 230 YOUR ADVERTISING that he PERSONALLY PASSED UPON the purchase and the presentation of EVERY SPECIAL OFFERING made in his Advertising. And I have never known of any store where the response was quite so immediate and strong as to the Special Offerings made by the Altman Store. He was keenly ALIVE to the impor- tance of SECURING and RETAINING the Public Con- fidence, and in my fourteen years as Advertising Manager of competing stores in New York I never knew of but ONE time that the offering was not as stated. That time the buyer misled the Firm, and was discovered and discharged the same week. The supreme position in public confidence held by the Altman Store to-day is a commentary upon the Policy of the Owner of the Business putting HIMSELF into his advertising not by words, in B. Altman' s case, but in STRONG, HONEST Merchandising DEEDS. He might delegate the work of buying, but he never delegated the right to FINALLY PASS UPON the merchandise to be advertised as long as his health and his presence in the store permitted him to do this VITAL work himself. Have good, strong men around you. TRUST them; give them opportunity to develop their own initiative, but SUPPORT and STRENGTHEN them by the creating and carrying out of a strong, honest merchandising policy that is LIVED UP TO, because you are forcing YOURSELF, as well as your entire organization, to carry it out in every detail. 231 CHAPTER XLI AN EQUITABLE BONUS SYSTEM I believe that a BONUS System is the most effectual plan to continuously STIMULATE the efforts of Sales- people. I consider a Bonus Plan superior to a Com- mission, because the payment of the lump sum oi ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS, just before Christmas, will MAKE A VASTLY BIGGER IMPRESSION On the SaleS- person than TEN Dollars a month in commissions, It is better, too, for the salesperson, because the small sum, paid monthly, is frittered away as it comes, be- cause it comes to seem just like a part of the salary; but the one hundred dollars, coming all at one time, seems like a TREMENDOUS LOT OF MONEY, provides funds for Christmas uses just when needed, and gives the opportunity to deposit a nice part of it in the Savings Bank especially if this suggestion is strongly made by the Firm when the check is given. Most Bonus Plans that I have known about have lacked equity in dealing with the various grades of employees and the results variously secured by them. The Firm will agree upon a lump sum, or a percentage upon the increased sales that they are willing to appropriate, but they seem to always fall short of 232 AN EQUITABLE BONUS SYSTEM giving COMPLETE consideration to the feelings of the individual salespeople. I consider it a gross injustice to divide a Bonus on the basis of Salaries paid giving the larger propor- tion to the people drawing the largest salaries. The man getting the highest salary naturally has the least chance of making a large increase, because he has already presumably reached a high volume of sales, or he would not be getting the highest salary. But, while conceding that he has the hardest work to do to make an increase, it must be remembered that HE gets paid for his extra volume in HIS REGULAR PAY ENVELOPE. If he expects to INCREASE his BIG PAY he must INCREASE his big SALES. When the salesperson of lower salary comes nearer to him in volume he should be coming proportionately nearer to him in SALARY as well. Salary, plus the Bonus, should be in pretty accurate proportion to the sales made by each. A BONUS should always be based upon the IN- CREASED SALES of the WHOLE Business. The Bonus should be divided ONLY among the Salespeople who make INCREASES in their sales, or who show direct results toward that increase by other work allied to the selling. Those ELIGIBLE to share in the Bonus must have been employed by the Firm for at least one complete Fiscal Year. This is necessary in order to show the comparison of sales as well as to reward permanent employees. In addition to the Main Bonus Plan there should 233 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING be provided a MINOR BONUS to prevent discouraging disappointments to people whose INDIVIDUAL efforts show INCREASES, even when the Main Plan fails, and the store, as a whole, has not made an increase. The MINOR BONUS should provide that in case the Store, as a whole, does not show any increase, the INDIVIDUAL who shows an increase of 10 per cent, or more shall be entitled to ONE HALF of the amount that he would draw if the entire store had shown the increase which he individually shows. If his increase is less than 10 per cent, he shall draw no bonus. Of course, the Firm may say: "The store went behind, so there is no bonus at all," but why should the earnest people who have MADE INCREASES IN SPITE OF A BAD YEAR and less customers in the store not gain something for efforts that kept the store from going still farther into the hole? If they are NOT encouraged for their work by at least HALF ol what they individually earned they will lose heart, and can never take the same interest in a Bonus Plan for the future. New salespeople do not deserve to share in the Bonus Plan. They can be told what is in store for them AFTER THEY ARE YEAR-OLD EMPLOYEES. That makes a stimulus for them to try to DESERVE a PERMANENT position. Thus a very material number of employees is not eligible to share in the Bonus- making the sums larger that are to be distributed to those that earn them. My Suggestion for an Equitable Bonus Plan is this: 234 Si v* v fl ^ %^l I 3 ^3 n^ P O ai 11 ^5^ ^ II "2 -S si >> s? AN EQUITABLE BONUS SYSTEM Determine upon a percentage of the INCREASED Sales for the Year that you will appropriate for the BONUS. Let us figure that it is to be 10 PER GENT. of the INCREASE. This Bonus to be divided among the Salespeople who show an INCREASE in their sales for the Fiscal Year or preferably from December 15th to December 15th so that the Bonus may be a Christmas present. The division to be in ratio to the PERCENTAGE OF INCREASE made by each person. To ILLUSTRATE the Plan let us suppose that a Store doing a MiLLioN-Dollar Business and employ- ing 500 Salespeople has made an INCREASE of $130,000 under the Plan we are describing. Ten per cent, of this increase allows $13,000 for distri- bution under the Bonus Plan. Say that 100 of the salespeople have been employed for less than a year. They are not eligible. One hundred and fifty of the salespeople have not made any increase in their sales. Deducting the 250, who are not eligible, we have 250 salespeople to divide the $13,000 among. When we list the percentages of the salespeople, we find; POINTS 47 Salespeople who made a gain of 7 per cent. . . 