Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-02-19
GOING TO SCHOOL
IN SALESMANSH|P
Merchants Institute Under Direc-
ton of Expert, James w. Fisk,
Opens at the du Pont.

SH&AtS E1N NtAN NASA OAANs
This week. merchants OF high and low
degree, department chiefs in the bigger
stores and whole army corps of sales
people are going to school IN merchandls-
ing at the Merchants Institute being
conducted q evenings in the rose room
of the Hotel du Pont, under the auspices
of the Retail Merchants Committee of
the Chamber of Commerce, and the
admirable lectures of James W. Fisk. an
expert in practical salesmanship.
The institute opened last night, with
the rose room filled to overhowing
Differing from the ordinary theoretical
talk of how sales should be made under
certain conditions, Mr.. Fisk took his
audience through the various departments
of the store, and beginning with the
customer as he entered the store the
slnaker pictured the treatment which he
reception which he should be given in
order To accomplish the making of more
sales and better sales. His talk was
saturated with many interesting and
sometimes amusing incidents and expert
cnces which the speaker himself has gone
through, and not infrequently the audi
sncc broke into laughter as he finished
relating some incident illustrative OF
some sort of salosmanship.
In beginning his talk the speaker
emphasized the fact that there is no
method Of selling to everybody. There
i some percentage of the sales which
much ineS itablv float out Of the city.
he said lust the same rs some of the sales
uf the Fifth Avenue district must leave
for Paris every year He attributed the
escape of the small percentage of sales
from ono city TO another to the very
nature of some people to like the thing
that ~ bought IN some other town.
but ont of the sales that remain,
he said II is essential that we make 100
per cent and that no customer be per-
mltted 10 20 out with some want unhlled.
REAL sALEsmANsHIP.
"People want things" he continued,
"and as long as human nature remains
the same will always want things. 1t
remains for the salesman to so bring the
attention of the customer TO the things
that he wants and make him feel that he
l. in contact with the proper salesman and
the proper goods in the proper store in
order TO make the largest and best number
oi sales
The speaker then cited instances where
tu~tOlfltTS VINO iJNt tOiilt III W
: cents worth bought over 81 worth due
tn the proper suggestlyeness OF the store
and the salesman. Illustrating his theories
with concrete examples, not lacking in
humorous touch, the speaker continued
o. outline some of the fundamentals
required for successful salesmanship.
To promptness be gave the first place
in the list of requirements for salesman
ship that increases the number of sales.
DO not wait until the customer gets
tired Of waiting for q sales person. BE on
the spot and give the person who had
already been attracted to the store
the proper reception"
Remember" he continued, that the
customer is the important person, not
The salesman, and try to adapt yourself
10 the customer rather than the customer
to yourself" -. ;.
To the cultivation Of the habit OF
genuine cheerfulness, he gave the second
place IN the list of requirements for sue
cessful salesmanship.
1T is easy TO sell TO people who are
really anxious 10 buy" said he, ''but the
art is 10 sell TO difficult customers"
and continued to show the various
methods which may be applied under
certain circumstances.
y ifit tSklllE Oi
which do not advance the making of the
sale, he gave the third place III the list
OF requirements.
''Do not ask the customer whether
there's anything he wants Be sure
that as long as he or she came TO the
store there is something he or she wants
Let the customer make the first statement
and then size him UP and act accordingly"
SIZING UP CUSTOMERS.
To the sizing up of the customer and
his or her ability 10 pay certain prices he
devoted good deal Of interesting instruc-
tlon and emphasized the human element
Of the art of craftsmanship and the inherit
81 instinct OF mOrtals to want TO make q
show and not to like 10 say that they
can not afford TO pay the high price. AS
a remedy for that he advised his hearers
10 begin with the lower priced article
and continue higher up so that the Gus
toner, not the salesman, may stop at
" hatever price he may choose and that
again he may be led to choose higher
priced article because of the comparison
between the good and the better article
of goods.
Comparison. said he, lis one of the
methods of selling"
He also paid his tribute TO the value Of
by advising his hearers 10
try and sell advertised articles first ''be-
cause they he said. are half soid,
already having been introduced TO the
customer through the daily paper or the
magazine" He closed his talk
with plea for an attempt on the part of
all sales people to apply the new methods
Of craftsmanship and do better than they
have before.
The Business Institute, under the
auspices of the Chamber Of Commerce,
which, by the way, Is making its bow
- Wilmington business men for the
lrst time, and the hrst time In this section
Of the country, Is continuous week of
business education.
James w. Fisk, who is in charge OF the