The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-10-29
VALUE OF SMILES.
SalesgirlS Taught to Cultivate Vocab-
ulary and Pleasant Voice.

The money value of smile and
pleasant voice is being taught in a
most convincing manner TO young
women clerks Of Milwaukee in sales
manship classes recently established
in the city continuation school, an
institution which is attracting such
wide attention that its methods and
results are being investigated by Wis
iting delegations OF educators from
New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chi
cago, Indianapolis, st. Paul. Mime
apolis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleve-
land, Detroit and other cities, even
those as fa- west as the Pacific
coast.
always greet your customer with
smile and wait upon him or her
pleasantly and cheerfully."
Increase your vocabulary. Never
use the everlasting question, Some
thing in hats?' or Something in
towels?' as the case may be-"
"Cultivate a low, pleasing tone of
voice"
"Be we'll informed, especially on
current events. Be able to talk
about something else than where you
were the night before"
This is the essence of the creed
that is winning increased salaries
! for Milwaukee clerks, several recent
advances in the weekly stipend being
directly traceable to the work done
| in the salesmanship classes Of the
continuation school, conducted under
the State law.
On certain days each week one of
| the assistant instructors in the sales
manship classes spends several hours
behind the counters in the various
stores which are cooperating with
the school, noting the various prob
lens with which the clerk has to con-
tend and getting practical knowledge
Of selling.
Three times each week Mrs. A.
Englert, head of the department, lee
lures to the saleswomen in the three
department stores that are giving the
heartiest cooperation. Any problems
presented by the clerks are solved in
the class room for the benefit of all
the girls.
Instruction as to how to dress is
also part Of the course. A recent les
son on colorin general was followed
by discussion of the effect of sub
dued and intense colors, and the
girls were finally taught the artistic
value of dressing in subdued colors,
with only touch of the intense col
or to- give contrast.
But above all things the girls are
taught to be pleasant.
1--WE aim to teach these girls the
value of service" said Mrs. Englert.
The three big points that we en-
phasize are to greet the customer
with a smile, to increase the vocab-
ulary and to cultivate pleasing
tones. We try to instill into the
girls that a customer will never be
cross if the person behind the coun-
ter smiles and is pleasant. We teach
store spelling, English and arithme-
tic, citizenship, commercial geogra-
ply and hygiene; this latter is prac-
tically sex hygiene.
THE class work is supplemented
with lectures and with visits to the
public library and museum and var1-
Gus mills. Discussions of current
events are also part of the general
instruction. We want the girls to
have something to talk about besides
where they went the night before.
Our aim is to awaken the girls to
realize the opportunities that are be-
fore them.
THE managers of the various de-
partments continually tell us of the
great improvement in their salesgirls
and in the amount of their sales in
short time after they have entered
these classes. One of the managers
tells how a customer appeared at
counter with four small dining room
pictures in her hand costing % cents
each. The girl, remembering the in
structions she had received only
day before and thinking she would
put it to the test, took the pictures,
but added: 1 should like to show you
our latest pictures which we have
Just got in The outcome of the sug-
gestion was that her sales were S21
instead of ST."
Salesmanship is taught BY practi-
cal demonstrations. The following
is a typical scene in one of the class
eS:
One of the young women went into
the cloak room, put on her hat, took