329 20 " " " " " " 8 " " . . 160 40 " " " " " " 9 " " . . 360 40 " " " " " " 10 " " . . 400 15 " " " " " " ii " " . . 165 28 " " " " " " 12 " " . . 336 10 " " " " " " 13 " " . . 130 30 " " " " " " 14 " " . . 420 20 " " " " " " 15 " " . . 300 250 " 2,600 235 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING We figure each salesperson's percentage as so many points. Hence, 47 people each making 7 points makes a total of 329 points. Twenty people each making 8 points makes a total of 160 points, etc., as shown in the last column of figures above. In all, 2,600 points were made. Dividing the $13,000 by 2,600 shows that every point earns $5. So the sales- person who makes 7 per cent, increase a 7-point gain earns seven times five dollars, or $35. The salesperson making 14 per cent, increase earns 14 times $5, or $70, or just twice as much as the one making only 7 per cent, increase. Under this Plan a salesman getting $25 a week, and who sold $25,000 the previous year, increasing 5 per cent, and selling $26,250 this year, would only get a bonus of $25. But his Total earnings Salary and Bonus, would be $1,325. Another salesman, getting $10 a week, who sold $10,000 the previous year, increasing 25 per cent, and selling $12,500 this year, would get a well-deserved bonus of $125 making his total earnings $645, or a little less than half those of the $25 salesman, while selling a pro- portionate amount of goods. How obviously UNFAIR would it be to divide the Bonus in the proportion of salaries giving the $25-a-week man TWO AND A HALF TIMES as much bonus for a 5 per cent, increase as the younger clerk got for a 25 per cent, increase while working for 40 per cent, of the other man's salary. The above Plan insures every one of getting the part of the bonus which he really EARNED. If any 236 AN EQUITABLE BONUS SYSTEM salaries are out of proportion they should be made right, in the Manager's Office, according to sales actually made. They should not be permitted to DISTORT JUSTICE in the Bonus Plan. If some sales- people are required to do special service that com- pels them to lose sales they should be provided for in some other way. Each salesperson MUST DEPEND EXCLUSIVELY UPON HIS OWN EFFORTS to EARN his proportion of the Bonus, or some will LOAF. If all are given an ARBITRARY proportion of the INCREASE of the Store AS A WHOLE there will be a fat distri- bution among people who have NOT EARNED the re- ward. And the including of these undeserving ones will diminish the amounts secured by the energetic and efficient salespeople. Any Bonus or Commission Plan which does NOT make salespeople compete with each other to get customers, and to sell them the utmost they can, is a very poor stimulant. It is up to the Managers to see that nothing disorderly is done in this com- petition: but eagerness to wait upon people has never been counted a fault in good storekeeping. Of course, percentages must be on NET Sales. If sales records are not kept the policy of keeping such records should be adopted at once. Nothing in storekeeping tends so much to increase the business as the redoubled efforts of your sales- people. For it is easier to sell 10 per cent. MORE to each customer that comes into your store than it is to get 10 per cent, more customers to come in. Sales- 237 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING persons are only HUMAN, and they get in a rut until they are stirred up; and there are probably not TWO PEOPLE IN A MILLION no matter how small or how !i:rge their incomes who cannot be stimulated to GREATER EFFORTS by the opportunity to WIN A PRIZE that is outside of their pay envelopes. But DON'T PUT THE SALESMAN WHO WORKS HARD on a par with the LAZY MAN WHO LOAFS. For often the worst loafer is the fellow who is always the busiest man in sight when the boss is around. But the other salesman KNOWS the loafer, and if the loafer gets just as much Bonus as he does, when his increase was double that of the loafer, he's going to worry about it and it is NOT JUST. Give every man the INCREASE HE EARNS, then the Bonus Plan will enlist the earnest enthusiasm of all your people who deserve to be rewarded and the others should be gotten rid of anyhow. CHAPTER XLII THE JULY CLEARANCE SALE July has become recognized as the Clearance Month, by the majority of stores, for several very definite reasons: first, the normal expectation of business in July is small everywhere, and trade must be stimulated. Second, most stores take Inventory on July 31st, and good judgment suggests the lower- ing of stocks to smallest possible figures. Third, it prevents relaxation and sluggishness in your people, keeps them keyed up to business, and prevents the public from forgetting your store, and gives splendid opportunities to make friends who will come back when new things are wanted in the Fall. The "July Clearance Sale" should begin on the Monday following July 4th, and should be continued, without any let-up in interest and active promotion, until the night of the 31st. A short spurt, for a few days, will not give you opportunity to get the com- plete good out of your advertising, and such a plan would destroy the one selling incentive that amounts to anything in this usually dull month. Perhaps it has been the habit, in your city, to let things slide in July, because there isn't any business 239 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING anyhow. If this is true, you have a wonderful op- portunity this year: for you can make your store a humming beehive while your competitors are having midsummer dreams. It is YOUR opportunity to make them look like novices while YOU run away with the trade and show people what a wide-awake store yours is. On the other hand, if July Sales are the rule in your city, your thought must be on how to make yours so much bigger and stronger than all the others that the public will forget that the other stores exist. Exactly this thing can be done if you get yourself thoroughly worked up to the idea, and then enthuse your managers and all your people get the summer sluggishness out of them, and STIMULATE them to do something bigger and more sensational than your city has ever known. First thing is to PROVIDE AMMUNITION for the Campaign. START EARLY. Dig into your stocks and bring out everything that OUGHT to be sold if there is any chance at all of it being sold in July. Plan NOW what you are going to do with it. Where you find sizes and colorings broken order the missing sizes and colors at once. DON'T NEGLECT THIS POINT. Don't be stingy and starve your sale, and KILL YOUR SUCCESS. Do IT NOW, or you will be too late for your event. Give your public a REAL SUR- PRISE by having COMPLETE stocks in YOUR Sale. Every store has the broken-lot idea the bad colors and odd sizes. Make a genuine sensation by having all sizes and full color assortments. You'll 240 THE JULY CLEARANCE SALE find it very easy TO FILL IN WHAT YOU WANT at bar- gain prices in June. Then the jobbers and the manufacturers are all THINKING ABOUT YOU, right now. They are wondering whether they are going to get your orders for Fall, and they will be mighty glad to accommodate you with what you want at prices that will enable you to MAKE A PROFIT at the Sale prices. Having COMPLETE sizes and color ranges will MULTIPLY YOUR SALES because people WILL GET WHAT THEY WANT instead of going home disappointed. It is a tremendously damaging thing to disappoint people even in a bargain sale. You'll find plenty of people in the big crowds that will come to carry off your odd sizes and odd colors AND LIKE THEM, because they will be just what a certain percentage of people do exactly want. MAKE BIG SALES. GET RID OF ODD LOTS. MAKE A MULTITUDE OF FRIENDS FOR YOUR STORE. But you must have your nerve with you. Don't be a piker with your old goods. Remember that it is NOT WORTH anything like the price you paid for it. It is only worth what you can get for it PLUS the FRIENDSHIP that you can make it create for you by the bargains you give to people in July. Remember this: July Bargains must be REAL, or your Clearance Sale will be DEAD before it starts. Don't fool yourself into thinking that the chief thing you have to do is to get up an advertisement. THAT is the way that hundreds of stores make tremendous failures out of their special events, and destroy their 241 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING reputations for truthfulness, as well as all the con- fidence of the public in their merchandise as well as in their advertising. If some buyers would develop HALF the ingenuity to do REAL merchandising that they use in trying to get stale bargains past the Ad- vertising Manager, they would be wonders and would make a great success of your July Clearance Sale. No Bargain that HAS EVER BEEN OFFERED BEFORE, at the same price, is good enough for the July Clear- ance Sale. This MUST be a LAW for your merchandis- ing and Advertising. Don't leave it all to your buyers and managers. The FIRM must take a hand in order to authorize certain reductions that will make definite sensations. KEEP IN MIND THE FACT that this is not to be a One-Day Sale it is to last FOUR WEEKS, and there must be Special Offerings EVERY DAY all that time. This means large, continuous, earnest effort on every- body's part. Little lots of goods will make one-day offerings, but you must not depend upon them. Big figures in Sales cannot be made that way. There must be plenty of BIG ammunition, and you must plan tO BUY A THOUSAND DOLLARS* WORTH OF NEW GOODS to carry out ten thousand dollars' worth of old goods with it. Remember that HALF of the success of the Sale is going to depend upon the ENTHUSIASM that you inspire in your salespeople. You should hold a meeting and tell them what you are going to do. Get suggestions from them if you can. Let them know 242 THE JULY CLEARANCE SALE what REAL Bargains you are going to offer. You'll find they will become enthusiastic when they see the real thing being done, and you will find that enthu- siasm is impossible if you try to put over the old stuff on the public. You never can fool your own salespeople, no matter how much you think you can. A great big successful July Clearance Sale is the most marvellous TONIC that a store can have. It creates tremendous public interest in your store while it is going on. It cleans out all the old stocks, so that you are able to buy everything fresh and new in the Fall. It gives you MONEY TO USE instead of goods that continue to depreciate in value. It makes people talk to their neighbors about the won- derful bargains that they got at your store and this is the best of all. Now why not make up your mind to GO THE LIMIT this time do the REAL THING, and make one of the greatest merchandising successes that your store has ever known. Shake up your City, and give it a real sensation; add to your store's reputation for being wide-awake, and lay the foundation for A VASTLY BIGGER and FAR MORE PROFITABLE TRADE NEXT FALL and WINTER. 243 CHAPTER XLIII BEWARE WHEN THE CROWS CALL, "Our OF STOCK" I shall never forget the impressive way that Mr. Ogden (Managing Partner of the New York Store of John Wanamaker) used to warn his buyers about this dangerous condition. He started his talk by saying that he had heard the croaking ravens, all over the store, crying, "Out of stock Out of stock." Cus- tomers come to your counters, in full confidence that the store of their selection will have the goods they want, only to be told, "We are just out of that." After they have heard the same statement several times at different counters they are ready to go home or to your competitor. And they are ready to say that they are always upset and provoked when they go to your store because you are always out of everything. It makes no difference how well you have met their requirements on a hundred different items if you are out of two or three things that they have a right to expect to find in any good store. Buyers seem to get accustomed to being told by salespeople that they are out of certain things they get hardened to it, and don't realize what far-reaching harm is being 244 THE CROWS CALL, "OUT OF STOCK" done BY DISAPPOINTING THE CUSTOMER. The buyer thinks mostly in dollars and cents sold. If he loses the sale of 25 cents for two collars, size 15|, he thinks that is nothing in the day's business. He knows he has plenty of sixteens and too many seventeens and fourteens. He can't realize that the man went right past his competitor's store to buy those collars from him, and that he had to walk back a block or two to get them, that he got very mad about it, and thought nothing but what a careless store yours was to be out of his size. AND THE NEXT TIME HE DOESN'T PASS BY YOUR COMPETITOR HE STOPS AND BUYS HIS SHIRTS AND UNDERWEAR THERE. And the story he tells his wife about you may cause her to think SHE also may waste her time by going to your store. YES, my friend, it is as bad as THAT. You remember the battle that was lost for want of a horse-shoe nail, of course. Well, I have seen, and so have you, a customer leave the store NEVER TO COME BACK because of some such little trifle, to the store, that was magnified mightily in the cus- tomer's mind, BECAUSE THERE WAS A TRAIN TO CATCH, or because the purchase was to be made in the extra three minutes the man had before he had to get to business. Having to go to some other store when he or she does not have time to shop around THAT'S THE RUB. That is what kills a lot of customers. AND DON'T OVERLOOK THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS STORY. Your big competitor may have the trade 245 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING NOW: but you'll have it some day, if he is careless about these things being "out of stock," PROVIDED his disappointed customer finds that YOUR STORE is NOT out of stock. Of course, there is ALWAYS a limit that the careful merchant must put on his stock. He should NEVER have more stock than his capital warrants. In fact, he should never use ALL his capital. He should always have a RESERVE for emergencies and to buy GOOD THINGS that CASH can always get. Every store has TWO CLASSES of merchandise di- vided this way. 1. Goods in CONSTANT DEMAND asked for daily never long in stock. 2. Goods that MUST BE SHOWN to be sold rarely specifically asked for and which MAY stay in stock for a year or more. The clever and successful merchant sets aside a certain amount of capital as he discovers necessary to be used solely TO ALWAYS MAINTAIN FULL STOCKS ABSOLUTELY COMPLETE of the goods in "Constant Demand." He NEVER lets this capital be encroached upon by the demands of the SLOW-SELLING goods. When he begins to get OVERSTOCKED he doesn't stop buying SUGAR or spool cotton he goes into his stock of SLOW-SELLING GOODS and gets the money out of them. And HE STOPS BUYING GOODS THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT GOING TO DEMAND. But how many buyers 246 THE CROWS CALL, "OUT OF STOCK'" and how many MERCHANTS STOP BUYING EVERY* THING when the stock sheets look bad? How on earth are you going to EVER sell the goods on which you are overstocked if you let your store run out of the things that bring people into your store? This seems perfectly obvious and simple, but I have never known a store where, when stocks got too big, the cry did not quickly come, "Out of stock Out of stock We'll have it in a few days maybe to-morrow." And then the store's reputation gets one savage blow after another AND THE FIRM DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT and, while the sales are less than they should be, maybe nobody realizes it and nobody knows why. But THERE is A MAN DOWN THE STREET THAT KNOWS WHY. And he gets very happy. HE is YOUR COMPETITOR, and discovers that YOUR customers have to come to his store to get the things they want. And if he is clever he sells them a lot of things they didn't think they wanted. AND MAYBE HE KEEPS RIGHT ON SELL- ING THEM THINGS. You took a day off TO DRIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS INTO HIS STORE, and he found a way to make them come back. Look out for these "DAYS OFF" the fatal days when your store is "OUT OF STOCK." In New York we think we have the shrewdest and cleverest buyers in the world at least they are paid the biggest salaries in the world. But the firms do not trust them to keep up their stocks. Comparison organizations are maintained TO SHOP IN THEIR 247 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING OWN STORE, to see whether stocks are continuously complete; because New York firms realize that even the best buyers grow lax in this matter which is so VITAL TO THE STORE'S SUCCESS. The Firm MUST see that careful financing of the stocks does not cauise any lack of COMPLETENESS in stocks of CONSTANT DEMAND. DON'T DRIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS INTO THE STORE OF YOUR COMPETITOR. 248 CHAPTER XLIV WAYS TO KEEP YOUR SALESPEOPLE INTERESTED The Store that can devise ways of stimulating Salespeople to sell more goods, BETTER goods, and to GIVE BETTER SERVICE to customers has made a long step toward increasing success. We all like to make a little "velvet" over and above our salaries. We all love to win out in a contest. We all enjoy praise and congratulation. I believe that Mr. Isaac Gimbel does thousands of dollars' worth of good, in stimulating his people, by the enthusiastic way in which he will go up to a man or woman who has done something well, and shake them by the hand and con- gratulate them on the fine thing that they have done. So I think that the FIRST and most valuable way to keep up the interest of salespeople in their work is to SHOW PERSONAL APPRECIATION TO THEM by the Firm's personal word and hand-shake for work well done, whether it happens to be one day's splendid sales record, a big month, a big year or just one notably efficient or thoughtful act noticed by cus- tomer, manager, or firm. If salespeople can be made to realize that what they do is NOTICED, not merely for the chance to scold and rebuke them, but to 249 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING CONGRATULATE AND PRAISE THEM, they will be more keen to earn such commendation and reward. Just as sugar catches more flies than vinegar so praise does infinitely more to stimulate good work than scolding can do to eliminate bad work. Yet this is a lesson that all managers learn very slowly. Set the standard of praise and congratulation your- self; impress it upon your managers and buyers, and see what a rapid change it will make in the spirit of your people. Then I suggest that you set aside certain weekly prizes to be given to people who do the best work in various ways. Five Dollar Gold Pieces are sufficient, in most cases, and $25 a week may be enough. In small stores one prize a week, or even one a month, will do. I would create a Committee, composed of managers, buyers, and older salespeople, to keep watch for deeds of exceptional efficiency or thoughtfulness and make note of the salesperson or other employee, with the facts about the act. Then, at the end of the week, the Committee would elect the winners of that week's prizes. Say, one for best Salesmanship- One for Politeness one for Thoughtfulness one for Neatness one for the best suggestion for Sell- ing, Merchandising, or Service Improvement. I would suggest a Committee composed of from five to fifty members according to the size of the store, this Committee to be appointed for ONE MONTH only a new Committee to be appointed, by the Firm or General Manager, for every month, the list of 250 * KEEP YOUR SALESPEOPLE INTERESTED members of the Committee to be an absolute secret from everybody but the person appointing them and the various individuals composing it at the time. The acts for which reward would be considered would only be such as would be either seen or heard about by the members of the Committee except that any communications received from customers commend- ing employees should be handed over to the Chair- man of the Committee by the General Manager or the Firm. While this Committee would be selected by the Firm or General Manager, it would be composed of the workers of the organization, and all awards would be made absolutely by the vote of the members of the Committee the voting power of all members being absolutely the same. Then, as the Committee would be changed entirely every month, no charge of favoritism could be made. Of course, under this system as, indeed, under any system many splen- did acts and accomplishments might fail of recogni- tion because not actually seen by or reported to a member of the Committee. This is one of the ex- pected by-products of this whole plan. The habit of doing good work can never be lost, for though the individual making the honest effort may miss the prize during the entire year, he is un- questionably making himself more efficient, and is bound to secure an increase in salary or a well-de- served promotion. The Committee should meet at the end of each 251 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING week, and compare notes about what acts and achievements have been noted or reported. These notes should be read in this meeting, and all members of the Committee should vote by ballot for the person whose act seems to appeal most strongly to each in each of the classes for which prizes have been allotted. Persons receiving the largest number of votes in each class should be presented with their prizes in as prominent a way as the Firm can ar- range to make a spectacular feature of it and the names of the Winners in each class should be POSTED in some prominent place, where they will remain on view to employees during the coming week, when the next list displaces them. If some one individual by thoughtful, tactful, or aggressive work, can make himself, or herself, be- come noticed for efficiency two weeks or three weeks or more, in succession, such superlative work should enable him to win prizes continuously. This is not likely to become a serious problem, but such efficiency would deserve the exceptional reward and, of course, AN INCREASE OF SALARY by the Firm. When the Committee is made up by the Firm or General Manager, each person chosen should be sent for and instructed to keep the fact of his or her membership on the Committee an absolute secret. He or she should be told just what to watch for: Courtesy, Activity, Neatness, Pleasant Manners, Prompt Approach of Customers, Language used to Customers, Care in Writing Addresses. 252 KEEP YOUR SALESPEOPLE INTERESTED The Management will present records to the Com- mittee on Sales and Suggestions made. I would consider it wise to make announcement once in a while, in the Advertising, to let the public know that this Contest is continuously going on in order to improve the Store Service. Invite them to write commendation of individual salespeople and de- livery boys when they feel that they have been particularly well served. This system will provide an easy way to say "No" when a demand is made for increase of salary by a person who does not deserve it. There will be no recourse from the fact that his or her name has not been recorded as a winner of an efficiency prize. There should be a Christmas Purse (Size to be determined by the Firm, according to conditions in the case) for the person who has been the Winner of the largest number of Weekly Prizes, and who has thus proven of greatest value to the store. Perhaps a Gold Medal might be thought to be a better prize for this purpose. But I consider money of more value to people who are working on small salaries. After all is done I consider the most valuable factor in securing faithful and efficient work from anybody, in any occupation, is to have it known THAT THE WORK IS BEING NOTICED. YOU may COn- demn the man who shirks his duty when his boss is not looking, and you can easily prove that the man who is always being watched or spied upon will become a sneak; but we are all very much the same, 253 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING and Human Nature will WORK HARDER for a word of Praise and for Public Commendation than for any other reward. Too many businesses are run on the principle of cussing out the negligent people and punishing peo- ple for mistakes, while all good work is simply taken for granted, with the feeling: "That's what you are paid for." Yet every merchant knows that, although he may pay his people well all year round, he can't possibly hire any large percentage of people who will always be keen to do their work well, and who will be polite and thoughtful under all circum- stances. Still, he can't discharge them, for he has found that he can't hire 100 per cent, efficiency any- where. If you will change your policy to one of Praise and Reward for Good Work you will discover how infinitely stronger the Kind Word method will prove. WTiatever method will STIMULATE your people to give BETTER SERVICE and give more thought to their work is bound to be worth far more than it costs. Start NOW, and have the whole scheme working smoothly by the time the new season begins, and you will be amazed at the improvement in your business. 254 CHAPTER XLV Is YOUR BUILDING SELLING AS MUCH GOODS AS IT MIGHT? Yes, your Building may be a very good salesman, or it can kill trade. Some merchants appreciate this fact, and make tremendous results from it. Others never think of it. Gimbel Brothers were talked about all over the Continent for the "Merry Christmas" electric sign that they put all over the front of their great store in New York. It cost many thousands of dollars, but it unquestionably did tre- mendous advertising for the store. Windows are the ordinary source of selling value for a building, but they are used in many varying ways. One store will put in a window decoration that is a work of art, but, while it gives an atmosphere of refinement to the store, it is almost repellent to thou- sands of people because of the way in which it thun- ders "High Prices" to every one who views it. And it has no selling quality at all. Such windows might have value if put in once or twice a year, but no store that desires middle-class trade can afford to eliminate the selling quality from window displays. The one thing that the foreign traveller is always 255 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING impressed with is the fascination of store windows in Europe. The goods are arranged so alluringly that they pull you right into the store to buy. Some of those wonderful Paris shops have practically all their stock in the windows; they make their windows do the most of the selling. Why, one of the biggest stores in New York, catering to the middle-class trade, will not put a price in the windows. This store unquestionably loses several millions of dollars a year in sales for this reason. This store will not put a price ticket on Men's Scarfs, yet Budd will do it; and Budd has the swellest Men's Shop in Amer- ica. Yet this same store will pile its main aisle counters with $1 Blouses and a lot of other cheap goods. Rank inconsistency. The window decorator whose work will not look refined when a price ticket is on it has very little art. I believe in beautiful windows. But a store is not an Art Gallery, and why should a merchant be ashamed of the fact that his merchandise is for sale? Thousands of people pass the store windows who may never go inside. They must get your message from the window or they may never get it at all. I believe that people are quite as eager to know the prices of things they see in the window as they are to see the designs and the colorings. And the store that is afraid of its prices is always a second-rate store. Goods should be displayed with an INTENSE EFFORT to make them SELL. The Decorator should 256 SELLING GOODS have the selling instinct as keenly as the advertising man, or he is only 50 per cent, efficient. If he merely tries to make artistic windows he is like an advertising man who seeks to make pretty advertise- ments. I wouldn't employ either of them a day. The price figures should not be large. The printing should be very neat. Colors should not be used on price cards. Your windows should be made to INFORM every passer-by as to what goods are sold in your store. They should illustrate as many different varieties of goods as possible to get the broadest possible interest. They should, at times, present bargains just as your advertising does. The specials should alternate with the fine and beautiful things. Neither should dominate for fear of giving a wrong impression of what your store contains and the character of your prices. In addition to the actual goods shown, I think that prominent corner windows should contain a Framed Bulletin refined in style and well kept that shows each day a list of the important events that are going on in the store, so that "he who runs may read" whether he sees your advertising or not. Also, that he may be REMINDED of the Advertising, and reminded and informed that your Store is ALIVE every day. The clever merchant will go out and try to be a stranger to his store every once in a while to view it from the other side of the street, to see how the front of the building looks repellent, inviting, dirty, 257 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING or clean. He should watch the crowds go by or go in. Notice what attracts their attention most. If people rush right by his store is all wrong from the point of view of what the Building sells. Perhaps the Entrance is not inviting. Some store doors look like walls to keep people out. Most architects just love this cold, repellent effect. The ideal Entrance is lined with windows that literally LEAD PEOPLE INTO THE STORE. Many an old store could have its value multiplied by chang- ing its Entrance to make it more inviting, as well as easier to get in and out. I believe in the Entrance that CAN BE SEEN, and which is marked by the firm name. The modern Marquee, that extends out over the sidewalk, is the best, for it not only distinctly marks the Entrance, giving an excellent position for the name, but it also very definitely gives protection to people while raising umbrellas when going out into the rain. Then you must value the ATTRACTIVENESS OF LIGHT. People hate gloom. Merchandise never shows half of its desirability in a dark store: and peo- ple soon learn to ignore the store where the manage- ment is stingy with its light. Shaded lights are wonderfully artistic, but they kill the sale of mer- chandise. They have no business in a store. Is your name and your business prominently posted on your building? Is there any way to make a land- mark of your building? Tremendous value may be gotten from the top of 258 SELLING GOODS a building that is situated to be seen from a distance. A Gilded Ball, a figure of Mercury, a flagpole with your name on the banner. No matter what it is, SOMETHING AS DISTINCTIVE AS YOU CAN CONTRIVE, should mark your building, so that people may get some feature of it fixed in their eye as often as pos- sible, and from the greatest distance possible. Have you ever noticed your SECOND-FLOOR windows from the street, or from the other side of the street? Plenty of other people do. But what do they see? Do your second-floor windows help to give a broader idea of what you sell on that floor? Or are the windows shut off by offices or workrooms? They should be given very definite SELLING VALUE. Blouses, Mil- linery, Women's Suits all could be seen from the street, and they would attract attention as well as make your store look more attractive to women inviting them to come up to the second floor. Your Building often does the largest part of your Neighborhood selling, and you may not realize it. Probably you think your advertising will attract all the people; but don't forget that thousands of people read very little advertising while they see almost everything that goes into the store windows. Make your windows TALK, and make people talk about your windows. I believe most firmly in the enormous value of Windows that are KEPT BRIGHTLY LIGHTED AT NIGHT. But their SELLING POWER Can be increased mightily by finding a way to TELL IN THE WINDOWS EACH EVENING the most important 259 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING facts about WHAT is GOING ON IN THE STORE TO- MORROW. This might be done by having a FRAMED COPY OF THE ADVERTISEMENT HI the Window; but that would be hard to read; hence the suggestion for a Bulletin of the important Sales and Exhibitions, which could be made by your sign writer each day from the headings of the Advertisement. The Window which does the most effective selling is always the one that is decorated during the after- noon, or between the hours of 5 and 7 P.M., and which exhibits, when the curtain rises at 7 o'clock, one or more lines of Special Offerings that will go on sale the next morning with a well-worded sign telling the facts about the offering. Hundreds, yes, thou- sands of people will learn to watch your windows after they learn that such is your policy; and even those who do not come to buy the goods shown will become impressed with the thought of what a LIVE STORE yours is, and they will remember to come to your store when they do have things to buy. I believe that the firm's name should be in every window. This is particularly important where stores are near to each other. People forget where they saw things unless the NAME has been closely asso- ciated with the merchandise. The refined and artistic metal plate standing in each window takes very little space, detracts from nothing, gives an air of dignity to the window, and definitely fixes the name of the firm in the vision WITH the merchandise dis- played. And it is GOOD ADVERTISING as well as good 260 SELLING GOODS business to get your name before the eyes of people as often as you can accomplish it. Never permit people to be UNCERTAIN that they are looking at YOUR store. Have your name on the building at all important points. Have it in your windows. Have it on your flagpole. Perhaps this will help you to be more watchful that your Building LOOKS INVITING from the outside. Have Windows that are artistically decorated, but never forget that their main province is TO SELL GOODS. If the Building does its part it will make your Adver- tising do just that much stronger work, and the com- bined results will be most gratifying. 261 CHAPTER XLVI How INVENTORY HELPS AND HURTS I wonder how many stores fail to get any real help from their Inventory Sheets. My experience would indicate that NINETY-FIVE PER CENT, of the stores never really analyze the tabulations of goods that are made at such tremendous effort. They get the figures of the total stocks in each department, per- haps, and then they figure how much goods they have in stock sometimes they figure the shrinkage that must come, and sometimes they count their profits without allowing for any further shrinkage than the ambitious buyer has taken. When they have gob- bled up the grand total they let the auditor put the Inventory Sheets away in the safe, and turn the buyers loose on the markets again, with only the most superficial guess as to what riff-raff and rubbish com- prise the stocks that make up the Inventory figures. One thing is certain in most aggressive stores every dollar's worth of staple goods that can be done without is KEPT OUT OF THE STORE until Inventory is over. Every stock is STARVED to the limit often to the exasperation and inconvenience of the people who depend upon that store for their 262 HOW INVENTORY HELPS AND HURTS daily supplies. Inventory figures MUST BE SMALL. That is the whole law, and spool cotton, towels, and muslin will sell, so down go the staple stocks, and you think the buyers are doing good work while they really are killing off your customers. For goodness' sake, don't let the hope of little figures for Inventory cut down your bread-and-butter stocks. Don't drive customers out of your store, whether it is Inventory time or not. What difference does it make to them that you want to take stock? That is entirely YOUR affair, and you must not exasperate your customers for the purpose of making your fig- ures a few hundred dollars less. GET OUT THE SLOW STOCKS. Cut your prices, and hurry out the stocks that are NOT WANTED, and which NEVER WILL BE WANTED at their present prices. Don't let your buyers fool you, and DON'T FOOL YOURSELF. If you want to cut down your stocks do the pruning where it WON'T HURT YOUR TRADE, and where it will do your stocks SOME REAL HELP. Fight for LITTLE FIGURES as hard as you can, but cut the money out of bad stocks stocks that must not be kept stocks that have lost their new- ness and desirability. Get rid of them QUICKLY this month NO MATTER HOW DEEP YOU HAVE TO CUT THE PRICES. A SMALL Inventory may hide a very bad condition. A "large" Inventory may show a very GOOD condition. But it is not the SIZE of your Inventory figures that is most important. Very rarely is the question of the 263 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING SIZE of the stock vital. The REAL Question is: What is the CONDITION of your stock? How much of the goods listed is SALABLE at the prices for which it has been taken in stock? How much of it will have to be marked AT HALF PRICE to sell it? How much of it has been laying on your shelves or in your stockrooms for two years or more? It is vital to know how many customers are coming in every day and asking for staple goods that ARE NOT IN STOCK, because some short-sighted buyer or merchandise manager is trying to make a good showing in his stock figures. What right have you to inconvenience your customers, just to let a buyer show twenty dollars less on his stock sheets? Make a law that everything that the customer has a right to expect to find in your stock WILL BE THERE. And make your buyers cut down their Inventory figures by selling out the SLOW STOCKS that have no business being in your store. Have a CLEAN Inventory, but don't have any STARVED STAPLE STOCKS. Tie up a little capital there in order to tie up your customers, so they won't be dealing at some other store next season. Be very guarded about future buying until you have CRITICALLY STUDIED the Inventory stock sheets. Don't take the buyer's word for it that he has no bad stocks. SEE THE FIGURES. Then look at the goods. Most buyers have hobbies. They just love to buy certain goods, and they will buy them over again, 264 HOW INVENTORY HELPS AND HURTS even if there is a big stock that is not selling. Then there are buyers who always buy staple goods last AFTER THEY HAVE EXHAUSTED THEIR CAPITAL in buying novelties. The merchant should forbid their buying a dollar's worth of novelties until stocks are amply provided with staple lines. Look at the Inventory Sheets, and see how many novelties are sticking in your stocks from the last season. Show the figures to the buyers. Then put these doubtful goods in your Clearance Sale, or plan for a great big Dress Goods Remnant Sale. Don't let last season's novelties go in with your new goods, for they will kill the effect of the new goods. Several weeks spent in the study of last season's LEFTOVERS will pay for the time that it costs many times over. It is by the serious study of past mis- takes that we learn to avoid making similar mistakes in the future. But if we just go ahead as before, hoping for better "luck" next year, we will be just as badly off as ever, or maybe much worse: for we may be piling another year's leftovers on top of those of the year before. Don't let yourself get hardened to the sight of old goods on the shelves. Just because it has always been there, like the wart on your nose, is no reason why bad stock should be put up with. It may be a dangerous operation to amputate the wart, but it is simply merchandising suicide to let old stock kill your trade especially if the capital tied up in it is making you starve your stocks from the goods that 265 MANUAL OF SUCCESSFUL STOREKEEPING people are asking for, and which they have to go to your competitor to purchase. Get out the BAD STOCK. Never permit your store to be out of STAPLE STOCKS. Sell everything you possibly can in the July or January Clearance- then keep right at it, selling other slow goods and last season's goods in Energetic Remnant Sales. Make last season's mistakes teach you what to avoid in your future purchases. Slow stocks are the death of profits. Rapid turn- overs make the successful store. Let your Inventory Sheets be the Black List to guard you from putting your capital into slow goods next season. Get every dollar out of your old stocks that you can, and put it into LIVE, desirable goods. Then your Sales will grow bigger, people will like your store better, and your profits will not shrink away just before the next Inventory. 266 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY Return to desk from which borrowed. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. UKf 12 1957- .- REC'D D JUN 81 t96JZ LD 21-100m-9,'48(B399sl6)476 YB 66852 M45116 HlZ THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY